the nicest parts of town. Still, it wouldn’t be more than a fifteen-minute drive.
She grabbed her purse, coat, and the notebook. “Sorry to kick you out right after you’ve gotten here.”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about me.” Corinne followed her out of the apartment, and they walked down the hall together after Adison locked the front door. “You do your thing. Text me and let me know you made it home safe, okay?”
“I will. Thanks.” Adison blew her a kiss, and they parted ways at the bottom of the stairs, Corinne walking for her building and Adison getting into her car.
Though her hands had stopped shaking, she found she was sweating—even despite the cold. Putting the address into her GPS, she took a deep breath and pulled onto the street.
“Just stopping by my hot, billionaire boss’s house,” she reminded herself. “To plan the biggest party I’ve ever organized. What’s to be nervous about?”
Chapter 10
Adison
The house was the largest one on the nicest street in Buffalo. Not that she could know for sure, but that’s certainly the impression Adison got when she pulled up to it.
There was a speaker at the wrought-iron gate situated in the middle of a tall, brick wall. She rolled down her window, ready to announce herself, but there was a buzz and the gate opened up.
Rolling her window back up, she drove up the drive and parked in front of the stone house. Three stories tall, it was surrounded by trees and had a garage that had to be capable of housing at least ten cars. She briefly wondered how many vehicles Ken owned, and why one man lived in such a giant house.
Then again, she didn’t know for a fact that he lived there alone. It suddenly seemed silly that she’d assumed he did.
It was only a few yards from her car to the front stoop, but since she didn’t know how long she’d be waiting at the front door, she pulled on her red wool jacket. A few flakes were coming down, but Ken’s driveway was nice and salted, without so much as a patch of ice.
On the stoop, two ceramic planters with small evergreens flanked a black pendant light that hung from the stones above. The place was nicely designed, the porch without so much as a leaf or speck of dirt.
She reached out to ring the doorbell, but before she could touch it, the door opened.
There stood Ken, the suit jacket he’d had on earlier in the day discarded. He still wore his sky-blue button-up, its sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His hair was slightly ruffled, like he’d been running his fingers through it. Yellow light glowed around him, and Adison found it suddenly hard to catch her breath.
“Hello,” he said.
She swallowed hard. “Hello.”
“Come in.” He stepped aside, ushering her into the house. “I’ll take your coat.”
She shrugged out of it and handed it over. While he hung it in a closet by the front door, she surreptitiously checked out their surroundings.
The front door had opened into a rather spacious foyer. Its square footage likely rivaled that of her whole apartment. Straight ahead, a staircase climbed to the second floor before splitting at a landing and going in two directions. The path to the third floor remained unseen.
“I’m glad you could make it,” said Ken. “Can I get you anything to drink? You must be freezing.”
He walked as he talked, leading her through an open doorway and into an elevated living room. Like the foyer, it was also extremely large. Though it was nicely decorated, with leather furniture and a massive pair of antlers over the fireplace, there was a lack of personal touch to it all.
It wasn’t until they were in the next room, the kitchen, that she realized there had been no personal mementos. No photos. No knickknacks.
The kitchen was the same. Massive, with new appliances and marble counters, but without anything that suggested the house was actually lived in. It read more like a model home that had been staged for potential buyers.
The exception to all of this was one of the two islands. Here a laptop sat open, several papers strewn out next to it.
“You’re still working?” she asked.
She was making small talk, not judging him of anything. Which is why she was so surprised at the sheepish look that came across his face.
“There’s always something to be done,” he said. “Would you like some tea, perhaps?”
“I’m fine, thank you. I appreciate it, though.” She clasped her hands