Andre looks around slowly, his jaw open in shock. “This is so dope. What else will you put in here?”
“Well.” I clasp my hands together. “Function is the key for a room like this. So we’ll have some cabinet storage and shelving, as well as a hidden signal booster and Wi-Fi router so in the very off-chance you actually are in danger, you’ll be able to reach someone. Also a mini fridge and projector for the staging. But, of course…” I lift a shoulder. “It’s your house, so after the contest, you can do really anything you want with it.”
“I told you,” he says on a raspy laugh. “It’s the secret room. That’s what I’m going to keep it as.”
I look at him, raising my brows in question and stifling a laugh. “You’re just gonna bring people down here and make them tell you secrets? Isn’t that a little…serial killer?”
He snorts, nudging me. “Not people. Just you.”
My throat tightens with the jolt of electricity that comes from his touch. “You already know all my secrets.” The words come out as a whisper.
“Then I can ask you anything I want and get an honest answer?”
I drop my head back and groan. “There’s nothing left to hide. What do you want to know, Andre?”
“What’s your dream house?”
I draw back, surprised by the question and touched that he’s so genuinely interested.
“New York City penthouse?” he asks. “One of those crazy Hollywood estates? A beachside mansion? Like…” His tone drops from teasing to sort of serious. “Like this one?”
I lean against the newly laid exposed brick and smile.
“Don’t pretend you don’t have a clear and certain and perfect answer for this question, because I know you do.” He brushes a strand of my hair with his thumb.
“You’re right, I do. But it’s none of those. It’s actually…” I look at Andre, with his glimmering hazel eyes and sharp jawline. With those sweet floppy curls on top of his head and the soft lips that always form a blinding smile.
The moment sweeps me up.
“You know what? Get your keys,” I say, shocked by my own voice, charged with confidence and spontaneity. “I’ll show you.”
Fifteen
Andre
“Take a left up here.” Kendall’s voice is like music. She laughs through every word as I cruise down the dark roads lined with palm trees and bathed in moonlight.
The air in my Audi is buzzing with electricity and fire and…her.
“You know when most people talk about their dream house…” I turn the wheel and give her a playful look. “They don’t have an actual specific address in mind. It’s usually more of a vague idea.”
“Yeah, well.” She peers out the window, the Floridian nighttime glow reflecting in her blue eyes like they’re the ocean. “It’s the perfect house. It’s my dream.”
“What’s this area?” I study the scenery as I drive slowly down the residential back road. The houses are tucked behind tropical plants and bright green lawns. They all sit on networks on canals, with boats and more palm trees in every backyard.
“Coconut Grove,” Kendall says softly, leaning her forehead against the window and admiring the quaint, tropical scenery. “It’s perfect.”
“These houses are nice, but they’re not anything massive or fancy like in Bal Harbour. This is really where your dream house is?”
She eyes me, arching a brow. “A house doesn’t have to be a zillion square feet with thirty-foot ceilings and twelve bedrooms to be a dream. I don’t actually…” She lifts a shoulder and turns back to face the window. “Want a mansion like that. It’s not my dream.”
“Huh. I guess I thought everyone’s dream house would be a house like—”
“Like yours?” She laughs and leans her head back against the seat. “Not necessarily. I mean, don’t get me wrong, The Esplanade House is going to be the envy of everyone who sees it. But I don’t know. Just because something is big and fancy and expensive doesn’t mean it’s perfect.”
“I get that. I really am starting to vibe with my place, though. I know I’m not a house guy, and I think the whole concept of home is total bullshit, but I really like all your little touches and things. It reminds me of you.” I shrug, surprised by how easy and open I feel right now. “Makes it feel like…”
“Home,” she finishes, staring at me with bright, wide eyes and a sweet smile with just a hint of smugness.
“Like a place I could stay for a while,” I say softly, reaching over to set a hand on her thigh, giving it a tender squeeze.
She reacts a little. “Okay, take the next right, and then we’re there.”
“You got it.” I drive around through more palm trees and moonlight and turn onto the street of Kendall’s alleged dream house.
“Okay, okay…” She leans forward and points to a house on the right. “Stop right here.”
I hit the brakes and put the car in park, looking past her at a cute blue and white beachy-looking cottage house. The canal is sparkling in the backyard, and the palm trees are swaying in the front. It’s not very big, but it looks happy and very cute.
“It looks like…” I angle my head and squint at the house. “A dollhouse. Or something in a Disney movie.”
She smiles and sighs longingly, her gaze fixed on the house. “I just adore it.”
I take a closer look, noticing the white porch that wraps around the front and the way the blue shutters on every window match the roof exactly. I see the porch swing and the brick steps leading up to the front door, and suddenly I can see the Kendall-ness written all over this sweet little building.
“Oh. I get it.” I turn to her, sliding my hand up her arm and feeling her silky soft skin under my fingertips.
“Get what?” She meets my gaze, her brows raised in question, but her mouth still wearing a radiant smile.
“It is a little dollhouse. It’s perfect. Am I wrong?” I nod toward the house, and she turns to look at it again. “Not too big, not too small. Impressive without being in your face. Every little detail down to the tiny boxes of plants in the windows…everything is just…right.” I touch her chin and turn her head toward me, inching forward and savoring the sexy part between her lips and the way she jolts at my touch. “You should buy it.”
She snorts. “It’s not for sale.”
“Bullshit. Everything’s for sale.”
“Not that house.” Her eyes darken as she looks down the street. “It belongs to this older retired couple, the Hoffmans. They live there now and have absolutely no intentions of selling. The house has apparently been in the family for several generations, and they’ve done a hell of a job renovating and updating it. It’s just beautiful. But they have four kids, so one of them will undoubtedly take this place, and the cycle will continue. No market, no selling, no dream house. I can admire from afar, though.”
I chuckle a little and eye her. “Damn. You’ve done your digging.”
“Are you surprised?”
“Not even slightly.” I take another glance at the house, picturing Kendall coming home from work and walking up those front steps or having a beer on the porch swing.
“It’s a Kendall house if I ever saw one.”
She smiles, and it’s bright and wide and contagious. “You know me so well,” she says, barely above a whisper.
I cock my head and tickle her nose with my lips. “Getting to know you is the most fun I’ve had in a long time.”
She looks up at me through thick lashes. “You don’t think I’m weird or obsessive or crazy?”
“Are you kidding? You strive for perfection. In literally everything.”
She looks down and laughs, soft and sweet and a little self-deprecating.
“Don’t get me wrong, though.” I touch my forehead to hers and give her a playful nudge. “I still think you’re batshit insane.”
“Shut up, Smoke.”
I hold her face with both hands and press my lips to hers. Fire and pleasure and passion rip
through me as I kiss her, my body pumping with blood.
She moans a little, arching her back and melting into the kiss. I grip her hair gently and part her lips with mine, slipping my tongue across her teeth and feeling her lean closer and beg for more.
My abs tighten, and every muscle in my body tenses with arousal. Jesus, it takes basically nothing for her to get me so turned on I can’t think straight.
“Andre,” she moans breathlessly, her lips touching mine and her hands getting more and more adventurous as they explore my body.
“I know, I know.” I swallow and try to catch my breath, which is seemingly impossible while her fingers send electric shocks as they get closer and closer to my dick. “We should take it slow,” I whisper, forcing myself to remember that she’s Kendall Collins. She’s special and different and…a virgin.
“Go down this street and make a left,” she whispers, panting between each word, clearly feeling the same hot, achy desire as me.
It doesn’t even occur to me to question her. I slam the gearshift into drive, following her directions and wondering how obvious my boner is.
“Down this road…” She wipes the corner of her mouth with her thumb. “There’s beach access. But it’s always totally empty. Especially this time of night.”
I turn the wheel and whip down the road, looking for something that resembles a beach parking lot and wondering just how dirty Kendall’s thoughts are right now.
“Here, right here.” She points at a small entrance through the palm trees. “Pull in.”
A smile slides onto my face as I bring the car to a stop in the corner of the dark parking lot. Over a wooden boardwalk, I can see the ocean with a big circle of moonlight dancing on it.
“Kendall Collins.” I draw out her name and unclick my seat belt, turning to her and placing my hand on her thigh. Not so tender this time. “What exactly are we doing here?”
Lust glints in her blue eyes, and she bites her lip, exposing a new and dangerous and wild and sinfully sexy side of her. “You were right,” she says softly. “We should take it slow.”
Confusion rattles through my head. “Yeah. Right, I—”
“For sex.” She gazes at me, her eyes wide. “Since I’ve never done it before. I agree that we shouldn’t just jump right in. It’s just that I…” She looks out at the water, chewing her lip as her chest rises and falls. “I really want to.”
I draw in a breath. “Yeah. Me fucking too. But waiting is good. Waiting is…right. Right?”
“Right.” She blinks.
“At least until after the Vikings game,” I say, my voice raspy as I force myself to think this through. “I don’t think I could bear to look your brother in the eyes.”
“Yeah, that’s…that’s a good idea.”
I look around at the setting, kinda wondering why the hell she told me to drive here if we were just going to decide not to do it.
“Okay.” I suck in another deep breath, still trying to cool myself off. “Then I’ll take you home…?” My voice trails off into more of a question.
“We should wait…for sex.” She says the words slowly, looking down at her lap and then quickly up at me. “But we can do…other things.”
The last words slide off her tongue and send a hot wave down my spine. I lean close to her with a playful and sarcastic gasp, sliding a hand down her slender back. “Oh? What do you have in mind?”
Without another word, she kisses me again, her confidence turning me on even more.
I hold her waist with both hands and feel her leaning and arching into me. In an easy movement, I pull her across the console and into the driver’s seat on top of me. I hold her hips and grind them against mine.
A sound of pleasure and thrill escapes her throat as I angle her head back and deepen the kiss. My body rocks against hers, and she runs a hand through my hair desperately.
My dick is harder than that new granite in my kitchen, and every push and pull of her against it just makes me harder. Blood pounds in my head as I slide my hands under her shirt, moaning a little at the pleasure of feeling her flawless boobs in my hands.
She arches her back, and her nipples get hard in my fingertips, making me pull in a sharp breath and tighten with arousal.
I pull my mouth off of hers and dip my chin low, kissing down the soft skin of her neck and into the little dips of her collarbone, drinking in every perfect inch of her.
Her head falls back, and I can feel her letting go more and more every second. Her hair is messy and sexy, and I feel like my hands can’t possibly be in enough places at once.
“Take this off,” I mumble, pulling her shirt over her head and throwing it carelessly onto the passenger’s seat. I unclip her bra, and she shimmies out of it.
She yanks at my shirt, giving me a dirty smile. “It’s only fair.”
I rip it off and thrust her body hard against mine, jolted by the surge of electricity and heat that explodes when my bare chest presses against hers.
“Jesus, Kendall…” I rasp, running my hands up and down her sides. “You look incredible.”
The moonlight casts a white glow on her skin, lighting up every slope and curve and painting her like a goddamn picture of perfection.
I make my way down her chest with my mouth, and she backs against the steering wheel and softly rocks her hips on me. Fire burns between us and builds more and more with every one of her soft moans.
I kiss harder as I reach her breasts, sucking on one and massaging the other.
Her chest rises and falls hard and fast against me, and I softly graze my tongue across her body, feeling her shudder and pant and beg for more.
I unbutton her jeans, quickly eyeing her to silently make sure that’s okay. Even with my head foggy with lust and my dick rock-hard, I have to remember that a lot of this is new to her.
And fuck. That just turns me on more.
I slide a hand into the front of her panties, gently touching her clit with one finger.
She gasps sharply, pushing hard against the steering wheel and spreading her legs wider on my lap.
“That feels…” She smiles, her head rolling to the side. “Really good.”
I suck in a breath and give her a half smile, pressing my forehead to hers as I gently slip two fingers into her.
“Holy shit,” I mumble, sliding them a little deeper into her center. “You’re so tight.”
“Shocker,” she slurs on something between a laugh and a moan, managing an eye roll.
I tease her more, rubbing her perfect, soaking-wet little spot and watching her shift and gasp and react.
“Andre…” she pants as I move my fingers faster and harder, holding her body against me and rocking it against my raging erection.
Her eyes are starry, and her body is like liquid, melting against me. Heat courses through my veins as she gets tighter around my fingers, everything hot and slick.
My abs clench, and my heart pounds hard as I watch her and feel her and drink her in. I can tell she’s close by the way she squeezes her legs around me and grinds her hips into my touch.
She clings to my shoulders, digging her nails into my skin. My entire body is on fire for her.
Everything stops as she comes, tightening around me and moaning my name and driving me absolutely fucking crazy.
“Holy…oh my…” She opens her eyes and meets my gaze, her hair knotted all around her and makeup smeared under her eyes. For once, she doesn’t try to fix any of it.
I kiss her, savoring the contagious heat of her pleasure.
She narrows her gaze, still catching her breath and studying me with a new kind of fascination. “You’re incredible.”
I give a cocky smile. “Only to you.”
Her eyes flash and spark. She bites her lip and runs her hands up and down me, tracing the lines between my abs and making me practically jolt every time her hands get close to my dick.
Suddenly, she unzips my pants and shifts her body so she’s sitting next to me, her ey
es wild and free.
My breathing picks up, and she wraps her hand around my aching boner, sending chills and heat and waves of need spiraling through me.
She slips her fingers into my boxers, teasing me to the point of actually losing my mind, before she finally dips her head down and touches her lips to the tip of my cock.
She’s blowing me. Of course she is. Because she’s fucking perfect.
Sixteen
Kendall
“Champagne for you and sparkling cider for this momma-to-be.” Desta holds up two bottles and waves them around, standing in the entrance to my apartment with a glowing smile.
“Yay.” I give her a hug and shut the door behind her. “I really need this girls’ night.”
“I’ll bet you do.” Desta waltzes into the kitchen and gets two champagne glasses out of the cupboard, giving me a knowing look. “You’ve been spending an awful lot of time with Mr. Testosterone himself.”
Warmth floods my cheeks as I walk up to her and shake my head. “Oh, would you stop?” I glance at the champagne flutes on the counter. “Are those the glasses from the back shelf? To the left of the pantry?”
I get a big eye roll in response to this. “Duh, Kendall. I wouldn’t dare even use the other, special, never-ever-ever-touch set of glasses because using them would tarnish their perfection.” She glares at me. “You act like I don’t know you backwards and forwards, girl.”
I grab the regular glasses before she pours anything into them. “Get the nice ones. We’re celebrating.”
Desta gasps and holds her hands to her pregnant belly. “We are?”
“Yes,” I assert with a nod, taking out my untouched Waterford crystal flutes. “The Esplanade House is going even better than planned, and I have a really good feeling about Mansion in a Month.”
She holds my gaze, joy brimming on her face. “Me, too, love.”
I walk back to the sofa and fluff the pillows, gently shifting them into place in the corners and straightening a throw blanket before sitting down.
“I’m glad you’re in a celebratory mood.” Desta walks over, her flowy black cotton maternity dress bouncing around her ankles. “Because I called this girls’ night for a specific reason.”
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