Unexpected Rush
Page 12

“That’d be cool.”
“I thought so.”
“And if it were you buying this house and the master didn’t have a tub?”
She pondered again, staring at the existing tub/shower combination.
“I think I’d look at the obscenely large shower that was also a steam shower and fall madly in love. Because if I wanted a bath, I could either use the tub down the hall, or soak in the hot tub. And I’d rather have a super large closet, which I’m going to give you.”
He pondered the options she’d given him, realizing the decision was his to make. “Let’s do the steam shower.”
“Okay.”
They went back downstairs and she pulled up a seat at the existing peninsula in the kitchen. Barrett sat next to her, sitting quietly while she made notes.
Finally, she pivoted on the barstool and looked up at him. He was struck by the gut punch connection he felt when his gaze met hers, the liquid warmth in her eyes when she gave him a direct look.
It was damned uncomfortable, super hot and made him want to pull her out of that chair and onto his lap so he could touch her and put his mouth on her. But he couldn’t look away from her.
“I regularly work with several very good contractors. However, if there’s someone else you’d rather use, that’s fine.”
Her knees bumped against his leg. He swore she was doing it on purpose.
“I don’t have anybody in mind. I’m fine with whoever you recommend.”
“Great. I’d like to have Jeff Golan come over and do a walk-through, going through everything you and I discussed to make sure he can do everything I want done. I can do that without you being here, unless you want to be.”
He shook his head. “Not necessary. You know what I want.”
Her lips ticked up. “Yes, I do.”
That knowing smile again. She was killing him.
“Jeff will come up with an estimate of the costs. Since I’m the designer, Jeff and I will work closely together during the renovation and I’ll make sure the design elements stay on track. If anything comes up, I’ll stay in touch with you.”
He nodded. “That works.”
“Obviously you won’t be able to live here during the renovation, since we’re essentially changing every room.”
“That’s fine. I hadn’t planned on moving in until after renovating.”
“Good. I’ll talk to Jeff tomorrow and we’ll get things started.”
He stood. “Thanks for doing this, Harmony. You made it all easy.”
“Oh, it won’t be easy, trust me. You’ll have to make a lot of design choices and I’m going to be honest here. I think you’ll find a lot of them a frustrating and boring pain in the ass. Renovating is often exasperating as hell. But I’ll try to make the process go as smoothly as possible.”
“Thanks for that. Training camp and preseason will be coming up soon, so the last thing I want to focus on is paint color.”
She laughed. “I can imagine. I’ll be here every step of the way to shoulder much of that burden for you. But remember, Barrett. This is your house. Not mine. So you will have to make most of those decisions.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Okay, then. I’ll have a contract drawn up and get that over to you tomorrow. Now, there’s only one decision you have to make right now.”
“What’s that?”
She gave him a wickedly sexy smile. “When are you coming over to my place to cook dinner for me?”
“You were serious about that?” He was hoping she’d forgotten.
“Of course I was. You didn’t think I’d lay down a challenge and not expect you to back it up, did you?”
She waved one of her sexy legs back and forth, forcing him to look at them, and at her feet.
Hell, she even had pretty toes.
He should say no. He definitely should say no. To hell with her challenge. He knew better.
The code.
But it wasn’t like he’d be dating her or anything. He just had to prove he could cook. Then he could get the hell out of there and away from her. And they’d be working together on this project, so, like it or not, he was going to have to get used to the idea of being close to her. It might as well start over dinner.
“I have practices and then some meetings. How about Saturday?”
She offered up a benign, innocent smile that didn’t fool him for a minute. “Saturday sounds fine.”
He walked her out to her car and opened the driver’s door for her. She turned to him. “Text me a list of items and I’ll shop, since you won’t have time.”
“I’ll have time.”
She sighed. “Text me a list of items, Barrett. I’ll take care of it.”
He liked that fire in her eyes when he irritated her, hated to admit that he wouldn’t mind stoking it with passion.
And when his thoughts went down that road, he knew it was time to get far, far away from Harmony.
He leaned in, for some reason needing to poke her a little. “Hey. I’ve got it covered.”
She inhaled, then let it out in a heavy sigh. “Fine.”
She slid into her car, her dress riding up her thighs and giving him a glimpse of her smooth silky legs as she climbed in.
Dammit. He was sure she’d done that on purpose.
He shut the door and she drove off.
He walked back inside the house, deciding he needed a minute or two to cool down before he left. He walked outside and stood staring out over the Intracoastal Waterway.