by Erika Rose
“What are you doing here?” Jason asked more roughly than he intended.
“I was putting your laundry away.” She was watching him, and couldn’t help but notice the beads of water trickling down his flat chest.
“I need to take a shower.” Only once he said the words, he knew it was a bad idea to mention the word shower with Mia in the room. He already felt his manhood responding to the thought.
“I’ll get out of your way.” Mia all but ran out of the room, and Jason couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the door closed behind her before the flash of disappointment hit him straight in the gut.
He headed into town with the rental sedan. He never thought he would enjoy a budget vehicle again after his Audi I8, but there was something about going back to his roots. He couldn’t be in a hurry because the rental couldn’t hurry in the first place. No one watched him get out of his car when he parked, as there was nothing to look at it. It was just another budget economy sedan in the parking lot. He didn’t much like going to the bank, but the construction guy had insisted on cash from the start, which meant Jason had to make the drive into Honolulu every week. The first time he had come in, he had to wait in the queue like all the other people. Obviously noticing his bank balance, the manager had asked him to come straight to his office in the future. No appointment needed. Jason walked through the electronic glass doors past all the people waiting in line at the cashiers straight to the manager’s office. After withdrawing the amount he needed for the construction guy he took a scenic drive back to North Shore. He had come to know the schedule of the cleaning crew, the garden crew, and the pool guy and knew none of them would be by the house today. Which meant Mia wouldn’t be hanging around. She would either be in her cottage or out for the day. Relieved that he didn’t have to fight with his hormones all afternoon he pulled up to the house. Jason had barely stepped out of the car when he heard a ruckus coming from inside. He briskly jogged to the front door and let himself in to see what was going on. He didn’t know if he should laugh or cry.
Mia was standing with arms crossed in front of the fireplace in the living room. “This is ridiculous. You don’t just knock out a hundred-year-old fireplace!” She shouted at the foreman.
“Miss, could you please move? Mr. Pike specifically said all the fireplaces should be replaced with gas.”
“Oh really, and I guess he wants the kitchen remodeled too? That natural oak must be an eyesore for Mr. Mogul.”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss the renovations with you Miss.”
“Don’t you miss me! Don’t you have any pride in your heritage? Just because he thinks he has money he thinks he can ruin a beautiful house?”
Jason felt bad for the poor man; he looked on the verge of tears. “I do miss, but it’s his house, his choice.”
Mia stomped her foot petulantly. “Well then he has a choice to buy another house as well.”
“Mia?” Jason said softly as he touched her elbow.
“What?” She shouted before realizing it was Jason.
“Can we have a word, in private?”
Mia tried her best to ignore the buzz of arousal that shot through her body from his touch, “Fine.”
Jason smiled apologetically at the foreman, “I’m sorry, how about you guys take the day off and pick up again tomorrow?” The foreman looked from Mia to Jason, cocking a brow. “Sure. It’s your dime, after all.”
“Yes it is,” Jason said through gritted teeth at the comment, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
After the construction crew had packed up and left for the day, Jason found himself alone in the kitchen with Mia. “What was that about?”
“They were about to knock out a perfectly good working fireplace, not to mention the fact that it’s almost historical.”
“I know.” Jason said calmly.
Mia turned on him, “You did, why you didn’t fire him then?”
“I asked him to do it.”
“You did what? Why on earth would you that. Do you know there are only a handful of homes left on the island this old? Especially in this good condition?”
“No actually I didn’t.”
“Well it’s true, and if you don’t like it, why don’t you buy another house? One that’s more modern and fitting to what you want?” Mia ran a hand through her hair in exasperation, “Especially if you’re not going to appreciate this house as it is. It just needed some TLC and a bit of restoring, not an extreme makeover.”
Jason wanted to argue, but he agreed. When he did his walk through on the first night, those were his exact thoughts. Instead he had noted down everything Angelique would like and had planned the construction accordingly. Maybe Mia was right, you don’t destroy history just because you felt like it. “I agree.”
Mia prepared to take him on again, and then realized what he had said. “If you agree, why did you ask them to do it?”
Jason shook his head, not wanting to admit that he had thought of what Angelique would’ve liked along with her expensive tastes. “Long story. Why don’t you stay for dinner and I’ll try to explain?”
Chapter 5
Mia’s eyebrows rose at the suggestion. She couldn’t help but think this was probably a bad idea. The last time they were completely alone in the house, she had no control over her response to him at all. She stood there partially naked and couldn’t move, or didn’t want to. She wasn’t exactly clear in which it was, but either way this probably wasn’t a good idea.
“I’ll show you all the plans and you can make suggestions, I’ll even give you one free change or addition on the renovations.”
Jason didn’t know why it was so important that he wanted Mia’s approval on his changes to the house, or maybe he just wanted to spend some more time with her? Either way he wanted her to say yes.
Mia thought for a moment of the beautiful fireplace they had nearly demolished, it’s for the good of the house, she tried to convince herself. Deep down, she knew she just wanted to spend more time with Jason. “You’re cooking?”
Jason laughed, “I can’t promise a cordon bleu sit down dinner, but I can grill some steaks and toss a salad.”
Mia smiled, “It’s a date.” The words left her mouth before she even thought what she said. “I didn’t mean…” She said shaking her head.
“It’s okay I know what you meant, give me thirty minutes and I’ll meet you on the terrace.”
Mia nodded soberly, maybe she should just quit on account of foot-in-mouth affliction.
Jason berated himself the whole time he chopped the ingredients for the salad. The game plan was to avoid Mia, not to invite her to dinner in order to spend more time with her. He had a fiancée, and he needed to remember that, he chastened himself. But he couldn’t help but wonder what would’ve happened if he had met Mia before he had met Angelique. His phone rang on the counter and without thinking he answered.
“Jason.” His answer was curt as usual.
“Jason, how are you?”
“Dad, good. How’s things on the mainland?” He let out a soft laugh at his own phrasing.
“Can’t complain, must say your mother’s missing you though.”
Jason couldn’t help but smile at the comment. His father always blamed his mother but deep down he and his siblings knew that it was really their father that missed them. “Tell her I’ll be back soon.”
“Will do. How’s the mansion?”
“Well it’s not really a mansion, but I’m sticking around for a few minor renovations.”
“Getting it sorted for the little lady.”
“Actually,” Jason trailed off. He was about to say the little lady was giving him problem, when he realized his father had meant Angelique. “Yes, yes I am.”
“You sound distracted. Having problems with the caretaker you mentioned to us?”
“No, she’s fine.”
“Jason, I’m an old man but even I know when someone’s covering up.” His father let out a soft cough on th
e other side of the line, “What’s going on?”
“She’s not old.” Jason said irritably.
“Well that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Supposed to be.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“It’s not really a problem dad, I’m handling it.”
The line went quiet for a while. “Oh, I understand. She’s not old, she’s young?”
“Dad, I said I’m handling it.”
“Well I just want to say we don’t know Angelique good enough to have formed opinions about her, but it is quite odd that we’re only meeting our daughter in law on her wedding day.”
“She’s busy dad.” Jason apologized for the millionth time since he had met Angelique. She didn’t like the thought of meeting his family at all. She had insisted they’d be their own family. Every time Jason went to see his parents she was too tired, too busy or not interested. He’d covered for her on every occasion, but deep down it bugged him.
“Son, take this from an old man, money, fame and youth is fleeting, family is forever.”
“I know, dad.”
“Well good luck with your young caretaker. We love you.”
“Thanks dad, love you too.” Jason put down the phone and started tossing the salad. He prepared the steaks, grabbed a bottle of wine and some glasses and headed out to the terrace. It was a lovely evening on Oahu, there was a soft breeze slightly moving the air, the sun was lowering on the horizon painting the sky hues of orange and purple. He took his first sip of wine when Mia joined him.
“Wine?” Jason asked tentatively, he didn’t think drinking wine with Mia was a good idea, but since he already had a glass it would be rude not to offer.
“That would be nice, thank you.”
She had slipped on a summer dress and flat sandals. Nothing sexy and yet Jason struggled to keep his eyes off her. She was beautiful in a comfortable way. Even without a hint of make up, her brown eyes drew him in. The dress billowed around her thighs hinting at the soft curves underneath. For a moment he was disappointed he had made future plans with another woman. Jason forced himself to focus on the wine and handed her a glass.
“Thank you.” Mia felt her heart skip a beat as their fingers touched and reminded herself this wasn’t a date. “So where are the plans?”
Jason coughed on his wine; did she just say that out loud? Convinced she didn’t, he asked, “What plans?”
Mia pursed her lips, his reaction had just confirmed her suspicions, he was affected by her as well. “The renovation plans.”
“Oh…those plans. I’ll go fetch them.”
He returned a few seconds later holding a green folder with a stack of papers inside, “The timeline is on top, below that you’ll find the detailed renovation plan along with the quote.”
Mia paged through the document, forcing herself to focus on the paper. The timeline was quite jam-packed. When she stumbled onto the quote her breath caught at the amount. “Must be nice,” she said after she recovered.
“What’s nice?” Jason asked
“Coming from money.” She shook her head, “Your minor renovations totals about two to three years of my income.” She looked up and found Jason’s ice blue eyes pinning her.
“I didn’t come from money.” Jason tried his best to keep his voice level. Why did people always assume he came from money?
Mia laughed, “Oh please let me guess you reinvested your trust fund and got lucky?”
For the first time Mia noticed Jason’s jaw twitch from agitation, “No I didn’t. And if you’re so curious let me explain it to you. I won a small amount in the lottery when I was twenty two. I bought the bistro where I was a part time water; after I made a few changes I sold it at a profit. From there the businesses got bigger and so did the profits.”
Mia was quite impressed, “Wow, so you’re basically a self-made man.”
Jason sipped on his wine watching her over the glass. He didn’t see any mockery in her eyes, “Yes, I am.”
“Your parents must be very proud.”
“They are, and stubborn.”
At Mia’s questioning glance he explained, “I wanted to buy them a house, they refused.”
Mia felt her heart soften, she had an inkling that he was a kind man but no evidence, “That was nice.”
“They sacrificed a lot for me and my siblings over the years, then again whose parents didn’t?”
“I wouldn’t know.” Mia said running her forefinger and thumb up and down the stem of the wineglass.
Jason watched the movement of her fingers and imagined what it would feel like if she did that to the part of his anatomy that was currently hogging all the blood flow. He forced himself to focus on her words and not her fingers, “How’s that?”
“Both mine were killed in a car accident when I was two. Except for a few pictures, I have no memory of them. I grew up with foster parents.”
“That must’ve been hell.”
Mia laughed, that was always the reaction she got when she told people she grew up in the foster system. “Actually it wasn’t. I had great families, of which I’m still in touch with the last one.”
“That’s good to hear; you hear so many horror stories about the system.” Jason imagined Mia as a small girl alone in the world. The thought disturbed him. He felt a protective instinct awaken inside himself he didn’t know he had.
“No, I was lucky.” Mia remembered the papers in front of her and changed the direction of the conversation. “About these renovations.”
“Right, have a look, I’m just going to put on some music and fetch the steaks.”
Mia wanted to tell him not to go through too much trouble, since this wasn’t a date but she wasn’t going to mention that word again. Norah Jones softly started crooning through the surround sound speakers when Jason stepped through the doors. “I can’t seem to find anything else but a playlist called New House Music.”
Mia laughed, and put her hand over her mouth. When she recovered she looked at Jason apologetically, “I’m sorry. I normally make sure there is a variety of playlists loaded before an owner comes to visit, I must’ve forgotten.”
“So whose playlist is that then?” Jason asked confused.
“Mine,” a guilty look accompanied her smile, “It’s a standard playlist I play whenever I move to feel at home. Since I can’t take furniture or mementos with me, I take my music with.”
Jason smiled, “It’s all right, it could’ve been worse.” He tossed the steaks onto the hot grill, as they sizzled he found he actually enjoyed Norah Jones. He turned back to her, “It’s actually a good idea. I’ve always loved music. Some songs remind you of some people, others remind you of places and some of good memories. Angelique never gets it that I like old music.”
Mia chose to ignore the mention of the fiancée, “I agree, every song on there means something to me.”
“Then I’d be honored to listen to it.”
Mia felt her blood thicken and pool low in her belly. Music was for everyone to listen, but for some reason the thought of him listening to her private playlist felt very intimate. Almost the equivalent to sharing a toothbrush.
“I’ve found my free change.” She blurted out.
“Don’t be so hasty, maybe you could persuade me on some of the things and leave your free change for something I’m not willing to change.”
“So even if you’re not willing to change it and I yell FREE CHANGE, you’ll change it?” Her voice was teasing but her eyes were focused on him.
“That’s right.” Jason knew this wasn’t date, but if it was one, it must’ve been one of the best first dates he’d ever been on. Not only was Mia a relaxed companion, but they had managed to talk about personal serious matters and still teased and joked in between. In his experience a woman was always either too serious or trying too hard to be entertaining. He watched Mia slide down in her chair. Propping her feet on the table, she started chewing on her bottom lip. Oh boy, it was going to
be harder to resist her than he thought.
Jason listened to the music and drank his wine while Mia worked her way through the quote. It felt like forever before she spoke again.
“All right! I agree with the crown moldings being restored.”
Jason looked at her confused, “And?”
“And what? That’s all I agree with.” Her voice was confident, her eyes intimidating.
“That can’t be it? You basically just destroyed my whole renovation plan.”
“No I didn’t, you said I could sway you on a few things,” Mia sat up and smiled at him, “This is me trying to sway you.”
Jason mockingly grabbed his chest, “My heart…well let’s hear it.” He took the steaks off the grill and put them to one side to rest, he had a feeling this might take a while.
“The bathrooms; I agree they need to be updated, but not gutted. Replace the tiling with something less sixties but not too modern. Keep the claw tub, replace the sink. If I were you I’d put in a glass shower, and not this one you want built. Get an old mirror from a second hand or antique store and hang that over the basin. The bathroom will be modern, yet it will still have dignity.”
Jason watched her talk and found his mouth hanging open. Her idea was great. Why hadn’t he thought of that? “That actually makes sense.” She went on about her plan for the master bath and how he could find really nice antique medicine cabinets.
Mia flicked a stray hair out of her eyes and looked at him with apprehension. “You sound surprised?”
‘I am. You actually have good insight.”
Mia laughed, the sound of sirens drawing him to his death, “Oh, and you can replace the fixtures in the bathroom as well?”
Jason nodded; the power of speech had momentarily left him.
“I agree with refinishing the hardwood floors throughout the house, I don’t agree with the dark mahogany stain you want to slather on. It’s a beautiful wood with a great natural color. If you stain it the parts more subject to traffic will start to look different from the rest of the house in a couple of years.”
“How are you so good at this and why are you taking care of houses instead?”
