“I was blown away with this place when I first had the realtor meet me here,” Geren said, checking out the way the sunlight streaming in through the small basement windows was hitting Tempest’s thin dress so he could see the outline of her shapely thighs underneath it. “I told him we just had to have this house, no matter what. There were three other couples interested, so I had to move quickly. I hope you are pleased.”
“Are you kidding?” Tempest asked him, a look of astonishment on her face. “I am so shocked. I never expected this, but it has made my decade. No scratch that. It has made my entire life. I can’t wait to call my folks down in Florida and tell them this house is back in the family.”
“Yes, and this time it’s for good.”
“Geren, what are we going to do with all this space?” Tempest was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact they would be occupying such a huge home.
“Fill it with happiness and a whole lot of sex.”
Tempest giggled and winked at him. “Sounds like a master plan. I was just wondering if you wanted to rent out the basement to cover part of the mortgage?”
Geren looked like he’d been slapped silly. “Tempest, please! I am hardly a man of meager means.”
Tempest moved tentatively toward him, noticing his expression had turned cynical. “I didn’t mean it that way.”
Geren’s mood lightened once he glanced into her bedroom eyes up close. “I know you didn’t, baby.” He placed his arm around her shoulders and drew her close. “Besides, I already paid the asking price in cash.”
“Cash!” Tempest exclaimed.
“Yes, that’s how I got rid of the other three couples who wanted this place. They got tied up in credit checks for mortgage loans. We have no mortgage. I walked right in and snatched this place up. I just want you to know that I paid for this house, our house, with my own money. Not my daddy’s. I worked hard for every penny of it.”
Tempest was still tongue-tied. “I guess I still have to get used to your money. Old habits die hard. I’m so used to worrying about money matters.”
“Well, those days are over.” Geren kissed her on the forehead. “I’m full of surprises, and the best are yet to come.”
“I bet,” Tempest concluded, wondering what other startling discoveries lay in her future.
“I do have a suggestion about the basement.”
“What’s that, Geren?”
“The upper two floors are more than substantial for the two of us, and it would be a shame to let a perfectly good apartment go to waste.”
Tempest was lost. “But you just said you didn’t want to rent it out.”
“I don’t want to rent it,” Geren clarified.
“Then what do you have in mind?”
“Janessa,” Geren blurted out. “Janessa and the baby.”
Tempest took two steps back from him so she could take a good look at his face. Was he for real? “You would let them live here?”
“In a heartbeat,” Geren answered without hesitation. “I’ve seen where Janessa lives and the way her parents treat her. That’s not a healthy environment for a child.”
Tempest totally agreed with him. The fact that Janessa would have to raise her baby u
nder such circumstances had caused Tempest numerous hours of lost sleep. “You don’t think she’ll get in our way?”
“You don’t want her here?”
“Are you crazy? Of course I do.” Tempest was really just trying to give him an easy out in case his offer had been an involuntary slip of the tongue. “I’m just trying to be considerate of your needs. You come first in my life; as a husband well should.”
“Husband! I just love the way that word rolls off your sexy-ass lips.” Geren reached around Tempest from behind and palmed both of her breasts, caressing her nipples. “To answer your question, no. I don’t think Janessa or the baby will interfere with our lives. After all, the apartment does have a separate entrance.”
“You are so wonderful,” Tempest whispered, becoming short of breath. The nipple stimulation was making her weak in the knees. “I can’t understand how you can be so compassionate and Dvontè is such a—He’s such a—”
“Asshole? Imbecile?” Geren said, trying to help her out with a fitting word for him. He hadn’t spoken to Dvontè in a couple of months and didn’t intend to until Dvontè came to his senses and did the right thing by Janessa.