Seducing His Heart (22 page)

“
Yeah?”

“
Here’s the deal. The
house needs furniture. You can stay as long as you like if you
furnish it for me.”

“
Furnish it?”

“
I’ll give you the money.
You buy whatever you want.”

“
I thought you wanted to
sell the house?”

“
I’m not sure what I’m
going to do. No one can live there unless it has
furniture.”

“
Deal. Let’s drop off the
bags, check out the house, and go to a local furniture
store.”

Whit eased back onto the road and stepped on
the gas. “Sounds like a plan.”

They were silent in the
car the rest of the drive. Whit steered into a short driveway and
put the car in park. Bess was out in a flash. A deep breath of
fresh, salty air revived her. She stood on the flagstone walk that
split the shallow front yard in two and stared at the building. It
was two stories of mixed stone, with several windows, sporting
small panes of glass cut into the front. Two were almost hidden by
the small front porch.
Big enough for a
couple of rockers.

The front door was a worn, weathered wood,
with wrought iron hinges, its white paint flaking off. The brass
handle needed polishing. Small hedges fenced in the property while
a bit of ivy attempted to climb one wall.

Whit joined her. There was sweat on his
upper lip. “The house needs work. In the back are sliding glass—”
The words rushed out of his mouth. Bess put her finger on his
lips.

“
It’s charming.
One-of-a-kind. Wow, it’s great. Let’s go in.”
Unique. So like him.

He smiled, fished in his pocket for keys,
and unlocked the front door. Bess passed through first into a small
entryway. Through an arch was the living room with a vaulted
ceiling. Bedrooms on the second floor opened onto a gangway that
ran the length of the house, ending at a wooden staircase. A large,
stone fireplace looked especially grand in the near-empty room. The
walls were dirty beige. A door to the right was closed. Bess’s gaze
went to a beige, suede sofa, sitting at an awkward angle in front
of the hearth.

Gotta check out the
kitchen.
She ignored the room on the right
and turned left.
Perfect place for a big
table.
French doors opened onto a
flagstone patio. She moved through another archway into the
kitchen. It had been modernized about twenty years ago and needed
updating. Her mind was working. When Whit spoke to her, she didn’t
hear him.

“
I said—what do you
think?” He hiked his jeans up and shifted his weight.

“
What? Oh. Sorry.
Thinking. What do I think? I think it’s grand.”

“
Grand? It’s too small to
be grand.” His brow furrowed.

“
It’s great, beautiful.
Has a lot of potential. All the right details. I love the French
doors.”

“
The kitchen is tiny,
compared to yours.”

“
Every kitchen is tiny
compared to mine. It can be opened up. It’ll be great, once you
renovate it.”

“
Ouch. How much is that
gonna cost?”

“
Depends on what you want
to spend. Since you’re going to dump the place, you probably don’t
want to renovate the kitchen.”

“
Dump the place. Pretty
harsh.”

“
That’s what you’re
doing.”

“
I’m not sure. I might
keep it.”

“
I’d never sell a place
like this unless I had no money.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you can never
replace this. There’s no other house like it on Earth.”

“
I suppose.”

“
You’re not very
sentimental, are you?”

He simply looked at her.

“
Figures.” She walked back
into the living room and headed for the room behind the closed
door.

He followed. “Why do you say that?”

“
Don’t want to get
married. No kids. No attachments. Dump the house. Keep it lean. No
sentiment. Come and go as you please… Isn’t this a charming room?”
The space wasn’t large, but it had a bay window with a window seat,
plus another large window with lots of glass panes.

“
Let’s go
upstairs.”

They climbed to the second floor. There were
two good-sized bedrooms and one smaller one, like a maid’s room. In
the master bedroom, she gasped when she saw the old fireplace.

“
A fireplace in the
bedroom?” She glanced his way. “Perfect for seduction.” She wiggled
her eyebrows.

“
It looks like it hasn’t
been used in fifty years.”

“
That can be
fixed.”

“
And you’re going to
seduce me in this room?” he asked, grinning.

“
I think the fireplace is
going to seduce us both.” She chuckled.

“
Also a practical way to
cut down on the expense of heating this place,” he said.

“
Mood killer.” She
laughed.

She went to the window, her eyes drawn to
the view of the Long Island Sound lapping at the beach a few
hundred yards away.

“
A view of the water.” She
drew in a breath. “It’s fabulous. This place has such potential…
The backyard!” She bounded down the stairs.

“
The gardener hasn’t done
much. I’ve only got a basic plan with him.”

She stopped short and turned to face him.
“Stop explaining. It’s fine. I love the house. You’re lucky to have
found such a special place. No more excuses.”

The backdoor was between the dining area and
the kitchen. Whit unlocked the bolt, and they went outside. The
small yard was neatly trimmed. About three times the size of the
front lawn, it had dirt beds for flowers and almost no
landscaping.

“
It needs planting,” he
said.

“
Part of the fix-up
plan…if you intend to keep it.”

They returned inside. Bess guesstimated the
length of the table she’d need and a few other items. “Let’s go
shopping.”

“
Let’s eat. I’m
hungry.”

They drove into town. A hamburger joint on
Purchase Street was open, so they slid into a booth and
ordered.

“
You have your stuff with
you, don’t you?” he asked, taking a bite of his
cheeseburger.

“
Yep.”

“
Good. I’ll give you the
keys to the car and the credit card. I’ll take the train
back.”

“
Leave me
here?”

“
That’s the idea. You need
to be safe. You will be, here. No one’ll find you.”

She sighed. “True. I’ll have to cancel the
Dinner Club.”

“
For a little while.” He
took her hand. “Please? Don’t take any chances.”

She stared at him for a
moment before plucking a pickle off the plate and popping it in her
mouth.
He looks worried. Maybe I should be
more worried.
“As we agreed. I thought
you’d be staying here, too.”

“
I can’t. I have to work.
Besides, if you’re decorating, I’ll be in the way.”

She nodded. “Okay. A couple of days.”

They finished eating, Whit
paid the bill, and they strolled to the train station. After a
passionate goodbye, she drove back to the house. Without Whit, the
place looked sadder and more dilapidated.
I love this house. But it’s his. Will I ever have one of my
own? Maybe. Not as long as I’m unemployed.
She sighed and pulled out paper and pen to make a
list.

Chapter Twelve

Whit showed up early for his appointment
with Dr. Sumner. He paced until the doctor opened the door. Then,
he strode in and sat down.

Dr. Sumner took his time sitting in the
chair opposite Whit and smiled. “You seem anxious to see me.”

“
Yes.”

“
Do you have an answer to
the question about the house?”

“
No. But I think I was
meant to keep it, at least until now, to keep Bess
safe.”

“
Oh? How so?”

Whit went on to explain about Bess and the
break-in. “Then, she said, ‘you’re going to dump the house,’ and I
cringed.”

“
Why? You do plan to sell
it, don’t you?”

“
But she said dump. Like I
was dumping a girlfriend. And it hurt. I don’t want to dump the
house. It needs work…is such a mess. I was embarrassed to bring her
there.”

“
Did she mind?”

“
Not at all. But suddenly,
my dream house, my beautiful house, looked like a piece of old
junk. The door is worn, paint is chipping off. The windows are so
dirty you almost can’t see out. And the worst!” Whit put his head
in his hands.

“
The worst?”

“
The kitchen looked like
it hadn’t been updated since the Civil War. 1950’s style. Ugly.
Old-fashioned. And I wondered what she thought.”

“
What did she
say?”

“
That it could be
fixed.”

“
And you said…”

“
I didn’t say anything.
Something else in my life to be fixed. I wanted to take a match to
the whole place.”

“
Did she hate
it?”

“
That’s what’s so
strange.” He looked up and made eye contact with the doctor. “She
loved it. Said it had potential, could be nice.”

“
That’s good, isn’t
it?”

“
To renovate the
kitchen’ll cost a fortune.”

“
But if you intend to keep
the house, it’ll last for years.”

“
If. That’s the question.
If.”

“
You still don’t know why
you haven’t sold the house?”

He shook his head. “The question echoed in
my head a hundred times on the train ride back. It’s a dump, and
yet, I still own it…and even spend money on a gardener. What an
idiot.”

“
An idiot? Maybe you love
the house, too. Maybe is represents something to you.”

“
You mean the family I
never had?”

“
Perhaps.”

“
I suppose it does. I
mean, in case I find someone. If I change my mind about my whole
life.” He chuckled.

“
You’d have a place to put
a family.”

“
Yeah. Don’t you have to
have the family first, doc?”

“
Different people do
things in different ways. Whatever works for you, Whit.”

“
Double talk.” He
scowled.

“
You want me to give you
the answer.”

“
Seems the fastest
way.”

“
I can’t do
that.”

“
Why? Because we’ll be
done then?”

“
Hey, that’s insulting.
No, because the one with the answer is you, not me.”

“
I knew you were going to
say that.”

“
So, give yourself the
answer. Give yourself permission to see inside.”

“
Maybe if I go away for a
few months, I’ll find it then.”

“
I hope so. Time’s up for
today.”

“
What happens here when I
go to Asia?”

“
We go on hiatus until you
return.”

“
I’ll miss it.”

“
You can always come
back.”

“
Do you think I’m ready to
go out on my own?”

“
Do you?”

“
Guess so. I’ve been on my
own forever, anyway.”

“
Maybe that’s the
problem.”

“
Maybe it is.”

Whit followed the doctor
to the door. They shook hands, and he left the building. He walked
the thirty blocks back to the studio instead of taking a cab or
subway. He wanted time to think. Seeing the house through Bess’s
eyes changed everything. His palace had morphed into a dump. The
creepy unease of embarrassment slid up his back.
She knew it wasn’t a palace. She was being
polite. How could I fall in love with it? What a hellhole. I’ll
never be able to sell it.

When he arrived, the place
was abuzz with news. Sam was yelling at the copy boy, the weather
girl was complaining about her computer, and the sound guy yelled
at everyone to shut up.
Business as
usual.
Lost in his own thoughts, Whit went
to his office. He shuffled papers, barely glancing at the top
stories.
The new job can’t come soon
enough. I need to get away.

Sam exploded into his space, waving her arms
and perching on the arm of a chair. “Where the hell have you been?
There’s a new scandal about the mayor’s deputy. Seems his wife is
growing pot in their backyard and selling it. We’ve got another
rape in Central Park, though I don’t know what these chickies are
doing there alone at three in the morning. And people came to blows
outside the mayor’s office over some dumbass off-leash law.”

Whit narrowed his eyes. “Earth-shattering,
isn’t it? Isn’t there any national news?”

“
Yeah. All bad. Here. Read
these. Top stories, unless there’s news from the
Mid-east.”

As quickly as she blew
into his office, she blew out again. He smiled.
Sam loves the drama. Scandal, her favorite food.
Whit picked up the papers, sat back in his chair,
and read.