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“This is lovely.”
“Isn’t it? We spend a lot of time outside. I insist on it, even with the pale teen. Of course, he is covered from head to toe and still has his phone glued to his hands, but…”
“Does he swim?”
“He used to, yes. Not for a year or so, however. Anyway, this is the yard, but off to the left, here, is the guesthouse.”
I hadn’t noticed it because the view had caught my attention, but there was a pretty stone walkway that led to a smaller version of the big house. One story, mostly windows in front, and landscaped with boulders and tall ornate grasses.
“It’s two bedrooms, so there’s room for guests if you have someone come from out of town,” Kendrick listed as he opened the front door. “There’s a fully stocked kitchen, well, cooking and eating utensils stocked, and will be stocked with food, if you agree to move here.”
The small house was beautiful, with wood and tile floors, log walls, like the outside, tall ceilings, and comfortable furnishings, all linen and leather. The modern kitchen topped it off for me, gleaming in the sun from the big window next to the breakfast nook. I could see myself there, easily, and it felt like home.
I couldn’t do that to myself, however, see anywhere as home except where I was paying the rent. Sure, I’d be working for it, but it couldn’t feel like mine, not when I would lose it the moment Chandler left for college.
“I know you wanted to think about it, but I can’t help tempting you a little. The… main bedroom is down that hall, and two bathrooms, one of them en suite. Great water pressure, my guests have commented.”
I noticed that the one room he didn’t physically show me was the bedroom.
We sat in the living room, and he laid out my pay, benefits that I hadn’t expected, like full medical and dental, and then he prodded, “No better job in town, I’d dare say.”
Knowing he was the owner of a company, it slipped out, as my progressive political views had been somewhat stifled in the small town. “Do all your employees get these kinds of benefits?”
His head spun so he could stare at me, but he also laughed. “Oh, you mean those that run the chicken farm?”
“Yes. I’m sorry, I know it’s none of my business,” I hurried to add. “I’m just…”
“It’s fine, Kanan, and a testament to your character. It’s not just my personal employees that I take good care of. I promise they’re all well compensated, at least I hope.”
“You hope?”
“I haven’t checked the market today. They’re all investors in the company. I own fifty-one percent; they own the rest. They get good pay and benefits and it’s taken off the top of all profits, theirs, and mine. Then, whatever is left, they reap quarterly.”
I was shocked and ashamed rightfully, making me laugh. “You’re…not one of those kinds of rich guys.”
“I don’t even use loopholes to get out of taxes, much to the chagrin of my accountant.”
The way he looked at me, if I didn’t know the man was straight, I’d swear he was taking in every inch of me. The red color that crept over his cheeks at times, while so sexy, it was hard for me not to sigh, it was also telling of what was going on in his head.
“So?”
“I asked to think about it, Kendrick.”
“Call me Rick. Please?”
His body language was also telling, the way his hands ran over his slacks, the way his eyes glowed each time I met them. He was turned to me, eyelids fluttering. I wasn’t fooling myself; he likely didn’t realize he was flirting, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the attention.
“Rick. I think I’d like the job, but I’d like to speak to my friends first, if I may have that time.”
“You take your time. Chandler won’t start his first year of college here until spring, as he got in on a late admission, so you have the rest of the summer to coach him, and the winter. You’ll be employed until at least then, and after that, if…you know, if things work out, maybe I’ll find another position for you. Here, working here,” he hurried to add at the last, and the blush bloomed widely over his face.
On my way back to Burke’s, I saw that in my mind a dozen times, and knew what it meant. He was probably bisexual, and he was having the first stirrings of that, but it also meant I’d be confronted with that each day of my new job if I took it. Still, good pay, benefits, time to myself in my own house. It was too good to be true, but I knew the downside.
The man was charming, sexy, rich, and he’d be my downfall if I let myself feel anything more for him than an employer or possibly friend. I was, as people said, on the rebound. Someone like Kendrick “Rick” Belish would be the exact type of guy I’d love to use to forget about Jeffery.
If only he weren’t straight…
Burke was in the house, finishing up some work when I walked in, and he set the laptop beside him on the couch as I sat across from him. “How’d it go?”
