After the Climb (River Rain #1) - Kristen Ashley Page 0,45

didn’t want his boys hogging the television with their game play, nor was he a fan of seeing them on their asses for hours, so since they dug that on occasion, he gave them space where he didn’t have to look at it.

Upstairs were all bedrooms, each with their own en suite bathroom, and the master had a balcony and a pretty damn spectacular view of the lake, forest and mountains.

It was furnished in comfortable, sturdy furniture and decorated in family, west, old west and southwest with some mission and Native American thrown in.

It was masculine.

Already felt lived in.

And it was entirely overkill.

He felt a pang in his side at holding back the need to bend double laughing.

Sure, in his current, smug self-actualized state, he could admit this was a realization of a dream.

But it was also a massive, six-thousand-square-foot fuck you to his dead dad.

And last, it was a house Imogen Swan would feel comfortable in.

Because no matter the sturdiness of the furniture, it was top of the line, looked great and cost a whack.

And the west, old west, southwest and Native American stuff was mostly art, carvings, statues, weavings, antiques, and it had all cost a small fortune.

She wasn’t even a dream, the idea of Genny coming back into his life. Until his assistant got a call from her assistant a few days ago, not even a possibility.

But he’d built this for her.

For Genny.

For the woman she was today and the man he’d always wanted to be for her.

And he could not deny that.

“You look amused,” Genny noted, coming back into the entry.

“I am.”

“Is it because my daughter, who does not live here, has commandeered guide duties and is giving me a tour of your home?” she asked.

“No,” he answered.

She tipped her head to the side in curiosity.

Chloe ignored this exchange and pulled her to the stairs.

“I won’t bore you with the rest of down here. It’s all man stuff, outside the dining room, which you’ve seen. And the den, which has no purpose, since the entirety of the house is set up for men to do indoor manly things, and the den is no different. Therefore, that would be the room a woman could requisition and cover in floral wallpaper and chintz furniture. We’ll save that for last. Now, we’ll go to my bedroom. Which, if you don’t poke yourself on the sharp things, is divine.”

He didn’t miss Genny glanced at him several times as she went up the stairs.

But he waited until she and Chloe disappeared down the hall before he went to his office, grabbed his laptop, took it to the kitchen, refreshed his coffee, and opened it up.

The room he’d put Chloe in was the room he’d designed for when his mom came to visit.

Ruthy Holloway loved her boys, but she also loved to read and have quiet times, and it wasn’t lost on Duncan she savored these after living in a house with a man who claimed every inch of space as his own and demanded every second of attention for the same.

Duncan wouldn’t describe the room as “divine,” but for his mom, he’d made sure it was damned comfortable and designed to be relatively self-contained.

It included a larger walk-in closet than the other bedrooms had (save the master, which had two). It had a lounge area. It was the only room outside the master with a balcony, though it was much smaller. And it had a closed-away niche that had cabinets, a counter that held a coffeemaker and a wine-rack, and a small built-in fridge, all of this offering snacks, beverages, with not a small selection of wine.

It was a cool room.

But he sensed that was their current destination not because it was a cool room, but because mother and daughter needed some time and he was down with giving it to them.

He was not wrong.

Twenty minutes later, he was standing at the island, replying to an email when they reappeared.

“May I liberate the hounds, warden?” Chloe asked.

He’d put the dogs in the utility so they wouldn’t overwhelm Genny.

“Have at it,” he invited.

Gen wandered his way.

Chloe went toward the utility room.

“My daughter has made a mess of your guest room,” Genny shared.

Duncan had two boys. Duncan was a veteran of many messy rooms.

Therefore, Duncan shrugged.

“I’m glad you feel that way, because Tuck has nested in a cashmere sweater in a way I think he might be most annoyed if he was forced to give it up and Bounce has made a hutch