All of which made him wonder why his gut was still so tied up in knots.
CHAPTER 26
Thanks Mike,” Alexa said, hopping out of the prospect’s car in front of the model home. She’d forgotten to pack a lunch this morning, so Mike had run her out to grab a sandwich before the walk-through with Grant, the general contractor, and the sales team. They would all be arriving soon.
“Any time, Alexa,” the newest Raven said. “Call us if you need us. We’re hanging out two minutes away.”
She gave him a nod as he pulled a U-ey in front of the house. Holding her stomach, she frowned. The big rock sitting there at the thought of seeing Grant again said maybe she should’ve skipped lunch, but she wasn’t sure when they were going to fit in eating dinner with moving her mother tonight.
Everything will be fine. You won’t be alone with him.
Right.
On a sigh, she made her way inside. The cool air wrapped around her, helping her stomach just a little, as did the calm, relaxing vibe of the home’s design. The place made her want to sit down and stay awhile. And for the four-hundred-thousand-dollar price tag associated with this particular model, she hoped it made a lot of people feel that way.
She stowed her purse and washed her hands, then grabbed her clipboard from the sales office and made another pass through the house. Grant loved perfection. In fact, maybe it was the only thing he truly loved. And in this one instance, she was determined to give it to him. Everything had to be just right for the walk-through. Maybe then he’d see that she could be valuable to him without becoming his wife and just let her go.
She began in the basement, which featured a big rec room, an exercise room, and a media room that looked like a little theater. She checked the finishes, paint job, placement of furniture, and double-checked her punch sheet. Next, she made her way through the living spaces on the main floor. She fixed the plantation shutters on the library windows, making sure all the slats lined up just so because she knew that even one out of place would drive Grant crazy.
Thump.
She froze, her ears going on alert. People were arriving for the walk-through already? She’d thought she had another ten or fifteen minutes. She went to the front door and peered outside, but there weren’t any cars in the driveway.
Damn nerves. They had her jumpy and anxious. Feeling time getting away from her, Alexa rushed up the steps to run through the bedrooms, bathrooms, and upstairs laundry room.
At the far end of the hallway, she pushed through the double doors of the master bedroom—and stopped short.
For a moment, her eyes couldn’t make sense of what she was seeing. Rose petals on the bed. Candles flickering on the nightstands and dresser. The low strains of jazz music playing from the built-in stereo system.
What in the world? As it all started to make a crazy, surreal sense to her, she gasped and turned—and ran right into Grant’s chest so hard she dropped the clipboard.
“Alexa,” he said, his voice casual, happy even.
She reeled back, putting distance between them. “What are . . . what the hell are you doing? What is all this?”
“It’s for you,” he said, his body filling the doorway.
“For God’s sake, Grant, the walk-through starts in ten minutes.” Her hands fisted at her sides, hopefully hiding her shakiness.
He shook his head. “I moved it to tomorrow morning.”
“What?” She pulled out her cell phone and checked her email. “I didn’t get any message about rescheduling.”
He grinned. He actually grinned and it was a sickening thing to her. “I wanted to surprise you.”
Her mind was spinning, trying to reject the insanity of all this. “With what? Some kind of cheesy seduction scenario? This is my place of work.”
“What if it was more than that?” He came closer, his body loose, his mannerisms relaxed.
Still, she retreated further into the big bedroom, her scalp prickling. “Meaning what?” she asked, not sure she really wanted to know.
“What if this place was yours, ours? I know you’ve always loved it. My house is ours, of course, but I lived there alone first. If we moved here, it could be ours together from the beginning. A fresh start.” He said all this like it made perfect sense. And maybe a month ago, it would’ve. But too much had happened. Too much had changed, for her. Now it just felt . . . creepy.
Unhinged, she heard Haven’s voice say.
Get out of here! The thought shivered over her skin.
“I don’t even know what to say to you right now.” Shaking her head, she pressed her thumb to the fingerprint security button on her phone, bringing it to life. She opened her text messages to send the message already typed out there, the one she’d written just in case but never really thought she’d have to use. Her finger moved for the Send button—