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Now she glanced up, and he already knew he’d have a harder time saying no to those eyes than Howl’s.
“Do you have five minutes?”
“Probably.”
“If I could just… could I see inside the one turret? Just a peek inside one of them.”
“Probably,” he repeated. “Why?”
“I’ve never been inside a turret. I have a thing for houses, and yours is a beautiful Victorian. The turrets just punch it up another level.”
“Okay.”
“Oh, thanks. Five minutes, I swear, then I’m out of your hair. And you have cookies.”
He gestured her in.
“Oh, it really is beautiful. Just… You kept the interior walls curved at the base of the turret for the sitting room or reading room or morning room. Whatever-you-want-it-to-be room. The woodwork! You have ceiling medallions. Oh, the floors—are they original?”
“Yeah.”
He thought she looked at the sitting room off the foyer as if he’d just opened Aladdin’s cave for her.
“Gorgeous, they’re just gorgeous. And the windows! And, sorry, I’m eating up my first minute. I love houses. Old houses especially. New construction’s just so, well, new. You can really feel the history in here. I mean, look at the staircase!”
She walked over, the dog trailing her adoringly, to stroke the newel post.
“You get to use it if you want a look inside the rest of the turret.”
“And I really do. It’s so elegant, but not formal or fussy. Feels like a home,” she said as she climbed the stairs with her fingers brushing the rail. “Which it is. It’s yours.”
“Now it is.”
As he led the way along the second floor, he thought how completely odd it was, giving her a kind of house tour while he carried a container of homemade cookies.
She let out a sound sort of between a moan and a sigh when she stepped into his office. He ordered himself not to find that sound sexual.
He failed.
“Oh yes! It’s perfect. It’s just perfect. The curved walls, the view out the tall windows—all that wonderful natural light just pouring in. You have your desk facing the door because who could get any work done with that view?
“Curved shelves on curved walls, and the fireplace, the carving on the surround, the metalwork. It’s absolutely magical. Then you have your high-tech computer on the handsome antique desk, chocolate-brown leather chairs. Respecting the history of the house while getting today’s work done.”
She gave him a friendly punch on the biceps. “Kudos. Major ones.”
Then she bent to rub the delirious Howl again, and sent some gray fur floating into the air. “Do you curl up and sleep on a chair while Daddy works?”
“No to the chair, and a big no to Daddy. He’s a dog. I’m not.”
“Aw.” But she smiled. “Thanks, big-time, for indulging me.”
“You don’t want to see the rest of it?”
“I’m dying to. I don’t see how it can be more perfect than your office setup, but I’d really love to see.”
She followed him out.
“It’s a big house.”
