AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Eli unlocked the double front doors of his penthouse and held one of them open for Holly to enter.
"Holy shit," she gasped, setting Miss's carrier down. Her mouth dropped open as she looked around. "Jesus, Eli. This is insane."
"Insane good, though, right?" He flashed a smile. "Welcome to your home for the next thirty days."
She dragged her sneaker gently over the gleaming marble floor of the foyer, then peered up at the skylight. "How big is this place?"
"Sixty-four-hundred square feet," he admitted.
Holly pressed a hand to her forehead. "Unbelievable. How do you not get lost?"
Eli laughed. "You learn."
"Yeah, I don't think so. Though, from the small area that I've seen so far, it's still the ultimate bachelor pad. Bright white walls and black leather furniture? All that's missing is animal print."
Her gaze landed on the faux zebra rug in front of the gas fireplace. "AaaandI spoke too soon. You are such a walking cliché, Donnelley."
"Pipe down, or I'll make a new rug out of your cat," he teased. "I could use a new, festive print rug."
She rolled her eyes. "I promise, that's the last thing you need." Sniffing the air, she cocked an eyebrow. "Why does it smell like cinnamon sticks in here?"
"I have those fancy scented thingys all around the place."
She huffed out a laugh. "Scented thingys?"
"I don't know what they're called."
"But cinnamon?"
He shrugged. "It's comforting."
"Reminds me of Christmas." She walked further into the penthouse.
"My bedroom is down the hall on the left." He motioned for her to follow him. "You can choose from any of the other four guest rooms."
"Fourguest rooms?" Holly peeked into the bedroom across from his. "Wow, Eli. This room is huge. Look at the floor to ceiling windows. This is gorgeous." She turned around. "This looks like it adjoins the next room and a bathroom. Does it?"
"Yep. Sure does."
"Nice. It's like a separate apartment. It will give Miss more space to roam while she adjusts to your place. I'll need to keep her in here for a day or so until she gets comfortable enough to explore." Holly smirked. "I don't know; I'm a little concerned about losing my cat in this house. I may need to place a tracking device on her."
"We can keep a lot of the doors closed to her if you're worried about it."
"We may have to." Holly ran her hand over the soft, blue comforter and glanced around. "This room is so beautiful. And the bed is huge."
"Yeah. The guest rooms all have queen-sized beds."
Eli placed the mountain of packages on her bed, and Holly snagged the pet store bags first, dumping out the contents.
She set up a litter box area in the corner of the bedroom, a food station with a place mat and stainless steel dishes, and a cat bed under the window.
"Are you coming in or going out? I want to let Miss out of her carrier. She will probably go right under the bed to hide, but I don't want to risk her running out into the rest of the house. It's too large of an area, and she'll get scared."
He closed the door. "In for now. I'd like to see her if you don't mind."
"Okay." Holly pulled open the metal door of the carrier, and the calico dashed under the bed.
"Damn. She's fast." He knelt and peered under the bed. Miss huddled against the air conditioning vent, staring at him with wide, bright green eyes. He wasn't a cat person, but she was pretty cute, if a little hefty.
