Page 54 of The Suit

She opened her mouth to protest but then realized she’d been caught in a twenty-two type of situation.

“She’s not going to think anything, except that I have a guest.”

“It’ll be weird the three of us…”

“Beulah, you won’t even notice she’s here. You won’t notice any of the staff.”

Her eyes widened again.“Staff?”

I gestured to the house, then to the lawns which ran around three quarters of the fifty-acre property. “You didn’t think this place was run by one person, did you?” I didn’t give her time to answer. “Come on, before Cynthia drags us out. You can decide what you want to do when we’re having a drink.”

I opened my door, then ran around the hood to open up Beulah’s side, and held my hand out. She didn’t take it immediately but she did take it, only dropping her hold once she realized what she’d done. I hid my grin while I grabbed my bags, which is when it dawned on me that unless her tiny bag contained a weekend’s worth of clothes, she only had what she was wearing which wasn’t going to work for anything I had planned this weekend, except the unexpected naked times on the horizon.

Good job I was a problem solver.

I hitched my bags on to my shoulder then took hold of her hand again, practically dragging her over to Cynthia who was standing there not bothering to hide her amusement.

She roped me into the hug I knew she would before she looked at Beulah. “And who’s this?”

“Cyn, this is Beulah Holmes… she’s an…”

“We were at college together,” interrupted Beulah, breaking out of her reluctance to be here, while I was still trying to figure out the truthful end of that sentence.

Cynthia’s head tilted. “You know, you look so familiar dear. Have you been to Cliffside before?”

“Cliffside?”

“It’s the name of the house. One side of the estate is built ona cliff. Not a very original name, I know.” She looked at me pointedly like I was the one who named it and it was all my fault.

Which I hadn’t, so it wasn’t.

“Oh no, I haven’t been here before.”

Something lit up in Cynthia’s eyes and they darted to me again, before landing back on Beulah, “Never mind, must have one of those faces, dear.” Much to Beulah’s horror she found herself pulled into the same hug I was welcomed with. “Make sure to let me know if you need anything. Everything is in Raferty’s bedroom, unless…” she looked at me again and I knew she wanted to know if it was a separate bedrooms job.

“That’s amazing, thanks, Cynthia. My room is fine, I’ll show Beulah up,” This time, instead of holding onto her, I decided to go with my hand on the small of her back, which she didn’t flinch away from.

“Okay, you know where to find me. Pierre is making your pizza for dinner, unless you’d like something else? Or you want to go out?”

I looked over to Beulah, in question, and I couldn’t be entirely certain she wasn’t in some kind of shock with how her eyes were resembling saucers.

“Pizza is great.”

“Perfect, come on.”

She allowed me to guide her through the front entrance into the vast, double height vestibule which opened up to doors leading out to the ocean, and a view more incredible than the one we’d passed along the drive.

A soft gasp had me turning round to see her stopped and staring, with almost childlike wonder.

“Beulah?”

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered.

“It is, very. Come on, let me show you where you can freshen up, then we’ll go out and enjoy it.”

I led her through to the stairs and up to my bedroom, over on the right wing of the house. She could enjoy the view from there too, this one stretching along the coast up toward the little town of Bridgehampton, and further where people dotted about along the beaches that extended past our compound, out for their afternoon walks.

I closed the door behind her while she stood stationary in the middle of my room.

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