CHAPTER42
LARISA
The house is finished.I couldn’t quite believe it, but as I stood in Tanner’s new living room and turned in a slow circle, taking in every detail and comparing them to what I’d envisioned and included in the designs, I knew it was true.
After everything, I was finally done. The pictures were on the walls, the cushions were on the sofas, the beds were made in the bedrooms, and all the final touches had been added.
It had taken a lot to get to this point, not only because he’d borderline refused to get involved, but also because I’d wanted to get it perfect so darn badly. But this is it.
The contractors were done and all that was left now was for me to do one last walkthrough to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, and then I could call him. Clasping my hands together, I let out a soft squeal and did a quick, victorious butt jiggle. Despite all the challenges this job had thrown my way, I’d done it. Some of the décor wasn’t quite to my taste, but the bones of it? That was all me.
The soul of the house was still there. I’d just modernized it, and now, it felt luxurious, warm, and inviting.
Best of all, it felt like his. It had the exact same feel as the apartment he’d been living in for years, and I’d incorporated some of the ideas I’d gotten from the pictures I’d seen of his childhood bedroom. Since I also knew how much his friends meant to him, I’d asked Bart to send me some of the photographs of them when they’d been younger.
After choosing the one I liked the most, I’d had it framed and it was sitting in a place of honor on the mantel. Bringing in the baseball theme just a little bit since it was still so prominent in his apartment, I’d dedicated one of the less in-your-face walls in the living area to the sport.
I’d found old articles written about him, framed them, and mounted them, and I’d added a splash of his team’s colors to the wall along with a small flag. It was a tribute to his career as a professional player but done tastefully.
I walked into the kitchen and gave some of the stools around the large center island a nudge until I was happy with their placement. Then I turned in another slow circle. We’d installed top-of-the-line appliances but, like with the rest of the house, had kept the soul of the old-school kitchen intact.
There was a large, handmade dining table in here now, too. I’d sourced it locally from a craftsman in town and I was damn happy with how it’d turned out.
It was a kitchen where memories would be made. That was for sure.
The same could be said for the rest of the house. It was practically begging for Tanner and his friends to spend their weekends here, kicking back, relaxing, and having fun in a comfortable, familiar space.
Since he’d also mentioned wanting to be able to host events here if he ever needed to, the dining room was more formal, and we’d opened it up to the patio outside. The kitchen windows could also be slid open all the way to create the perfect indoor/outdoor cooking experience, and we’d broken out the old back door between the kitchen and the patio to install stackable doors that folded into a special nook I’d designed to hide them when they were open.
The result was stunning. One could dine casually in the kitchen or have a barbecue grill outside with all the doors and windows open to incorporate the covered patio into the dining space.
The kitchen was now also open to the large living areas, and we had knocked down walls to create that open-concept feel. I’d left the ceilings and the original flooring so as not to destroy the feel of the house, and it’d worked like a charm.
New lighting had been installed everywhere, connected to solar panels on the roof to make the place more green. The yard, the swimming pool, and patio had been cleaned up and renovated, and since the patio had a roof over it, I’d designed that space to be useful and comfortable as well.
It had large sofas on it now, as well as a dartboard, a barbecue, and another table that could seat at least ten. In one corner, I’d added one of those hanging egg chairs to double as a reading nook.
Each one of the bedrooms had been done differently but using the same navy and white color scheme he had in his apartment. The details I’d added in every room differentiated them enough from each other but the so-called “golden thread” was definitely there.
All in all, I was incredibly proud of the work I’d done here. To me, it felt like it was Tanner’s house and that was what I’d set out to achieve.
Although he hadn’t given me much of a brief, I had provided everything he’d asked for. He’d wanted the soul of the house kept intact, and I’d managed to do that quite well. He’d wanted a place that was comfortable but nice enough to host at, and he would definitely be able to do that here. He’d wanted a family-style kitchen where one could cook and all be together, which he now had.
If he ever decided to move in here permanently, there would only be a few minor changes to be made to the décor to take it from bachelor pad to family home. On that note, it would also be relatively easy to stow away the personal items I’d included if he ever decided to rent it out.
I’d done it up specifically with versatility in mind, while still providing a space he could walk into and feel right at home at in terms of his life as it was right now. Not an easy feat, but I did it.
This was a place he could build a future in, if he was so inclined, but it also catered to him as the only client who would be utilizing it straight away. There was no doubt that if a woman were ever to move in here, she would need to add her personal, more feminine touch, but I couldn’t provide for her as a client that I didn’t have yet.
Besides, I didn’t think it was going to be a problem anytime soon. The man certainly didn’t seem to be anywhere near wanting to settle down. Once he was, it would be easy enough for her to remove some of the bachelor touches and replace them with whatever her own style turned out to be.
On the other hand, I didn’t know if he’d ever really get to a point where he wanted to settle down. If I hadn’t overheard what I had the other night, I’d have thought that maybe he was ready. I definitely would’ve toned down some of the details in the décor that spoke to it being a single guy’s house, but I had overheard what I had and he obviously wasn’t serious about changing that single status anytime soon.
Not with me, anyway.
Although he’d been keeping in touch with me these last few weeks, I hadn’t told him what I’d heard. I’d been trying to keep my distance as a result of it, but it was hard. After the initial shock had passed, I’d realized that—unfortunately for me—I still liked him so darn much. I also kept getting the feeling that he liked me, too.
It made me wish that I was the sort of person who would be happy with friendship and great sex because we had that in spades. If I could’ve just been happy with that, I would have accepted that he would never be exclusive to me and it wouldn’t have bothered me that he was sleeping with other people as well. Or maybe it would have, but I’d have been able to live with it.