“I truly don’t think you do,” she murmured. “Why don’t you come and take a look at the bedroom?”
He marched toward her. “You want to have sex with me. You’re moving me in your place so that you have a close and convenient spot for us to have—”
“No.”
No? Dammit. Had disappointment just stabbed through him?
“We could have sex at that pit you called a home. We could’ve had sex in the alley behind the strip club. At the strip club. In the limo. By the swimming pool. By—”
“I get the idea,” Joel growled. He got the idea and all the mental images. Lots and lots of mental images that were now burned in his brain.
“The point is that if I wanted to have sex with you, bringing you to my home would be unnecessary. We could have sex at any time. In any location.” Her lips pressed together, she seemed to mull something over, then Chloe added, “Unless, of course, you’re shy and not much of an exhibitionist, and in that case—”
“I’m not shy! But I also don’t perform for crowds. Thanks for asking.”
A spark of humor made her eyes even brighter. “Are you going to look at the bedroom?”
“For someone who isn’t interested in having sex with me, you’re trying awfully hard to get me in the bedroom.” He strode by her.
“I never said I didn’t want to have sex with you.”
He froze. And his eager dick surged against the front of his jeans.
“I said I wasn’t moving you in here so that we could have a convenient spot for sex. You should also know that I don’t need to buy lovers. That’s not something I do.”
He whirled toward her. “It’s not something I do, either!” Was that how she thought he spent his nights?
“Good to know.” She lingered in the doorway. “What do you think?”
“Of what?” Joel asked blankly because she’d totally lost him. No, he was just stuck several sentences back.
I never said I didn’t want to have sex with you.
“Of the bedroom. I believe it should work well for you.”
He dragged his gaze off her and finally looked around the room. The bed appeared big. Fluffy covers—he didn’t care about that shit. But he realized that the entire wall near the side of the bed appeared to be made entirely of glass so that he could see outside—and he had a killer view of the pool. He walked toward the wall and he realized it wasn’t a glass wall. It was two massive doors.
“You can go out to the pool whenever you feel confined.”
His gut tightened at her soft words.
“I thought the view would help, too. I noticed you kept the windows in your apartment open, so maybe you’d like to just leave the doors open in here? The property is quite secure.”
Joel swallowed before he turned back toward her. “You notice lots of things, don’t you?”
“It’s sort of…who I am.” Now her head tipped back and she gazed up at the ceiling. “You can also watch the stars when you’re trying to get to sleep.”
He looked up. Holy shit. It wasn’t an ordinary skylight. A huge section of the ceiling seemed to be made of glass.
He could stay in this room and not feel confined. Not feel like he was suffocating in the dark. Not feel like he’d been buried alive again.
And she knew that.
“You’re probably tired,” Chloe said. “I’ll leave you to get some sleep. Once you’ve rested, come to the main house and we’ll make plans. I want to go back and look at the crime scene in the daylight.” She headed for the door.
“Stop.”
She did. Glanced back.
“Who lived here before me?” He was trying not to let her see how much he loved the room. It was as if it had been made for him.
“No one lived here,” she told him. “I recently had the guest house added to the property.”
And part of him…part of him wondered…
Did she build this for me?
But no, that wasn’t possible. They’d just met at the bank. She hadn’t known him before that moment. There was no way she could have gotten this place built for him. That was crazy.
“Glad you like it, Joel,” she said softly. “We all need a place to call home. Maybe you can put some personal touches in here. You know…an actual photo or two.” Then she walked away.
He found himself following her. “How do you know I like it?”