Total pages in book: 32
Estimated words: 29460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 29460 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 147(@200wpm)___ 118(@250wpm)___ 98(@300wpm)
I hit the button for the intercom and waited for a beat.
“What’s up, Chase?” Linus inquired.
“Take us to the house.”
“That’s where I’m headed.” He sounded a little bewildered, and I realized I should have been clearer.
“The house, Linus. The new house.”
“Oh.” He was silent for a moment, then he asked, “Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
The speaker clicked off, and I felt Jenna’s stare boring into me.
“What house?” she queried.
I gazed intently at her. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes.” I smiled at her instantaneous answer and squeezed her hand, before reluctantly letting it go.
“Then wait just a little while. I promise, I’ll make everything clear when we get there.”
“Okay,” she said, her easy acceptance making me want to kiss the fuck out of her.
It was nearing eight at night, so the traffic didn’t hold us up as much as usual, so we pulled up to the house in ten minutes.
Linus rolled to a stop at the curb, and I instructed him to wait there for us.
“Come with me.” I exited the vehicle and helped Jenna climb out, but I didn’t release her hand when she was steady on her feet. Instead, I continued to hold on while I watched her closely as she turned to examine the structure in front of us. A smile spread across my face at her expression of delight and wonder.
“Oh my goodness,” she breathed. “This house is amazing.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
Jenna glanced up at me curiously. “Is this your house?”
“It’s our house, sunshine.”
8
CHASE
Jenna gaped at me, then her head twisted to look at the house, before turning back to me again.
“I’m sorry.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “I thought you said…” She uttered a fake laugh. “This house belongs to who?”
I smiled and took her shoulders, turning her to face me, then gently cupped her cheeks. “You didn’t hear me wrong, Jenna. I bought this house for you. Well, for you and me. And our family.”
She stared at me, obviously speechless, and I fought the overwhelming desire to kiss her. To finally feel her lips pressed to mine. But tonight was only to prepare her for next week. We couldn’t go any further. Not only did I want to wait until she was officially eighteen, but I’d decided to go talk to Justice before whisking his daughter out from under his nose.
If I had daughters, I would want their future husbands to give me the courtesy of choosing whether to give my blessing rather than trying to force my hand. Justice and I had been friends for a long time. I respected him too much to go through with my original plan.
“I–um, I don’t understand,” Jenna whispered.
“How about I show you around while I explain everything?”
She nodded, and I re-captured her hand, leading her up to the beautifully carved front door. I pulled a keychain from my pocket and unlocked the knob, then handed the ring to her. “This one is yours. Although, I’m having a keypad installed this weekend.”
Jenna nodded and tucked the key away as I pushed open the door and gestured for her to walk through it.
“Wow,” she gasped as she passed through the small entry—that had a security office for Linus and a powder room—into a large gallery. A beautiful staircase took up the left wall, spiraling all the way up to the top floor with a skylight illuminating it at the very top. On the right were three floor-to-ceiling windows that overlooked the side yard.
“If you go straight ahead”—I pointed at a doorway directly across the room from us—“there’s a little hallway with an elevator, an office, and another set of stairs. Passed that is a ballroom, although I have another idea for that space, and it opens to an amazing terrace that has steps down to the backyard.”
“It has a backyard?” Jenna squeaked, her face flushed and her eyes shining brightly.
“Of course.”
I walked her through the first few floors with the library, living room, dining room, kitchen and other rooms we would find a use for. Once we were on the fourth floor, I paused at the top of the stairs. “This whole floor is the primary suite, but…” I heaved a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, praying for strength. Remnants of the fantasy I’d indulged in last time I was there heated my body, and my dick practically begged for relief. “If I show you the bedroom,” I croaked, “all of my plans and good intentions will desert me.”
“Plans?” Jenna asked.
Taking a deep breath, I told my libido to stand the fuck down and gestured to a little hallway next to the entrance to the suite. “In there,” I instructed, then followed her when she walked in the direction I indicated, admiring the sway of her sexy hips and ass.
“What’s this room?” Her question took my attention from her body, mostly.