Kennedy wrinkled her nose at the weapons and wallets. “I’ll leave those to you.”
“No problem. Here.” Hastily, he stepped past her and did a quick finger press on the interior door that opened into the house. All the locks were biometric and opened only to his touch, though he could also operate them from his cell phone.
Stepping into the laundry room, he set down her luggage and offered his hand.
Kennedy ignored him as she looked through the room and into the hall. To the left was a half bath, and straight ahead was a guest bedroom and bath.
“This way.” He led her up the hall and around the corner to the great room, which combined the living room, kitchen and dining area all in one big open space.
“Wow,” she said again, her head tipped back to take in the high ceilings, the spiral staircase that led up to the master and the abundance of windows. “This is amazing.”
Shifting again, Reyes did his own quick scrutiny. Pretty much everything was wood or rock, including the heated slate floors on the ground level. Upstairs he had wood floors with colorful rugs. “You like it?”
“It’s beautiful. Somehow I never pictured you in a place like this.”
“No?” Where had she pictured him? Sleeping in his gym?
“Everything is so detailed. And clean. My gosh, there’s not a speck of dust anywhere. Not even a smudge on all these incredible windows.” She turned a slow circle. “I love the spiral staircase. May I go up?” Already she’d slipped the straps from her shoulders and let the bags down to the floor.
“Sure.” He trailed after her, wishing he’d had time to make his bed. He remembered tossing the quilt as soon as he’d gotten her call.
She went through the bedroom and into the master bath, staring at the dark gray slate that climbed the wall of the wide shower, the natural wood slab sink, the dark oval tub and brass fittings.
“OMG,” Kennedy whispered. “This is stunning.”
Tension gathered at the base of his neck. Why did he feel so dumb? “I, um, eliminated the third bedroom to make the master bath and bedroom bigger.”
“Whoever put this together is a genius.”
His mouth firmed. “I did.”
Eyes flaring, she stared at him, then settled into a smile. “A man of many talents. You just keep amazing me.” With that bizarre compliment she pivoted and headed back to the bedroom.
Reyes hurried to catch up with her.
She slowed as she entered the room. “These floors aren’t heated?”
“Nah. I like it cool when I sleep.”
“Me, too.” Trailing her fingertips over the surface of his dresser, she strolled around the room, taking in the headboard that spanned one entire wall to accommodate the extrawide mattress. It had built-in end tables, bronze wall sconces and a niche for a few books. “You read?” she asked.
Okay, that went too far. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the wall and gave her an insolent stare. “Yeah, learned when I was four or five. I can write, too. Spell, do math, all sorts of complex shit.”
Her mouth curled into a grin. “I meant do you read for pleasure?” She pulled a book to see the title. “Woodworking?”
The muscles of his shoulders drew tighter. “I made the sink in the bathroom.”
“Astounding.” Shaking her head, she slid the book back into place and pulled another. “Horror?”
“Why not?”
Moving on to yet another, she said, “Ah. A biography of famous and not-so-famous killers.”
It always helped to understand the twisted psyche. “So?”
Done perusing his books, she lifted the quilt from the floor, shook it out and replaced it on the bed. “This is beautiful. Homemade?”
“Not by me.” Damn it, if he didn’t get her out of the bedroom soon, he’d do something stupid. “Local quilters. When I saw that one hanging outside, I asked if it could be doubled. Took a few months, and cost a small fortune, but I like it.”
“So do I.” Going to the window, she stared out. “No drapes?”
For an answer, he walked to the nightstand and picked up the remote. With a touch, the windows gradually lightened to make the interior visible from the outside. Always cautious, he immediately darkened them again. “Nifty, right?”
Keeping her back to him, she whispered, “So you’re not only a physical specimen and incredibly handsome, you’re a craftsman, a designer and, apparently, wealthy. No wonder I never bought the whole gym-owner bit.”
“I am a gym owner.” Physical specimen? Handsome. Those compliments drew him closer. “How else do you explain the physical fitness?”
“Some of it has to be genetics.” Knowing he was nearer, she half turned her head. “Is your dad as physically perfect as you and your brother?”
“Now, how do I answer that?” Carefully, slowly, he settled his hands on her shoulders. Little by little, he thought he might be starting to understand her mood. “If I say yes, I’ll be admitting that I’m perfect, and we don’t want that.”
She rubbed her face on a tired laugh. “You’re perfectly exasperating.” Surprising him, she leaned back into his body. “Reyes?”
“Hmm?”
“Your bedroom is up here, and the guest bedroom is down there, but I don’t want to be that far away from you.”
“No problem. As you might have noticed, the bed is huge.”
“Ridiculously so.” She turned to face him, staring up at him with a wealth of emotion in her eyes. “I promise to stay on my side of the bed.”
“Yeah, no problem.” He leaned closer to tease. “But if you wander over in the night, I promise not to mind.” Straightening again, he took her hand and drew her along behind him. “Come on. You can shower in the guest bedroom while I make those sandwiches. If you don’t mind, I can take a look at your phone, too.”
“It’s off,” she promised. “Isn’t that good enough?”
“For now, yeah.” Turning it on just to see if anyone had contacted her wouldn’t be a bad idea, though. Never knew when someone might make it easy by being too cocky. He didn’t expect that—most shit like this went the hard route. Still... One look at the exhaustion on her face and he decided to let it go. “Where do you want your things? Upstairs for the night with us, or down here in the guest bedroom?”
Indecision had her gaze flicking to the suitcase, her laptop case and her purse. “The suitcase will be fine down here. The others can go up.”