Chapter Four
CHAPTER FOUR
Since Eugene had made a cash offer, the closing had come about fast, which had been one of his requirements to buy the house. Fortunately, the couple who owned the house had already moved out, so the entire transaction had been conducted in a matter of a few weeks.
Now, as he walked through the house, he couldn’t believe he owned it.
He’d never minded condo living. Back in California it had suited his purposes. He’d often worked late nights and weekends at the office where he had state-of-the-art equipment. This was a different situation.
Not that the facility here didn’t have its own awesome setup for their designers. They did. He had an office, a full staff, and all the state-of-the-art design gadgetry he could ever wish for. But this time he wanted separation, some space to create on his own without the constant buzz of people coming and going. Having his home office—one that was soundproof so he could play the explosions and noises at the appropriate decibel level the audience would need—was key.
He’d have to live in his rental house until Linc finished renovations, but his brother had walked through it with him before he signed the papers and told him the place was in good shape and would only need the cosmetic changes. Though he suggested they do a few upgrades to the air-conditioning and electrical, which Eugene had agreed was a good idea.
Linc had told him if he did it himself, it would take a few months, otherwise he could hire a crew to cut down on the timeline, but it would cost Eugene more money. Eugene didn’t care about the money. He was ready to move in, so Linc told him they’d be ready to start as soon as Eugene got the keys.
Now all he had to do was get Natalie on board. She’d had to bail on the design walk-through before he bought the house, but Linc assured him she was the best. And seeing her design touches on Linc and Hazel’s house showed him she knew her stuff.
Speaking of Natalie, he heard a soft knock on the door, and he smiled as he took a quick glance at his watch. She was definitely prompt.
“It’s open,” he yelled, and she turned the knob and walked in.
“You should lock your doors,” she said.
“Why? You planning to burgle? Because there’s nothing in here.”
She laid a couple of bags at his feet. “No. Just something to consider for the future.”
“Not a safe neighborhood?”
“Honey, no place is safe anymore. But as far as neighborhoods, this is one of the better ones. We all watch out for each other.”
“Good to know.” He liked that she called him “honey.” Also, she held his gaze for a beat, and he sure didn’t mind staring into her beautiful green eyes. There was something liquidy and mesmerizing about them, as if she held secrets of the universe or something.
Dude. You’ve created way too many fantasy games.
His mind was not wrong about that.
“Anyway, this is my house. Care for a tour?”
“Actually, I’d like to look around on my own, if you don’t mind.”
He shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. “Sure. Go ahead.”
He followed a few steps behind while she wandered, her iPad in hand. She pivoted, taking a full two minutes to stare at the living room before moving to the kitchen. She looked around, made a sound of disgust and headed outside.
“You know, I thought out here we could—”
She raised a palm to stop him. “Not now. Why don’t you wait out here while I finish my tour?”
“Uh…sure.”
She wandered inside, so he pulled up one of the lawn chairs he’d bought at the discount store and checked his work emails. The team was already up and running, so all he had to do at the moment was approve their design notes. He’d sent preliminary schemes and drawings to them last week regarding the game setup. Normally he dealt in the virtual world, and while to some extent that would still be true, this was his first foray into bringing the virtual into reality.
Overwhelming? Hell yeah. But he couldn’t imagine anything more exciting. Creating games was one thing. A ride? It was like a dream come true.
Natalie came down the stairs. “Okay, here’s what I think. I don’t know what you and Linc have discussed renovations-wise, but I have a few ideas if you’d like to hear them.”
He granted her a half smile, very interested in what she had to say. Would her ideas be the same as his or would they be complete bullshit? “I’m all ears.”
“The kitchen is a gut job. But it’s a good size. Plenty big enough to put in an island for added seating and prep space, providing that appeals to you. Also, it’s closed off from the rest of the house.” She pointed to the wall that he’d absolutely hated the first time he walked through. “We should lose this wall, open things up.”
He followed her into the living room where she stood by the sliding door. “You have a stunning backyard. It’s an entertainer’s paradise. Get rid of the slider and put in an accordion sliding door that will bring in so much more light.”
She walked him outside. “I’d change nothing out here. It’s glorious. But, if you want to truly entertain, maybe you’d want to add an outside kitchen. It keeps the heat out of the indoor kitchen during the hot summer months and makes it easier for entertaining purposes.”
She paused, waiting, he supposed, to see if he disagreed with anything she’d suggested so far.
He didn’t.
“Go on.”
“The laminate flooring has seen better days.” She gave him the once-over before continuing. “I think wood floors, or even wood-look tiles would be perfect for this house. Though if you go with wood, I’d suggest tile in the kitchen and all the bathrooms.”
“Uh-huh.”
She made her way up the stairs, and he followed, trying not to focus his attention on the way her ass swayed as she walked. Hard when she was two steps above him and her sweet behind was directly in his line of sight.
She wandered into one of the guest bedrooms. “All your bedrooms are fine. I’d update the flooring and they need some paint. And light. God, this whole house needs some light, Eugene. It’s dark as a cave in here. I can suggest lighting that’ll improve every room if you tell me what your plans are for the rooms.”
They made their way into his favorite room. “Okay, this one. Huge. Obviously a bonus space. What are your plans for it, or do you have any?”
“Media room,” he said, coming fully into the room. “I’ll be working in here, so I’ll need it fully soundproofed. Dark. I’ll take care of ordering the appropriate sound system and digital needs along with furniture.”
She shrugged. “Fine.”
The last room was the primary bedroom. It was sizable, which was one of the things he liked most.
“King-size bed,” she said. “These three windows will provide a lot of natural light. Dresser, two nightstands, good lighting, maybe a reading chair or two.”
She turned to face him. “Thoughts?”
“I have lots of thoughts about my bedroom.”
She cleared her throat. “And what would those…thoughts be?”
Her cheeks popped two pink spots, her eyes turning to pools of emerald green. The intimacy of the room seemed to instantly surround him, engulfing Eugene in the kind of heat he only felt when he was naked and rolling around with a woman. Yet here he was, fully clothed and standing in an empty bedroom. Just Natalie and him.
He’d thrown out the teaser, hoping she’d toss back a sarcastic remark. That she’d responded with an unexpected heat nearly brought him to his knees.
“You know, I like all your ideas for the bedroom. Big bed. Chairs. Nightstands. Lights. It’s all good.”
She blew out a breath and took a step back. “Perfect. Now the bath.” She took several quick steps into the en suite, obviously not able to get away from him fast enough.
He smiled and followed her.
“Good-sized en suite,” she said. “Plenty of room for an oversize shower.” She finally turned to look at him. “I’d add a soaker tub. Vanity over here. Lots of bright and also ambient lighting. Some woman will appreciate it someday.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not looking for some woman.”
Again she opened her mouth to say something, then closed it and nodded. “Anyway, as far as design, I have some samples downstairs if you’d like to look through them.”
“Sure.”
Once they were on the main floor again, she opened the bags she’d brought in and laid samples on the kitchen counter. Some were loud and colorful, which made him want to gag. Others were simple and more to his liking. He wondered which ones she’d suggest.
When she stepped toward the set he liked best, he sighed in relief.
“Black and white for the kitchen with black on the bottom and white on the top,” she said. “A marbled white quartz for your counters. Black hardware. It’s sleek, modern, somewhat masculine without being overly so. We’ll add pendant lights above the island. I’m thinking something industrial.”
“Yeah, I like that.”
Then she set out flooring options, so many it made his head spin.
“If you go with wood flooring, you’ll want to choose kitchen tile that blends both with your wood floors and with the kitchen cabinets and counter.”
Natalie offered several options for wood and tile. All were good ones. But he found himself gravitating toward the wood-look tile.
“These look like wood. I’d bet they’d clean up easier, too.”
She nodded. “They would.”
“And then we could lay these all the way into the kitchen, making the whole area feel larger.”
“Yes.” She smiled, and damn, that lit up her face. He’d like to see a lot more of that smile.
“Okay, let’s do that,” he said, running his fingers over one of the smooth, cool tiles. “This one.”
“Excellent choice. Now on to the bathrooms.”
He couldn’t hold his groan in. “This is going to take an eternity.”
She laughed. “We’re almost done.” She pulled out more selections.
“Couldn’t you just choose for me?”
“And what if you hate what I put in the primary bath? Or one of the other bathrooms?”
“Based on the samples you brought, I doubt I’d hate anything.”
“This will go fast.” She shuffled some of the selections around so there were fewer options. “This for your primary. These for your secondary bathrooms.”
He looked them over and liked them all immediately. “Done.”
“We still have to choose lighting and paint, but I’d say we’ve got a good start.”
“Great. Let’s go have lunch.”
“I have to make notes of your selections. And don’t you have to work?”
“I can work tonight. And I’m hungry. You can make notes while I’m driving.”
“I have my car.”
“I’ll drive you back here after we eat. Which hopefully we can do soon.”
She cocked her head to the side. “You’re cranky when you’re hungry.”
“I am not. But can we go now?”
Her lips curved. “Yes. Let’s go.”
Finally. He pulled his keys out and led her to the door, already tasting the juicy hamburger he was planning to eat.
· · ·
During lunch, Natalie glanced over on occasion to watch Eugene devour a hamburger, fries, and a side salad like he hadn’t eaten in a week. And he did it while talking a mile a minute about anything and everything, which was fine with her because while she half listened to him going on about something baseball, she made notes about his selections.
“How’s your chicken salad?” he asked.
She didn’t look up from her notes. “It’s fine, thanks.”
“You’re very good at your job.”
This time she did look up. “You think so?”
He shoved a fry in his mouth, chewed, and swallowed, then nodded. “Yeah. You know what looks right and what fits, and you aren’t afraid to state your opinion. I like people who have strong opinions.”
“Really.”
“Well, yeah. How are you going to know what someone is thinking or how they feel unless they tell you?”
She couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t know my ex-husband.”
He took a swallow of his iced tea and studied her. “Obviously he didn’t want you to share your opinion on things.”
“On anything. He just wanted to dictate and have me obey.”
Eugene made a disgusted face. “He does know this is the twenty-first century, right?”
“I guess you could say he’s more of an old-school kind of guy.”
“How so?”
“I stayed home, kept the house clean, cooked meals, raised the kids. I wasn’t supposed to have an opinion on anything because he made all the decisions. Where we went on vacation. What we did on the weekends. How money was spent. I only wish I had known that before I married him.”
Instead of giving her that sad, sympathetic look she’d gotten from so many of her friends and family, he just shrugged. “But you’re not married to him anymore. You’re free. Independent. So now you can do—and say—whatever the hell you want, right?”
He understood. “Yes, I can.”
“Good for you.”
She popped a chip into the salsa and slid it into her mouth. She chewed thoughtfully, watching as Eugene polished off the last of his fries. She slid the chips and salsa to the center of the table, and he grinned, grabbing a chip and loading salsa on top of it.
“We probably need something stronger than iced tea,” he said, motioning for the server. “Margaritas?”
She shouldn’t. She had work to do. Then again, it was Friday, and Sean had the kids for the weekend, which meant she could do her orders and paperwork tomorrow. “It is close to the end of the day.”
Their server came over. “Two margaritas, please. Oh, and more chips and salsa.”
“Tell me about your new job,” she said.
“I design games. Or that’s what I did before. Do you play games?”
“Not really.”
“Too bad. They can be fun. Strategic. Challenging. We should play together sometime.”
We should play together sometime . A sudden rush of heat permeated her body. He’d been discussing games, of course. Her dirty mind had imagined other types of play entirely.
“I’m not much into games.”
Their server brought their drinks along with fresh chips and salsa. Eugene took a sip of his margarita, then asked, “You play games with your kids, don’t you?”
She shrugged and took a swallow of what turned out to be a very delicious margarita. “Christopher’s idea of games is throwing his ball outside or playing some Spider-Man game on his tablet. Cammie is more into paint by numbers and some dollhouse game. I think they’re both a little young to play the kinds of video games you’re talking about.”
He nodded. “Not really. There are tons of interactive games that can be played as a family.”
“I’m not sure.”
“Hey, this is what I do. You have to trust me. If you want some quality time with your kids, and something they’ll enjoy, believe me. I can find video games they’ll enjoy.”
“Okay, this is where I admit that I’m not good with all the button-pushing and stuff.”
He laughed. “That’s all right. I can help. Invite me over some night and I’ll bring several games. And I’ll help push your buttons.”
Did he do that on purpose or was it some innocent comment that she read as a double entendre?
No doubt it was her imagination. What with the divorce and all the arguing she and Sean had done prior to the divorce, sex had been nonexistent for more than a year. To be honest, well before that, too. It wasn’t a surprise that it was prominent on her mind, especially in the company of a very hot guy.
A very hot younger guy, Natalie. He’s not for you .
Yeah, whatever. She could still enjoy looking at him.
“Sure. How about next Saturday? I have the kids next weekend and nothing on the agenda Saturday night.”
He pulled out his phone and typed something in. “You’re on my calendar.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind spending a Saturday night with my kids? They can be a lot.”
His lips curved. “I like kids. I’ll bring games. We’ll have fun.”
That’s what a lot of people who didn’t have kids said. They were so clueless. “Okay. I’ll make dinner.”
“Even better. It’s a date.”
He popped a chip in his mouth like what he’d just said meant nothing. Which, to him, it probably had. And, actually, it wasn’t a date at all since her kids would be there.
It was going to be fun. Just fun. With her kids.
And she’d learn how to play video games.
So much fun.