by Claire Adams
“This is fun.” He laughed.
“I think so,” I said with a smile. “I was thinking, maybe we shouldn’t wait on talking to Kayla about her room. That way, I have time to really make it as special as I can.”
“I agree,” he said. “She should definitely have input, and the more time we have to find her style, the better. That way if nothing else, she loves her room and can feel comfortable in it. She spends most of her time there these days.”
“Well, hopefully when the whole house is done, it will bring her out of her space, and she can be happy anywhere in the house,” I replied.
We walked together toward the stairs, and he let me go ahead of him. I could feel his eyes on me as I moved up the stairs, and I found that I really liked that feeling. That feeling of knowing that someone is desiring you, that someone is finding you attractive in ways you don’t even feel about yourself. I knew that I had done it to him more than a handful of times, but with the tides turned, it was extremely arousing. I pushed the thought from my mind as we made our way down the hall to Kayla’s room. Ryan knocked and walked inside, and I followed behind him. He sat down next to her on the bed, and I looked around the room.
“So,” he said, looking at Kayla. “I hired Alissa to redecorate the whole house to give us a fresh start. We thought that it was really important that you give us your input on how you want your room to be. I want you to feel at home, and I want you to start brightening up a bit. This is your house and my house now, and it can be anything we want it to be.”
“She’s the decorator with all the plans,” Kayla snipped, nodding toward me. “She is going to do whatever anyway, so what’s the point?”
“That’s not true, Kayla,” I said, stepping forward. “I want your room to be yours. I value your opinion very much. You are already a very talented decorator, and I think if we put our minds together, we could come up with a really amazing room for you.”
“All right,” Kayla sighed. “Tell me what you think.”
“No,” I replied. “Tell me what you think. I want to know what you envision.”
“Well,” she said, standing up. “I have given this quite a bit of thought, actually. I want to get rid of all the baby stuff, including the dresser and bed. I’d really like to have a queen-sized bed with posts, like the one in Dad’s room. I’d like to have a dresser and then start hanging a lot of my stuff in the closet. I would like to see cubby holes for my notes and drawings, a desk for drawing, and then a computer desk for homework and stuff.”
“I like that,” I responded. “What about colors?”
“I like dark blue, and I like pink,” she said. “Maybe the walls could be dark blue.”
“Well, if you do the walls dark blue, the room is going to look a lot smaller,” I replied, trying to steer her away from the cave she was building. “What we could do is do a neutral color on the walls and accent that with different colored square cubby shelves. Those can be attached right over your desks so you can store things in there but not take a bunch of your floor space up. Then you could do a bedspread on your bed that has those colors in it. Maybe like a blue and pink paisley print. We have lots of ones you can look at and choose from.”
“Okay,” she said, nodding.
“And, if it’s okay with your dad, since he is getting all new furniture in his room, you could take his furniture. It would reuse the existing stuff but be exactly what you described. We could even take your closet out a few more feet and make a small walk-in for you.” I opened the closet door. “Then you would have all the space you could ever want for your stuff. We could put in a set of speakers so you could listen to your music, too.”
“Wow,” she said in amazement. “I really like that idea. Dad?”
“I’m perfectly fine with that.” He smiled.
“Yes,” she said excitedly. “What about pictures?”
“What were you thinking?”
“Well, there is one painting downstairs that I would really like to have, and then I was thinking of pictures I’ve taken with my phone, framed like a collage,” she explained, holding up her hands to the walls. “Like all framed and hung properly but easy to get to so I can change them out whenever I want to.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” I said, picturing what she was talking about.
I stood back and watched as Kayla excitedly walked around the room, her imagination taking shape around her. She was really pretty good at this decorating stuff, and I was impressed that I didn’t have to talk her down from a pink tutu room. She was only 7, and I could tell she wanted to be older, but I could also tell that she wanted a space where she could read, write, draw, and all the things she was so passionate about but had let go since her mother left. It made me feel optimistic thinking that this new space could inspire her to start moving forward instead of standing still like her and her father had been doing for months now.
It was the first time that Kayla had actually warmed up to me, and I really liked it. She had stayed at an arm’s length since I met her, keeping her guard up because I wasn’t her mother. I tried to understand how she must be feeling, and there were moments as a kid that I just wanted to be around my father, but she looked like her excitement and passion had opened up a small window of opportunity for her and me to begin building some sort of relationship. What that relationship was going to be, I didn’t know, but at that point, I would have taken any type of relationship with her.
I looked over at Ryan, who was leaned against the doorframe, smiling as he watched Kayla prance around the room. He looked really happy about how Kayla had opened up, and I was relieved that he was willing to let her have that furniture. It was important that she kept the good parts of her mother close to her. I knew that throwing them away with the rest wouldn’t solve anything for her. She continued on for another few minutes and then decided that she was going to get on her computer and plan it out on her new software system.
“I’ll be back tomorrow,” I said to her as she walked over to her bed. “You can show me your workup, and we can go online and start ordering everything for your new room. Does that sound good?”
“Yes,” she said excitedly.
I went to turn but stopped as Kayla jumped up off the bed and ran over to me, pausing for a moment before throwing her arms around my waist and hugging me tightly. I ran my hand over her head and leaned down, hugging her back. The warmth in my chest was almost too much, and I had to hold back tears that were pulling at the corners of my eyes.
It wasn’t the fact that she was opening up to me. It was the fact that I was getting to see Kayla act like a normal 7-year-old for the first time ever. She seemed like she was carefree and worry-free for several moments, which was exactly what she should be. I was so glad that I could make this little girl smile in the midst of all the drama and heartache that she was going through. This job was personal to me, but it was also the best one that I had ever taken. I was changing people’s lives through my skills, and they were two people that I desperately cared about.
Kayla let go and ran over to her bed, pulling her laptop into her lap. I smiled and backed out of the room into the hallway, feeling like a million bucks. Ryan walked quietly ahead of me, and I followed him down into the kitchen. I stood there for a moment, watching him pace with a smile on his face. He must have been feeling the same exhilaration from Kayla’s response that I was. He walked over and wrapped his arms around me, squeezing me tightly as I laid my head against his chest. He pulled away and stepped back, shaking his head and still smiling.
“That is insane,” he said in disbelief. “That is the happiest I have seen my daughter since before the divorce. I mean, I knew that this would help her, but I didn’t realize that it would jumpstart that beautiful little soul inside of her. She is truly happy about this whole thing. I can’t even begin to tell you how ecstatic I am to have brought you into our lives. You truly have made a huge difference.”
“Aww,” I said, moved by his words. “Kayla’s
hug was all I needed to remind me how important all of this is to you and her. She has really made an impact on my life, and that hug was like the best thing that has ever happened between her and me. Maybe she will begin to be herself again, and maybe she and I could actually have a relationship. Thank you, Ryan.”
“Thank me? For what?”
“For bringing me into your lives.” I laughed.
“You seriously have the biggest heart ever.” He chuckled. “You are the one that is saving Kayla and me. We should be thanking you.”
“Well, let’s just say that maybe we are saving each other,” I replied, my cheeks blushing.
“I think you might be right,” he said, looking over at me.
If the hug didn’t do it, that sultry stare did. I was in way over my head, but I didn’t feel like I was drowning at all. In fact, I felt more comfortable at that moment than I had my entire life.
Chapter Eleven
Ryan
When I decided to redecorate, I was more than happy to volunteer my time, especially since it meant I would get to spend time with Alissa. One thing that I completely neglected to realize was the fact that in order to transform the house, I would first need to get all the old stuff out. Alissa showed up bright and early, right after the school bus had taken Kayla off to school. Kayla wanted to stay and help so badly, which made me feel better, considering she wasn’t taking the redecoration too hard. When Alissa arrived, she was carrying two cups of coffee and was more awake than I was on my best day. She came bopping through the kitchen, smiling at me as she laid out her plan of attack. I grumbled into my coffee with sleepy eyes and smiled as she looked up at me with her hands on her hips.
We spent the entire day moving everything out of the house for the truck to pick up. She had arranged for a custom shop to pick all of our old things up, minus the art, and have it put on consignment at their shop in the city. The art was actually quickly scooped up, and I mean quickly, as in hours after she left the day before, by a dealer out of Phoenix who was planning on holding a show with all the pieces. They purchased all of it outright so that we wouldn’t have to deal with the show and commissions. They were pretty positive they would sell every single piece almost instantly. I was just glad to get rid of it all, except the piece that Kayla wanted. When we were done moving everything out and stripping the curtains, she went to her car and brought in several boxes containing new curtains, shelves, and everything else I could imagine.
We decided to order all new cabinets for the kitchen because it was quicker and pretty close in price, so the guys were there to take measurements for that and the granite. It was pretty much a circus in the house, but I appreciated that she wanted to expedite the process so that we wouldn’t have to live in a construction zone for very long. She put me to work hanging shelves, and even though I was more than happy to oblige, I couldn’t seem to keep my concentration focused on the task at hand. Alissa looked fucking amazing, with a form-fitting tank top, short cutoff shorts, a sweater tied around her waist, and Chuck Taylors. Her body looked even sexier than I had imagined before, and every time she walked past, I seemed to not be able to keep myself from falling into a lustful trance. I knew I needed to be a little more mannerly about the whole thing, but her curves were killing me, and I really wanted to take her right there on the ladder.
As she turned back around, I looked away, going back to focusing on the shelf I was screwing into the wall. I realized very quickly that I had screwed it in lopsided, and I shook my head, reversing the drill and pulling them back out. I could feel Alissa walking up behind me, and I could hear the light giggle coming from her throat.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” I chuckled. “I guess I got distracted.”
“Come on down,” she said, reaching her hand out. “Let’s eat some lunch, and then we can continue. We’ve been killing it this whole time.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
We went down, and Alissa fixed us a couple of sandwiches and some chips for lunch. We sat in the kitchen, staring around at the boxes of dishes and such that we had pulled from the cabinets. It was a bit of a mess, but I knew within a few days to a week, it would look so much better.
“So,” I said, looking over at her. “How did you get into interior design?”
“Well,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I thought, ever since I was Kayla’s age, that I wanted to be an architect, designing skyscrapers that reached the clouds. I really liked the design aspect of the whole thing. However, as I went deeper into those classes, I realized architecture isn’t as glamorous as they make it seem, and I started drifting toward interior design because I liked the artistic side of things. The part where you create the life of the building, not just the structure itself.”
“So, did you switch your major?”
“I did,” she said, nodding her head. “And when I got out of school, I landed an internship with Wyatt Interiors. It was really an eye-opener since it is such a large firm, but I realized I’d rather work for myself. So, after the internship, I forged out on my own and haven’t looked back ever since. I mean, I really love having my own business. It was stressful at first, before I got my first real client, but I had been doing free gigs privately while working for the firm, so I had been able to develop a portfolio. It only took me about a month to get my first paying gig. It was a baby nursery, and I was so damn excited. It was probably the most in-depth decorating I have ever done.”
I laughed, remembering my first gig. “My first job was like overkill, too. The people were so impressed that they posted my work on Pinterest and everywhere else. I realized quickly that spending that much time on one gig was going to be impossible in the future, but I am proud of what I did there.”
“Did you always want to be a landscape architect?”
“I didn’t, actually,” I said, chuckling. “I have a degree in computer programming and did that for a quite a while, but it was so boring, and financially, there was a definite cap unless you invented something cool, like the iPhone. So, one day, I said screw it, and I quit. I started working random jobs to see what I was really interested in, and lo and behold, I fell in love with landscaping. I took some classes at the college and then started my own company. The portfolio work I did was mostly for friends and family, but it did the trick for sure.”
“Wow, that’s quite the risk to take,” she said with wide eyes.
“Well, I had been really good with money, and computer programmers do pretty well, so I gave myself a time limit. If I didn’t find anything by then, I would go back into the programming business. It didn’t take me long to realize where my passions were, and luckily, Christina and I had plenty of money left over to start the company and get it off the ground. She was involved for a little while, but once Kayla came along, she stopped working and just handed it over to me.”
“Is there any issue with that now?”
“No,” I said. “When we got divorced, the judge gave me everything. She didn’t even show up for the hearing. She knew she wasn’t getting jack shit after leaving the two of us.”
“Good,” she said with a head nod. “It was your brainchild, anyway.”
“That, my friend, is very true,” I said, pointing a chip at her. “It’s funny, though. I hated being at a desk all day as a programmer, but about two months into summer here, I can’t wait to get to the slow season so I can get out of the weather.”
“I can imagine,” she said. “I always hate when I have to decorate a home that hasn’t been moved into yet or is just being built. They keep the temps either stifling or freezing cold in the winter to save money and electricity. I had to put it in my contract that when we were on-site working, we were allowed to keep it a comfortable temperature.”
“Speaking of comfortable temperatures,” I said, realizing that it had nothing to do with what I was about to say. “Actually, no, not temps, but time. Kayla will be home soon, so we should get back at it.”
“Yes,” she said, standing up and carrying her plate to the sink.
We continued our day, finishing up the shelves in the spare bedroom and then deciding to go ahead and hang the curtains since that room wasn’t getting any major carpentry work done. I watched Alissa climb up on the ladder, her long legs and round ass tight as she steadied herself at the top. She turned and looked at me. Her cheeks blushed, and her eyes darkened. The sun cast shadows across the room from the window, and I tried not to stare at her hot body as she reached up and drilled the curtain rod into both sides. She got down and pulled the curtains onto the long rod as I sat down on the bed and waited for her to be finished. It was the last thing for us to do that day, but I wasn’t ready to leave her alone just yet. She was incredibly sexy, and I couldn’t seem to get enough of her.
As she stepped up onto the ladder and lifted the rod into the air, the stepladder wiggled underneath her. I stood up to go stabilize it, but before I could, she tripped on the fabric, falling backward. I leaped forward and held out my arms, scooping her into them and pulling her close to my body. The ladder fell to the side, and the curtain rod crashed to the floor. She was breathing heavily and clutching my chest with her hands. I could smell the warm scent of lavender from her hair as she laid there in my arms.
Slowly, she picked her head up and gazed into my eyes, the heat between us hotter than ever. Our lips were so close to each other’s that I could feel her breath against my face. She gazed up at me, her chest heaving and my heart beating rapidly in my chest. I squeezed tightly to her body as I began to lower my head to hers.
“Dad,” Kayla yelled from downstairs as I heard the front door slam shut. “I’m home.”
I stopped moving and pulled my head back, the moment completely shattered. Alissa chuckled nervously and pulled her hair out of her face as I carefully set her back on the floor. I reached down and grabbed the curtain rod and reached up, placing it on the holders. She shook her head and laughed as she picked up the stepladder and closed it, leaning it against the wall.