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“What are Clay’s ultimate plans for the property? He doesn’t strike me as the farmer type.”
He opened his eyes, saw the curious furrowing of her brow, and shrugged. “Well, you’re right about that. He’s not going to farm it, but if you’re asking if he plans to continue hosting sinful debauchery after he gets the house fully restored—I don’t know the answer. Our parents think he’s just growing grapes and writing a book, and to them, that’s bad enough. It’s true that’s what he’s doing, but…”
“It’s notallhe’s doing.” She grinned a wide, toothy smile that reached her eyes and colored her cheeks.
There it was.
That spark of compatibility he’d thought was there. She wasn’t a woman who’d be so easy to debauch if he was reading her right. And if he was, that made her reluctance to visit Clay’s all the more befuddling.
“You think our dysfunction is amusing?” he asked.
“Of course I do. Who would have thought there’d be so many skeletons in the closet of one of the east coast’s preeminent luxury boat builders?”
Oh, you have no idea just how many skeletons.
“Quit heckling your host and take a gander at the plans I just paid you so well to critique.”
With her cheeks glowing as red as any wine in his drawer, she stood and then leaned onto the table. “What am I looking at, exactly?”
“It’s my house.” Tim stepped into the nearby master bedroom and left the door open while he brushed his teeth. “Or rather, what’ssupposedto be my house. I’ve been chewing on that expansion idea for about five years.” Since right before he and Heidi separated. “The house as-is is an okay size, but the layout is kind of fucked up.”
“How old is the house?”
“Eighty this year.”
“That explains it. I’ve done a lot of study on that period of architecture. People lived differently then.”
Smart lady.Carine had been right about that…and he’d forgotten how sexy smart was.
He spat and rinsed. “That wasn’t the house’s original position. Everything on that stretch of water is new construction. Condos and whatnot. I didn’t want that, but at the same time, I couldn’t pass up the location. It had a private dock on water deep enough for the boat I had at the time.”
“Got ya. Comparing the new plan with the original footprint, it seems your architect suggested bumping out the existing rooms without changing the actual layout of the house.”
“Yeah, that’s basically what he did. Believe it or not, I paid him a lot of money for that.” He returned to the kitchen, but instead of going straight to the table, grabbed a couple of plates from the cupboard. She’d been hungry. He figured she’d forgotten, so he made her a plate with the odds and ends on the counter and added a few crackers to it.
“Whatever you paid was too much. This is inconsiderate work.” She nodded her thanks for the plate he slipped in front of her and plucked up a grape.
“Well, I didn’t pay him in carnal favors. Maybe that’s why.”
“Looking at this, I’m not certain you paidmeenough, Tim.”
“Oh?” He ran the back of his hand down between her breasts and leaned in to whisper. “I could certainly add on an advance gratuity if you’d like.”
She sucked in some air, and her heart beat loud enough for him to hear.
He excited her. He could tell. He didn’t know yet if that were a good thing or a bad one. If she were too responsive, he might not be so willing to let one night be enough. It had to be because if she was as interesting as she seemed, he was screwed. He’d end up wanting her, and she’d be yet another woman who’d decide he wasn’t worth being kept.
Reluctantly, he backed away and topped off her wine. “It’s not that bad, is it?”
She let out a suspicious long exhalation and passed her hands over her flushed cheeks. “Uh. It…it depends on what you told him you wanted. What’d you tell him? And are you trying to get me drunk? You still have to drive me home, and I doubt you want to carry me out of here over your shoulder.”
“Mm-hmm.” Anything to get her guard down, and maybe lower her inhibitions just a little. He had to make a decision about how much effort he was willing to expend. He already knew it’d be a long fucking time before he got her out of his mind once she left.
She sighed and rolled the stem of the wineglass between her fingers as she studied the plans.
“I told him I wanted a floor plan that was more family-friendly.”
Because at the time, Tim had been committed to the idea of remarrying and having a couple more kids. Heidi had been a “one and done” kind of lady, and he’d compromised. He’d been thirty-eight when he’d had those plans made, though. Now he was forty-three. The kids probably weren’t going to happen.
