“Storm and I share it,” he informs me as we trek up the wooden staircase leading to the second floor of the house.
That makes sense. This place is beautiful, but it would be awfully lonely living here all by yourself.
He points out another bathroom and two guest bedrooms—one of which will be Quinn’s. Knowing her, she’ll take the one with a bigger closet.
His steps falter as we reach the door at the end of the hall. “Storm and I flipped a coin for the master suite.” His grin is cocky as he turns the knob. “Guess who won?”
I’m about to remind him no one likes a bragger, but my brain goes on the fritz when we enter.
A California king bed with black silk sheets and a leather headboard sits in the middle of the room, facing a large flat-screen television that’s mounted to the ceiling. There’s a walk-in closet, and a luxurious bathroom attached. However, it’s the panoramic view of the Hollywood Hills from the wrap around windows that makes this room go from beautiful to holy crap.
“Wow.”
That’s all I can manage.
Waking up and falling asleep to that view every day must be quite the experience.
I’m not sure I’d ever leave.
His gravelly timbre reverberates inside me as he locks his arms around my waist and presses a kiss to the crook of my neck. “You like it?”
“It’s stunning. This place feels nothing like you and exactly like you at the same time.”
Warmth unfurls when one of his hands slides down, cupping me through my leggings. “I want to fuck you against this window.”
I’m assuming that’s what we’re about to do—especially since it’s the reason I’m here—but he removes his hand. “And I will…later.” He swats my ass. “Come on. Our date isn’t over yet.”
I can’t imagine what else he’d have planned after all this.
“What’s next?” I joke as I follow him back down the stairs. “Dinner on the Eiffel Tower? Perhaps a helicopter ride?”
His lips twitch as we cut through the house. “Even better.”
“A tour of your cars?” I question as he leads me to a solitary door on the opposite end of the house.
“Nah. My car’s in the other one.”
My heart slams against my chest as we enter a garage. Immediately, I’m transported back in time because it’s set up identically to the one at Gram’s house. Old instruments included.
“I can’t believe you kept everything.”
“It’s where we started.”
I assumed he meant him and Storm. However, he’s looking directly at me when he says it.
My heart thumps heavy and my stomach churns as he walks over to the futon.
“I racked my brain for the past four weeks, trying to figure out what a perfect date for Lennon Michael would entail. I thought about dinner at a fancy restaurant or hiring a world-renowned chef to come cook for us.” He exhales sharply. “But that’s not your style.”
He’s right. I don’t need fancy dinners or chefs.
I just need honesty.
Someone who wouldn’t steal from and hurt me.
Plopping down on the couch, he gestures to the upside-down crate with what appears to be two fast-food burgers wrapped in foil on it.
The room spins and my chest feels like it’s caving in. This is what we were doing right before I sang him my song for the first time.
It’s like he intentionally replicated that day.
Like he’s trying to go back.
“Because perfect to you is this…how it was between us before everything changed.” His voice drops to a raw rasp. “It’s who I was…not who I became.”
He’s right.
My fascination with him developed the first moment I saw him, but I fell in love with Phoenix Walker in this garage.
And that Phoenix is the one my heart will always belong to.
The heart in question constricts to the point of pain, and my feet stay rooted to the spot.
I’ve always wished I could press rewind on that day…but only so I could make a different decision.
Not so I could relive it.
“I’m not the same person either.”
“I know.” His tempestuous stare locks on me. “Just like I know how our story ends.” The groove in his forehead deepens, and he averts his gaze, like he can’t look at me when he says his next words. “It ends with you hopping on a plane tomorrow morning with no intention of ever seeing me again.” He drops his head. “I just want a few hours where I’m not the villain in it.”