Page 14 of The Summer House

“I don’t want to know,” she said.

Rick grinned. “If you think this is bad…”

He walked down the hall and opened the door on his left. She stepped into some kind of lab with equipment that beeped and flashed. There were shelves filled with partially assembled projects, or maybe they were completely assembled. She couldn’t tell. Computers hummed. Somewhere under a stack of papers a phone rang.

“If you ever can’t sleep,” Rick said, closing the door, “ask me to explain what’s in there. That should put you out in about five seconds.”

She laughed. “It’s a date.”

Poor choice of words, she thought as they looked at each other, then looked away. Or maybe not, because it reminded her.

“Speaking of dates,” she said, after she cleared her throat. “I’m not stepping on anyone’s toes by being here, am I?”

“No. I’m between lady friends. What about you? Is there some burly Neanderthal lurking nearby who’s going to want to use my head as a bowling ball?”

“I don’t date Neanderthals.”

The next room was a guest room, complete with an en suite bathroom and a view of the ocean that left her breathless. Two more bedrooms were empty. Rick’s office was at the end of the hall. It was much tidier than his lab, with only one computer on a desk. Several bookshelves lined two walls and a wooden file cabinet stood against another.

He closed that door and paused in front of another staircase.

Mandy started to ask what was upstairs. At the same moment she realized they hadn’t seen his bedroom. Then the pieces clicked into place. Of course.

“The master is on the third floor?” she asked.

He nodded. “I took out a couple of walls, did some remodeling. There’s a wraparound balcony and the view is terrific.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Want to see?”

He hadn’t asked her if she wanted to see any other rooms, and she had a feeling she knew why. None of the other rooms were…dangerous. But a bedroom. That was different.

Mandy moved to the stairs and started climbing slowly. Her heart began to pick up the pace a little. The added rhythm had nothing to do with the physical exertion and everything to do with her attraction to Rick. That kiss back at the beach had showed her the possibilities. If they went into his bedroom…

Nothing would happen, she told herself, thinking it was crazy. She didn’t have sex with strangers. She’d done that once and it had left her feeling sick with herself for weeks. Not that Rick was a stranger. He wasn’t. He was her ex-husband, which made contemplating any physical relationship completely crazy.

“I can hear you thinking from here,” he said, moving behind her. “I’m showing you the house, Mandy, not kidnapping you for the sex trade.”

She reached the third floor and moved away from the stairs. “Am I that easy to read?”

He stepped onto the landing and stared at her. “Maybe I remember what you were like.”

“We’ve both admitted we’re different.”

“Not that different. Come on. You’ll be perfectly safe.”

Which was good news, right?

The master suite was just as fabulous as the rest of the house. Rick had set up a home gym in a small room at the back of the house. There were his-and-her-closets big enough to camp in, a tub built for eight or nine and a double-headed shower.

The bedroom itself faced the ocean, with the bed on a platform. The sleek, modern furniture fit surprisingly well in the old Spanish-style house. Sliding glass doors led out to the wraparound patio.

Mandy crossed to the glass and stepped outside. Warm sea air brushed against her skin. She could see to the ends of the world, or so it seemed. The grounds of the estate stretched out below, with the sea beyond.

“You’ve found a piece of paradise,” she said.

He came up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

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