Page 108 of Contempt


Font Size:  

“What?” I ask defensively.

“He’ll never find us in here!” she teases, gesturing to the full wall of windows.

This edifice wasn’t designed for privacy, so next to the half wall of windows, the front of the pool house has a glass, bifold door. You can fold it up and essentially open the front wall, making the pool house an extension of the pool area more than its own separate living space.

From the front, it literally looks like a glass house.

I realize that’s not helping my case of convincing her to move in here.

“We can get curtains,” I state. “I’m sure they make curtains for bifold doors, Hayden just doesn’t have any because he has never needed them before.”

“Uh-huh,” she murmurs to placate me.

I roll my eyes at her tone and continue my planned tour. “Okay, so over here is the closet.” I open the door next to the bathroom to show her inside. “I know it’s a little small to use for clothes, but I figure you could keep sweaters, jackets, stuff like that in here. Then there’s a little storage space up top, and you could even put a shoe rack or something here in the bottom.”

Hannah nods, but I know she’s just appeasing me.

I soldier on, undeterred. We enter the bathroom and I gesture for her to come inside with me. “Love the Coastal vibes in here. There’s a nice big shower, plenty of storage space beneath the cabinets, and since this is really only used for changing into swimsuits or peeing when you’re out by the pool, it’s pretty empty,” I say, opening the bottom cabinet door to show her. “You could fill it with your own things.”

“I see.”

We exit the bathroom and I take her over to the big open space in front of the bifold door. “A cute little living area here in front of the fireplace. And back here,” I say, turning to face the back of the pool house, “is where I see your bedroom.”

“More glass walls.”

I nod. “We’re going to buy so many curtains.”

She cracks a smile and turns around, eyeing up the fishbowl I want her to live in. “Not so much as a privacy divider. So, anyone who happens by can watch me sleep.”

“Not with all those curtains we’re buying. And we could get a privacy divider to close off the bedroom area a bit if you want to. Right now, the space isn’t set up to be lived in, but it could be modified that way easily.”

“There’s no kitchen. Not even a kitchenette.”

“Well, no.” I glance at the bar. “That’s the closest thing, but you could use the kitchen in the house. You see how close it is,” I point out, gesturing toward the sliding doors leading into the house. “And there is a mini fridge out here that we keep stocked with drinks,” I add, pointing to the bar area. “I figured we could put a bed over here for you, a double or a full so you have space. Then we could put an armoire over here for your clothes—it may not be enough space, but you can keep stuff in the house, too. You’ve seen how massive my closet is. I don’t have enough stuff to fill it. And the room Hayden set up as a media room was designed to serve as a bedroom if they ever wanted to convert it, so it has a bathroom and a whole walk-in closet no one uses. You could keep your stuff in there.”

“It’s very nice,” Hannah says. “Thank you for thinking of me, but you don’t have to change your pool house.”

“I’m still gonna do it. I just have to clear it with Hayden first.”

I turn around, and when I do, I see Landon climbing out of the pool.

“I love that you want to help me,” Hannah says, by way of sweetly rejecting me. “But I’m really okay where I am.”

She’s not, but I’m too distracted to argue as I watch Landon towel-dry his hair, water dripping off his hard body and melting into the ground beneath his feet.

It’s annoying that he looks so good wet.

It’s also annoying that he’s looking at me with that smirk on his face and that twinkle in his eye, like my thoughts are being broadcast right across my face.

“Got your chaperone around again today, I see.”

I glare at him. “Myfriend. Yes, I have myfriendhere.”

“You sticking around?” he asks, finally glancing at Hannah.

“Yep.”

Landon smirks, shaking his head as he drops the towel. “I hope they’re paying you for all this babysitting.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com