Deeply distressed, thus deeply attractive gleaming wide plank floors.
To the right, a couple of steps up through a wide exposed brick arch, a room that held a king-size bed. This space was large and illuminated only slightly by a modern lamp on the nightstand that gave off a reddish-pink glow as well as the outside lights coming in the huge arched, multipaned window that was at the front of the unit.
His bedroom area held masculine, sturdy, wood furniture, all with minimal design but what design it had held a bent toward a modern that would turn classic, not go out of style.
To the left, a seating/TV area with another enormous window and beyond that, colossal open space. This space included a kitchen with stainless steel countertops and appliances, black cabinets and an enormous butcher-block topped island. It also included a modern dining room table with high backed chairs that seated six, as well as an area beyond that was set up with a desk facing the room, a desk that, from the scatterings on its top, was used.
The back wall was also exposed brick.
Inward and to the right was another wide brick arch with step up that led, from my vantage point, to space that held workout equipment.
I took it all in, noting the only incongruous piece in the entirety of the place, including incidental furniture, rugs and wall art, was a beat-up old La-Z-Boy recliner in the seating area.
Even the mouthwatering smell of garlic and spices that was wafting from gleaming and steaming pots in the kitchen, the enormous-bowled, fine-stemmed, tall red wineglass and breathing bottle of wine sitting on the bar and the plethora of salad paraphernalia, foodstuffs and half-drunk glass of wine on the butcher-block island were utter perfection.
It was like a professionally dressed movie set for the interesting hot guy with trustworthy eyes and a fantastic body who the heroine was sure was too good for her. Until, of course, he convinces her she’s worth the time he’s going to spend getting her in his king-size bed in his fantastic bedroom space and making beautiful love to her.
A movie where, at the end, he’d have no problem leaving that fabulous unit to buy a four bedroom house in a trendy country setting (that’s more like a suburb) whereupon they’d immediately adopt a Labrador puppy and start making a family.
When in real life the man who owned and decorated (or oversaw the decoration) of a place such as this would have zero tolerance for a clueless heroine he had to train. Instead, he’d only have eyes for a woman confident in every aspect of her life. He would also never end up in a trendy country setting that was actually a suburb. He might eventually end up in a mini-mansion much like mine or a country house that had already been completely refurbished so he could start raising horses without delay, but never a trendy country setting.
And if he adopted a dog, he’d pick whatever breed struck his fancy, as long as it wasn’t too happy-crazy-bouncy and the dog was fine with either going with him everywhere he went like a hot guy canine sidekick or being chill hanging out and waiting for Dad to come home.
These thoughts inanely running through my head, I glanced around noting they’d used the raw materials of the warehouse beautifully. Nick’s space being a bachelor pad for a man with money and taste. But a woman could easily make the space feminine and marvelous.
Too bad he lived in that building. I would be in the market for something (hopefully soon, though no offer from the second viewing and actually no additional viewings from anyone) and I could work with a space like this.
I felt his eyes on me and looked up to him at my side.
“Impressive,” I noted.
“I can die happy, you approve,” he muttered, but there was no sting to his words because even in the subdued lighting of his space I could see his eyes were amused.
He was teasing.
I ignored that and declared, “Though, I feel I must inform you that the La-Z-Boy skews your aesthetic.”
My flippant remark was a mistake.
The biggest one I’d made in my life.
Because the second I finished uttering it, Nick’s arm shafted up. Before I knew what he intended, he’d hooked it around my neck, using it to yank me to him. I collided with his long, solid frame just in time to hear and feel him burst out laughing.
His laughter was as deep and pleasant as his voice.
And then some.
A lot of some.
So much of some I wanted the sound and feel of it to last a lifetime.
Unfortunately, it did not. His arm at my neck released some pressure and I felt him shift so I looked up at him to see he’d adjusted to look down at me.
“It’s my dad’s. Been my dad’s since I could form a memory. Dad loved that chair. No fuckin’ clue how many NASCAR races and football games he watched in that chair, probably thousands. Remember him holding me on his knee when I was fuckin’ around and climbed the cabinets in the kitchen to get something, knocked over a glass pitcher that broke, then fell on the glass pitcher, gashin’ open my leg. Deep. Long. Twelve stitches. Dad held me there while Mom wrapped a bandage around it before they took me to the doctor.” His eyes drifted beyond me as he finished, “Got a million stories like that about that chair.”
I did not like where this was going.
I so much didn’t like this, continuing to do things I knew I shouldn’t do, I noted gently, “As lovely as that is, I’m not feeling good thoughts about that chair being ten feet away.”