by Rebecca Shea
I head back down the hallway where I stop and peek my head in the office. It's got two glass French doors that lead into the square room. One entire wall has built in bookshelves and a built in desk. It's the perfect home office.
I scan the living room and kitchen again and make note that my dark furniture will fit perfectly in the space and complements the gray and white theme throughout. This might be the easiest decision I've made since deciding to move to Los Angeles.
Nick steps out front while I take one last look around, making mental notes of the space and things I'll need shipped from Phoenix.
After we step outside and Nick locks the door, I hear him shuffling behind me on the brick walkway. "So what do you think?"
"Perfect. It's everything I was looking for," I say as I spin around and am met face-to-face with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. I stumble momentarily because, for half a second, those words mean so much more than just the house I was looking at.
"I'm Kate," she says, her voice strong and secure. She holds her hand out to shake mine. She's tall with light brown hair that hangs just past her shoulders, and she’s wearing a navy blue dress and heels that put her at almost my six-foot-two. Confident. She's confident. I can read a woman by the way she carries herself, the tone of her voice, and what she wears.
I take her hand in mine and smile. "Sam. Sam Cortez. I'll take it." Again, those words mean so much more than just the house.
Her lips turn into a half smile, and she holds eye contact with me. She licks her lips and tilts her head before glancing over to Nick and then back to me. "Nice to meet you, Sam Cortez. Welcome home."
And my heart begins to beat again for the first time in eighteen months.
Chapter Two
Kate
"What do you mean you rented out your guesthouse?" Adam asks as he rests his butt on the side of my desk. "You always said you like being alone. You like the privacy and the quiet." His fingers grip the edge of my desk, and his dark brown eyes narrow a bit as he interrogates me. Adam is my best friend and coworker. I don't know what I'd do without him—even when he's bossy and controlling and bugs the hell out of me.
I shrug and sit back in my chair. "I don't know," I answer him softly. "I'm rarely there, so why not make some money off the back house. It was remodeled when they did the main house and now just seems like a good time to rent it."
"That really puts a wrinkle in your plan to live a solitary life with eighty-seven cats," he says sarcastically. I swat his arm. He feigns hurt but laughs at me.
"I hate cats." I roll my eyes at him.
"So who's the lucky renter? Your house is gorgeous and that yard…" He whistles. "It really is a great place, Kate. Just tell me you didn't rent it to someone off of Craigslist or one of those other sites. You know that's where mass murderers look for their victims, right? You're the classic case. Lonely career woman. Lives on the outskirts of town. Very few friends or family to check on her. I'm telling you, this person could off you."
I swat at him again.
"Or, God, please don't tell me you rented it to some frat boy who's going to have parties and fuck it up. Are you a cougar, Kate?" Adam looks ten years younger than his thirty-nine-year-old self, and his face pulls into a giant smile as he teases me.
"Adam!" I yell at him, and he hunches away from me.
He bends over laughing, and I glare at him. "I'm just sayin'." He raises his hands in surrender. "But for real, Kate. You have like two friends. You work all the time, which makes the rest of us look bad by the way…And who is this new roommate anyway?"
I raise my eyebrows and school him. "First. I have more than two friends, and second, he works for the ATF with my brother. So he's been properly background checked and has a stable job. It's a win-win."
"Rebuttal," he says, sitting up straighter and squaring his shoulders. It's what he does when he knows he's losing an argument. It makes him appear bigger, more confident. "One. You do have only two friends. Me and Kandi. And for the record, I've never met Kandi, so you might only have one friend—” He points to himself with a grin. “—me. Plus, anyone that spells their name Kandi with a K is probably working the pole at some seedy strip joint and only calls you on Tuesdays when she's not working."
"You're a dick," I grumble at him.
He smirks, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "We've already established this."
"Kandi is a stay-at-home mom who rarely has time to pee, let alone work the pole or meet me out for wine nights or club hopping, not that I do that at this age anyway." My clubbing days are long gone. That ship sailed years ago. I should be married, having kids, starting the 'next chapter' of my life, but instead of settling down with a man, I've settled into corporate life—and while I love my job, I'm lonely.
His shoulders fall. "I'm sorry, Kate. I'm just giving you a hard time, but seriously, this is shocking news coming from you. You're just so 'Kate'," he says softly. "You don't like people in your space, and I just feel like this decision is really sudden." He pauses, looking hurt. "And you didn't discuss it with me."
I blow a puff of air from my lips, causing them to make a sound. "You're my friend, not my mother. And it's a rental agreement, Adam. Not an arranged marriage. It's a smart business decision, and it'll be nice to have someone else living on the property."
"There's more to this story, Kate Stevens." His tone changes, and he winks at me as he pushes himself up from my desk. Adam starts walking away, but looks back over his shoulder to see if I'm going to respond.
"There's not," I holler at him. "Mark my words."
"Noted!" he says, laughing as he turns the corner and heads down the hall to his office. I pull up a contract I'm reviewing on my screen and get to work. Life as a corporate attorney is far from glamorous, but it's busy and it keeps my loneliness at bay.
* * *
I finally give up and shut down my computer for the day. The sun is just setting, and I'm feeling tired. I’ve been too easily distracted today, and I’m pretty sure it's the golden brown eyes and big smile that met me yesterday and will be moving into my guesthouse.
Nick startled me when I arrived home yesterday, but what startled me more was my instant attraction to Sam. Something in his eyes spoke to me without him saying a single word. He was tall with sun-kissed skin and golden brown eyes, far from what I was expecting to see when Nick told me his newest transfer Sam Cortez needed a place to rent.
I was expecting a middle aged balding ATF agent, not a fit, attractive man that you'd find on the beaches with a surfboard pressed to his side. His tailored suit hugged every muscle, and when he smiled his cheek formed the perfect dimple.
Taking a breath, I try to shake the thoughts of Sam from my head as I head to the elevators.
"Well, well, well…." I can hear the smile in Adam's voice when he sidles up next to me at the elevator. "Someone is leaving early tonight." He rocks back and forth from his toes to his heels as we wait for the elevator to arrive.
I want to smile at him calling me out, but I won't give him the satisfaction. "I always work late. I can leave on time today." I give him the side eyes.
He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me into the elevator with him.
"It's like I don't even know you anymore, Kate. What happened to my best friend?" he chides.
"She's still here. Just tired," I sigh.
"Are you still getting those headaches?" he asks, the conversation taking a more serious turn. His eyes search mine with concern.
"Sometimes. The doctor said not to worry, that it was probably just stress. He told me to relax and not work so hard," I chuckle and roll my eyes. I don't divulge that the doctor wants me to have an MRI, or that he's concerned with how intense the headaches have grown so suddenly.
"Well, then, I'm glad you're leaving on time tonight." He nudges me with his shoulder.
"Me, too." I smile at Adam. He's been my best friend since I started working here ten years ago. He's a confidant and a source of constant
entertainment for me, but more importantly, he genuinely looks out for me—no strings attached. He and I were inseparable until he met his now wife, Melissa. Our relationship has always been platonic, caring for each other in the brother-sister sense and nothing more.
"Are you able to grab lunch this week?" he asks as we walk to our cars.
"Yep. Block some time on my calendar." Adam and I have access to each other's calendars and often block time on each other's calendars just so we can catch up.
"I will. Have a good night, Katie. Relax and have some wine." He's the only person other than Nick that's allowed to call me Katie. I hate that name. I'm Kate. I've always been Kate. But for those two men, I give them a pass.
"I plan to! Say hi to Melissa and kiss that sweet little boy of yours for me, will ya?"
"Oh, you know I will." He grins at me.
Like I do most nights, I stop for takeout and bring it home to eat. Only most nights I continue to work while I eat, but tonight I'm taking the night off. I eat my Chinese takeout straight out of the containers on my back patio. The late summer air is bringing in slightly cooler nights, and there's a breeze that provides just enough movement to almost cause a chill.
Unwinding on my oversized outdoor chaise lounge that overlooks the pool, a blanket pulled over my legs, I finish my Kung Pao shrimp over rice and sip on a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio.
I glance across the yard to the guesthouse and wonder when Sam plans to move in. I emailed him a lease agreement but haven’t heard back, so I make a mental note to follow up in a couple of days if I don't hear before then.
Collecting my trash and the blanket, I head inside for the night. A bubble bath and a book will make this evening complete. My phone chimes, but I choose to ignore it, most likely work that can definitely wait until tomorrow.
Running a hot bath, I toss a bath bomb in the water and twist my hair into a bun on top of my head. Slinking into the hot water, my body and mind start to fully relax. Thoughts of Sam swim through my head, but I push him to the side, reminding myself that this is a professional relationship. He's a tenant. Nothing more. He's also Nick's employee, another reminder that this will never be anything more than a business relationship.
With that in mind, I finish my bath. When I’m done, I pull the plug and watch the water drain, along with any thoughts that Sam Cortez could be anything more than my tenant.
* * *
My alarm clock startles me and I hit snooze, which is totally unlike me. I'm professional, put together, and always on time. Always. Except today I'm exhausted. It took me hours to fall asleep last night as thoughts of Sam danced through my head. I doze back to sleep until I swear I hear my doorbell ringing. I manage to open one eye, and the clock reads seven o'clock in the morning. Panicked, I fly out of bed and down the hallway, not considering that I'm wearing nothing more than a thin white camisole and sleep shorts.
I fling the door open just as those same golden eyes I dreamt about meet mine for the second time this week. Only this time his eyes grow wide and his smile fades.
"I take it now is a bad time?" he says quietly, stepping away from me.
"Huh?" I ask, confused and still in a sleep induced stupor.
"To drop off the lease, but I had some questions…" He nervously twists a small stack of papers, presumably the lease, in his hands. "I sent you a text message last night. I said I'd stop by before work in the morning unless I heard from you not to." He tries to keep his eyes focused on mine, but I see them drop to my chest and then lower to my bare legs. I try to hide myself as best I can behind the large front door, but it's mostly glass and see-through so I'm doing a terrible job.
"I'll come back." He takes another few steps backward. "Tonight."
"I'm so sorry," I apologize, knowing what a mess I must look like. "I overslept."
He smirks.
"And I wasn't prepared for anyone—"
"Obviously. I'll come back tonight. What time is good?"
I can't even think straight. My heart is racing, and I'm doing my best to keep my composure. "I'll text you when I have a better idea."
"I'll be waiting." He turns on a heel and walks away, but not before glancing one last time over his shoulder with a grin on his face. I close the door and press my back against it, replaying the last twenty seconds and wanting to crawl into a hole and die.
* * *
"Kate, you need to get the hell out of here," Adam says, adjusting the strap of his computer case on his shoulder just outside my office door.
I'm frantically responding to one of our international attorneys regarding a foreign business acquisition. "You're still here, too," I remark and sigh loudly.
"Come on. Shut down. I'll walk you out." I sit back in my chair and tip my head backward, inhaling a deep breath.
"Okay," I give in. With fall just around the corner, it's getting darker earlier and the sun has already set, making it feel later than seven-thirty in the evening.
"I'm worried about you," Adam says quietly as he leans against the doorframe. "You work too much. You need a life, Kate." He raises his eyebrows at me sympathetically.
"You work too much, too," I counter quickly. "You have a wife and baby at home. I have nothing." There's a hint of sadness in my response.
"You don't have nothing, Kate, but you need to get out more. Spend more time with Nick and his family. You lost your parents, your only sibling lives less than forty minutes away, and you maybe see him twice a year, and that's if he comes to see you." Adam is a straight shooter. He'll tell you the hard stuff, but he does it with love and sincerity.
"Look,” he continues. “I was so happy you left early yesterday. I thought maybe you'd go home and set up a match-dot-com profile or something. You need to get out. You need a boyfriend."
I raise my eyebrows at him and purse my lips. "I don't need—"
"You do, Kate."
I let out another loud sigh, not wanting to argue with my best friend.
"Come over next weekend. We're going to barbecue. I'm going to have some friends from college over. Just come have a few drinks, relax." He waits for me to answer, and from the look on his face, he won't be taking 'no' as an answer.
I smile at him. "I will. That actually sounds fun."
"No work this weekend, promise?" he pleads with me.
"No work."
"Atta girl. Now let's go." He smirks.
I shove my laptop in my oversized purse and meet Adam at the door. He loops his arm through mine, and we walk through the dimly lit office.
"Why are we such overachievers?" he questions when he sees the empty office. Our coworkers cleared out hours ago. He nudges me with his shoulder and we laugh together.
"Because that's what we do," I respond sarcastically with an eye roll.
Chapter Three
Sam
My phone pings, alerting me to an incoming text message. I pull myself away from the research I'm doing on a new case and reach for my phone.
Kate: I'm home. Sorry about this morning. If this is too late, we can schedule another time to meet.
I glance at the clock on my office wall, and it's just after eight in the evening. It's time for me to get the hell out of this office anyway, so I quickly respond.
Me: Was just leaving work. Can be there in about thirty minutes.
Kate: See you when you get here.
I shut down for the evening and lock my office. It's been a long two days, and I'm not taking work back to the hotel with me tonight—there's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. I rub my eyes and gather my belongings, along with the lease for Kate.
It's unbelievable to me that at nearly eight-thirty there is still insane traffic on the L.A. freeways. I tap the steering wheel as I coast slowly toward the exit that will take me to Kate's house and my new home. A little after nine o'clock, I roll up the dark, tree-lined street, winding my way to the foothills. The only illumination comes from coach lights hung on houses and dim streetlights strategically placed every qua
rter mile along the neighborhood street. It's quiet, dark, and peaceful. It's perfect and calming, and I can't wait to move here.
I park and follow the lighted walkway up the middle of the front yard to the large glass door. Reaching for the doorbell, I pause when I see Kate standing in her living room. A glass of wine in one hand and her other hand brushing the spines of books on the bookshelf.
Her light brown hair with blonde highlights is piled loosely on top of her head, while a few long pieces that have fallen dance around her shoulders. With her lips pursed, her forehead wrinkles slightly as she studies each book carefully. Her toned curves are easy to see through the tank top and leggings she's wearing. Firm, lightly tanned skin peeks out just above the waistband of her leggings where her tank top rides up, and I wonder what it would feel like to brush my fingers across the span of her skin. All of it, not just her waist. My cock hardens in my pants, causing an ache in my belly.
Shaking the thoughts of Kate naked from my mind, I reach for the doorbell. The last thing I need is to look like a creep staring at her through the front door. I press the button and take a step back as I turn my attention to the dark sky. You can see every star out here, almost every constellation.
I hear the front door swing open, and I drop my head to find Kate smiling at me, a welcoming smile.
"Sam," she says my name like I'm an old friend. "Please, come in." She takes a step back and holds the door open.