CHAPTER45
TANNER
The house was gorgeous. Honestly, Larisa had done an incredible job. I couldn’t believe it was the same place I’d seen when I bought it. In my wildest dreams, I never would’ve imagined she could take that and turn it into this.
I’d definitely been right about how talented she was. She had an eye that, in my opinion, couldn’t be beaten. When I’d first walked in, I’d gotten the overwhelming feeling that I was home. Even though I’d never seen it like this before, it felt familiar. Comfortable. Like mine.
A few years ago—hell, even a few months ago—I would’ve absolutely loved it. The place was like something she’d plucked out of my fantasies from when I was younger. It was undeniably a bachelor pad but done with taste.
Even the nudes were tasteful, and they were strategically placed so that they added to the overall feel of the place without being front and center. The bar they’d built and installed in the living area closest to the kitchen and the patio was fully stocked with all my favorite alcohol, along with some more girly-type drinks that I’d probably never open.
There was baseball memorabilia on the wall next to the bar, which I loved, and I could see the thought that had gone into every single area. Every part of it was me—just not the more grownup version of myself I’d been trying to be lately.
In a way, it reminded me of a Tanner-inspired Playboy mansion. It was a place to bring girls I wanted to fuck, not a place I’d bring my girlfriend for a week out of town.
It wasn’t the sort of place I’d like to bring Larisa for a week out of town.
She turned to face me once we were done touring the living areas, her hands twined together in front of her and her eyes wide with anticipation.
“What do you think so far?” she asked. “You hate it, don’t you?”
“I don’t hate it,” I said, completely honest. “The kitchen and living areas all opened up like this are amazing. I love that all the exterior doors and windows open fully to incorporate the patio into the house when I want to use it that way. I also love that it already feels like I’ve been living here for ages.”
Her gaze lit up. “Really? It does?”
“Yep.” I grinned, but even I knew it was a lame one. “What you did with the kitchen is exactly what I had in mind. I fucking love it. I love that it’s a space I want to hang out in with my family and friends.”
It was so easy to picture my children in it one day, standing on steps next to the counters to help me cook or sitting at that table doing their homework. There was even enough space on the countertops to have them sitting on them when they were younger, just watching me like I used to watch my mom.
What was bothering me about it was that she’d designed it so obviously expecting me to use it to continue my playboy, bachelor lifestyle. While I saw my future kids in that kitchen, I doubted she’d even considered them. It was more likely that she’d envisioned massive parties with my friends and drinking sessions with the guys.
In fact, I was pretty sure she hadn’t designed any of the house with the idea of ever coming back here herself. Which means she might not return my feelings.
I’d thought we were on track to becoming an exclusive couple. Heck, to my mind, we already were exclusive. It wasn’t like I was sleeping with anybody else. I hadn’t even been tempted to.
As I looked around, though, I realized that she’d never given an indication of wanting more from me. Seeing what she’d done with the house made me wonder if she’d ever felt anything for me beyond physical attraction.
Is she just going to vanish from my life now that the job I hired her for is over? Is that why she was so hesitant to go into business with me? Fuck.
It certainly seemed that way. No woman would want to spend any significant amount of time here without changing a few things, and that included her.
“Okay, so you love the kitchen and that I opened everything up,” she said slowly, and I realized her gaze had been on me the entire time I’d been thinking. There was a small crease between her brows now as she looked at me. “There’s a but coming. I can feel it. What is it?”
“There’s no but,” I lied. I motioned for her to precede me down the hall to the guest rooms before we went upstairs.
I didn’t want to say anything negative about the house. She really had done a great job. The color scheme and the overall design were perfect. It was just some of the décor I was unhappy with, more specifically because of what it signified about the probable future of our own relationship.
Larisa gave me a long look before she sighed and headed down the hallway. She knew I was lying. There was no doubt about it, but I didn’t want to say anything until I’d seen the rest of it.
If the bedrooms didn’t have that same bachelor feel to them, then maybe I could talk to her about the decorative touches in the living areas I didn’t quite like for this stage of my life. I didn’t want to upset her unnecessarily, especially since I knew how hard she’d worked to get it perfect. Truthfully, I even knew it was my fault that she’d designed it this way. No one knew that I’d been thinking of this more as an eventual family home than a bachelor pad, and it wasn’t like I’d told her.
I’d just thought that she knew. Somehow. Even though I didn’t know how I’d expected her to have guessed it. I told her I’d changed, though. She said she believed me, but obviously, she doesn’t.
Her shoulders seemed slightly slumped as she led me down the hall, and her voice was definitely flatter than it’d been before. “So the guest rooms down here are for, uh, guests. There aren’t many personal touches in them for that reason, but the navy blue is still present in places to tie it all together.”
As I peeked into them, my spirits lifted a little again. This is what I’m talking about.
Both of the bedrooms and bathrooms down here had been done up beautifully, and one had even had a door broken through to the outside. There was a small awning over a coffee nook there now, with privacy being provided from the rest of the house by greenery that she had to have brought in for that specific purpose.