Aurelia settled back into her lounge chair, pulled out a pack of potato chips, and began munching away.
Her phone buzzed with a new message.
Glancing at the screen, she saw it was from Beverley.
[Hey, Aurelia, what you up to? Got the day off today?]
Aurelia chuckled to herself, thinking Beverley could sniff out gossip like a bloodhound. She typed back quickly.
[Yeah, a day off. I’m shopping. What's up?]
[Just hanging out at the beach with some friends. Guess who I ran into?]
[Who?]
[Your bodyguard, Peter, is staying with his wife. Can you believe it? He's married.]
[It's common for people in their thirties to settle down, right?]
Aurelia replied casually and then made a face at Leopold. "Beverley tells me you're married. Can you believe she probably thinks you're my toy boy?"
Leopold's hair was practically standing on end. "That little rascal has lousy eyesight. Do I look like a toy boy to you?"
Aurelia laughed softly, teasingly hooking her finger under his chin. "Rich guys get hot chicks, and rich ladies get boy toys. Isn't that the high society stereotype?"
Leopold curled his lip in a sardonic smile. "All that lowbrow nonsense? Count me out."
Aurelia's eyes danced with mischief. "Your reputation isn't so pristine lately, either, Mr. Leopold. People say you are a heartbreaker and a playboy."
He raised a brow. "That's self-deprecation on my part."
She gave him a thumbs-up. "Mr. Leopold, the master of self-deprecation."
On the other side of the beach, Beverley pouted at her phone screen. She'd bet that Aurelia had no clue about the bodyguard's marriage. Despite Aurelia's calm response, Beverley figured she must be internally capsizing like a ship in a storm.
It was a big scandal to have kept a married man on the payroll.
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