Chapter Ten
‘Christ, this is a house. Like a proper house house – actually no, it’s a bloody mansion!’
‘The realtor did say there was a wide variety in my budget.’
‘This is huge!’ she exclaimed, only half-listening, tearing through the pile like a maniac as she flicked through them. ‘And this one. Bloody hell! Is that the price?’
Each property had a sales price above two million pounds, but this one was double-figure millions. She wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.
Alex leaned towards her to take a closer look.
‘Yeah, I wasn’t sure about that one.’ He was so close she could smell his intoxicating aftershave. Sandalwood, rich and musky, spiced with the tears of a thousand heartbroken virgins. She tried to stifle a moan of pleasure as she drank in the scent of him. I really need to cool my libido!
She caught Martin’s raised brow in the rear-view mirror, and immediately burst into flames of embarrassment. Busted!
Why did Alex have to hire Hannah’s dad as his driver for the day?
Although, she had to admit, it was kind of sweet of him to remember Martin from the paparazzi incident.
In fact, according to Martin, Alex had been hiring him regularly after that day, and, as he paid so well, Martin was more than happy to be at his beck and call.
‘I’d have to sell my property in New York and my house in LA if I want this house,’ Alex continued. ‘I’d rather not do that, but if it’s the one…’ He shrugged his shoulders miserably, the epitome of indecision.
‘You have a house in New York?’
‘No, an apartment. I have a house in LA, but that’s not really mine.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, my parents bought me and my brother a house when we turned twenty-one. They weren’t big on spoiling us with cars or credit cards, but they wanted us all to have a solid start.’
Amazing, her lifelong dream, handed to him in a twenty-first birthday card. ‘I forget your parents were successful actors too.’
‘Yeah, they’ve pretty much retired now. They only take on a project if their hearts are a hundred per cent in it.
Plus, their production company takes up a lot of their time.
’ He avoided her gaze and shifted in his seat.
‘Their production company pretty much launched all of our careers, and I’m so grateful for all they’ve done for me.
But it’s a bit weird living in a house your mum and dad picked out for you.
That’s why I moved to New York. I wanted – no, I needed to go it alone, you know? ’
Ellie bit her tongue. Oh, hun, you really need to readjust your idea of ‘going it alone’.
‘I can imagine,’ she said. But could she? Time to change the subject before she said something mean. ‘So, which properties have you narrowed it down to?’
‘Those are my top ten.’
She stared at him in shock. ‘And how many are we viewing today?’
‘Uh… Ten?’ He gave her a hopeful smile.
Her mouth dropped open. ‘You don’t do anything by halves, do you?’ She’d be exhausted by the end of the day; the viewings were dotted all over central London.
‘They all looked nice… You don’t mind, do you? Martin will drive us to each one. Hopefully it won’t take too long.’
‘Hey, he’s paying me per hour, so don’t short-change me, love,’ joked Martin from the front of the cab, and he gave her a playful wink in the mirror.
‘Have you heard from Hannah lately?’ she asked, leaning towards the partition so that she could hear him better.
‘Yeah, my sister’s spoiling her rotten, taking her to the beach every day. She’s learning how to surf. Can you believe it, our Hannah, learning to surf!’
‘Ha-ha, I’d heard. Good for her, I’m so glad she’s trying it. She deserves a break and a bit of fun.’
‘So do you, love,’ he replied softly, his kind eyes catching hers in the rear-view mirror.
‘I’ve booked a little holiday, actually.’ She glanced at Alex. He’d given her the dates for the Bahamas and taken her passport details for the flights, so she was ready to go. But it didn’t feel real. None of this felt real; it was as if she were living in some parallel universe.
Martin raised an eyebrow in quiet disbelief – she’d booked time off before and always ended up working regardless. Alex gave her a thoughtful look as if he were filing away some factoid about her for later use.
‘Here we are,’ said Martin, as he swung into a parking space in front of an imposing white stucco villa with iron railings, situated on a quiet tree-lined avenue. The quintessential Holland Park townhouse.
They stepped out onto the pavement, Alex frowning between the building and its brochure. ‘I hope it’s worth it. This is the very top of my budget.’
A woman in her late fifties came skipping down the steps to meet them, which seemed a little odd.
But with so much commission almost in the bank, who could blame her?
She wore a twinset and had an Eighties perm, but she had a sharp and uncompromising gaze that reminded her of Martha Stewart, and Ellie suspected she wouldn’t mess around when it came to business.
‘Alex! So wonderful to meet you in person.’ She gave Alex a double-handed shake and then turned to Ellie with an equally warm expression.
‘Hi, I’m Ellie. I’m here as moral support.’ She gave a limp-wristed wave.
The woman gave her a slow calculating smile. ‘Then it’s really you we should be trying to impress. I’m Barbara, lovely to meet you.’ Ellie was treated to one of her brisk double handshakes.
Barbara spun on her heel and marched up to the villa, cheerfully chatting back to them without missing a step.
‘Alex, I believe you’re not familiar with the area?
Holland Park is a much sought-after location.
The beautiful Japanese Kyoto Garden, and walled spring tulip garden, are just a short stroll away in that direction.
The schools – if you’re interested…’ she paused, her gaze flicking curiously between them, before she turned back to unlock the door, ‘are outstanding. The best in London. And this being a popular choice for those in the public eye ensures a safe and most importantly private area in which to live.’
Ellie remembered the way her line manager, Hazel, had warned her yesterday about inappropriate behaviour in her personal life.
She’d pushed the dressing-gown photo of Ellie in a tabloid towards her like it was a leaky specimen, and given her the following warning, ‘If you want to go into mentoring or teaching, you might want to watch your professional reputation… No more messy nights out with celebrities.’ It had been a timely reminder that, even if you weren’t a celebrity like Alex, you had to be careful.
Barbara swung open the door and they stepped into a blue-carpeted, narrow corridor that made nothing of the high ceilings and ornate cornicing.
‘This used to be an embassy. It’s empty at the moment, so you can really get a sense of the potential space, but I’m afraid the whole property will need extensive refurbishment throughout.’
‘It still needs work, even with that price tag?’ Ellie muttered to Alex out of the corner of her mouth, and he grimaced in response. She imagined home improvements weren’t at the top of his list, no matter the amazing potential.
Barbara turned her steel gaze on her. ‘Oh, don’t worry. I’ll negotiate a crackingly good deal for you if you do like it.’
They were shown around room after gigantic room, each with more hideous carpets and curtains than the last. The whole time Barbara was pointing out the beautiful original features and huge potential, Alex was very quiet, nodding occasionally and seeming to agree with everything she said, not once offering any ideas of his own.
‘Now, the garden does need some imagination…’
For once, Ellie couldn’t be snarky. An actual garden? They stepped out onto a large patio and looked down at a sea of overgrown grass at the bottom of the steps.
‘I’ll be at the front door. Take your time, explore or revisit any of the rooms and let me know what you think after.’
Barbara left and Ellie glanced up at Alex. She tried to read the perplexed expression on his face, but came up blank.
‘It’s got a lot of potential,’ she said, then winced when she realised she sounded just like Barbara. Had she been brainwashed by bouncy Barb? Next, she’d be waxing lyrical over it being a bargain.
‘Yes, lots of potential… and charm,’ he said weakly.
Okay, time to get to the heart of the matter. ‘Yes, especially if you like ye-olde-crumbling-down-embassy charm. In fact, we could negotiate keeping the bucket in bedroom seven. Now that has a lot of potential.’
He laughed, inhaling deeply and then letting out the air in one long sigh. ‘It’s horrible.’
‘Yes, it is.’
‘And… kind of overwhelming?’
‘Those huge rooms give me the heebie-jeebies. How many ambassadors jumped from balcony three? That’s what I want to know.’
‘Far too many. Right, let’s get out of here.’
To Barbara’s expectant face a moment later, Alex said, ‘It’s lovely, but too much of a project. I want to move in quickly and… Look, this is going to sound crazy, but anything above six bedrooms, for just me? Well, it’s just a bit too big.’
Barbara barely blinked, instead nodding enthusiastically at every word.
‘Of course. That’s really great, Alex. You’ve really narrowed the search down for me.
I’ll not bother taking you to the ones in Mayfair, and let’s cancel the viewings in Camden too.
They also need a lot of work, or have too many bedrooms.’ She smiled as if pain-in-the-arse clients who didn’t know what they wanted were a regular occurrence, which, in her line of work, they probably were.
They all bundled back into Martin’s cab, Alex having insisted Barbara join them and leave her car behind, and offered Martin’s services to drive her back to pick it up.