Taydom
Elsie walked into my office looking like a wet dream come to life. A fitted navy top with white polka dots and a row of small buttons down the front showed more skin than I’d seen from her, and I liked what I saw.
A wide red belt was cinched around her waist, and a denim pencil skirt with low red heels completed the ensemble. Her hair was pulled back again, too. A high ponytail that left her face clear seemed to be her default style, and it suited her.
Her skin was smooth as porcelain, her cheeks were flushed, and her green eyes were bright as she closed the door behind her. There was a fifties, pin-up kind of thing going on with her today that was hotter than hell.
“I’m sorry I’m late, but you could have prepared me for the size of your building. I got lost trying to find your office. It’s huge.”
I pushed away from my desk where I’d been leaning with my arms folded while waiting for her. A smirk formed on my lips. “That’s what I like to hear.”
The flush on her cheeks deepened, but she didn’t back down. “Oh, so that’s what this is about. You got the big offices to compensate for something else. I get it. Don’t worry.”
I laughed, appreciating that she didn’t back away from banter. “I’m not worried. I have nothing to compensate for. I assure you. I’d offer to show you, but you can at least buy me dinner first.”
She lifted one of her hands and moved it around in a circular motion. “You have all this, and you want me to buy you dinner? I don’t think so, buddy.”
“Fine.” I let out an exaggerated huff. “If you insist, I’ll buy you lunch this afternoon. Let’s go.”
Leaving my jacket where it was hanging on a wooden stand in the corner, I moved toward the door. Elsie looked taken aback, a frown pulling her brows together. “Uh, where are you going? I thought you were just joking. We have a meeting here, right?”
“Yeah, but I thought we could talk outside of a business setting if that’s all right with you.” Uncertainty clouded her eyes and the corner of her mouth dipped in. “It’s not a big deal. I wanted to get something to eat anyway because I haven’t had lunch yet.”
Her chest rose and fell on a deep breath, but then she nodded. “Okay. Yes. Sure. Let’s go get something to eat.”
I wondered what the hesitation was about, but I didn’t ask. Instead, I waited for her to move toward the door. Then I opened it and followed her out.
Acting on instinct, my hand fell to her lower back and it was only when she stiffened that I realized what I was doing. Fuck.
What the hell was wrong with me? Whenever I was around this woman, I had these insane urges to touch her, and I really wasn’t a touchy-feely sort of person.
Before I took my hand away, I felt Elsie relax into my touch and even slow down a little like she didn’t want to lose it.
Now that’s more like it. “How do you feel about Mexican?” I asked when we had pushed our way through the revolving doors in my lobby and walked outside. “There’s a place near here that’s pretty good, but their food is on the spicier side.”
“I can do spicy,” she said confidently, flashing me a smile. “In fact, spicy is my favorite.”
Why does it sound like she’s talking about something else? I nearly groaned out loud but caught myself before it came out.
I shoved my hands in my pockets then, needing to stop touching her even in that small way and realizing that Andrew was right. I needed to get laid. Stat.
Too bad the only woman who had captured my interest in a while was this one, and she hadn’t even really wanted to have lunch with me. I doubted sleeping with me was on her agenda.
Why do I always have to want what I can’t have? I’d have to figure it out later because Elsie was looking at me with a questioning tilt to her head now, her eyes narrowed. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just zoned out for a second. Sorry.”
“Already bored of me?” she asked, her tone teasing but a hint of something else in her eyes.
“No.” The complete opposite actually. “I’m just hungry, and hearing you say spicy is your favorite made me lose concentration for a minute. Spicy is my favorite, too, and it was like I could already taste the flavors on my tongue.”
Not necessarily the flavors of food and not necessarily only hungry for just that either, but that didn’t make it any less true. Elsie chuckled and bumped her hip playfully against mine as we walked. “I totally understand. I take my food seriously as well.”
A flush appeared on her cheeks again, and I wondered what it was about. Once again, though, I didn’t ask. I definitely didn’t feel the same way about my other clients as I did about her, but it wasn’t like we were friends.
There were so many things I was curious about with her, but I didn’t want to pry. Prying meant she might return the favor, and I certainly still didn’t want that.
The smell of onion and cilantro met my nostrils when we walked into the small restaurant down the street from my office. Blue and orange walls and low lights hanging over the bar gave the place a Tex-Mex feel, and the vibe inside was almost homey.
Elsie released a contented sound beside me as we were ushered to a small table in the corner. She glanced at me. “It smells delicious in here. I’m suddenly glad that you were so hungry you decided not to do business in a business setting.”
“I figured you might be.” I took my seat after pulling out her chair for her, which earned me a surprised look. I shrugged. “What? I was taught manners once upon a time.”
The corners of her lips quirked. “You’re an enigma. Has anyone ever told you that?”
“All the time.” I flashed her a devilish smirk and sat back in my chair. “Okay, so tell me, what is it you’re looking for in a house?”
“Wow, straight to business, huh? Okay. Well, uh, I don’t need anything too big.” The emerald green of her eyes became a touch darker. “I’d like to have a guest bedroom, but it’s not a deal breaker if a place only has one bedroom.”
“Okay.” I drummed my fingers against my leg. “What else?”
“The most important thing is that it’s safe. I don’t want to have to feel like I’m risking my neck every time I stick my head out the door.”
“That makes sense.” A crazy idea started taking root in my head. I had no idea where it had come from, but now that it was there, I couldn’t shake it. “When we spoke the other day, you said you were taking a break from work while you finish school and that you weren’t sure where you were going to end up. Where are your classes?”
“Central U,” she said. “Why?”
“Fancy.” I whistled when she mentioned the name of the university she attended. She had to be really smart to have gotten in there. “I always wanted to go to college, but I got caught up in building the company. Central U was my dream once upon a time, though.”
“You seem to have done just fine without the education.” She smiled and lifted her brows. “I mean, it’s a great university but I don’t know how you could possibly have been more successful than you already are.”
“Yeah, I know, but acquiring more knowledge is never a bad thing.”
“True.” Elsie absently twisted the ring on her index finger. I’d noticed it was something she did when she was nervous or in thought. Considering the offer I was about to make her, it was nice to know that I’d learned at least a few real things about her.
“So, you think you can help me find a place?” she asked. “I know safety comes at a premium, and I’m willing to pay it.”
“You might not have to.” What the fuck are you doing? “I think I know of the perfect place for you. There isn’t a safer neighborhood in the city, and you’re in luck because it’s empty at the moment, so you could move in whenever you wanted to. It’s got two bedrooms, a full bathroom, and the property it’s on has a ton of amenities. There’s a pool, a hot tub, a wet bar, a gym, and even a wine cellar, though you’d have to make nice with the owner to get access to that.”
She s
at up straighter, eyes widening. “It sounds like it would cost a fortune, but I’m definitely interested. When can we go have a look at it?”
“Right now if you want to. It also doesn’t cost nearly as much as you’re probably imagining it would.”
“We could really go today?” Skepticism crept into her voice. “What’s the catch?”
“There is no catch. Let’s get some food. Then I’ll take you.” I grinned at her, but my mind was exploding with questions I couldn’t answer.
What I had just done was completely and utterly insane, and I had no idea why I’d done it. There was just something about this girl that fucking got to me.
The way she’d said the most important thing was for her to be safe, combined with her speech last night about just wanting to help people, had flipped some kind of primitive switch deep inside me. It brought out a part of me that wanted to keep her safe, to help the person who was dedicating her life to helping others. I’d also remembered what she’d said about that cottage the other day at the open house, and it just so happened that I knew of an even better cottage that was available.
It was crazy and completely unlike me, but what was done was done.
“You’ll take me?” she asked. “Like, you want me to go there with you in your car?”
“Sure. Why not? It would be stupid to take two cars when we could both fit into one. If we’re supposed to consider the environment before printing an email, I’m pretty sure we have to do the same thing before driving.”
“I don’t really know you.” Another ring twist as her teeth sank into her lips. “But you want me to drive with you and to go to a house with you alone? One that I don’t know the address of?”
It took me a second to realize what she was saying, and my jaw practically hit the table when I did. “Trust me. I have way more to lose than you think I do if I tried anything with you.” Like my mom cutting off my balls with a blunt butter knife, for one. “But if it makes you feel better, I’ll give you the address and you can text it to whoever you want.”
Her eyes darted between mine, but then she sighed. “Yeah, okay. I’ll go.”
Elsie didn’t look entirely convinced that it was a good idea, but at least she’d agreed. God, what was she going to do when she figured out that there was a catch to this place, and more specifically, was she going to run for the hills when she realized what it was?
Chapter 13
Elsie
The community Taydom drove me to after lunch was like something out of a novel. There was a heavy iron gate that guarded the entrance with some kind of intricate-looking crest on it. A security hut sat next to the gate in front of the thirty-foot-high walls that seemed to go on for miles on both sides of it.
Walls covered in ivy made the neighborhood look like some kind of country estate, and that alone immediately made me fall a little bit in love with it. I tried to imagine pulling up to this gate every day, knowing it was welcoming me home, and almost moaned out loud.
Taydom glanced at me as he pulled to a stop in front of it, a smug smile spreading on his lips. “Like what you see so far?”
“I love it.”
I didn’t see him press a button, nor did I see a guard, but the gate started sliding open without anyone questioning us. I arched an eyebrow at him, suddenly not so impressed by the amazing security.
“Does it open for anyone who parks here?”
“No.” He scoffed. “Getting access to this community requires just about everything short of a blood sample.”
“Then why did it open for you?”
“Magic.” He smirked and wiggled his fingers for effect before wrapping them around his steering wheel again and gunning it through the gate.
Behind the walls, the neighborhood was just as beautiful as it had appeared to me from the outside. The street we drove down was lined with trees that provided a dense canopy overhead. Kids cycled without a care in the world and waved at Taydom as we passed.
“Do you know them?”
“Nah.” He flicked his indicator on. “But people are friendly here.”
Houses started appearing once we were farther into the community, and they were exactly what I would have imagined manor houses to look like. There were no walls or fences, only impressive buildings with perfectly manicured lawns and hedges separating one property from the next.
“Is this an older community?”
He nodded. “It was one of the first upmarket neighborhoods that was developed as a gated community from the get-go. Most people who buy here stay in here until they’re carried out feet first.”
“And you said it wasn’t expensive.” I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. “This is beautiful, and it’s everything anyone could want safety-wise, but there’s no way I can afford it.”
“Trust me. You can.” He kept talking up the neighborhood as we passed through it. “As I’m not sure you noticed, we’re almost adjacent to Bishop’s Hollow. You mentioned the career opportunities there were good, so I figured you’d want to stay close by, even if the Hollow itself wasn’t for you.”
“Yeah, I’d love to.” I liked hearing him talk like this.
At first, I’d been a little freaked out about the prospect of driving with him alone and going to a house where no one knew I would be going, but the truth was that I felt safe with him.
My concern hadn’t really had anything to do with Taydom as an individual anyway. I’d never gotten a threatening or creepy vibe from him, but in general, I was wary of strangers. It might’ve sounded like more of a kid problem, but Mom had drilled it so deep into me how to take care of myself that I remained on high alert.
Now that she was no longer around and I was alone in the world, except for Beth, it seemed even more important that I didn’t make any decisions that could put me in danger. Mom would never forgive me if I did.
Maybe I was a bit of a scaredy cat, but I had no one else to look out for me. I had to look out for myself, and even though Taydom was apparently rich and famous in these parts, I didn’t know him.
Listening to him speak now, I realized it was silly of me to have been worried at all. It had been a knee-jerk reaction and not one he’d deserved. He was super professional and pointed out key points of the area to me until we reached what appeared to be the back of the community.
“You’re really good at what you do,” I said as he drove up a cobbled path leading up around the side of a mansion.
“It comes with the territory, but thanks.” He gave me a smile, then turned his eyes back to the road. Dense trees rose up on either side of us and a bright green lawn surrounded the massive house beside us.
“Why would there be a little two-bedroom place next to a house like this?” I asked when it became clear that the house he was taking me to had to be on the same property.
“It’s a guest house, but it’s not used very often, so the owner recently decided to rent it out.” He pulled to a stop in front of a single garage at the back of the property, next to what looked like a cottage. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”
The little house was far enough away from the main house for both parties to have privacy, but not so far away that it felt isolated or lonely here. A sparkling pool sat between the two structures, a massive, separate entertainment area beside it.
“I have to tell you, I think I’m falling in love here. Please tell me you weren’t kidding about it being affordable.”
“I wasn’t,” he assured me. “The owner isn’t renting it out for the money. More because it’s a gorgeous place and it doesn’t deserve to stand empty when there’s someone out there who might appreciate it.”
“I’m definitely appreciating it.” I followed him from the car along a path made of flagstones that led to the front door. Rose bushes grew beside the path and it even had a little fountain in the middle. “This is like something out of a fairy tale.”
“That was the idea when it was built,” he said with an edge to his voice that I didn’t under
stand. “Anyway, have a look. I know it’s not big, but you said you didn’t need big. There’s a kitchen, dining and living room, the two bedrooms and a bathroom between them, but that’s about it.”
“It’s perfect,” I breathed as he gave me the tour. It didn’t take more than a few minutes for him to show me the place, but I loved every inch of it. “I guess the only question left to ask is who owns the main house? What are they like?”
Taydom stopped walking when I asked the question, turning to face me with a sheepish grin spreading on his lips. The amber of his eyes practically glowed in the dappled afternoon sunlight shining in through the trees outside, and there was something bashful in them.
“Okay, so that might just be the catch.”
“Why?” I frowned. “Is it some old man who likes to sunbathe naked or a crazy cat lady who talks to her dead husband’s ghost?”
He laughed and dragged a hand through the dark brown strands of his hair. “No, thankfully not. To tell you the truth, it’s me. It’s my house.”
My breath caught and my eyeballs nearly popped clean out of my head. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” His eyes stayed on mine as he lifted his shoulders. “It’s everything you were looking for, isn’t it?”
“It’s the most perfect place I’ve ever seen, and I would love nothing more than to live in it, but why would you do this for me?”
“Like I said, it’s been standing empty and it deserves someone who loves it. As for why I’m offering it to you, it seemed like a good fit. I wouldn’t want to put you into a mortgage while you’re finishing your schooling, and finding a different place for you to rent when I’ve got this one just seemed redundant.”
My arms folded across my chest as I looked up at him, his broad shoulders squared and the tanned skin of his forearms rippling as he looped his fingers into his belt. “There’s something else to this. What is it?”
His chin came up as he stared at me down his straight nose, and a soft sigh finally parted his lips. “I remember what it was like to look for things with no help. You’re willing to dedicate your life to helping others, which isn’t something a lot of people would do. I’d simply like to offer you some.”
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