Gold (All that Glitters #2)(48)

Trihn and Stacia tried to pull her out of her funk, but they didn’t know what had happened. Any help they had was belied by their ignorance, and she refused to clue them in. They were busy with their own lives. Trihn and Neal were sickeningly cute together, and Stacia seemed to have some new guy she wasn’t talking about yet. It left Bryna with too much alone time, and thus, she spent a lot of her afternoons at Eric’s place, avoiding Pace.

Even Hugh had seemed to notice a change in her mood. She could only fake so much with him. She had tried to be positive and upbeat for Valentine’s Day, which had landed on one of the weekends Hugh was in town. But all it had done was remind her of the Pink Charity Benefit where Jude had left her.

Two more weeks had passed in no time, and she was on her way back to Hugh’s resort where she anticipated spending the weekend relaxing at the spa and shopping before locking herself away in his penthouse when he wasn’t working.

She made it upstairs and found Hugh sitting on the balcony, staring out at the Strip.

“Hey,” she said with a smile.

He frowned when he saw her. That wasn’t normal.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“I hate seeing you like this.”

“Like what?” She raised her chin and tried to fall naturally into her own self-confidence. She walked over to him.

“You seem off.”

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “I’m fine. Really.”

“Yes. Well, in either case, I decided I wanted to get you a little pick-me-up.”

Bryna smirked, wondering what he had in store for her.

“First, I have to do some work in the area. Will you drive with me?”

“Of course. You know I’m yours on the weekend.”

“Hopefully, all the time.” He circled her waist and kissed her lips.

She let herself relax into the kiss. It was only in these moments when she could forget. She craved them.

She didn’t want to think about the fact that Hugh had said “all the time.” They’d never discussed their relationship. She’d thought it was pretty clear what they were doing. But he seemed more…attached every time they were together. She enjoyed their being around him, and she liked Hugh. But it wasn’t love or anything. This was too good for him to f*ck it up with real emotions.

They took the elevator to the valet station. He had a metallic-blue Ferrari convertible waiting for him, and her mouth dropped. God, I’m such a car whore.

“Oh my God, she’s beautiful.”

He laughed. “I thought you might like it.”

“Like? Love. This is the definition of perfection.”

“You’re right. I’m looking at it.”

She felt his hot and enticing gaze on her. She sauntered toward the passenger seat and let him check out her ass.

“Where are we headed?” she asked.

“I’m looking at some real estate.”

“Oh, exciting,” she said. Sitting in the plush leather seat did a lot to lift her spirits.

He sank in the driver’s seat, shifted into gear, and peeled out of the resort. She wished she were the one controlling the stick shift, but on some level, she was.

As he took the highway east, the wind whipped her hair all around her face. It was refreshing, finally getting the warm weather back. They meandered through a neighborhood not too far from her condo right now. Her eyes wandered over all the beautiful two-story houses. Each one was a little bit different, and she liked the elegance and diversity in her desert home.

Hugh stopped outside of a house with a For Sale sign up in the yard.

“I like it,” she said immediately.

“Let’s check out the inside.”

They walked up to the front, and Hugh punched in the code to enter. He let her in first.

The walkway was massive with a huge staircase leading up to the second story. She looked straight out through the glass French doors that opened up to a balcony. The kitchen was top of the line, all stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, and a big bay window surrounding a breakfast nook. The living space was outrageous with a sunken living room that connected to the dining room and office. Upstairs, there were three full bedrooms. The master took up half of the house with one enormous walk-in closet and a waterfall shower that could have been its own private lagoon.

“Wow,” she murmured once they finally made it outside.

The backyard had a landscape swimming pool, complete with a waterfall, lazy river, and twin hot tubs.

“This is epic. You should definitely get it,” she said.

Hugh held his hand out, and she walked back toward him.

“Here.”

She looked down and saw a key in his hand. “What’s that?”

“I got it for you.”

“Got…what for me?” she asked, astonished.

“The house.”

Her jaw dropped. “You…got me a house? I thought we came here to look at real estate for you for, like, an employee or friend or relative or something.”

“Well, surprise.”

Her eyes surveyed the incredible house in stunned silence. Hugh had gotten her a house. She didn’t know what to say.

He pressed the key into the palm of her hand. “You have been so out of it lately. I figured it must be related to things at home. You mentioned you were having difficulties with your stepbrother. I wanted to do something special for you.” His lips were tender when they met hers. “I hope you like it.”