“Anything to get out of this apartment, Bris. I swear, my upstairs neighbors are so goddamn loud I’m going to lose my mind. The sooner I find a place, the better.”
“Sounds good, brother. We’ll get together this week and search.” We hung up just as I turned down the main street to Jack’s neighborhood. The houses were huge, most with massive lawns located on the lake. Jack definitely had money to spend if he lived in a place like this. When I pulled into his driveway, my heart started to race. I looked down at my clothes, happy that I’d changed out of my skirt and blouse into a pair of black pants and sleeveless pink top.
Taking a deep breath, I got out of my car and walked to the front door, notebook and pen in hand. I pressed the doorbell and it wasn’t long before Jack opened the door, dressed in a pair of jeans and a green polo shirt. It looked good on his tanned skin and even brought out the green specks in his amber eyes. Smiling that devilish grin of his, he opened the door wide.
“You look beautiful today, Bristol. Thanks for coming over.”
I walked inside, hoping like hell he couldn’t tell his comment made my stomach flutter. He was a smooth talker, that was for sure. “Thanks,” I said politely, taking a glance around the room. “You have a really nice home.” And by nice, I meant huge and expensive. His living room was decked out in black leather furniture, very masculine and modern, with a wall of windows that looked out at the lake. There wasn’t much as far as décor, but I was literally clueless as to his style. If I had a house like his, it definitely wouldn’t be plastered in all black. He must have had it for one purpose only…seduction. A man going for mystery and intrigue would have a house in only black. I wasn’t shocked, but I had to admit a little disappointed.
“Are all of your rooms like this?” I asked, curious.
Brows furrowed, he studied me cautiously. “Not all of them. Why? Do you want me to give you the tour?”
I nodded, but kept my focus on the task at hand. The kitchen had black marble countertops and gray ceramic tile, but everything else was done in stainless steel; it was very elegant. Kind of what I’d want my kitchen to look like when I bought a house. There were fresh fruits and vegetables on the counter, along with a grocery list in feminine handwriting. A pang of jealousy swam through my gut. The bastard was probably married, and here I was fantasizing about him. Jack noticed me looking at the list and smiled.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because of the fact that I saw your jaw clench when you looked at the list.” Grinning from ear to ear, he picked up the paper. “Either you think I have girly handwriting or you’re jealous because a woman wrote it.”
“Don’t you think that’s a little presumptuous? Whether you have a wife, girlfriend, or mistress is none of my business. I’m here to do a job; that’s it.”
He set the paper down and moved toward me, his body now close to mine. “I see. Well, we should get to it then.” I had hoped he’d tell me whose writing it was, but I had just told him I basically didn’t care. Now I couldn’t ask him.
I kept my distance as I followed him around the lower level of his house through the living room, dining room, and home theater. He even had a gym with top-of-the-line equipment.
Placing a hand on the small of my back, he leaned in close to my ear. “Ready to look upstairs?”
His touch sent shivers down my skin, and even though I didn’t want to, I stepped away. “What are you doing, Mr. Reed?” I huffed angrily. I didn’t like players and he was definitely one of them.
Lifting his hands defensively in the air, his smile faded. “What do you mean?”
I stormed past him down the hall and into the living room. “This,” I said, waving my hands around the room. “Forgive me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t look like you need me to decorate anything. If you brought me here just to seduce me, you wasted your time.”
Taken aback, his eyes widened, clearly shocked that a woman could turn him down. I was pretty sure that didn’t happen very often. Sighing, he stepped forward. “I’m not going to lie—I did want you here so we could be alone. I thought it’d be a great chance for us to get to know each other.” He paused for a second and then added, “On a more personal level.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “And why would I want to do that?”
He stalked closer. “Because you’re attracted to me and I to you. You’re missing a certain ring on that finger of yours, which obviously tells me you’re not married. I’d be an idiot not to try and get you.”
My whole body trembled and I sucked in a breath. If he saw me flustered, he’d know he had an advantage over me. I couldn’t let him know how much I wanted him too. “What about you? You’re missing a ring too, but I don’t see you as the type of man to settle down with just one woman.”
A mischievous smile spread across his face. “That’s because I haven’t found the right one yet.”
“Something tells me you’re not ready for that,” I blurted.
Brows furrowed, he sat down on the black leather couch and spread his arms wide across the top. I could picture myself sitting beside him, snuggling into his side as he wrapped one of those arms around my shoulders. That was probably never going to happen. I didn’t even know his full name.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
I glanced around his room before focusing on those amber eyes of his. “Take, for instance, this room. I can tell a lot about people by the way they decorate. You have no pictures on the walls or even on the fireplace mantel. That right there tells me you don’t want any of your guests knowing your personal business, which in turn means you don’t want attachments.”