Maybe once upon a time, but I’ve worked hard to deconstruct any idealized notion of love I might’ve had.
He keeps walking past the leather couches. “I can give you the complete tour in a minute. First, let me show you where your room is.”
I’m trying to take in the house as I follow behind him, but there’s too much. Exposed wood beams, wood floors, a stone fireplace, vaulted ceilings, glass windows, and sliding doors that lead out to a huge covered patio. It’s pretty incredible.
He turns down a hallway and walks through double wooden doors, leaving the suitcases next to the king-sized bed. “This is you. There’s a big walk-in closet and your own bathroom.” He moves through the room, gesturing to each thing.
I eye the bedroom across the hall with piles of clothes on the ground and an air mattress. “Is this the master bedroom?”
Hess glances around. “Uh-huh.”
I point to the messy room across from us. “Did you just move out of here so I could move in?”
“No, I thought we’d stay in here together.” He pats the mattress. “Just you and me spooning all night long.”
The thought triggers a response. I’m just not going to admit which kind. Instead, I channel everything into a fierce glare that gets my point across.
“Yes, I’m staying across the hall,” he says seriously, “but I promise this room is clean. There are fresh sheets on the bed, and I deep-cleaned the bathroom this morning.”
Never in my life have I heard a man say hedeep-cleanedthe bathroom, let alone a cowboy saying he deep-cleaned the bathroom. He might’ve unwittingly created a new fantasy: a man wearing a cowboy hat while holding a toilet brush and Lysol cleaner. I shake the thought away.
“Hess, I can’t take your bedroom.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’syourroom inyourhouse. You can’t sleep on an air mattress for six months.”
“It’s only for a few days. I’ll get a bed next week. Besides, I’m not taking the nicer bedroom and bathroom just because it’s my house. Anita Taylor raised me better than that. For the next six months, this is your house too. I want you to feel comfortable.”
“Thank you.” Really, I guess I should be thanking Anita Taylor for raising a gentleman, because this master bedroom is pretty luxurious. “It’s only temporary, so…”
He nods to the hallway. “Do you want to see the rest of the place?”
I throw my purse onto the mattress. “Sure.”
“There are two other bedrooms back there, but they’re empty.” He points down the hallway in the opposite direction. “And you already saw the living room.” We walk back out to the main area where he tugs the two glass doors, pulling them open. “There’s an outdoor kitchen here, but it’s getting too hot outside to use it. Maybe in October or November.”
His words are like a throat punch, stealing my breath.October and November.I can’t even wrap my head around living here that long.
“It’s only temporary,” I mutter to myself.
“You have to stop saying that.”
“What?”
“The temporary thing. It’s getting old.”
My mouth opens to defend myself, but Hess has already moved on. “Feel free to use the pool whenever you want.”
I keep my expression even, though I am excited for that perk. My eyes drift around the rest of the backyard. Beyond the pool and dirt road is a corral attached to a shade cover with steel panels and a metal roof, providing enough shade to keep the sun off the animals.
“Do I count two horses out there?”
“Yes, that’s Cactus Jack and Daisy Duke. You can ride them if you want.”
“That’s okay. I don’t do smelly animals—or even non-smelly animals, for that matter.”
“That’s going to be a problem.”
