Until April (Until Her/Him #10)(17)

“It has a bar, a pool table, and leather furniture. It’s a man cave.” He opens the doors to his car, and I get in and buckle up. “Where to next?”

I pull up the information for our next appointment and scan the listing. “It’s just down the street. The realtor who has this house has that one as well, and again there are no photos besides one of the outside. It also sits on three acres, has a pool, no guesthouse though, but it is seven hundred thousand less.”

Less than five minutes later, we pull up to the house, this one very similar to the previous listing, so much so that I wonder if the same person designed it. Like last time, I let us inside and instantly know why there are no photos of this place.

“Well, this is—” I pause, trying to figure out the right word for the multicolor-painted walls and artisan-tiled monstrosity that is the entryway. “—fun?”

“Fun is one way to describe this.” He looks around, seeming fully disgusted.

“On the plus side, paint isn’t that expensive.”

“It would need a lot of paint.” He bypasses the front room and heads right to the kitchen that is nice—minus the excessive amount of beach-life-themed signs, containers, and knickknacks.

“This is beautiful.” I step out the backdoor and look over the yard and the pool that was built to look like a sandy beach.

“Do you think they like the ocean?” He comes to stand next to me, and I smile up at him.

“Noticing a theme, huh?”

“It’s a little hard not to.”

“Remember, it’s seven hundred thousand less than the other house,” I remind him as we head back inside.

“It should be much less than that,” he grouches, not even taking the time to check out the extra bedrooms before going to the master. As soon as we enter, I come to a dead stop. The coral-pink king-sized bed in the middle of the room looks like an open clam shell, and someone took the time to paint an entire underwater ocean scene around the room, including a mermaid couple in an embrace, swimming up toward the ceiling, which is painted like the sky.

“Jesus, what the fuck is this?”

“A masterpiece,” I say, and he looks over at me as I press my lips together to keep from laughing. “How long do you think it took them to paint all this?”

“The question is why would they waste their time painting this?” He watches me walk over to one of the walls and lean in to get a better look at one of the fish that doesn’t just look like Nemo but is him with his one tiny fin.

“The detail really is impressive.”

“This place is out.”

“We haven’t even seen all of it yet.” I turn to face him.

“I’ve seen enough to know I don’t want it.”

“Maybe the closet is awesome.”

“I don’t care.” He leaves the room.

“Why are you in such a hurry?” I follow after him as he heads for the front door.

“I need to get out of here before you try to convince me that paying less for this place would be worth it.”

“It would be worth it in the long run.” I turn to lock up, then gasp when he spins me around and kisses me swiftly.

“Put in an offer on the other house, full asking, no contingencies,” he orders, holding me close.

“Will do,” I say breathlessly, and he touches his mouth to mine once more, then lets me go.

When we get back in the car, I call the realtor for the house, and he lets me know there are already two offers on the table but that the owner is waiting until the end of the day to make a decision. When I relay that information to Maxim, I can tell by the look he gives me that there is no way he’s going to let the house get away. So as soon as we get back to my house, I draft up an offer for fifty thousand over asking price and send it off.

Ten minutes later, I get a phone call from the realtor, letting me know the offer was accepted by his clients.





Chapter 6


April

STANDING IN MY closet, wearing nothing but a pair of barely there lace panties and my bra, I look through my clothes, trying to decide what I should wear to dinner tonight. Normally, I wouldn’t overthink something as ridiculous as my outfit, but this situation is not normal, and if I’m honest with myself, I’m nervous as hell about meeting Melanie.

I take my favorite red dress off its hanger and hold it up in front of me, and my nose scrunches. The short bodycon dress is hot—probably too hot for dinner with Maxim’s sister. With a sigh, I toss it to the growing pile on the floor, then scream when I catch Maxim’s reflection in the mirror.

“Stop doing that to me.” I spin around to face him, holding my hand over my heart, and he leans into the doorjamb, crossing his arms over his chest, looking hot as hell in his navy slacks and white button-down with the top two buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up, showing off his muscular forearms.

“I just came to see if you’re about ready to go.”

“Obviously not.” I wave my hands up and down my body. “I’m trying to figure out what to wear.”

“I like the dress you just had.”

“I’m sure you do,” I say, and he grins, his eyes leisurely roaming over my chest, waist, and legs. “Can you please go? You’re distracting me.”