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Before Ali could answer, Daniel interrupted. “I need to check on a few projects.”
He didn’t miss how Ali’s eyes widened at this announcement. They'd planned to stay in, but that was before his son showed up.
“Mind if I come with?” Bradley asked.
“Not at all.”
After they finished their breakfast, Bradley offered to clean up. Daniel took the opportunity to talk to Ali alone in his bedroom.
“Maybe I should go to the meeting today so you can have some time alone with your son.” Ali was talking about the submissive meeting that met on Sunday afternoons at Beth’s café. She’d been going more often since her best friend had joined the lifestyle, but she didn’t go last weekend, nor had she planned to go today.
Daniel pulled the T-shirt over his head before kneeling in front of her as she sat perched on the edge of his bed. “Do you want to go, or are you running away?”
“I don’t think Bradley likes me very much.”
Tucking a hair behind her ear, he waited until she met his gaze. “What he thinks doesn’t matter. He’ll get over it.”
“But he’s your son.”
“Exactly. He’s my son. He has no say over who I’m with, who I have in my house, or in my bed.”
Ali lowered her gaze.
Moving to sit next to her, he reached for her hand and held it in his lap. “Bradley is suspicious by nature. It’s what makes him a good lawyer. But it can also make him a nosey pain in the ass.”
She laughed.
“If you want to go to your meeting, go, but I’d like to show you around some of my properties.” He squeezed her hand. “Show you some of what I do.”
Meeting his gaze, she nodded. “I’d like to see these houses you’ve been telling me about.”
Daniel grinned and brought her in for a kiss, then stood and finished getting ready.
Almost an hour later, they were standing in the middle of his newest construction project. He’d decided to stop at this one first because A it was the farthest of all his projects, and B because it was still in the demolition stage. All the walls that needed to come down were either gone or stripped to the bare studs. Bathrooms were being reconfigured and the kitchen layout was being flipped on its head. When it was completed, it would look amazing. Now, it looked like a war zone.
He held Ali’s hand as they walked through the construction site. Since it was a Sunday, no one else was there. The quiet gave him time to reflect on his vision for the space. “I have big plans for this kitchen.”
“It doesn’t look like much to me,” Bradley said.
“That’s because you have to visualize it in your mind.”
“Not really my thing.”
Daniel chuckled. “Yes, I know.”
“Oh, wow.” Ali moved away from Daniel toward the patio door. “Look at that view.”
The thing that had sold him on the property was the view. The house sat on almost an acre of land and had a small creek toward the rear of the property. Behind that, were trees. It gave an air of privacy hard to come by this close to the city.
Ali glanced back at him, her hand on the patio door. “Do you mind?”
Daniel motioned for her to go ahead. He watched out the kitchen window as she walked to the back of the property and stood staring into the woods. Her back was to him, but that didn’t matter. He still felt drawn to her.
As if sensing him watching, she turned and met his gaze through the window. She smiled and made her way back inside.
They spent the rest of the day visiting the rest of his active construction sites. The last house, a three-bedroom, two-bath ranch, was almost finished. Less than a month and he’d be able to put this one on the market.
“When will this one be ready, Dad?” Bradley asked.
