Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(99)

“I just got the job. I’m trying to get things together and in the right direction,” Sean said, shifting his body position. He went from totally open to closed down in one quick movement.

Krista let it go. She would wait and see what happened. Hopefully in a couple weeks it would calm down, for both their sakes. Krista had already decided she wouldn’t be with him if he put work first. She never dated a workaholic, but she had seen enough on TV to know they were home wreckers. It was time to look out for number one.

After a fantastic, expensive dinner in which Sean tickled Krista with compliments and gave her his undivided attention the whole time, they rolled up a long driveway to an enormous house. A-giant-house. As in, the buyer had all the money in the world and houses the size of blocks were no big concern.

“Where are we?” Krista asked as she stared out at the darkened mammoth of a structure.

“Home,” Sean said, slowing in front rather than opening the garage door.

“This is yours? Did you buy this?” Why?

Sean got out. Krista followed. He waited for her to shut the door of his new Audi, which was the most comfortable car in the world, and set the alarm with his key thingy.

“Yup. All mine. I wanted something near the ocean. It is a bit of a commute, but worth it.”

“Wow.”

They walked around the four car garage toward the landscaped path and up to the house. The path was lit with small, elegant lights that were only about four inches off the ground.

“They’re solar powered. They charge during the day, and they light the path at night.” Sean hurried ahead to unlock the door.

“Huh.”

The moon was only about half-full, and the house must have been on a large expanse of property, because there weren’t any houses close, and the lights from the street at the end of the driveway didn’t reach the door. Because of all this, Krista could only see the shrubbery close by, and had no idea what the front of the yard looked like. She did hear the ocean, though. It sounded close. Closer than her house. Actually, they sounded like they were walking on the beach, the crash of the waves was so loud.

“I need to install a motion censored light. It gets dark,” Sean said as he jingled his keys, angling his hands so the moonlight would help him find the right one.

“Why didn’t you park in the garage?”

“I haven’t done much unpacking. The garage is still full of boxes.”

“Huh.”

They finally got through the door, Sean stepping aside so Krista could enter first, then rushing around her to find a light. When they were finally done squinting in the harsh, overhead glare, Krista was presented with a giant foyer. The walls were littered with interesting paintings, there were high, wood paneled ceilings, and a tiled floor.

With a smile, Sean grabbed her hand and led her through a big archway into a bigger room with couches, shiny hard wood floors, a small bar set up in the corner of the room with four bar stools, and a giant TV.

While the furniture was similar in style to what Sean had in San Francisco, they weren’t the same couches. All the furniture looked new, actually. All the colors and décor matched and accented each other. It was modern, but comfortable. It looked like an interior decorator had blown through and Sean took all the suggestions.

It looked like it cost a fortune, is what it looked like.

“Tour?” Krista asked in a small voice.

Despite it being stuffed with furniture, the room was absolutely huge. High vaulted ceilings with more wood paneling. It wasn’t wood paneling from the 70’s, either. It was something you might see walking into a winery in Napa valley. There was art and plants, sconces, and vases—the room bespoke money. Everywhere the eye turned, it was interested in what it found. Which was great. Krista had always wanted a home that looked like a million bucks, but still felt like a home; a place that was luxury, but inviting. She never figured she’d have that much money, though. Unless she won the lotto, that was.

Which led her to one question: how much was he making?

They went down a wide hallway to a library. First thing of note—everything was Cherry wood. The giant desk, the book shelf, the small table between two overstuffed couches, even the stand that held the large globe. One wall was covered with books. Big, ornamental, expensive looking books. They looked old. Another wall had a giant tapestry depicting a battle. A third wall…

“Is that a sword?” Krista asked, afraid to take a step further into the room in case she brushed up against something and broke it. She didn’t belong in a rich man’s house.

Sean bounded over to it, a giant smile on his face.

“It is! It is the first. I figure a sword collection can begin in this room. That’s why the tapestry. It is a relic, though I admit, I don’t remember much about it. I have all the paperwork if you want to look at it. I figured you’d know. And look…” He pointed to the far corner. “A suit of arms. That was for me. Cool, huh?”

“Isn’t all this for you?” she mumbled.

He didn’t hear her, he was surveying the room as though he was waiting for her approval.

Ignoring Sean’s expectant look, also his explaining the love of the room, Krista walked quietly to the bookcase. The first book she saw was Moby Dick. Not a book she enjoyed reading, but a classic. The pages weren’t yellowed, though, so it probably wasn’t old, just styled that way. She noticed at the end of the bookcase, on the bottom, there was some Dean Koontz, Stephen King and…wait, was that Twilight?