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He had no choice but to release her then, his argument won. He should be relieved, since he didn’t want to give Adelaide false expectations of their relationship. But as they exited the SUV and headed into the house, he couldn’t help a twinge of disappointment that she hadn’t challenged him on that last point, too.
He’d been all too ready to prove that the attraction he felt for her was one hundred percent real.
Three
Everything about this day felt off-kilter to Adelaide as she followed Dempsey up the brick steps onto the sprawling veranda of his house. Fittingly, she limped up the steps in her broken heel, unable to find her footing around him.
He’d commissioned the home when he’d first taken the head-coaching job in New Orleans, though it hadn’t been completed until last spring. As if the Reynaud family complex hadn’t been impressive enough before, now Dempsey’s stalwart white mansion echoed the strong columns of the main house where he’d grown up. His place, just under ten thousand square feet, was only slightly less intimidating than Gervais’s historic residence on the hill that had been built in the same style two centuries prior. She could see the rooftop from here, although the live oaks gave the structures considerable privacy. It helped to have the billions from Reynaud Shipping at their disposal, though the generations-old wealth was one of many reasons Adelaide had always felt out of place here.
Today, she had even more reason to feel off her game.
From the erratic pounding of her heart to the all-over tingle of awareness that lingered after their talk in the back of the Land Rover, she felt too dazed to don her usual armor of professionalism. What had he been thinking to focus that kind of sensual attention on her? She’d been so breathless when he’d bracketed her between those powerful arms, his chest just inches from her own, that she hadn’t been able to think straight. Hadn’t been able to question why they needed to enact this crazy charade for his family that had always intimidated her.
She slipped off her unevenly heeled shoes at the door and walked barefoot into his house. Once she shook off this fog of attraction, she would talk sense into Dempsey and leave. She’d wanted a clean break from him, and now he’d changed the playing field between them so radically she didn’t know what to expect. Should she put her product launch on hold? Or should she keep fighting to end her commitment to the Hurricanes? She needed to sort through it all without the added confusion of this new sensual spark between them.
“You might remember from the blueprints that there’s an extra bedroom upstairs and one downstairs.” He led her through the wide foyer past a grand staircase. He used an app on his phone, she realized, to switch on lights and lower blinds as they moved through the space. “Both have en suite facilities. I can send Evan to your place to pick up some things for you when he retrieves your car.”
They paused in an expansive kitchen at the back of the house, connecting to a dining area with floor-to-ceiling French doors that opened onto the yard overlooking the lake. There was another set of French doors in the family room, also accessing the back gallery and lawn. It was a perfect place for entertaining, although she would be surprised if Dempsey had hosted many people here. She certainly hadn’t been invited to any private parties at his home even though she’d helped choose any number of fixtures and had spoken with his contractors more often than he had.
But in all fairness, Dempsey had always spent the majority of his time on the road or at the office. She doubted he’d spent many nights here himself.
“The house is beautiful,” she said finally. “You must be pleased with how it turned out. I know I looked at the plans with you when you first approved the blueprints, but seeing the real thing... Wow.”
She shook her head as she took in the ceiling medallions around matching chandeliers that were either imported antiques or had been designed by a master craftsman. The natural-stone fireplace in the kitchen gave that space warmth even when it wasn’t lit, while another fireplace in the family room had a hand-carved fleur-de-lis motif that matched the ceiling medallions.
“Thank you. I haven’t spent much time here, but I’m happy with it. Why don’t I order some food and we can hash out a plan for the next few weeks while we eat?” He set his phone on the maple butcher-block top of the kitchen island, one of the elements of the house she’d helped choose, along with the appliances.
