Home Is Where the Heart Is (3 page)

“
I’m so sorry, Julie,”
Steven said smiling. He looked her up and down before adding “You
look stunning.”

“
And here I was feeling a
little underdressed,” she muttered.

“
Why would you feel that?”
he asked confused. She looked at him and shrugged.

“
I am wearing a simple dress
and you, you have a full suit and everything,” she said.
Steven laughed and removed his jacket before he loosened his tie and
removed that also. He then undid the top two buttons on his shirt and
looked at her.

“
Better?”

“
So much better,” she
giggled. “Shall we start the tour?”

She turned around and looked out the window.

“
Please,” Steven said.

“
I think the natural lighting
and the view speak for themselves,” Julie started.

“
The view is something,”
Steven admitted as he looked outside the window, feasting his eyes on
the city below.

“
There is also a modern
electric fireplace, perfect for those winter nights,” she
informed him with a smile.

“
And do all condos come
furnished?” Steven asked as he turned around.

“
Most of them. But most clients
choose to furnish the newer models themselves,” she explained
as she walked into the dining area. “The dining room connects
to the kitchen, which as you said the first time is a major perk for
you. It has all the counter space you may need as well as a high
dining table for four.”

Steven looked around the kitchen.

“
Really good,” he agreed
as he followed her down the hallway to the bedrooms. “The
bedroom is lovely,” he marveled, as he looked around the guest
room complete with a forty inch TV that was mounted on the wall.

“
You haven’t seen the
master bedroom yet,” Julie said as he led her out of the guest
room and into the master bedroom. She was right. The master bedroom
was a haven to say the least. It not only had its own TV mounted on
the wall, but also a mini bar. In the bathroom was a huge black tub
that complemented the black and white walls. The entire condo was
perfect but the master bedroom was everything. She looked at him as
he looked around the bathroom.

“
Are all your clients always
this lucky?” he asked.

“
Well, I try,” she said
smiling. She looked at him and shrugged. “Do we have a deal?”

He looked around the bathroom and then walked out into
the bedroom. He stood next to the window and smiled at her.

“
Yes we do,” he said
still smiling. Julie returned the smile, and then shook her head.

“
Don’t get me wrong,
Mr…er, Steven, but why do you need so many properties? I
thought you had already found your ideal house on Monday,” she
queried as she looked at him.

“
I never said that,” he
said turning to look at her.

“
But you said…something
about having a big family and…” her words trailed off as
she felt suddenly confused. “Okay, I have no idea of what I’m
saying anymore,” she admitted nervously, as she tucked a curly
strand behind her ear. Steven laughed as he walked over to the bed.
He sat at the edge and looked at her.

“
I did say that I have a big
family and that a house with a pool would be perfect in case they
visit, but I am not in the market for
my
house,” he
said looking at her. She raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

“
Why are you checking out all
these properties then?” she demanded as she looked at him.

“
Like I said, I’m a
glorified realtor,” he replied with a smile. She looked at him
and shrugged.

“
This time I have to ask, what
exactly is a glorified realtor?”

“
Well, I cater to clients of a
certain kind and having said that I need properties of a certain
kind. Properties that a real estate company like Larson would
consider a bit too shard to move,” he explained.

“
Talk about smart business,”
Julie said grinning . “So you are not in the market for a
house?” she asked. Steven shook his head and returned her grin.

“
No, I moved to the States some
months back and by then I had already found myself a nice condo. But
now that I have seen this one I feel like I might have been a bit too
hasty in making a decision. The monochromatic color scheme in this
one is amazing,” he said looking around.

“
Really? What is the color
scheme at your place?” she asked.

“
Red and black. I went all
bold,” he said. Julie smiled and nodded.

“
Bold indeed,” she
replied in agreement as she looked at her tablet. “We need to
get going if we are going to look at the other property by two,”
she urged as she looked up.

“
Sounds lovely, but I must ask,
Julie. Are you always this serious?” he questioned as he looked
at her. Julie smiled at him.

“
No, just when I am working
with super-hot English men,”
she
thought as she looked at him. “Well, I do try not to get fired
for fraternizing with the clients,” she blurted. As soon as she
said the words, she almost wanted to slap herself. She looked at him
and shrugged. “Sorry, I kind of just yap when I am nervous,”
she apologized as she tried as hard as she could not to tug on a
stray strand of her hair, something she always did when she was
nervous.

“
Nervous? Do I make you nervous
Julie?”

“
Kind of,” she admitted
sheepishly as she avoided looking into his eyes.

“
Why?” Steven asked
looking a little shocked.

“
I can’t really think of
a reason right now…maybe it’s the fact that I am
counting on you for my next paycheck,” she said with a smile.
Steven looked at her and smiled back.

“
Why don’t you come
here?” he said as he patted the bed next to him. “Maybe
if you knew me a little more, then you wouldn’t be so nervous
about being around me,” he said. She didn’t want to say
it, but now, she was more nervous than ever. She looked at him and
reluctantly walked over to where he was and sat down.

“
We still have another house to
check out you know,” she whispered in a lower voice than she
had originally intended to.

“
So what? The day is still
young, isn’t it?” he asked as he looked at her. “Did
anyone ever tell that you may be this nervous because you are always
a bit too serious? Uptight even?”.

“
Uptight? Me? Never!”
Julie retorted, almost annoyed.

“
Really? When was the last time
you left the office early just to go home and chill out in front of
the telly?” he quizzed.

“
Well…” Julie
started and then paused when she realized that he was right.

“
Been a while, hasn’t
it?” Steven grinned as he looked at her.

“
I guess so,” she sighed.

“
Tell you what, tell me two
things I don’t know about you,” Steven said as he looked
at her. She looked at him and shook her head.

“
I am not the most interesting
person,” she admitted.

“
I’m confused. Is that a
confession or one of the two things I asked for?” Steven asked.

“
A bit of both really,”
she replied, unsure of why she would admit that to a perfect
stranger. “And you were right. I haven’t had time to
myself in forever.”

“
Well, you already know a whole
lot about me. So I guess we are even,” he said.

“
Really? Like what?” she
asked as she looked at him.

“
You know I am British
obviously, you know what I do for a living and the fact that I like
to cook. In my opinion, I am already one fact up compared to you,”
he added. She looked at him and shrugged.

“
I guess you are,” she
agreed.

“
Are you still nervous?”
he asked. She let out a small laugh and looked into his eyes.

“
Actually, no,” she said.
“What I really
feel is something that would get me fired,”
she
thought as she looked at him. “Can I ask you something?”

“
Anything, Miss Parker,”
Steven said as she put her tablet back in its cover. She looked at
him and gave him a brief look of distaste. “First name basis,
sorry,” he apologized quickly.

“
I have never had a client like
you and I can’t help but wonder whether you are always this
nice to all the people you work with,” she said. Steven smiled
and looked at her.

“
What do you think, Julie?”
he asked.

“
I don’t know what to
think,” she said.

“
Well, I am not always nice to
people I work with, only the ones I like,” he admitted. She
felt her cheeks get hot and looked away. She didn’t understand
why that kept on happening every time she was around him.

“
That’s really nice,
Steven, but like I said, the anxiety is totally up.”

He stood up and walked towards the door. A smile played
on Steven's lips as he stood up and walked towards her. He held her
hand,making her turn around. “What?” she asked as she
looked at him.

“
I really meant that. I do like
you,” he told her genuinely as he looked into her eyes. She
felt a tingle on her arm where his hand was.

“
Steven you….” She
started to say before he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled
her close to him. She looked up at him “Steven…”
she whispered as he lowered his head slowly. Her heart was pounding
in her chest so hard that she was struggling to breathe. She wanted
to pull away from him but for some reason she couldn’t. She
seemed to be almost stuck there. When their lips finally met, she was
surprised she didn’t pull away from him. Julie had only known
him for a collective period of three hours and now she was in a tight
lip lock, one that she didn’t want to pull away from. When he
pulled away, he looked into her eyes and smiled. She wanted to say
nothing and everything at the same time, but she seemed to be tongue
tied. “What…why did you do that?” She looked at
him and waited for his reply.

“
I told you. I really like
you,” he said in a whisper.

“
I am your realtor. This…this
is wrong,” she cried as she pulled away from him. She already
felt awkward and she still had another two hours to spend with him.
It was a relief that she had her car fixed. That meant that she
didn’t have to ride in the car with him. That would have been
one long, uncomfortable ride.

“
If it’s so wrong, why
didn’t you stop me?” he demanded looking at her. Julie
looked up at him and shook her head. Again, she had nothing to say to
him. She turned around to leave the room, but he slipped his arm
around her again and pulled her close to him. She was breathing
heavily as he held her against his strong muscular body.

“
What the hell is
happening?”
her
inside voice seemed to scream, but all she could do was just stand
there and look at him.

“
Tell you what,” he
started in a soft whisper. “I will kiss you again and if you
push me away, I will get the point,” he said as he brought his
head down on her. She could feel herself shaking as she felt his warm
breath on her cheek. She wanted to turn and leave, but somehow her
body seemed to have a mind of its own. All she knew was that she
couldn’t move at that moment. The only reality that was real to
her at that moment was the fact that Steven’s lips were only
centimeters away from her, and that she wanted him to claim her lips
again. She moaned softly when she felt his lips on hers one more
time. It was as if all reality around them shut down. Everything
seemed to be moving in slow motion. She loved the way he kissed her
softly, taking her upper lip and then her lower lip slowly and
softly. She hated to admit it, but he was damn good at what he was
doing. Without knowing it, she had already brought her hand up and
she was now holding the side of his face. She slipped her arm around
his neck and kissed him deeply. Steven began moving her towards the
wall and she didn’t even resist. When they got to one wall of
the room, he pinned her against it as he sought her out. He pulled
away from her and looked into her eyes that were now glossy with
desire. He smiled and leaned forward to kiss her neck. Julie closed
her eyes as she felt him plant small kisses along the sensitive skin.
Julie was not sure whether it was the fact that it had been a while
since she had been intimate with anyone, but she was already feeling
her body start to give in to her desires. Steven then traced kisses
back to her lips and once again kissed her long and deep. When she
finally found her inner strength, she put her hands on his shoulders
and pulled away from him.