Bastard(125)
I’ve always loved living here, but having her with me now makes coming home all the better. I’ve redone the whole upstairs area, the kitchen, bathroom, everything. At this stage it only has one bedroom, but the old man that owns the adjoining building is only months off retiring and I’m already in negotiations for buying him out.
When I do, I have plans of knocking down the wall between my apartment and the one above his shop and extending my living space, as well as adding two more bedrooms. I’ll probably rent out the shop below with plans of expanding my parlour when I have more cash flow.
“Wow, look at the view from up here,” Indi says when I usher her inside. When I moved in, I had the pissy little windows on the far wall replaced with floor to ceiling ones. The view of the ocean from up here is spectacular. I only wish I could’ve added a balcony out here, but council regulations forbid it. Fuckers.
You can see all the way to the horizon, and the sunset is really something. I can’t wait to share that with Indi while she’s here. “The view looks mighty fine from in here, too,” I tell her as I wrap my arms around her from behind, resting my chin on her shoulder. I can see her smile reflecting in the glass in front of us. Fuck I’m so stoked to have her here.
Turning, she snakes her arms around my neck. “Thank you for inviting me to come stay with you. It’s so surreal to be here in your place. I’m so happy, Carter.” For some reason, her words bring a lump to my throat. I can’t even reply, so instead I tighten my embrace and savour the feeling of having her in my arms.
“I love your apartment,” she says when we sit down to eat. I ran her a bath after showing her around, which took all of three minutes. There really isn’t much to see. My living area is open-plan. My kitchen and dining table is off to the left when you walk in the front door. I have an L-shaped black leather sofa over on the far side of the room, facing my large flat screen TV that’s mounted on the feature wall. To the left of the sofa, I have a full-size pool table and bar area. Behind that is the door that leads to my bedroom and the bathroom. “It’s the perfect bachelor pad,” she says with humour in her voice. “And so tidy. Do you have a cleaner or something?”
“Or something,” I reply flatly, suppressing my eye roll. I’ve always been pretty anal when it comes to things like that. Men are capable of keeping a clean house, despite what most people think. “Eat before it gets cold.”
I called Justine, my receptionist, before I left Sydney and asked her to pick up the ingredients I needed to make Fettucine Boscaiola. I knew it would be late by the time we arrived here, so I wouldn’t have time to shop.
“I can’t believe you cooked this,” she says twirling her pasta around her fork and popping it in her mouth. “It’s delicious.” I smile at her.
“Well I’ve lived alone for the past five years. It was learn how to cook or starve, I guess,” I reply chuckling.
“You’re a man of many talents.” I don’t miss the underlying meaning to her words. You better believe I am, sweetheart.
My dick stirs as I watch her lips slide over the metal utensil. If I wasn’t so worried about her keeping up her strength, I’d say to hell with dinner and throw her over my shoulder and take her straight to bed.
After we’ve eaten and the dishes are done, I wrap her in my arms. “I’m gonna take a quick shower. Why don’t you give your dad a call and let him know we arrived safely?” I say kissing the top of her head, inhaling her sweet vanilla scent at the same time. She smells delicious—good enough to eat, and that’s exactly what I plan to do as soon as I get her into my bed. She looks cute in the pyjamas she’s put on after her bath, but they need to go. She won’t be needing those while she’s staying here.
I wake feeling the happiest I’ve been since moving here. I know it’s because I have Indi beside me. Now that I have her up here, I don’t want her to ever leave. It may be too soon to want her to move in, but I already know that’s what I want. Hopefully in time, she’ll feel that way as well. Now that I have her back, I have no intentions of letting her go. She’s a keeper. Mine.
Rolling onto my side, I feel my lips curve into a smile as I watch her sleep. I do this often. Crazy I know, but I love having her next to me. Her long lashes are splayed out, resting on her cheeks. Her perfect lips are parted slightly. Her dark hair is fanned out over the pillow. Reaching up, I lightly brush back the few strands that have fallen over her face. I never knew it was possible to love someone so completely as I do her.