it is. I’ll show you around the house.”
He started up the walkway to the front door, past the perfectly manicured lawn and professionally landscaped gardens. She didn’t follow.
He turned to her, saw her indecision mirrored in the moonlight. “My house is the first in the new development. I plan on building more like it. You need to know what you’re fighting before you take it on, don’t you?”
Mallory looked at him standing on his ridiculously long drive, next to his ridiculously green lawn and his ridiculously huge house. And as she stared at the way the moonlight glanced off his hair, she wasn’t sure what she should do.
She was still struggling with the decision to get out of her car. Now that she was here, she might as well go for broke. Nodding, she allowed him to open the soft brown oak door with its stained glass window.
Doors like this didn’t belong in Serendipity.
He followed her inside, and she could only stare in amazement at the double rounded staircase that led up to an open entertainment center and hall.
Good grief!
He pointed up the stairs. “Nina’s room and the guest rooms are up their. I’ll show you those later if you want the tour.”
His words reminded her that she wasn’t here to admire his design. There would be a later, as in an after. After what, she wasn’t quite sure.
She wished he’d just get on with business. But he showed her the living room with its modern black metal and glass tables and black leather furniture. The lamps were black metal with white lamp shades. Throw rugs covered hard wood floors, and a huge fireplace was guarded by a black metal gate. She could imagine spending cold nights with him in front of that fireplace and the thought left her more than a little sweaty. How could he stroll around so nonchalantly as if this were an every day occurrence?
When he took her through the dining room, she’d almost missed the chandelier altogether because he’d knocked the table twice, turned around and winked at her in a way that made her heart step into double time and said, “You just never know what kind of trouble a good, sturdy table like this one will lead to.”
When he’d started down the hall off the left of the entry way, reality set in. He was taking her to his bedroom. They weren’t going to talk in some perfectly rational place like the living room.
She’d taken him to Charlie’s to start the negotiations. He was taking her to his bedroom to finish them.
He opened the first door on the left and beamed. This is the office. We’ll be back here in a minute or two.”
Relief flooded through her as she peeked her head in the door. True to his word, it was an office. Complete with desk, white board, computer. Other than its size, it looked like a regular old every day office. Nice and sterile. Not an ounce of passion and not a single good, sturdy table in sight.
But he didn’t stop there. He kept right on walking and opened the next door he came to.
When she just stoodoutside, he motioned her to follow. He sounded like a little kid showing off his favorite toys. “Come on. You can’t come all the way out here and not see this.”
When she still didn’t budge, he walked over to her and brushed her hair away from her forehead. Tilting her chin up, he met her eyes with his. They reminded her of the grass after a good April rain. She expected a kiss. Wanted a kiss if she were honest with herself.
She didn’t get it.
“Hey, come on. I promise not to bite you unless you ask.”
Hell would freeze over first, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. He’d take it as a challenge and have her naked in five seconds.
So she followed him in the room and could only stand speechless. A king-sized four poster cherry wood bed took up a major part of the room. The high ceilings made the room seem even bigger than it was.
A dresser was directly to her right, Nina’s picture on top along with myriad colognes and after shaves.