Chapter Nineteen
Tucker
I’m falling deeper for this woman with every second she goes on about this house.
Talking about architecture has always made Lexi light up in a way I’ve never seen on anyone else. Not even me when I used to talk about my NFL dreams as a young kid. It makes her so genuinely happy and paying an arm and leg for this place was worth every goddamn penny to see that smile on her face as she talks about freaking fireplaces, of all things.
"In your designs, did you want to change anything on this floor?" I ask.
I’m still following behind her as she looks back and forth at every design aspect, walking slowing through the house and using her arms in broad strokes to explain her design ideas. As if whipping her arms around will help me better visualize taking out an entire wall in the kitchen. Nope, I don’t see it but I don’t need to, because I trust her, and because if all goes planned, this will be her house to design however she wants.
"I always thought that having a family room would be a nice feature. Especially for a young family. If I had bought this house, I would split the den into two equal parts. The back piece would have an entry through the kitchen, and it would be used as a playroom for the kids. Convenient for a family to cook and play together in the evenings. I could keep an eye out on the kids when I made dinner..."
She stops and pulls back like she thinks she’s overstepping imagining herself here. How wrong she is to think any other woman but her would be having children in this house.
"… but that’s specific to what I envision. Most people would prefer to have the large den."
"For a young family, it seems like that would make sense. A place where things can be a little messy and crazy. Let’s keep that design."
I reassure her that her vision is what I want. I want all of her.
"Let’s see… what else. Umm, there’s an unfinished basement that I designed as a media room for movie nights or Monday night football, and a private gym with a separate entrance to the outside for safety and for physical therapists or trainers to come in."
"No laundry in the basement? Isn’t that where most people have it?"
"In the basement of a four-story house? I’m guessing you don’t do your own laundry." She laughs.
"True, I pay a service."
"Well, I’d put the laundry on the second floor. There are still bedrooms on the third story, per Mrs. McKinny when I asked her once. Walking back and forth one story is more manageable."
As she talks about the domestic daily operations of this house, I can’t help but picture Lexi with a laundry basket on her hip with two little kids and a dog chasing her, all the while yelling at me to not put my socks on the floor. I’d give anything to fast forward past all of this and get us there as quickly as possible, but my gut instincts of how to handle Lexi have been wrong every time. I need to keep with my game plan, even if it kills me a little.
"Ok, what else is up on the second story?"
"Let’s go look," she beams, as if she’s about to open the big present on Christmas morning.
"Wanna race up the stairs?" She wiggles her eyes brows at me playfully.
She’s giving me the fun-loving, playful Lexi of our youth. The Lexi I haven’t seen in so long. The Lexi I knew I’d never be able to live without at the tender age of seventeen but let go of anyway. She positions herself at the end of the stairs, her right foot on the bottom of the first stair, her rose gold Adidas making me smile at the thought of how long it’s been since a woman has worn anything but ankle-breaking heels on a first date with me.
I know Lexi has those, too. I’ve seen them and had fantasies of fucking her while she pierces my skin with her stilettos against my ass. But she took me at my word and knew better than to think I was bluffing.
She looks at me as I step up to the "starting line". "Ready… set… go!" she yells.
But just as she takes her first step, I wrap my arm around her waist and fling her body over my shoulder as I race up the stairs with her on my back.
"Tucker Brennen Evans, you’re cheating!"
I’ve never figured out why I smile like an idiot when she uses my full name, but I can’t help it. It’s the tone she uses when addressing me that way. She sounds stern with a hint of irritation, and there is nothing in this entire world I have ever loved doing more than getting a rise out of Lexi Simone Benson.
She’s slapping my back with the pressure of a gnat and pretends to wiggle out of my hold as I haul her up the long staircase.
As soon as I get to the top of the stairs, I strategically flip her back to her feet, setting her down on the second to the last stair as I take a dramatic step to the top of the landing, as she watches me do it.
"I win," I smirk.
Lexi’s eyes widen. "Cheated, more like!"
She takes the step up to the landing and rams her hands into my chest as hard as she can. Lexi isn’t capable of making me move, even if she gets a running start, but it’s fucking cute when she does it. So, I pretend that her shove affects me and I stagger backwards a couple steps.
She winds up again pushing me back, this time a little harder and I back up into a wall I didn’t know was there and neither did Lexi.
Lexi crashes into me and I grip my arm around her waist to steady her. When she looks up at me, my self-control snaps and I can see it in her eyes that hers has too.
"You play dirty."
"Baby, you have no idea."
My eyes flicker down to her lips, and she breathes out low and slow. She wants me to kiss her… better yet, she’s going to let me kiss her.
Thank God.
Just as I’m wrapping my mind around my next move, the doorbell rings.
Shit!
I look down at my watch, and sure enough, it’s the pizza delivery. I had called from the usual place we’ve ordered from since I was a kid staying at the Benson’s. Of course, today of all days, the pizza arrives on time.
Lexi sobers up quickly from the moment we just had and takes a step away from me, but her eyes are still lingering on my mouth.
I walk down the stairs towards the door, cursing the food delivery idea. I should have cooked for her instead. I pay for the pizzas and when I turn around, Lexi isn’t behind me. I head to the kitchen to find her leaning over the massive granite countertop.
I plop the pizza boxes at the end of the table and grab a slice. I need to stuff my face before I blow my cover. I need a second to collect my thoughts and get back on track. This is a long game and I need to remember what my goals are tonight. Keep the ball moving forward toward the end zone.
Lexi breaks the silence.
"So, what’s your plan with the house then? Are you going to move in as is?" Her voice is a little too high pitch.
"I was hoping to convince you to be the lead on the full remodel." Lexi eyes me with suspicion… she knows me too well, as she grabs a slice herself.
"I still have a little over half a season left so I won’t be needing the house for a while. That’s why I told Mr. McKinny he could take his time moving out. I figure by the time my season is out, Carl will be out of the house and demolition can start. I’d like to have plans drawn up and ready on day one.
"Since I won’t be living in the home, I’m hoping things can work quick enough to get the house ready before next season starts."
"That’s a pretty short timeline for a full remodel."
"Yeah, I know. But I have the funding to have more than one crew running at a time if that’s an option. Being in by the start of the season is a requirement – whatever it takes."
"You have a condo in Indianapolis, right? What’s the rush?" she asks.
"I’m ready to be settled somewhere that feels like home. The penthouse in Seattle never felt like home. Just a landing place to sleep and eat when I wasn’t at practice or at an away game.
"I don’t know how this season will go, and I’m not guaranteed another one after this. I want to be prepared for life after football. I want to do it here. In this house. Across the street from the place that brought me the most peace I’ve ever known in my whole life. This feels like home."
You make this house feel like home.
Lexi thinks for a second as she chews her bite of pizza.
"Ok, but I haven’t done a residential remodel in a few years since my mom and I stopped doing little projects on the side. I’m not sure if I’m the right person to take this on for you."
"Of course, you are. I saw those sketches you drew up in high school, the night I came to your house after college admissions."
Her eyes flare at the memory of that night. How I had her pushed up against the wall. Her hot little ass in my hands and the temptation of an empty house.
"I want those sketches, Lexi. I want your version of this house." I can see she’s mulling the idea around.
"You’ll have full creative license. The only thing I ask is that I want to look over the details with you. Tile color for the backsplash, wood flooring, granite slabs for the kitchen. You can pick your top three, but I want to make the final decision together."
"Wood flooring? This house has pristine original floors. Please don’t tell me you’re going to rip these up. I don’t think I can survive watching that happen."
"Ok, wow, hold on. I already said you’d have full creative license. Do whatever you think should be done here. I saw your remodel of the Keizer Resort in Seattle and your Lilly Pond Resort in San Diego. You have incredible taste, and I know you’d do it here, too."
"You saw both of those? When were you in San Diego?"
I didn’t want to tell her that I had met a woman at that resort. She was a journalist that was present at one of our media coverages. She was staying there and had invited me over for a "night cap". When I walked into the resort, I remembered Tom talking about it.
Walking into that lobby, there was something so familiar about the space. Then I recalled Tom had told me that this specific acquisition was one of Lexi’s first deals, and that she had overseen most of the design work herself. It made sense.
The lobby of Lilly Pond Resort was irrefutably Lexi Benson. There was something about that space that took me right back to the lake house. I was reminded of the last week we’d spent together there.
I walked through the lobby wondering what she was doing at that very same moment. Was she with someone right then? Did he make her happy? Was she headed into a resort to have a one-night stand with some random guy she met on one of her work trips? Likely not, Lexi was smarter than that.
The thought of an unnamed man’s hands on her when they should be mine almost made me turn around and walk out of this resort, book a flight to wherever she was and demand that she agrees to be mine and only mine.
I knew what her answer would be. The same one she’d given me repeatedly.
I didn’t remember much about how I got to the journalist’s room after that, but somehow, I had ended up there. We fooled around for a little while which helped temporarily get Lexi off my mind, but when she asked me to stay the night, I knew she was hoping we’d sleep together before the night was over.
I enjoyed myself, but I wasn’t in the head space for sex. Not when Lexi and the week at the lake house was trying to flood my memory again.
I made an excuse about an early flight and left her hotel room, doing my best to make sure she didn’t feel rejected. A pissed off journalist wasn’t good for business.
In the end, it bit me in the ass. She seemed happy about our time together when I left, but a few days later, the magazine she worked for printed a blurb about how I was a cold hard player with a tin man heart. That commitment was nowhere on the horizon for me.
"The Lilly Pond was completely you. Your dad told me that was your design. I was impressed. It reminded me of the lake house for some reason."
"It did?" She looks away for a moment. "That was my inspiration. I can’t believe you saw that in my design."
I smile at her. This is what I needed her to see. I needed her to see that I’m paying attention this time.
"See how compatible our tastes are? I know you can do this for me. And I don’t have the time to do it. You know the house already and you know me. Design the house the way it wants to be seen."
Another gem I’m pulling out and dusting off from our previous conversations we had as kids. She looks at me and shakes her head with a smile.
"Design the house the way it wants to be seen, huh? Where did you get that little pearl of wisdom?"
"An incredibly talented and stunningly beautiful girl told me once, sitting on a dock, while I asked her why she wanted to be an architect."
"Stunningly beautiful?"
"The most beautiful woman I’ve ever set my eyes on."
She smiles as she takes a swig of her beer.
"I feel like I should turn this down since my workload is huge, but I can’t really pass up the opportunity to design my favorite home in all of Chicago. Gah! Tucker, why do you do this to me?" She smiles throwing a wadded-up napkin at me. Which I catch… for obvious reasons.
I knew she wouldn’t be able to pass up the opportunity to design this house. That’s exactly why I knew paying over the value of the home was worth it.
"You love what I do to you," I say. Her cheeks and the top of her chest redden at my remark. "The job’s yours. I’ll pay whatever your fee is, and I’ll drive home Monday mornings after game tapes from the night before with the team. I’ll be here Monday night when you get off work to look at samples and designs over dinner.
"Don’t you have practices on Wednesdays? You’re going to drive back and forth? That doesn’t leave much time to rest your body between games and practice."
"It’s only a couple more months. And if I need to, I can get a driving service to take me back and forth."
"Where will you stay when you’re here if Mr. McKinny is still going to be living in the house?"
"Your parents are giving me my old room back. Tom said your mom hadn’t moved a single thing out of it. It’s the same as I left it when I left for college."
"You're staying with my parents?"
It’s apparent, she doesn’t like the idea.
"Unless you’re going to let me stay at your place."
I lean into the kitchen island, gripping it tight at the thought. I hold her gaze.
"Oh. No, I’m sure you’d be more comfortable in your old room."
She looks away and I go for my last piece, polishing off the box.
"Tomorrow, I have preparations and the wake, so I won’t see you. Then Saturday will be a long day for the funeral, and I have to drive back to Indianapolis for our home game on Sunday. I have appointments all next week on my days off with the doctor and physical therapist. I won’t be back for a couple weeks. But I was hoping when I am, we could have our first meeting on the property. Dinner on Monday?"
"Ok." She still seems hesitant about everything.
"Great. Is there anything you need from me before I leave town?"
"If you want to move this fast, we’ll need to get a construction company on the schedule. Most of the contractors I like working with book out months in advance – sometimes years."
"Contract with whomever you like the best that can meet our timeline."
"And I’ll need to get my team to come in and measure the entire house so I can get it set up in my CAD system."
"Give me a date and time and I’ll let Carl know you’ll have people coming in. Anything else?"
I can see she has a question on her mind, but she doesn’t share it.
"No."
We finish the walk through of the entire house before we leave. Lexi shows me more features of this hundred-year-old home, and we discover things neither of us knew about it.
I drop her off at home and walk her to her door even though she says it isn’t necessary.
I want to get a tour of her house too, mostly of what it looks like under the covers of her bed but she isn’t offering and I know the timing will be off for her, still. So, I lean in and kiss her on the cheek. She steps into me at the same time as my lips caress her cheekbone.
I pull back after the kiss, pleasantly surprised to find, she hasn’t regressed from me in the least.
I want to up the stakes and go back in for a real kiss but I don’t want to ruin my progress. I’ve gained yardage tonight; I can feel it. I don’t want to fumble the ball this close to the end zone.
It’s not a great start… but it’s a start, and after everything that’s happened between us over the last nine years, a start is all I need.