I stood up and started to pull on my pants. My bra and shirt were in the foyer, so I walked over, picked them up, and put them on.
He followed me. “Would you like to have dinner? I always get hungry after.”
“Sure, what were you thinking?” I asked.
“Whatever you want.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket.
“Anything?” I asked.
“Come here.” He motioned for me to follow him through the double doors to the right of the entrance. We walked through a long, rectangular room with mahogany walls and a table that matched. I ran my finger over the top of the table and realized that gold inlay lined the edge.
He led me through a door at the end of the hall and into an industrial kitchen, where two women wearing white uniforms sat at a metal table near the back wall talking. One caught sight of Jake, and her eyes went wide. The other stopped what she was doing, and they both got up and ran to meet us.
“Hello,” the first said. “Is there anything I can get you?”
“I just wanted to show my friend the kitchen,” Jake said.
The one that hadn’t spoken stood behind her friend, giving me a look of disgust. I smiled at her, and she looked away. Jake didn’t seem to notice, but I knew he did. It probably bothered him to have girls act the way they did around him.
“We just got some fresh lobster in,” the talkative one said.
“Lobster,” I said, my mouth watering.
“You want lobster?” Jake asked.
“Dear God, yes.”
“Maybe some white wine risotto,” the talker suggested.
“Yes, that’d be divine,” I said.
“That’s it, then. You girls take your time.” Jake walked me out of the kitchen.
“This house is amazing,” I said, staring up at the chandelier. It looked like tiny crystals raining from the ceiling.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I’d prefer something smaller, easier to keep up with, but this is more practical for company events, and I need the security.”
“I’m sure you do. It seems like everywhere we go, there’s a female with a stick up her butt.”
“They all think I’m the one,” Jake laughed.
“I see.” I nodded my head, unsure of what to think. Maybe he didn’t believe in love, like the women at the party said.
“I’m sure you’ll want to get cleaned off for dinner,” he said.
“That would be nice.”
“Come on; I’ll show you upstairs.” We walked up the marble staircase, past the maze of second story corridors, into the long hall at the top of the stairs. There were only two doors there. I couldn’t figure out why at first. The hall was too long, but when he opened the door at the end, and I saw how big his room was, it made sense.
It was gorgeous, with a golden, Versailles flair. The bed frame was white with gilded edges, the double closet doors were mirrored with golden handles, and the four corners of the ceiling were sculpted posts. Blooming flowers with leaves rimmed the walls.
He opened the closet and walked inside. I followed him to get a look. He wasn’t an organized man, though he did have a system. All of his T-shirts were on one end, his jeans on another, and his dress clothes were on the back wall.
He pulled a robe out of a drawer on the back wall and handed it to me. “Everything you need is in the bathroom.”
“Thank you.” I took the robe and walked into the bathroom to get undressed. The bathroom was larger than my parents’ living room. It had three sinks, a Jacuzzi tub, and a TV on the wall to my right that he could look at through the reflection on his vanity mirror.
I could spend years walking through his house, learning its secrets. Everything was custom-made. The TV sat in a gilded picture frame, and the counter was etched marble. When I turned the shower on, steam flew out the glass door, enveloping me in a cloud of warmth.