“As you can see, it’s nothing more than a dirty, forgotten closet.” The sound of velvet laughter filled the room behind where Alice was crouched to look down into the shadows of a dusty crawlspace. Old paint containers lined a part of one wall with a ragged tarp barely covering the rusty cans. A few hangers swung lazily from a metal rod that ran the length of the back. The ceiling arched down with the shape of the roof above their heads making the right corner of the closet useless for storage.
Crawling backwards, she brushed her skirt to remove the dust that had settled over the navy blue fabric. She stood upright and turned to the man who was as unsettling as he was appealing. They stared at each other for several tense moments before she finally broke down and smiled.
“I have to be honest with you, Mr. Frost…”
“Max,” he corrected her. “Please.”
Swallowing down the odd sense of attraction she had for the mysterious stranger, she chuckled softly when she confessed, “Max. I have to be honest with you.”
His eyebrow arched in question, a smirk peeking out at the corner of his sculpted lips that drew her attention to how soft and supple his mouth appeared. She wondered what those lips would feel like against her body, about the contrast of their heat against the sensitive places of her skin.
Shaking her head of the unwanted thoughts, she admitted, “There’s no way in hell I’ll be able to sell this place.”
He laughed a booming sound that filled every nook and cranny of the decrepit house that was as startling as it was divine. It was the sound of a man at ease, of a man who had no worries in the world. She liked that sound, and found herself stepping closer to its source if for nothing else but to feel the vibrations of true mirth roll across her skin.
She’d probably lose her job the next day when Sarah found out what she’d said to the owner, but Alice couldn’t lie. The house should have been marked for salvage and tear down, not dressed in a pretty red bow and put up for sale.
His laughter faded and his blue eyes trapped hers in a gaze that was crinkled at the corners, hypnotic and sparkling with humor.
She smiled at him, not the shy, professional smile she normally gave strangers, business associates and friends, but a bright smile, the kind that pulled her lips until they ached at the corners, the kind that revealed her straight, white teeth.
When had she last smiled at a person that way? And then she remembered: never.
Her heart skipped in its rhythm behind her ribs, and she found herself stepping even closer, her lungs dragging in air so she could smell the subtle and exotic notes of his cologne.
Stumbling over what to say next, she spit out an apology, even if she didn’t mean a word of it.
“I’m sorry, Max, but I don’t see how I can sell this property to a buyer for more than what the land is worth. And even then, I have to take into account the cost of tearing down the house and grading the land so that another house can be built.”
She sighed and glanced around at a room that at one time had been magnificent. With true regret in her voice, she added, “I really wish someone had taken better care of the place.”
Max stepped forward to continue closing the small amount of distance that remained between them. “Well, I’m happy that you’re being honest with me, and please don’t think that I’m offended by what you’ve said. I know this place is a dump…” He paused, his eyes tracking the room around them. Under his breath, he continued, “Actually, I’d consider it more a worthless piece of shit, if you don’t mind my being frank.”
Laughter bubbled out of Alice’s throat and she snorted at the absolute truth of his statement.
“I really am sorry…”
“Don’t be. It was an investment property of my family’s, and is of little value to me.” He grinned at her, causing her stomach to flip flop in her abdomen, for her heart to beat so hard she could count the heavy pulse in her throat. “Have dinner with me, Ms. Beaumont.”
Halfway between a request and a demand, he locked his eyes to hers as he made the offer.
Light lashes fluttered over her eyes, her mind startled by the offer that hadn’t been expected. Unsure how to respond, she considered whether dinner with a client for non-professional reasons was even allowed.
Giving it some thought, and while keeping her eyes locked to those of the man she was becoming more attracted to with every passing second, she realized that this job was just another in a string of crappy ventures that never went any further than a few weeks at most.
Alice wasn’t one to date. In fact, she’d only had one real boyfriend in her life, and that had been in high school. Given her sleep disorders, and the embarrassment she felt because of them, she could never allow a man to sleep beside her for fear he’d run screaming as soon as he saw the truth of her problems.
But dinner would be okay, wouldn’t it?