“That’s not a suite. That’s a minimansion,” Rayne said as they walked down the walkway to it. “It’s cute. Like a mini version of the house.”
“Yeah,” Lucy agreed as they reached the guesthouse, or minimansion like Rayne had said. The brick was white like the rest of the house, it had big windows, and she was pretty sure it was bigger than her old shop.
“I think it’s great. He sounded really nice on the phone,” Rayne said as she unlocked the door. “And it’s obvious he likes you if he is offering his guesthouse to you.”
“I’ll be paying him,” she said as she pushed the door open. Her eyes widened at the size of the suite. Benji wasn’t playing; it was huge and no wonder he thought it could work. He was right.
“That’s probably ’cause he knows it’s the only way you’ll agree to take his help.”
Lucy turned to her. She may be right, but Lucy didn’t want to hear that. “Do you like your job?”
Rayne giggled, her brown eyes flashing with humor. “You wouldn’t fire me. You need me. This is a great space.”
And it was. It was a big, open floor plan with a little cooking area, one main room, another room with a door, and a bathroom. The in-law who got to stay here was one spoiled in-law, in her opinion. Looking around, Lucy bit the inside of her lip.
Shit, this could really work, and it was cute.
But should she do it? She hadn’t known Benji long, but she knew he wouldn’t screw her. He also said they could do a contact, which was good. She’d want one, but was this mixing business with pleasure ? What the hell was she thinking? She was sleeping with him and he was her client. She had already crossed that line.
She was so damned professional.
Not.
“What do you think?” she said to Rayne, but when she glanced at Rayne, she was taking pictures with her phone.
“Oh, I was taking pictures so I can figure out how to put my desk.”
Lucy gave her a dry look. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“You haven’t?” she asked, a deadpan expression on her face. “You know this is the right fit for us. It’s great. Parking might be an issue, but maybe we can put in a bigger driveway?”
Lucy looked away and then looked at her phone. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay, I’ll take pictures for you to design later,” Rayne said, so confidently that it made Lucy roll her eyes.
But she did love the place.
Walking outside, she dialed Benji’s number.
“So what do you think?”
She smiled. “I kinda love it.”
“Kinda?”
“I’m just nervous to commit.”
“Sounds like you,” he teased and she pursed her lips, glaring at the bushes.
“How much do you want a month?”
“How much can you afford?”
“My rent at my other place was fifteen hundred, but that included the upstairs apartment.”
He made a clicking noise as he thought, and then said, “Okay, so what, like, six hundred?”
She gasped. “Six hundred? That’s too low!”
“No way, I’m only worried about covering my utilities.”
“That’s with utilities? Are you crazy?”
He scoffed. “About you? Yeah.”
“Benji,” she sighed as her heart went wild in her chest. “Focus.”
“Fine. Six hundred is my final price, take it or leave it.”
She hesitated. “How do you feel about expanding the driveway? I’ll pay for that, of course.”
“There is a driveway on the other side that they used for their business,” he said, and she looked up to see that, in fact, connected to the little walkway was a long driveway. She hadn’t noticed it, probably because she came from the other way and hadn’t had to go that far.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, so it’s pretty much set up,” he said simply. “You could move in tomorrow and you’ll be fine.”
“What’s the deposit?”
“Good Lord, Lucy. Are you looking for something to make you not do this?” She paused as he laughed. “Just say yes and be good, babe.”
“I just don’t know if I want to mix business with pleasure. It makes me nervous.”
“Um, we slept with each other a week ago and I still want you to design my house, so we’re past that,” he said and she closed her eyes. “And I still very much want to sleep with you again.”
Ignoring the last sentence, she bit into her lip. “I thought that too.”
“Yeah, I just want to help out any way I can. Let me, please?”
She looked around, her gut telling her this was good as she tapped her foot. She’d be stupid not to take it. It was perfect for her. Almost like it was made for her. “And I can paint and design it any way I want?”
“Yeah, do whatever you want. I don’t need it. I had no clue what I was going to do with it, anyway. ”
She sucked in a deep breath. “Can you get a contract drawn up?”
“I already did,” he said, clearing his throat at her intake of breath. “I’ll have my lawyer get with you, and we can get the ball rolling. But like I said, you can move in this weekend if you want.”
God, why was this so hard for her? Why couldn’t she just accept what he had done and be good with it? She had never been good at accepting help, and now was no different.