Page 28 of Over Us, Over You

“It’s a rule.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “One I really don’t need you to break.” He looked me up and down before stepping out of the room. “Let me show you the rest of the house.”

He walked me through the living room again, through a huge media room where he’d hung massive screens on every inch of the walls.

“This is my second home office,” he said. “My first one is in the basement, but it’s off-limits so don’t even think about going there.”

“Have you been watching Beauty & the Beast lately or something?” I asked. “Is this some type of weird reenactment?”

His lips curved into a slight smirk, but he didn’t let it stay. “The wine cellar is accessible through the small set of steps behind you. You can have anything on the first two racks. Well, maybe not anything since you clearly don’t know how to handle alcohol.”

“What did you just say?”

He ignored my question and showed me four more guest rooms, three more bathrooms, and a stone terrace that overlooked his private pool.

Saving his state of the art white kitchen for last, he motioned for me to take a seat at the breakfast bar. As he took out wine glasses, I glanced down the hallway he’d neglected to mention during the tour and assumed that’s where his bedroom was.

“We need to set some ground rules while you’re here,” he said, uncorking a bottle of wine. “And I need you to promise me that you’re going to follow them to the letter, clear?”

“It depends on what they are.”

He unclipped a sheet of paper from the refrigerator before handing me a glass of wine. “Rule number one, follow all my goddamn rules.”

I crossed my legs, upset that I was slightly turned on by his assholery.

“Rule number two, stay on your side of the house whenever you’re not in the living room or the kitchen.”

“Okay, wait.” I shrugged. “Why can’t I use the pool or the parlor rooms?”

“Rule number three.” He took a long sip of his wine. “Don’t ask me any questions about the rules.”

“These rules seem kind of one-sided.”

“They should be. I’m not used to having company.”

“That’s not what I’ve heard from the rumors...”

“What did you just say?”

“Nothing.” I cleared my throat. “If you were going to be so anti-social and rude about your space, why did you volunteer to let me stay here?”

“I didn’t.” He drank the rest of his wine in one gulp. “Your brother asked me for a favor.”

Makes perfect sense now...“Well, I’ll follow your rules as long as you follow mine.”

“Excuse me?”

“I don’t want to see you on my side of the house either.”

“Trust me,” he said, his eyes on mine. “I won’t be there at all. Anyway—” He walked over to the pantry. “I bought all the things you used to eat, but if I missed something, the Insta-Grocery app will deliver it here within an hour.”

I got out of my chair and took a closer look, my eyes widening with his organization of all my favorites.

“Any other questions, Hayley?”

“Do you have a coffeemaker?” I looked at his bare counters. “A tea kettle?”

“Even better,” he said, opening a deep drawer full of coffee grinders, mixers, and pour-over hardware. “I hate Starbucks, so I tend to make this shit myself whenever I can.”

I smiled. “Are there any other rules in the fine print? Time of day I’m allowed to pee, perhaps?”

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