Free Redeeming The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport Book 5) by Christina Tetreault Page A

know the one I usually just knot in the front?”
    Chloe leaned down and scooped up a top from the floor. “It’ll look fine. So who’s this client anyway? Must be someone important for you to get this crazy about how you look.”
    She’d never overthought how she looked for a client. As long as she appeared professional, a blue skirt was just as good as the gray one next to it. But today no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t lump Trent in with her usual clients and not just because of his bank account and good looks. When she was near him, a million butterflies took flight in her stomach and she found it hard to sit still. She once again felt like she did when she’d been a freshman in high school and Ben Smith, a senior, tutored her in science. Every time she met Ben at the library for a study session, she turned into a bumbling mass of nerves that could put no more than two words together. She’d been both relieved and disappointed when the school year ended and Ben graduated. Since then no guy had made her feel like that again. At least not until now.
    After she slipped on her clothes, Addie pulled open the window blind and took a quick glimpse outside. “Was that car out there when you got here?” she asked, her gaze on the small black sedan parked across the street.
    “The black Honda?” Chloe asked, as she slipped hangers into Addie’s discarded clothes. “Yup. I figured they were visiting that nosy neighbor of yours across the way. Why?”
    Addie turned her back on the window. Her cousin was probably right. Just because she’d only seen the car around this week didn’t mean it wasn’t a friend of Beverly’s. “Just curious.” Despite her dismissive answer, she couldn’t shake her unease. Not once had she seen anyone go into or come out of Beverly’s house that week except Beverly herself.
    “How’s the paper coming along? You haven’t done much work since you’ve been here.”
    “Once you leave I’ll finish it. So you never answered me. Who’s this client you’re meeting this afternoon?”
    Outside a car door closed and a moment later her doorbell rang. Without answering her cousin, Addie crossed the room and went downstairs. Before she reached the door she took a slow measured breath. He’s just a client, nothing more, nothing less.
    The moment she opened the door the swarm of butterflies in her stomach multiplied and grew some extra long wings. Holy wow. Dressed in a suit and seated in his office he’d looked fabulous. The very image of power and wealth wrapped up in a handsome package. Today though, in khaki pants and a short-sleeved blue and white-striped polo shirt with his sunglasses dangling from the front and the sun dancing across his dirty blond hair, he looked godlike.
    “I’m a few minutes early. It didn’t take me as long as I thought to get here. I hope that’s okay,” he said, the first to speak.
    Addie took a step back so he could enter. “Not a problem. Please come in. I just need to grab my things and we can go.”
    She took another step back and bumped into a body. “Chloe, sorry,” she said as she glanced over her shoulder.
    “No biggie.” She pinched Addie in the back, a clear signal she wanted an introduction.
    “Trent, this is my cousin, Chloe.” She nodded in her cousin’s direction. “Chloe, this is Trent Sherbrooke. I’m redecorating his office and perhaps his house in Newport.” Addie stepped away from her cousin. “I’ll be right back.” She retreated up the stairs, leaving Chloe and Trent to exchange pleasantries while she grabbed her things. Once in the safety of her room, she glanced one final time in her mirror and grabbed her bag with her laptop and her purse, then returned to the front door. “I’m ready.” She walked past her cousin. “If you need any extra paper for the printer, it’s in the bottom draw of my desk.”
    “Thanks. See you later.”
    In silence she descended the stairs and started down the walkway, but before