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I bought my first house a week after my twenty-fifth birthday. I’d had a budget of three million dollars and went crazy and spent four. I’d looked at twelve different homes, then agonized over the decision. With Brant, I expected even more of a production, but it turned out to be ridiculously simple.
In my prior price range, I'd had to make decisions. Did I want the outdoor kitchen or the sun porch? The indoor theatre or a library? An oceanfront bedroom or a guest suite over the garage?
In Brant's price range, every house had everything. And there were only three to choose from. The realtor offered a limo, but we drove Brant's car, winding toward the coast, the homes fifteen miles apart. Everything we could ever want for thirty million dollars.
It was an easy decision. The first one was a palace of ostentatious details, hand-painted ceilings, and heavy velvet drapes. It screamed old wrinkly money and came complete with maids' quarters and an entire floor dedicated to formal rooms we would never use. It did have a ballroom, a huge expanse I envisioned using in a variety of ways, the foremost being a skating rink for our future children. But the consensus, a look shot between Brant and me upon our exit, was that it was a no.
Windere was the second property, an estate high on the cliff, owned at one point in time by the Kennedys. It had four gated acres, nine bedrooms, two pools and an elevator that went the 42 stories down to the beach. At the base of the elevator was a two-bedroom beach house, a twelve hundred square foot gem with a spa and pool. The estate had privacy, needed a staff of at least five, and was a good half hour from Palo Alto, but it was comfortable and modern. It also had a six-thousand-square-foot basement, cut into the rock and already outfitted with enough electronic infrastructure to power a small city. We were sold.
"This is it." Brant clapped the realtor, a small woman with an overbite, on the back. "Good work."
"I have one more property to show you in Santa Cruz. It's a beautiful house..." Her voice faltered, and she looked to me for help.
"This one's perfect," I echoed Brant's opinion and beamed at him.
"Draw up the contract." He slid an arm around my shoulder, then leaned down and kissed my mouth. "I love you," he murmured, and the woman stepped away to give us privacy.
"I love you too."
"First steps, right?"
I grinned. "First steps. Baby steps."
He growled against my mouth. "Don't say baby. I'm already wanting to see you big and pregnant, with kids running through this house."
The light in my heart faded slightly, and I pushed myself onto my toes, stealing a kiss before the emotion hit my eyes. "Let's get one last look at our future home."
Chapter 54
I was in my office at BSX, writing an email to accounting regarding a philanthropy donation, when my door swung open. I glanced up from my computer, freezing at the sight of bare abs stepping into the room, quickly followed by a red-faced Jillian.
“Hey.” Lee grinned at me, and I stared stupidly at his chest, wondering where, when and how he had lost his shirt.
“What are you doing here?” I breathed, glancing at Jillian.
“I can’t believe I found you. This place,” he whistled. “It’s sweet, save for the assholes in suits.”
Two of our security officers eased into the office and it was a good thing I had one of the larger spaces.
“We’ll escort him out,” Jillian said quietly. “You should go with him. Now, before anyone sees him. We can use the service elevator.”
“Have you seen the weather?” Lee dropped into one of the soft chairs in front of my desk and threw one leg over the arm. “It’s fucking perfect. We should go to the beach.”
I saved the email as a draft and stood, locking my computer, my mind racing through how to handle this. Brant was under a stiff deadline, and had spent most of the week in his office, spending the nights working and taking catnaps on his office couch.
Jillian reached for his arm and he gave her a look that stopped her cold. “Let’s move this outside, shall we?” She glanced at me. “You know that Brant is under deadline. He has specs due by the end of the week.”
I ignored her and grabbed my keys from the desk. “The beach?” I moved around until I was in front of Lee, then bent forward and kissed him, right in front of her. “Let’s go.”
Her disapproval reeked in the room, but she said nothing.
I patted one of the security guys on the arm as I opened the door. “I got this, Tommy. It’s all good. Lee’s not going to cause a scene.”
They clung to us, Jillian and the two suits, as we walked through the executive level and past Brant’s office. The door was closed and I grabbed Lee’s arm just before we passed it, getting his attention and kissing him on the neck. He grinned at me, enjoying the attention, and I let out a sigh of relief when we made it onto the service elevator without passing any other employees.
As soon as we got in my car, Lee leaned the passenger seat back and put one of his shoes up on the dash. “So, what do you think? Which beach?”
I considered the question as I backed out of my assigned space. “We could go to Linda Mar. There’s a nice restaurant there that overlooks the water.”
