Page 72 of Caught Looking

“It has wings.”

“As I recall there isn’t that much house, actually, it’s all designed to look out over the pool and the bay.”

She arched an eyebrow.

Janet jumped out and opened her door. “Take a look. You might like it.”

I hopped out my side and came around to take Annalise’s hand. “If it’s too much then we’ll call it a vacation rental and that’s that.” We started for the front door, my heart hammering in my chest for some damn reason.

Janet punched in a code and opened the heavy wooden front door. Then I pulled Annalise inside before she could overthink this. The foyer was huge, the ceilings soaring up to the second floor.

“This is a ridiculous waste of space.” She flung her hand around the nearly empty room.

“Of course I pick the most practical woman on the planet to impress with a big house,” I muttered. But it was also one of the things I was falling for. Annalise wasn’t here to get something from me. She didn’t want to show up at an event with me on her arm because of the attention it would get, she didn’t want my money, and she certainly didn’t want my fame.

She shot me a look but followed me into the next room, which happened to be the open kitchen and living room, and the floor to ceiling windows that looked out at the pool just like I remembered.

“Okay, I could get on board with this,” Annalise laughed. “That pool is amazing.” Everything was white from the kitchen to the living room to the patio surrounding the pool. The pool itself was big enough to comfortably swim laps in. It had a sunbathing deck, a hot tub, and looked out over the bay. The deck was empty at the moment, but Marcus told me there was plenty of furniture in storage that would come with the house.

“The kitchen is nice too.” Because of the open design and massive island, the large range, farm sink, subzero, and cabinets didn’t seem crammed together. There was plenty of storage space too.

“The secondary bedrooms and movie room are down that way,” Janet pointed to our left. “And the primary bedroom, study, library, and gym are in the opposite direction.”

“Gym, library, or bedroom?”

She grinned. “Whichever we find first.” We took off down the first hallway, finding the gym and library. Upstairs was the study, a small guest room, and the bedroom. Each one had huge windows that looked out over the pool and water.

“This is huge.” Annalise ran her hand over the massive bed.

It was definitely bigger than a king size. “Marcus is selling the house furnished.” And I would not mind sharing that bed with Annalise one bit.

Not one bit.

Hell, I probably wouldn’t even mind Roscoe sleeping with us in a bed this big.

I wrapped my arms around her, setting my chin on her shoulder as she looked out the windows. “So? What do you think?” I had already mentally moved in, but Annalise had the final say.

She sighed, running her hands over mine. “I want to hate it but I don’t. I kind of like it. It’s just so…much.”

“I make a lot of money and I haven’t really spent it on anything.” Maybe I’d been waiting for a reason. Waiting for her. “But I definitely wouldn’t mind spending it on a home.”

“It’s too fast,” she whispered.

“Is it though? We’re not teenagers. We’re grown adults who’ve been through things. We know what we do and don’t want out of life.” I spun her in my arms. “Do me a favor. This next week, pretend.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Pretend?”

“Yeah. Pretend this is our house. That we’re old and married. That there aren’t reasons to doubt it.” Because I sure as hell wasn’t doubting a damn thing.

I held my breath while she glanced around the room behind me one more time. “All right,” she said slowly. “I’ll give it a week.”

20

SETH

Ateam stood waiting for us when we arrived at the stadium ahead of the Tangerines game.

“Ms. Ryan, will you come with us?” The woman at the center asked.