Page 26 of Inevitable

I wrapped my arm around Alexis’s shoulder. “You know I’m your favorite client.”

“Come on.” She shook her head with a laugh, and I released her. “Let me show you the house.”

The inside of the house wasn’t as awful as I’d feared. But it wasn’t much better either. Alexis stayed with us until her phone rang.

“I’ll just be outside.” She slid open the back door and stepped out to the backyard, which was basically a concrete pit. Algae rested on the surface of the pool, trash and debris littering the yard.

“What do you think?” I asked Sumner.

“Honestly?” She scrunched up her nose, and it made me want to kiss her. “It’s kind of a dump.”

“I know.” Excitement churned through my bones, brimming with potential. “It’s a diamond in the rough.”

“Or it’s just…rough.”

“Maybe I like it rough.”I shouldn’t have said that.

“Mm.” She scanned my body, humming with satisfaction.

I gnashed my teeth. What the fuck was wrong with me? Why couldn’t I stop thinking about her? Why did I continue to push these boundaries when I knew I was flirting with disaster?

I cleared my throat. “What I meant to say was that I love a good challenge. And this house has so much potential.”

“If you say so…”

I went on to lay out my plan, leading her through each and every room. I loved how she listened with her whole body, as if she were a sponge soaking up my every word. She was passionate, smart, and attentive, but she didn’t hold back her opinion either. And it only made me respect her more.

“How do you make this an economical investment? Because everything you described sounds expensive,” she finally said when we returned to the living room where we’d started.

“I do a lot of the work myself.”

She gawked at me. “You? The man who wears $5,000 suits and owns one of the most successful commercial real estate firms in Los Angeles?”

“Seven, but who’s counting?”

She tilted her head to the side. “Seven?”

“The suit. And commercial real estate has become…tedious. Ian says this is a phase, a midlife crisis or whatever, but I need to do something with my hands. I need to make something. Leave a tangible legacy.”

“By building other people’s homes?”

I straightened and stared ahead, her words like a slap across the face. I shouldn’t have brought her here. For all her maturity, she didn’t get it. Didn’t get me. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

She placed her hand on my forearm. “I do understand. I was just surprised since you never mentioned it before. Though I guess it explains some of the blocks on your time audit.”

When I met her gaze, I saw the apology in her eyes, sincerity there too. And I felt it in her words.

“No one knows, apart from Ian,” I said, unable to bring myself to call him “your dad.” It felt strange. Wrong, somehow. “Alexis, and now you.”

She peered up at me. “Why…”

The back door slid open, and Alexis returned. Sumner jerked her hand away, Alexis’s eyes watching, questioning. I mourned the loss of Sumner’s touch, while cursing myself for wanting it in the first place.

“Everything okay?” I asked Alexis.

“Oh yeah.” She ran a hand through her hair. “It’s our anniversary, and the sitter canceled at the last minute. But Lauren and Hunter offered to take care of the girls.”

“Congratulations,” I said, and Sumner echoed the sentiment. “Wait.” I frowned. “I thought you got married in the fall?”