Andrew looked just as surprised at my words as I was. “Are you sure?” he asked, giving me an easy out.
“Yeah,” I said, meeting his gaze, even though I was honestly pretty nervous about the idea of going back to his place.
I definitely wasn't a virgin, but I didn't have one-night stands all that often, and I was becoming increasingly sure that this was just another in a string of flings for the young, handsome billionaire.
I wondered for a moment if I had agreed to go home with him because I thought he was charming, in the way he opened my door and smiled at me, or if I was merely wowed by those billions, just like all the other girls before me. But then, I pushed that thought out of my mind, deciding that it didn't matter.
I'd had a fun evening with him, and I could use a good lay, if I was being honest. And I was kind of curious about this house of his. So, I followed him back out to his car and let him take me to his home.
Chapter Four
Andrew
I wanted to pin Lexi back against the door and ravish her the moment I got her inside, but my brain insisted that I wait. I was still surprised that she had even agreed to come home with me. She didn't seem like the kind of girl who was used to one-night stands, yet I'd been giving her every signal that I could to make sure that she knew this really was just a meaningless fling.
I actually kind of liked her, especially the way she was able to surprise me, but I didn't have the time or the energy to have a relationship. I was too busy with work.
“Did you have to pay off the city to make sure no one could build anything to block your view of Lake Washington?” Lexi asked snarkily, as she stared out the glass door leading to the back deck.
I snorted and joined her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “Well, the great thing about being up on a hill is that as long as I have a backyard, unless someone builds something really tall, they're not going to block my view. And Seattle is very good about restricting how high buildings can be in certain areas to ensure that no one's view is spoiled.”
I began to kiss her neck, smiling as I heard her soft gasp.
“Is that true?” she asked, her voice slightly more breathless than before. “I thought that was the uproar about the new skyscraper that they're building. It blocks off all the views that those offices in the old buildings used to have.”
“Do you really want to talk about skyscrapers right now?” I asked, nipping at her neck.
She moaned softly. “Not really,” she admitted, turning around to face me.
I smiled down at her and pressed my lips to hers. Her lips were pliant beneath mine, moving slowly and sensuously. She opened her mouth with only the slightest hesitation, and my tongue glided alongside hers, sending sparks of pleasure shooting through me.
But she was still unsure about this. I could feel her heartbeat pounding beneath my fingertips.
I pulled away, smiling down at her. “I'm still impressed by the view, and I see it every day,” I told her.
She snickered. “Probably not every day though, right? With the way the weather is in Seattle, you're probably lucky if you see it a couple times a week.”
I rolled my eyes and grinned at her. “It's not that bad here,” I told her. I cocked my head to the side, tracing patterns along her hips. “Shall I open another bottle of wine? I don't think we were finished talking about whether or not graffiti is really considered art.”
She giggled. “You know I only started that line of conversation because you seem to think art appreciation is all about showing off how rich you are.” But she paused. “Wine might be nice, though.”
I smiled at her and gestured towards the couch. “Why don't you make yourself comfortable? I'll be right back.”
I went down into the cellar and selected a bottle of one of my favorite merlots. I brought it up into the kitchen, where I poured us each a glass, then brought them back out into the living room. Lexi hurriedly put her phone away as I came back into the room.
“It's okay if you want to take pictures,” I told her. “As I said, I know the view is incredible.”
“How do you manage this place anyway?” she asked. “Based on the outside, this place is huge, but I haven't seen any staff.”
I handed her a glass of wine and folded myself easily onto the couch next to her, bringing a hand up to stroke her neck and playing with her hair a little. “The staff is only here during the day,” I told her, amused by the question. “I don't have much in the way of staff, anyway. Just a maid, and then a grounds crew that comes by a couple times a week. I'm not here that often, really only to sleep. I hardly even eat meals here.”
“You must be busy at work,” Lexi said.
I nodded. “Running Orinoco isn't an easy task,” I admitted. “As I mentioned, I was groomed from a young age to run the company, but I didn't really expect to take over the entire company just out of business school. I thought I would ease into things. Not that I'm complaining. I like the work, and I have a lifestyle that anyone would envy. But it's busy.”
Lexi grinned. “So, you've essentially paid millions of dollars for a house that you barely use?”
I shrugged. “That's one way to look at it, I suppose. I view it more as contributing to the local economy.”