He shrugged. “No one important. Do you want the place or not? If you want it, you can move in here this afternoon. We’ll get you checked out of the hotel and settled in. Then we can go look for storage for your furniture.”
Selena knew a trick when it was coming at her at full speed. Not to mention, she’d gotten to know him a bit over the course of the afternoon. He was stubborn and intuitive, arrogant but with a sweet, protective side. And he was hiding something. Something important.
Turning, she face him full on, looking up into his eyes to try and determine what he was hiding. “Reid, who lives in that house behind the pool?”
He watched her for a long moment, not giving anything away. “Technically, this house is behind the pool.”
She rolled her eyes, trying for patience. And trying not to laugh at his stubborn refusal to answer the question. “You’re splitting hairs.”
His hand moved up, a finger curling around one of her dark locks. “You really are beautiful, Selena.”
She pulled away from him, not believing him for a moment. “I’m not beautiful in any way, Reid. And you’re avoiding the question.”
His eyes sharpened. “You’re kidding, right?”
Selena’s heart froze and everything inside of her tightened with dread. Memories of past dates, the tricks and the taunts, the hope crushed under the cruel heel of men who…had hurt her more than she’d ever admit out loud. “Don’t do this, Reid. If you don’t want to tell me who lives there, then we’ll leave it at that. But don’t play with me.”
Pushing away from the column he moved closer to her. His voice softened and she struggled to resist the sincerity and concern in his eyes. “Selena, who told you that you aren’t beautiful?”
She crossed her arms over her chest. This was not a conversation she was going to have with Reid. He was muscular and smart, funny and confident; everything she’d always wished she could be. He walked through life knowing that he could have and do anything. Reid Jones was one of “them” while she…wasn’t. She’d been the girl left at home every homecoming. She’d been the girl that…well, prom night wasn’t something she thought about. Ever! It was so cliché, but she didn’t care. People joked about their prom nights, about the things that went wrong, laughing at a dress strap that broke, or how they’d imbibed too much. Or whatever. But they’d never experienced the crushing pain of…the pain of being humiliated.
Turning away from him, she stomped towards the front door. “Fine! I’m calling a cab. This conversation is over.”
Selena moved away from him, ready to storm out of the beautiful house and leave him to himself. She had a phone and cash. A cab could take her back to the hotel and she’d just…
She didn’t make it two steps before his arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her right back in front of him. “What the hell, Selena! You don’t really believe that, do you?”
She tried to pull away, but he wouldn’t allow it. So instead, she stood there, trembling with fury.
“High school,” he guessed.
Those two words pulled at the wounds inside her. Her chin went up, trying to hide the pain from her past. “What about high school?” she asked defensively.
“It wasn’t a good time for you, was it?”
She shrugged dismissively. “I was always on the honor role. It wasn’t so bad.”
He gave her The Look. “You know what I’m asking.”
“Reid, my past is gone. I love my life, but I’m not living here.”
“Why not?”
“Because this is your house, isn’t it?”
“No,” he came back with a completely straight face.
She squinted suspiciously up at him, her eyes showing her disbelief.
He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I live there,” he admitted, pointing to the house on the other side of the pool. “But only my annoying younger brothers use this house. Or one of them. Brant has his own place now so only Mack, my youngest brother, uses it. It was supposed to be just a pool house but the previous owners made it into a guest house so now, whenever Mack comes into town, or my baby sister, they use the house.” He shrugged. “But my sister married some guy far away and the house is too small for her, her husband and her…the others that travel with her,” he explained mysteriously. “My other two brothers,” he shrugged, “one of them stayed here until his house was built, but Brant now lives on the other side of Denver. You’ll meet him later this week. He’s the COO of the company and a financial genius. Also a pain in the ass, if you ask me,” he grumbled. “My other brother is a sheriff that lives in a tiny town in the mountains where he can do whatever strikes his fancy. But I usually have to go to him if I want to see him. He says that the city is too crowded. But if he comes to town now, he stays either in the main house with me or with my brother.” He moved closer, his strong hands holding onto her waist once again. “Which is probably a better idea. Why not…”
“Don’t even go there!” she laughed, relieved that he was being honest with her now. “There’s no way I’m moving into your house.”
“Why not?” he teased, liking the idea more by the moment. If she lived with him, he might be able to understand her a bit more.
“Because I need my own place,” she asserted. “And…”
“Fine. Then you’ll move in here. It’s your own place. It has locks, a separate key, and everything you could possibly need.”
“No.”
He laughed, enjoying her stubbornness. “I’m going to win on this, you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not falling for your charm, Reid. You don’t offer your guest house to all the new employees of Rembrandt Cosmetics. I’m not going to be the first. It will be a trend that you can’t sustain.”
He shrugged and moved closer. “I don’t want to kiss all of the new employees of Rembrandt Cosmetics,” he said, his voice becoming deeper. Huskier. His eyes dropped lower, looking at her lips.
She stepped back, her mind going blank as heat flared low in her belly. “You don’t…! I can’t…!”
He smiled slightly. “Not yet. But soon you will feel comfortable around me and we can explore this tension between us.” He stepped back, giving her space to breathe. “In the meantime, let’s go get your stuff from the hotel so that you can settle in. I’ll have my assistant arrange for a storage unit for your furniture.”
Chapter 4
The cool air drifted around her, but it no longer chilled her. The chilling effect had stopped about two miles ago. But she wasn’t stopping. It felt too good to be out here, feeling the air and admiring the mountains in the distance. This was living, she thought, thrilled that she’d actually taken the leap to move out to Colorado.
Thankfully, Reid hadn’t allowed her to wobble on making the decision. She smiled as she rounded another corner, the mountains hidden behind the buildings and the trees. No matter, she thought, pushing herself harder. Down a few steps and she was on the Cherry Creek path. The water was low at this time of the year, but it still moved beside the pathway. She loved jogging this trail, listening to the trickle of the water. It seemed that everything in Denver invigorated her lately! Including the man who lived on the other side of the pool.
Flashes of his eyes yesterday haunted her and she wanted to laugh. Reid wanted to kiss her. Was he kidding?
Selena had no idea and, at this point in the morning, she wasn’t going to worry about it. Right now, she was going to revel in the flirtations of a handsome man, knowing that nothing could come of the flirtations. Reid was her boss and neither of them would dare to mess with that issue. It was too…wrong. A relationship with her boss would create too many problems. Too many complications.
But still…
It was nice to think about, even if she’d never dare to follow up. Nor would Reid ever push her in any way. Instinctively, she knew that and respected him more for it.
“You’re going to kill yourself with this pace,” a deep voice came from behind her.
/> She stumbled but, thankfully, caught herself in time. “What are you doing out here?” she asked as Reid jogged up beside her.
“I run this trail three or four times a week. I like Cherry Creek, and at this time of the morning, there aren’t too many runners out here.” He pointed up ahead at a runner coming towards them and they both moved to the side, letting the other person pass them.
“So, do you need help moving your stuff into the guest house?” he asked.
Selena smiled, thinking he was persistent and charming. “Who says I’m moving into your guest house?”
He laughed and she wondered how he had the breath to do that while running.
“I do. And you know that it’s a better place than you’ll ever find. More space and better rent.”
“I decided last night that I’ll take you up on your offer to stay in your guest house, but only because I want to find a house to rent instead of living in an apartment. So this move will only be temporary.” They rounded another corner and jogged up a flight of stairs. “You were right about wanting more space. Until you showed me your guest house, I’d never thought about living in an actual house. But I like the idea.”
“Wait, could you repeat that first part?”
She laughed, rolling her eyes. “You were right,” she repeated.
He laughed. “Words to live by, my dear.”
She chuckled and they moved to the side again as another runner passed by them. “I’m sure you’re right about a lot of things.”
“That’s smart of you to acknowledge,” he replied, causing her to chuckle again. “So when will you move in?”
“I’ll do it as soon as I can. The hotel you put me in is too expensive.”
“Don’t worry about the hotel expense. I’ll just tell Brant that it’s for strippers and he’ll approve the cost.”
Selena stumbled slighted, but recovered gracefully. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
He winked at her. “Brant, my brother. He’s really into strippers.”
They continued jogging for several more minutes while she absorbed that information. “Are you talking about the serious, stern man in the sharp business suit with the office on the other side of the floor from you?”
“The one and the same. He’s the boring one. I’m the charming one.”
She laughed, shaking her head. She didn’t have the breath to jog while laughing this hard. “Your brother is too serious for strippers.”
“He has you fooled. Which is normal.”
“Normal?”
“Yeah. He makes everyone believe that he has a stick up his ass, but don’t let him even pass by a strip club. He’d be…”
She gave up trying to run completely, she was laughing too hard. Bending over to catch her breath, she waved a hand to stop whatever he might say next. “Stop,” she gasped. “No more. Your brother is too serious to be interested in strippers. Besides, you’d never even bring up the subject of strippers in your brother’s presence.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised at what I’d do to annoy my brother,” he told her as they started back up and continued their run, heading back to the hotel now. “We were obnoxious kids growing up. And don’t forget, we had a baby sister who needed to be subjected to brotherly hell on a regular basis.”
“I can’t imagine what the two of you might have done to your sister. I shudder with horror at the possibilities.” They turned a corner, heading back the way they had come.
“I have two brothers, so there were three of us giving her grief,” he corrected. “I’m the brains, the talent, the intelligence, and good looks in the family. Brant, the COO, is the middle brother and Mack is the youngest, but still older than my sister, Giselle. Mack is the one who lives up in the mountains and thinks he can control the world.”
She turned to look up at him. “And you don’t?”
He winked at her again as they slowed a block away from the hotel. “Oh, I don’t think I can control the world,” he told her, his voice husky and soft as the cool morning air.
She peered up at him, hearing the unspoken end of his sentence. He didn’t think he could control the world. He knew it. And she didn’t doubt him, she thought. The fact that she’d agreed to move into his guest house instead of renting an apartment was proof of his influence.
“So when are you moving in?” he asked again, bringing them back around to the original topic.
Selena stretched her calves, leaning against the building as she pressed her heel into the sidewalk. “The moving company arrives with my stuff in a couple of days. If it is convenient, I’ll move out of the hotel tonight after work and…”
“I’ll pick you up and help you get settled,” he finished for her. “I’ll even make dinner.”
She opened her mouth to argue but he stopped her with his next statement.
“By the way, I sort of have a cat.”
Selena blinked, not sure she understood. “How does one ‘sort of’ have a cat?”
He shifted on his feet and looked up towards the building. “Well, he…or she…just showed up one day and just…stayed.”
Selena watched, trying to figure out what he wasn’t telling her. “I love animals. Especially cats. I’m not allergic, thankfully, but I appreciate the warning.”
Did his shoulders relax somewhat? Was he worried she wouldn’t like his pet? That seemed ridiculous. He was so confident, why would he worry about a cat?
“Thing is, the cat…he…uh…” he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, shaking his head slightly. “He shows his appreciation in…uh…well, when he likes you, he gives you presents.”
“Your cat leaves you presents in the form of dead rodents as an offering of love. Is that what you are awkwardly trying to tell me?” she asked, trying to stop the smile at the idea of this big, powerful man defending perfectly normal pet behavior.
“Yes. He brings me presents in the form of various…wildlife.”
“That’s very sweet of your cat. You must be a kind owner. Cats only do that when they feel the need to pay back what you’ve done for them or out of love.”
He chuckled. “I don’t do anything for the damn cat, Selena. Trust me, he fends for himself.”
“You don’t feed your cat?” she asked, ready to head to the store.
“Of course I feed him. But…I have no idea what I do to deserve all of the presents he brings me. I’m not saying I’m going to do anything differently, just wanted you to be warned.” Before she could reply, he stepped back. “I have meetings out of the office today so I won’t see you, but I’ll pick you up here after work. Say six o’clock?” A moment later, he jogged off, heading towards his house, which was another few miles away.
Selena didn’t have a chance to reply because he was off again. For a long moment, she just stood there, admiring his…um…technique. Yes, his technique. Definitely not his butt. Or his shoulders. Even though both were exceptionally fine! For a man who sits in an office for twelve or more hours a day, Reid Jones was…impressively muscular!
Chapter 5
Selena lugged her suitcase into the bedroom, still feeling guilty about living here, but admitting that the luxury was amazing! Only a few weeks, she promised herself. Reid would eventually get sick of her being around, but this reprieve would give her enough time to find something she liked. Something that was close in to the city, had good shopping nearby, and wasn’t painfully small.
The man was going to take her rent money though! She was going to be firm about that. She’d give him a check and, if the man didn’t cash it, she’d figure out how to get him the cash. She wasn’t going to mooch! No way. Her pride simply wouldn’t allow it.
Standing in the middle of the room, she looked around, wondering where she should put her clothes. She didn’t really want to put them into the dresser. That felt too much like moving in. And since she wasn’t really moving in, just staying here until she found her own apartment, the dresser just felt wrong.
Closet?
&n
bsp; Walking down the hallway, she realized that the walls held hidden closet space. Lots of closet space! Opening up the wooden doors, she realized that there were even hangars inside. Padded hangars! Good grief! She was used to buying the plastic hangars one could get at Target…something like twenty for five dollars. These beauties were probably twenty dollars each!
She lifted the stack of dresses and suits that were hanging from the metal bar on the moving box. The suits were hung on plastic hangars that worked perfectly well. No need for luxurious, padded hangars, she thought with a huff as she hauled everything to the closet nearest to the bathroom. Back and forth, she pulled everything out of the wardrobe boxes. At her last apartment, her clothes filled the closet. Here, her clothes barely filled up half of one of the three closets on one side of the hallway!
Having never really been in a relationship per se, she hadn’t actually thought about what it would be like to live with a man. The idea of having a man dressing right next to her…and if that man were someone…oh, who looked like Reid…yeah, that would be amazing! And fun! She could just picture him coming out of the shower, a towel wrapped around his lean waist…or no towel would be even better…pulling on those dress slacks and a tailored shirt. Such a shame, covering up those shoulders!
Selena giggled, walking back to another box, picturing Reid walking into a meeting with nothing on. Nothing to spoil the view of his amazing body as he conducted the meeting.
“Nothing would get done,” she said out loud, taking an armful of sweaters and…what to do with sweaters? At home, she stored them in a drawer. Eyeing the dresser, she wondered…perhaps it wouldn’t be too bad to put them there. Just for now. She needed them at night, but the days were too hot for them. Looking down at her sweaters, she realized that she might need to get different kinds of sweaters. These were pullovers in wool and…one or two in cashmere she’d found at a deep discount last spring. She hadn’t worn those because it was still summer, but once it was cold, she was pulling those babies on!
Jeans, leggings, summer shirts…all went into the various drawers and she was starting to feel a sense of accomplishment. Shutting the drawer, she turned around and…panicked!
The Billionaire's Challenge Page 5