Chapter Fourteen
“Where do you live, Matt?”
He glanced over at Iris. They had remained at the charity event through most of Dylan and his band’s performances and had even stuck around for the dancing afterward.
However, when the organizers called for a second intermission before the heads of the hospital’s departments would speak, Matt had begun looking for any excuse to leave and take Iris with him.
Luckily, he didn’t have to do that. Deena and Shauna announced their desire to attend the band’s after-party and asked Matt if he would take Iris home.
He had quickly assured them he had no problem doing so.
Now here they were in his car, leaving tonight’s event together…
just as he and Iris had wanted, and what his daughter and Shauna had planned.
He’d told Iris twice—maybe three times—how nice he thought she looked.
Her gown seemed to accentuate every single curve of her body, making them even more defined and too damn sexy.
He liked the way the soft material draped around her shoulders and bodice, exposing a gorgeous cleavage with uplifted and firm breasts.
They were a pair that his fingers itched to touch, and his tongue hankered to taste.
Realizing she was waiting for him to answer her question, he said, “I live in a community not far from here, right outside of Hollywood in the hills. It’s a housing development called Palm Meadows Valley.”
“I know exactly where that is,” she said, smiling. “It’s not far from where actress Leniya Wentworth lives. She’s one of my clients. Have you lived there long?”
“I inherited the house when Mom died, but since my first job as an attorney landed me in DC, I lived there, which worked out since Dominic and his parents had a second home in Alexandria—a horse ranch—and were spending more time there than in LA. It was a blessing for me since they were my backup with Deena if I had to work late or travel.”
He paused a moment while remembering that time.
“I moved back to LA when I decided to go into private practice. That was close to fifteen years ago. Since Deena moved out and got her own place, I’ve considered getting something smaller and closer to the office more than once.
Preferably a condo. But there’s something about the house that won’t let me.
I guess because it was the first real home I’d made for us—me and Deena. ”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ve probably heard the story that while growing up, Dominic and I were raised as brothers. That’s true because of our mothers’ close friendship. When my godfather, Marcello Saxon, began growing his wealth after college, without his father’s influence or connection…”
“The father who had disowned him for marrying Megan?” Iris interrupted to ask.
“Yes. For that reason, Marcello would only surround himself with people he could trust. Those whom he knew only wanted to honestly see him succeed. Definitely no one connected to his father, Franco.”
“Are you implying that his father didn’t want that for him?”
“Why would he? Marcello had defied him and married someone not French, and he was determined to remain in this country and not return to France. I’ve always thought Franco loved his son but wanted to teach him a lesson. In the end, Marcello taught Franco a lesson instead.”
“And what was that lesson?”
“When a man finds a woman who’s his true love, he doesn’t let her go. And he also needed to prove to his father that everything wasn’t about money.”
He paused before saying, “One of the first people Marcello hired for this empire he intended to build was my mother. Because her job required a lot of traveling, I got to spend that time with my godparents—Marcello and Megan, and of course, Dom. And most of the time we had a residence within theirs. Our own private wing or our own smaller place on their estate. It worked out great. Megan was there whenever Mom traveled, and Mom was there whenever Marcello and Megan were away.”
When he came to a traffic light, he glanced at her and said, “My present home is one of those places. Instead of selling it when they moved to Bel Air, Marcello and Megan knew how much my Mom loved the house and gave it to her as a gift.”
“A house in Palm Meadows Valley? That was some gift.”
He smiled. “Yes, it was. But because they knew Mom would see such a gift as too outrageously expensive, they disguised it as a bonus for all her hard work in helping to grow the Saxon American empire. Mom had a lot of happy days there, and I’m glad because she died within four years of moving in.
So, you can say, I’m still there for sentimental reasons. ”
“There’s nothing wrong with that. In a way, that’s why I’m holding on to the beach house and intend to pass it on to Garlan one day.”
Matt knew the reason they had started conversing was to quell the intense sexual chemistry simmering between them all evening.
It had gotten worse after sharing that kiss in the courtyard.
Upon returning to the charity event, he still held on to her hand while the music played, and after sharing a couple of dances, they both knew they couldn’t take any more.
She had felt so right in his arms while they danced, just like it had been that night in Westmoreland Country.
It was as if their souls were connected through music and the gentle sway of their bodies.
Now they were here, and they both knew how tonight would end. “Do you want me to take you home, Iris, or to my place?”
She glanced over at him. “Do you have a problem with me going to your place, Matt?”
“No.” He wondered why she would ask that. The lawyer in him became suspicious, so he asked, “Do you have a problem with me going to yours?”
She met his gaze. “Yes. Before Garlan was born, I decided I would never remarry, so I saw no reason to invite a man into my space, a place I considered my personal domain. As Garlan got older and I began dating again, I stuck to that rule. I’ve invited them to my home to meet him, whenever they came to pick me up on dates, but my living room is as far as any of them ever got.
No man has gone beyond that point. Except you. ”
Matt raised a brow. “Except me?”
“Yes. This week, I invited you beyond my living room. You came into my kitchen when I made us lunch.”
It suddenly occurred to him what she meant, however, he needed to make sure he fully understood. “Warren Forsythe never spent the night in your home? Even those times when he flew in to see you and your son was away at college?”
“True. He got a hotel room, and I would visit with him there.”
He nodded. Some might see that as too much information for her to share with him, but he was glad she didn’t think so. They were being open, honest and genuine with each other. The way a real relationship should begin. “Is it because you and your husband shared the house once?”
“No. In fact, Garlan and I never lived in that house together. It was rental property.”
He then recalled she had told him that the day he had driven them there for lunch. “So, is there a more significant meaning behind your decision?”
“I guess you could say, I see inviting a man to share my bed in a house I consider my private space too personal for an impersonal relationship.”
“An impersonal relationship?”
“Yes, one I know wasn’t going anywhere. One I know does not have a future.”
Was that her way of saying that was how she viewed what was happening between them?
A relationship without a future? An impersonal one?
If that was what she thought, starting tonight he intended to prove her wrong.
Tonight would be as personal as it could get, and it wouldn’t be one and done.
He’d stopped being involved in those kinds of affairs years ago.
This one was different. He felt it. Deena liked her.
Dominic liked her. All the people that mattered to him who had met Iris, liked her, even his godparents who had met her at Cheyenne’s birthday party.
But more importantly, he liked her. A lot.
In fact, he could see these feelings blossoming into something even more significant.
For the first time ever, he was embarking on an adventure he didn’t think he would ever pursue. He was chasing a second chance.
His first time with Rhonda had been so traumatic, he swore he would never again take a second chance at love.
But being with Iris had made him rethink that vow.
Although it had been made for a different reason, her vow was similar to the one he had made with himself.
And if he could change his viewpoint on things, she could certainly do the same.
He wouldn’t rush her. It would take time, and if that’s what she needed, then he would give it to her, while he tried like hell to break down her defenses.
Soon enough, she would realize their relationship did have a future.
“Would you come to my home with me tonight, Iris?” he asked.
She smiled. “Yes, Matt, I’d love to.”
* * *
“Welcome to my home, Iris.”
“Thank you,” she said, glancing around the place she knew Matt thought of as not only his childhood home, but the house where he had lovingly raised his daughter into womanhood.
He said he had thought of getting something smaller; she could certainly understand.
The size of this house was too humongous for one person.
As far as she was concerned, it was too large for two.
He said that, excluding his master bedroom, there were eight bedrooms with a private bath in each. Two downstairs and six upstairs.
He’d teasingly said it helped that his bedroom was on the other side of the house, which was perfect for those times when during her teen years, Deena would have weekend sleepovers with her girlfriends. During those times, Dylan Emanuel and his band’s music would be as loud as it could get.
“Your home is beautiful, Matt.”
“Thanks. However, it’s time for a facelift.”