sideways grin that’s just so Poe.
Oh, you want to play that way, huh?
“Actually, I’m here to see your dad.” His adorable look of surprise that he’s not quite quick enough to hide makes me chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’m not looking to trade you in for an older model.” Shooting him a saucy wink, I move to step around him and head towards Hendrick, who’s waiting for me at a discrete distance down the hall. Before I get more than a step away, Poe’s strong hand lands a light smack on my ass, and his gravelly whisper is next to my ear.
“Let me know when you’re done with your meeting, and I’ll give you a tour of my bedroom.” My thighs instantly clench, and I smirk without turning around, continuing down the hall.
“We’ll see, Halliday. I might have other plans.” As I step through the open doorway Hendrick indicates, the sound of a sinfully sexy laugh carries smoothly past the untouchable art and warms my skin.
Chapter Ten
Walking into Holt Halliday’s study is like being wrapped in a safe, warm, masculine hug after being lost out in the cold on your own for three days. The exact polar opposite of what I was expecting after the frosty cool of the hallways.
The room is enormous but somehow still manages to be welcoming, with a high peaked ceiling crossed with thick, dark, wooden beams. This seems to be the furthest corner of the house, and it must have no second floor over it with a ceiling so high. My eyes are drawn to the most massive windows I’ve ever seen, framed by tall trees and affording breathtaking one-hundred-and-eighty-degree views of the water spread out below. Staring in wonder through the huge panes of glass, I immediately recognize where we are.
This is the house we saw from the boat that night, high up on the cliff and nestled in the lush forest.
Shifting my gaze to the interior of the study, my book geek heart is giddy at the sight of the built-in bookcases lining two of the walls, the top-most shelves high enough to need a rolling ladder to access them. A wet bar and immense stone fireplace take up the third wall. The light in here is natural and inviting–perfect for curling up in one of the two cozy-looking oversized loveseats facing the hearth and whiling away the day reading. The air smells faintly of leather and wood smoke and some kind of spice that reminds me of fall.
Seated in a tall executive chair behind a beautiful wooden desk with thick carved legs that look very similar to my closet doors and Roxy’s fireplace mantle is Poe’s father.
“Stella, how nice to see you.” Standing, he gestures to the two charcoal leather club chairs facing him. “Please, come sit down, and you can ask me whatever questions you’d like.”
His smile is kind and genuine, and I’m struck by how different he is from most of the men I’ve known throughout my life so far. He exudes confidence, power, and strength, but all tempered with kindness, grace, and humor.
Crossing the room, I take a seat, though my fingers are itching to explore just a few of the what has to be hundreds of books in here.
“Do you like to read?” Sitting back down, he leans comfortably back in his chair and gestures towards the bookcases. Slightly embarrassed to have been caught drooling, I feel my cheeks flush. I glance down at my hands in my lap before deciding to answer him honestly, even though it exposes the soft underbelly of the relative poverty of my childhood.
“I love to read. Books were always an escape, a way to be somewhere else, or someone else for a while. Depending on whether my mom was working that month or not, we couldn’t always afford cable, and going to the movies was a rare treat, but she always made sure I had a library card and trips to swap meets and flea markets meant new to us books to take home.” I pause for a few seconds, remembering, and then speak without thinking. “She would have loved this room.”
“She did love it.” My eyes fly to his face, wreathed in regret and memories of his own. “This was my father’s study back then, so we didn’t have free run of it. He adored Catherine like a daughter, though, and knew how much she loved books, so he would let her in here pretty much whenever she asked. I can’t even