by Sandi Lynn
“So are you, Ava.”
I left Ava in the bedroom and went out on the patio to join the Nazi, Kirsty, and James.
“The yard looks good, Sierra. I think the only thing you need to do is add more lighting around the pool and hot tub.”
Did my ears just hear Delia compliment something of mine?
“I will definitely look into that,” I said as I sipped on my “water.”
We sat outside for a while and listened to Delia spew about Clive and how much money he made last week and how they were going on a family vacation to Belize next month. I’d put money on it that Clive would get the family down there and then take off on a “business trip” for a couple of days. He had a pattern and I wasn’t stupid.
“Come on, Ava. We have to be up early in the morning for your tryouts,” Delia spoke as Ava stepped outside.
I hugged them both goodbye and, when I shut the door, I let out a deep breath and lightly banged my head against it. Rosa looked at me and smiled.
“She may be a big pain in the ass, but she’s your mother and she endured a lot of pain to bring you into the world.”
“I know that, Rosa. She constantly reminds me of that. Good night. I’ll see you in the morning.” I smiled.
When I went to go back outside, I stopped in the doorway and watched as James and Kirsty were sitting down, talking and laughing. She was throwing her head back and he was all smiles as they seemed to be engaged in some heavy conversation. Maybe they would make a great couple, despite the age difference. I stuck my head out the sliding door wall.
“Hey, I’m heading up to bed. You two stay and talk. Lock up when you leave.”
“Night,” they both said and then turned to each other and continued their conversation.
I changed into my nightshirt and climbed into bed. I reached over and grabbed the Cosmo magazine from my nightstand and flipped through the pages. My mind went to Cameron standing in my office. His eyes had gotten to me and his smile was becoming an addiction.
Chapter 6
It was eleven-thirty on Friday night and I was still at the office. It was better than having to sit at home. I had the options to go out with friends, suits, whoever. But, the way I saw things, it was easier to keep busy and bury myself in my company. It had been three years since Ryan left. We had started dating when I was twenty years old. Seven years of my life wasted on that asshole. We met in college and then, once we graduated, he moved into my apartment with me and Kirsty. We had our ups and downs like all relationships. I was never the first priority in his life; his friends were. I always came second, sometimes third; no matter what. The last two years of our relationship were rocky. I wanted to get married, he didn’t. I wanted to at least get engaged, he didn’t. It was always one excuse after another.
I picked up my phone and called for a car service. I didn’t want to bother James. I grabbed my purse, turned the lights off in my office, took the elevator down to the lobby, and said goodbye to Alex, the security guard.
“Have a good night, Miss Adams. I’ll see you Monday morning.” He smiled.
“Have a good weekend, Alex.” I waved.
I exited the building and was pissed off when the car wasn’t there yet. Shit. I looked at my watch and it was eleven-fifty. When I went to go back into the building, I heard someone call my name. I turned around, and standing across the street was Cameron.
“Hey,” I said.
He stood at the curb with his hands in his pocket. “Are you still working?”
“I was. I’m waiting for a car. You’re not still working are you?” I asked.
“Actually, I just finished. We had a mishap today and I wanted to fix it to stay on schedule. If you want, I can give you a ride home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. I promise my ride is a lot better.” He smiled.
“In that?” I pointed.
“Yep.”
“What do I do if the car shows?”
“When he doesn’t see you standing there, he’ll leave.”
He was convincing and I was tired. As I walked across the street, he went and opened the passenger door for me. I started to get in, and then I stopped.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“How do you get up in this thing?”
“Climb up. Here; let me help you. It doesn’t have running boards. If you grab hold of that handle up there, you can jump up.”
“For real?”
He chuckled. “For real.”
I took off my shoes, threw them in the truck, and climbed in. Cameron helped me by holding on to my arm.
“See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?” he asked.
“Truth?” I asked.
“Truth.”
“It sucked and it wasn’t very classy.”
“Well, that’s because you’re in high heels and a skirt.”
As soon as he pulled away from the curb, we watched in the mirror as the car pulled up to my building. I put my hand over my mouth and began to laugh.
“Oops.” Cameron smiled. “So, where are we going?”
“Hollywood Hills.”
“Ah, the Hills. I haven’t been to that area yet. Can you give me your address so I can punch it into the GPS?”
He pulled over on the side of the road and I rattled off my address. “Thank you for taking me home.”
“You’re welcome.” He smiled as he looked over at me.
His smile seemed to brighten my day. As weird as that may sound, I felt different when I saw his smile. His smile made me smile. Even if I had no reason to smile, I did. This wasn’t good. He wasn’t my type.
“So what kind of mishap did you have today?” I asked to make conversation.
“One of the guys put a half wall in the wrong spot when I went to check on another job. So I had to take it down and put another one up. If I would’ve waited, it would’ve thrown off our schedule.”
“What company do you work for?”
“It’s mine and my dad’s. Actually, it was my dad’s, but now he’s retired, so I run it. It’s called Cole’s Remodeling and Construction.”
“Sounds like me.” I smiled. “My dad owned the advertising firm until he passed away a couple of years ago. When he died, he left the entire company to me.”
“That’s a lot of responsibility. Is that why you were still there on a Friday night at almost midnight?”
“Yeah. Something like that,” I said.
I wasn’t about to tell him that I preferred to work over having a social life.
“So you do remodeling? Is it only business remodels or do you remodel homes too?” I asked.
“I do both. Why? Are you looking to remodel?” He smiled.
“Yeah. Actually, I am. I just moved in three months ago and there are some things I wanted redone.”
“I can take a look for you and give you an estimate.”
He pulled up to the gate and looked at me.
“You can just drop me off here,” I said as I opened the door and got out of the truck. I walked around and punched in the code for the gate and he rolled his window down. “How about if you come by tomorrow morning and I’ll show you what I was thinking.”
“I can do that. What time were you thinking?” he asked.
“How about nine o’clock? Just push the intercom button on the gate and I’ll let you in.”
“Okay. I’ll see you at nine.” He smiled.
“Thanks again for the ride. You were right; it was better than a car.”
“It was my pleasure, Sierra. Have a good night.”
I smiled and walked up the driveway to the house. He pulled away and I walked inside. I grabbed a glass and the bottle of tequila and had a couple of shots before falling asleep.
****
Cameron
The whole ride home, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I hadn’t felt this way in a very long time. Normally, I don’t let a girl consume my head, but there was something about Sierra that couldn�
��t be helped. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but since the day I saw her standing in line at Starbucks, I couldn’t get her out of my head. Her house looked amazing from what I could see of it in the dark. I grabbed the mail from my box and headed up to my apartment. There was a letter from the landlord. I opened it.
“Mr. Cole, I’m sorry to inform you that the apartment building has been sold and the apartments are being renovated into condos. This is your 30-day notice to either vacate the apartment or purchase it. For pricing and details, please stop by the office.”
Shit. Were they serious? It took me forever to find this apartment that I could afford. It’s not exactly cheap to live in Los Angeles. I threw the letter on the counter and climbed into bed. I smiled at the thought of going to Sierra’s tomorrow and seeing her house. To think that she wanted me to do some remodeling for her gave me a little bit of hope. Hope that maybe one day, she’d go out with me. Maybe I was being delusional. But for tonight, I had hope and that was all I needed.
Chapter 7
Sierra
“Oh shit!” I exclaimed as I looked at my clock and saw that it read eight forty five. How the hell did I sleep that late? I never slept that late. The thought of Cameron being here in fifteen minutes terrified me. I looked like shit. My hair was sticking up every which way and I had mascara stains under my eyes because I was too tired to take off my makeup before bed last night. I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. There was no time for a shower. I poured makeup remover on a washcloth and washed my face. Damn it! I couldn’t let him see me with no makeup on. I tore off my nightshirt and threw it on the ground. I grabbed a maxi dress out of the closet and put it on. Shit. I forgot a bra. Oh wait; this dress had a built-in bra. I heard the intercom buzz. SHIT! I ran down the stairs and pushed the button.
“Cameron?”
“Good morning,” he said.
“I’ll open the gate. Let yourself in. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Just make yourself comfortable.”
“Okay,” he replied.
I opened the gate and flew back up the stairs. I quickly brushed my hair and threw it up in a high ponytail. I dabbed on some concealer to hide the bags under my eyes and then a light coat of BB Cream. I ran a soft pink shadow across my eyelids and brushed on a coat of mascara. I dabbed my cheeks with some pink blush and looked at the final product. Not too bad, but not too good either. SHIT! After I composed myself, I walked downstairs and saw Cameron standing in the foyer holding two cups from Starbucks. He looked at me and smiled. Suddenly, my day just got brighter.
“For you,” he said as he handed me the cup.
“Why, thank you.” I smiled. “You didn’t have to bring me coffee.”
“I had to stop by Starbucks and pick up my measuring tape that I left there last night, so I asked Anna what your usual was and she made it.”
“Thank you, Cameron. That was very sweet of you.”
“You look great,” he said. “I’m not used to seeing you out of business suits.”
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “So are you saying that I don’t look great in business suits?”
“Oh my God. NO! That’s not what I’m saying,” he said in a panic.
I took a sip of my coffee and smiled. “Relax. I was just kidding.”
“Very funny,” he smirked. “So show me around your palace and tell me what you’re thinking about having done.”
“First and foremost, I need to show you my bedroom closet. I need more shelves put up for my shoes,” I said as we walked up the stairs.
He walked into my bedroom and looked around. I gasped when I saw my thong and nightshirt lying on the floor. Too late, he saw.
“Don’t mind this. Rosa, my maid, is off on the weekends,” I said as I picked them up.
“You have a maid?”
“Yeah. Being a CEO of a company doesn’t exactly allow time for cleaning.”
“I sort of get that.” He smiled.
He walked into my closet and flipped the light switch. He stood there and looked around. “You seriously want to expand this? It’s bigger than my apartment. Actually, it’s probably bigger than two apartments.”
“Yes. I have a lot of shoes and they need to be displayed properly.”
“Does one really need that many pairs of shoes?” he asked with a smile.
“A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes. If you’re going to walk the path of life, you might as well do it in style.”
He looked at me and then raised one eyebrow. Fuck, he was sexy. “I guess I never looked at it that way before.”
“See, now you know!” I smiled.
He took out his measuring tape and I heard my phone ring. “I’ll be right back.”
I picked my phone up from the nightstand and it was Kirsty.
“I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you back,” I whispered.
“Why? What are you doing?”
“Someone’s over.”
“Who?”
“The builder guy, Cameron. The one who brought me my credit card to the office.”
“Oh, Mr. Sexy man with the green eyes. What’s he doing there?”
“I may have him remodel the house. Now I have to go,” I whispered.
“Wait.”
“No, I can’t. He’s coming.” Click.
He walked out from the closet and then took some measurements on the outer wall. “Well, the good news is there’s enough room to expand. I can bring this wall out to about here, and then line it with shelves for your thousands of pairs of shoes.” He smiled.
“Perfect.” I smiled back as I sipped my coffee.
“Was there anything else?” he asked.
I motioned for him to follow me downstairs. I took him into the living room.
“See where that door wall is?” I pointed. “I want that entire wall filled with windows. I love the backyard and the pool. But I also love the view. So I would like to be able to sit on my couch and look out and see that beautiful view. I also need a corner bar put in. I was thinking about here. And I want the fireplace spruced up.”
“Spruced up how?”
“I don’t know. Maybe stone or something.”
“Okay. I think I have an idea you’d like. Anything else?”
“You saw the spiral staircase in my room, right?”
“Yes.”
“Let’s go back up there. I want that space turned into an office.”
We walked back to my bedroom and then up the spiral staircase. “The view up here is amazing. This is what made me fall in love with this house.”
“It is beautiful up here,” Cameron said.
“I want this wall all windows too and I want wood floors put in. This carpet is nasty.”
Cameron chuckled. “Okay. Got it.”
“Follow me.” I motioned with my finger. “We’re not done yet.”
We went into the hallway where the two guest bathrooms were. “I want both bathrooms completely redone. New tub, fixtures, tile, everything. Start from scratch.” I smiled.
He wrote it down on his pad of paper and then looked at me. “Anything else?”
“No. I think that should do it for now. So when can you start?”
“I haven’t even given you an estimate yet. I have to draw up plans and price it all out.”
“Doesn’t matter. I trust you and I know you won’t rip me off. How soon?”
“You’re not very patient, are you?” He smiled.
“No. Actually, I’m not. How soon?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he laughed. “I don’t know; maybe next week. Maybe. I need to finish up a couple other jobs first and then go apartment hunting again.”
“I’m starving. Have you had breakfast yet?” I asked.
“No.”
“Then let’s go grab something to eat. There’s this great little café just around the corner. We can walk.”
“Okay. Sounds good.” He smiled.
I couldn’t believe I asked him to break
fast. It just fell out of my mouth. But I was starving and he wasn’t leaving. As soon as I opened the door, Kirsty was getting out of her car.
“Hey!” She smiled with a big wave.
I could have killed her at that moment because she knew I was with Green Eyes.
“Kirsty, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is my assistant and best friend, Kirsty.”
“Nice to meet you, Kirsty.” He smiled as he shook her hand.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“The question is, where are the two of you going?”
“We’re just going to get some breakfast. Would you like to join us?” Cameron asked.
I shot her a look. The look that said, “Come with us and die, bitch.”
“Um. No, I already ate. But thanks anyway. I’m just going to use the pool.”
Good girl, I thought.
“Okay, enjoy the pool. I’ll see you later,” I said as Cameron and I headed down the driveway and to the café.
“Oh, don’t you worry. I will!” she yelled.
Chapter 8
Cameron
We reached the café and I held the door for her. We sat in a booth and the waitress handed us the menus.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” we both said at the same time.
I looked across the table at her as she opened her menu and looked it over. She was by far a very beautiful woman and I enjoyed being around her.
“You mentioned earlier that you had to go apartment hunting. Why?” she asked.
I closed my menu and set it down. “I received a letter yesterday that they are turning the apartments into condos and I either have to buy it or get out.”
“Ouch. That won’t be cheap,” she said.
“I’m not staying in Los Angeles for any length of time, so I’m not buying it. The thing that sucks is it took me a long time to find that apartment. It’s the cheapest I could find.”
“Where are you from?”
“A place I can guarantee you’ve never heard of.” I smiled.
“Try me.”
“Robbinsville, NC. My parents own a house on Lake Santeetlah.”
“You’re right. I never heard of it,” she said.
The waitress finally came over and took our order. I ordered a big breakfast and Sierra ordered two scrambled eggs and fruit.
