Page 5 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
“Thanks,” she breathes. She seems a little flustered, but there’s no mental breakdown or fear of God, so I think the bike ride went well.
“Did you like the ride?”
“Yeah, it was fun,” she murmurs. “You’re good at…that,” she waves her hands towards my bike. I chuckle deeply. I wonder if being flustered is her natural state.
“Thanks,” I smile, “let’s go inside.”
I start going up the walkway, but notice Nellie isn’t walking behind me. I turn around and see her staring up at my house.
“Is everything okay?” Her eyes snap to me, and she looks like a child caught with their hand in cookie jar.
“Sorry, I was just,” she trails off, her eyes wandering over the mansion with her lips slightly parted. I admit it’s quite lavish. There’s a lot of lawn space because I like having no one around me when I want no one around me, and the house itself is three stories with huge white columns in the front and a mansard roof. I can see how it’s overwhelming.
But I hope she’s not so much in awe that she wants to stay in that one spot.
“Do you want to go inside?” I ask again.
Nellie looks back at me and nods.
“Sure, but um, is this your place?” She’s gone so quiet that I internally cringe because honestly, it’s not the first time someone’s become weirded out when they see I live in a mansion. They either get antsy, or they get greedy like they’ve just realized that I’m a gold mine. Wealth seems to always change the way people look at me.
I guess I could just lie.
“No,” I shrug. “It’s my boss’s place. He’s out of town, and I’m housesitting while he’s gone.”
“Oh,” her tone lightens. “That must be nice, living somewhere so beautiful even if it’s only temporary.”
“Yeah, I guess,” I shrug again. “It’s just a house. I don’t really think too much about it.”
“Oh, yeah, of course,” Nellie says with a smile. I can hear that the earlier anxiety in her voice has melted. Maybe it was a good idea to not reveal to much about myself. I like this Nellie girl, but most women get all weird about money, especially when you have a lot of it.
It’s probably best not to let her know that I’m rolling in dough, at least for now.
I unlock the door and let us both in. Nellie comes in behind me, and I can hear her gasp. She walks past me to check out all the furnishings and artwork, which are legitimately stunning.
“Wow, this place is amazing. Your boss has nice taste.”
She’s looking up at a painting on the wall. I hired an interior decorator to put this all together when I first moved in and gave the firm some general ideas, but frankly, I wasn’t much of a force in getting this place looking so nice. They deserve the credit, not me.
But I like that Nellie likes it so much. It makes me feel proud even though my involvement was the bare minimum.
“I’ll let him know you approve,” I rumble. She looks back over at me and smiles. I was looking at her the whole time I was at the party, but seeing her so close, standing there by herself, hits me like a thud to the chest. Nellie’s so beautiful, and the overhead lighting is creating a halo around her head making her look like an angel.
I realize I’m staring, and not saying anything like some kind of creeper.
“Do you want to get in the hot tub?” I ask, clearing my throat. Oh shit, talk about being a creeper. Who offers the hot tub first thing to a guest? I need to stop being so weird. She’s just another girl. I need to calm down.
Nellie’s eyes go wide, and she blushes, the red taking over her entire face in a cute way.
“Um, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why?”
“Well, I, um,” the volume of her voice keeps dipping in and out. I don’t think she’s going to say what she wants to say.
“Come on, I’ll show you,” I motion with my head. I start walking, not waiting to see if she’s behind me. I make my way to the kitchen, and she’s there with me.
I get us each a glass and pull out some top dollar liquor. It’s my favorite whiskey, something I usually drink on my own. But Nellie looks like she could use some liquid courage.
