Page 34 of Once upon a Summer Night

Colin swallowed hard. He was in deep, and he hoped he was strong enough to resist it.

Ellie followedColin into the living room, which must have been set up by an interior designer. The leather couches and matching recliner were arranged around a stunning arched fireplace, above which hung a massive, two-part piece of abstract artwork. She wandered up to it, entranced by the colors and vibrancy of the strokes.

“This is beautiful. Is it supposed to represent something?” she asked, tilting her head to gaze at it.

He picked up one of the remotes from the low-lying coffee table in the middle of the room and pressed a button. “It represents the covering to my television.”

She laughed in delight as the painting opened, then folded back onto itself, revealing an enormous television hidden behind it. “Clever!”

He laughed too. “It is. My mother thought having such an enormous television in a room that was originally a parlor seemed tacky.”

For the first time, she wondered about his family. He had a mother, but what about his father? Brothers or sisters? She had met some of his cousins, but aside from them, who had been a part of his life growing up?

Stop, she commanded herself.You have no right to ask any ofthose questions. His interest in me is strictly business. Remember that.

But she couldn’t help murmuring, “Your mother sounds like an extremely sensible woman.”

“She is definitely that,” he agreed. He pressed another button, and the fireplace leapt to life. “This one, however, was all me. It’s too warm to put it on now, but in the winter it provides a good deal of heat. Here, I’ll show you the rest.”

She followed him out of the room, into a hallway with open doors on either side of it, except one.

“Downstairs bathroom on your left here—” Ellie looked in the powder room, surprised at the simple elegance. A small chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the color palette was a muted blue. Colin headed to the door across it “—and on your right is the formal dining room.”

She peeked in and blinked. The pale yellow walls, the wainscoting, the crown moldings that matched the rest of the house, even the dark mahogany table that sat, polished, bathed in sunlight from the double-hung windows…it was all so refined. It looked like something out of a magazine.

He continued down the hall, his footsteps muted by a plush Oriental carpet runner, and headed past the closed door. “And this is the kitchen.”

Ellie’s eyes almost fell out of her head. She was not unaccustomed to wealth; growing up where she did, her aunt’s home was decorated in a much more British style—classic, with modern touches. Colin’s home was just the opposite; modern, with classic touches.

She looked around, unable to form words properly. The wood floors continued into the chef’s kitchen, perfectly complementing the maple cabinets. The white stone counters matched the top of the enormous island in the middle of the kitchen. Under one set of cabinets was the most complicated coffee machine she’d ever seen. It was built into the wall, all clean lines and stainless steel, just like the rest of theappliances. A circular table sat in a rounded alcove, just beneath a window that overlooked what she suspected was the back garden.

“This is bigger than my entire flat,” she finally said, her eyes traveling over every surface. “It’s a chef’s dream!”

“I bought the brownstone next door to this one and knocked out the walls,” he explained, leaning against the island with his elbows. “I love this room.”

She noticed a stairway in the corner and pointed to it. “Where does that lead?”

He glanced over. “The second floor has all the guest bedrooms.” He slid his gaze back to her. “I’ll show you those in a bit. But I think you’ll like the third floor best; it took me four years to complete it. These stairs lead straight up.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to love a floor more than this one,” she replied honestly, following him up the white and oak steps, her steps silent against the thick Oriental stair treads.

“Hmm,” was all he said.

When she came to the top of the stairs, she stopped and stared. “Oh. My. God.”

Colin O’Rourke had alibrary.

The room spanned the entire length of the house. It was light, open, and airy, yet comfortable and welcoming. A gorgeous, highly detailed, light blue carpet lay nearly wall-to-wall. The two overstuffed armchairs in the room sat near a stone fireplace, a basket full of thick fleece blankets close by.

The walls were lined with books. Hundreds of them. The smell of the room intoxicated her. Lying on the small table between the two chairs was a maroon, leather-bound book. She wandered over to it and touched the gold embossed letters.Gulliver’s Travels. It looked to be a very old edition. Perhaps not a first edition, but she refrained from looking for the copyright date.

She let her hand gently drag across the books as shecrossed the room again, her focus on the double window facing the back garden. The windowsill was made for reading. It was cushioned, and oversized chair pillows were set atop it, ready for someone to curl up with a cuppa and one of the titles from the walls.

“Oh, Colin,” she breathed as she turned around. “This is…”

He stood just behind her, his brown eyes lightened by the sunlight in the room, waiting for her to finish her sentence. He seemed larger than life in here, in this oasis he’d created, and Ellie noticed the laugh lines at the corners of eyes. She wondered how much brighter the room would be when he smiled.

She placed a hand on his arm and whispered, “It’s heaven.”

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