Page 66 of The Business of Love Box Set 1: Books 1 - 4

KIMBERLY

I ’d been to Rick’s house a grand total of three times over the course of the last year while I planned his wedding.

On all three occasions, I hadn’t made it past the front door.

I’d handed either him or Verity whatever it was I was dropping off—paperwork from the officiant, wedding invitations, linen color samples—I’d wished them a good night or afternoon, and then I’d promptly gotten back in my car and left.

This time, I was going inside.

I gazed up at the sprawling two-story home as Rick pulled up the driveway.

It was sleek modern architecture. That was for sure.

It boasted a four-car-wide black garage door but Rick didn’t pull his luxury sports car in there.

He left it out on the drive and insisted I wait for him to come open my door for me.

I did.

He offered his hand and I stepped out, feeling a little out of place in my leggings, plain powder-pink sweatshirt, and white sneakers. I supposed I could have dressed up a little more but this was a movie night, not a candle-lit dinner.

Still, the house exuded luxury and wealth, and walking up to the massive front door had me feeling more than a little intimidated.

Rick slid his key in the lock and pushed the door open.

I’d spied a bit of the foyer during my three brief visits in the past but actually stepping inside and standing beneath the custom-glass chandelier above was a whole different story than standing on the front step.

He flicked on the light and stepped out of his shoes.

I took off my sneakers and looked around at the space.

The bottom floor was open concept. To say the home was a dream was a massive understatement.

But I supposed that was what a shit-ton of money bought a person.

The floors were some sort of glossy stone that I didn’t know the name of.

They were a light gray and they reflected the lights up above, filling the place with bright reflections.

Every wall was eighty-percent windows, creating a brilliant open flow from indoor to outdoor.

“This is incredible,” I breathed.

Rick tossed his keys in a bowl on a small table near the front door and went to the bottom of the stairs.

I peered upward at the second level, which was a loft.

There was nothing above the kitchen, living room, or dining room but open space.

The bedrooms were on the other side, where the house jutted out to create a covered patio.

“Chessie!” Rick called up the stairs. “I’m home!”

The sound of little feet rushing across the floor made me smile, and within seconds, Chessie emerged at the top of the stairs dressed like a princess in a sparkly blue dress and tiara.

She let out a delighted squeal and hurried down the stairs to meet her father in a hug.

He ruffled her hair and stepped aside to gesture to me.

“I invited a friend. I hope you don’t mind, kiddo.”

Chessie grinned up at me. “Hi, Kim.”

“Hi, Chessie,” I said. “I hope you don’t mind that I crash your movie night with your dad. He told me all about your evening and it sounds absolutely amazing.”

Chessie nodded eagerly. “It is! We make a bed on the living-room floor and watch movies and stay up late and eat lots of snacks.”

“Lots of snacks is right.” I giggled knowingly.

Someone else appeared at the top of the stairs.

I recognized Jennifer, Chessie’s nanny, immediately.

She greeted me warmly at the bottom of the stairs and Rick thanked her for watching Chessie for the afternoon.

He apologized for being a little later than expected and I turned neon pink when I realized exactly why he’d been so late.

Because he was busy burying himself inside me and making me cross eyed with lust.

I swallowed and tried to banish any steamy thoughts about Rick.

Now was not the time to get all hot and bothered over him.

However, how bold he’d been in the parking lot was still wreaking havoc on my body and I hadn’t quite recovered.

I needed to clean myself up a bit and splash some water on my face.

While Rick walked Jennifer out, I excused myself to use the bathroom and did just that.

When I returned, Rick and Chessie were already in the living room and Rick had brought down the mattress from the spare bedroom.

Chessie was jumping on it with bare feet when Rick’s cell phone rang and he fished it out of his pocket.

He frowned down at the screen before answering the call.

“Hey, Shawn. What’s up?” Whatever Shawn said, Rick didn’t like because he told the guy on the other line to hold on a second and looked up at me and Chessie.

“I’m sorry, girls. I have to step into my office.

I just need fifteen minutes. Maybe twenty.

” He gave me an especially apologetic look.

“Do you think you two can keep yourselves entertained while I’m on the phone? ”

Chessie pouted.

But I nodded. “Of course. Go ahead. Just don’t forget about us, okay? I was told these movie nights are epic and I’m not a very patient person.”

Chessie nodded her agreement.

Rick made for his office down the hall. “You won’t regret it! Fifteen minutes!”

After he closed his office door, Chessie and I turned to each other. She clasped her hands in front of herself and looked down.

She’s shy when her father isn’t here . We can change that.

I walked over to the mattress and sat down on the edge. “You know,” I said with a conspiratorial tone, “fifteen minutes is just about the right amount of time for you and me to surprise your dad with something I used to do all the time when I was a kid.”

She inched closer to me. “What did you used to do?”

“Well, it was never quite as cool as having a real bed in the middle of my living room, but I used to make forts with spare sheets and blankets.”

“A fort?” she asked excitedly.

I nodded. “Do you know where your father might keep extra linens like blankets and bed sheets?”

“In the hallway closet,” Chessie said.

“Okay,” I said, leaning in close to her. “Let’s make a game plan. First, we get the sheets. Okay?”

“Okay.”

“And then we need lights of some kind.”

“I know where there is a string of Christmas lights.” Chessie inched even closer. Now her hands were clasped under her chin and her eyes were wide with excitement.

“Perfect. After we get the lights, we put up the fort. We’ll probably need to use some kitchen chairs or something. Then we string the lights up inside and make sure we cover the TV so it’s in the fort with us. Sound like a plan?”

Chessie nodded.

“Let’s review. What’s the game plan?”

Chessie bit her bottom lip and concentrated to remember what I’d told her. “Step one, get the blankets. Step two, Christmas lights. Step three, chairs. Step four… put the lights up!”

“And step five,” I said, waggling my eyebrows. “Any guesses?”

She shook her head.

I leaned in close and whispered, “Snacks.”

Chessie giggled and clapped her hands together.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s do this!”

Chessie and I spent the next five minutes running around like goofballs, collecting everything we would need to build our fort.

Once it was all out in the living room, I began using chairs to drape blankets over.

Some of them I tied sheets to the back of so they stayed in place.

The fort turned out pretty good. We made sure to cover the TV so it would be inside the fort with us, and I used the outlet behind the TV set to plug in the Christmas lights.

As soon as they turned on, Chessie shimmied across the mattress to lie on her back and gaze up at them, her eyes shimmering with all the colors.

I crawled in beside her and lay on my back. “Cool, huh?”

Chessie nodded.

By the time Rick returned from his call, his daughter and I were giggling up a storm in our fort and throwing gummy candies into each other’s mouths.

Neither of us caught a single one. When he poked his head in and climbed inside, Chessie squealed with delight.

She climbed into his lap and told him all about how we’d made the fort.

His gaze slid to me and he wore a smile I’d never seen on his handsome face before. “This is pretty epic,” he said. “But there’s one thing missing.”

I frowned. “What’s that?”

“Pizza,” he said.

So within half an hour, we had a piping-hot cheese-and-veggie pizza in our fort.

I hadn’t realized how ravenous I was until I took my first bite.

Then my stomach grumbled as if begging for more.

I obliged the hunger pangs and indulged in two more pieces before slumping back against my fluffed-up pillows to finish watching the first move we’d put in.

It was a princess flick, of course. Chessie’s choice.

At quarter to nine, the three of us were lying contently under the sheets and starting our second movie.

My eyes felt heavy and I fought to keep them open as Chessie snuggled up close to me.

I ran my fingers through her hair while she held my other hand in her tiny fingers.

I caught Rick watching us over the top of her head and smiled.

“Thank you for inviting me,” I whispered.

“I think you’ll be welcome at every movie night now,” he said.

If I received another invitation, I wouldn’t say no. I’d say hell yes and I knew exactly what snacks to bring with me should the occasion arise.

I was dozing off when I heard a soft click of a door closing. I frowned and looked at Rick, who hadn’t seemed to hear it. He was mindlessly watching the TV and Chessie had fallen asleep curled up between us.

Seconds after hearing what I thought was a door, the top of our fort was ripped off.

The Christmas lights were torn from the wall with a sharp pop .

The TV nearly fell off the stand, and Chessie woke startled when one of the chairs toppled over and hit the hard glossy floors, sending a crack through the house.

All three of us looked up.

There, with her hands on her hips, stood Verity.

She wore a scowl on her face of the likes I’d never seen before. She was dressed in a sleek black outfit. Her dark hair was slicked back in a high ponytail and her makeup was dark and smoky. She looked like a bombshell, albeit a mean, heartless one.

“What the fuck is this, Rick?” she spat.

I looked to Rick and Chessie grabbed the front of my sweatshirt. I pulled her in a little closer.

Rick was on his feet in seconds. “Watch your language,” he said.

“You’re lying here getting all cozy with our fucking wedding planner and you want me to worry about my language ?”

“Verity,” he barked. “Enough. What are you doing here?”

Verity scoffed.

Chessie let out a nervous little sound.

I hugged her tightly. “It’s okay, sweetheart,” I said. “We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Verity’s dark eyes slid to me and narrowed. I glared right back. “Not doing anything wrong?” she hissed. “Are you fucking kidding me, you slut? You’re cuddling with my fiancé!”

I rolled my eyes and sat up. Chessie sat with me and clung to my sweatshirt.

I cupped her cheek and gave her a warm smile—which wasn’t easy to achieve when an angry little rabbit was pounding against the inside of my skull, desperate to grab Verity by her stupid fake ponytail, drag her outside, and kick her skinny little ass.

Maybe I’d be able to beat some of the entitlement out of her.

Not likely.

“Chessie, I had a wonderful time with you tonight,” I said. “Thank you for letting me stay. But I think I should go. Your dad and Verity have some talking to do.”

Chessie nodded. Her bottom lip trembled.

I put a finger under her chin and forced her to look up at me. “Hey, it’ll be okay. You trust me, right?”

She nodded again.

“Good girl,” I said. Then I kissed her forehead, stood up, and moved to the front door to put on my shoes.

Verity followed.

I heard Rick talking to Chessie. He was probably telling her to sit tight and finish watching the movie. Then he followed after Verity, who was lighting me up with accusations.

“You fucking whore,” Verity spat. “I knew I couldn’t trust you. I knew you had an ulterior motive. I knew you wanted Rick for yourself.”

I grabbed my purse and pulled open the front door.

Verity followed me out. Rick yelled at her to stop, but she acted like he wasn’t even there.

She grabbed my elbow and spun me around. “Look at me when I’m talking to you, you bitch!”

I looked at her hand on my elbow. Her nails were long and ruby red. I lifted my gaze and stared evenly back at her. “Take your hand off me.”