At nine o-clock sharp,
Sam and Luke buzzed and Dallon granted them access to the top floor of the
building.
Luke was the first to
enter, pulling me into his usual bear hug. “Thanks for having us over.”
Dallon put out his
hand, frowning. “Dallon King.”
Luke shook it, smiling
warmly. “Hey, I’m Luke. Amy’s told us a lot about you.”
Dallon’s lip twitched
as he asked, “Are you a lawyer by any chance?” He looked past Luke at me, and I
knew he was remembering my threat to get my lawyer friend Luke on him. I
glanced down, embarrassed.
“We both are,” Sam
said, her hand snaking into the back pocket of Luke’s jeans, pulling him closer
to her. She held her other hand out to Dallon. “Sam.”
“Would anyone like a
glass of wine?” I asked, hurrying to the kitchen to open the bottles.
In a second, Dallon
was beside me, taking the bottle of red wine from me chivalrously and
whispering, “You seem nervous.”
“I
am
nervous.”
He smiled and turned
back to our guests. “Would you prefer red or white?”
“Red is perfect, thank
you,” Luke said.
Sam didn’t miss a beat.
When we all had a glass of wine in our hands, she glanced around briefly before
saying, “This place is amazing. Can you give us the tour?”
“Certainly.”
Dallon led the way
upstairs. The first room was mine, and there was no hiding that fact: there
were signs of me everywhere.
“This is Amy’s room,”
he said curtly before moving down the hall toward the studio.
“Just a sec.” Sam
reached out and grabbed my arm, pulled me into my room. “What the hell, you
have your own room? Does he not let you sleep with him?”
“No, it was my
decision. He offered me a room of my own and I took him up on his offer.”
She looked at me like
I had two heads. “Why?”
“Because sometimes I
just need my own space.” I sighed. “Everything else is his, and I don’t
entirely feel comfortable with that yet. Besides, I end up sleeping in his room
anyway.”
Now Sam sighed. “As
long as he isn’t making you sleep here…”
I shook my head and
smiled reassuringly before taking her hand and leading her into the hallway
again, whispering, “I’m going to suggest paying him rent, but I don’t think it
will go well.”
Dallon and Luke were
waiting at the end of the hall. Dallon stood with hands shoved into his pockets
and a frown on lips, his eyes on me as we approached. Luke stopped talking as
we neared, but I could tell he’d only been doing it to fill the awkward
silence.
“This is my studio,”
Dallon said and turned to push open the impressive double doors. For a moment,
I panicked, thinking about how Sam would react to the bed in the middle of the
room, but it seemed Dallon had already thought of that. The room looked mostly
empty except for racks of clothes and the wardrobes.
“It’s a big space,”
Luke said appreciatively.
“Can we see some of
your work?” Sam asked, glancing around at the empty walls.
My cheeks heated and I
glanced at Dallon, who stood impassively, hands in his pockets again.
“Unfortunately I only have rolls of film and CDs at the moment. All my prints
have been purchased or given away.”
“You don’t display any
of them?”
“No, I do not.”
It was stated with
such finality that even Sam backed off. I knew she thought it was odd, though;
her teeth were worrying her bottom lip and her brow was creased.
Dallon moved out of
the room, an indication that we should all do the same. This time, he waited
and took my hand as we walked down the hall, toward the stairs. Instead of
taking them, however, he continued to the empty room.
“The last room is a
surprise,” he said, looking at me with twinkling eyes, his hand on the
doorknob. A smile widened across my face as I realized what he was referring
to. Even though I’d refused, he’d gone ahead and put it together anyway.
In the center of the
room was the easel Sam and Luke bought me a few weeks ago, as well as an
adjustable stool. The walls were painted a light teal, my favorite color of the
moment. Along the entire left wall was a table that must have been custom made,
its surface bare except for a box. The most striking feature of the room,
however, was the floor to ceiling window that looked out on the same view as
Dallon’s study. The view was much better than that of the guestroom, leading me
to believe he had left this room empty for something important.
“Go ahead,” Dallon
said softly.
I stepped into the
room in awe and noticed an antique chest of drawers I hadn’t seen before. After
glancing at him and receiving a nod, I opened the top drawer to reveal tubes of
acrylic and watercolor paints. The next drawer held pencil crayons and pastels.
The next drawers contained sketchbooks. The rest were empty.
“I didn’t know what
you like to use,” he said, appearing beside me. “I bought these for now.”
I turned and threw my
arms around him, burrowing into his chest. “Thank you. This is one of the
nicest things anyone has ever done for me.”
He wrapped his arms
around me and kissed the top of my head. “There’s more. Look at the desk.”
My heart skipped a
beat as I got closer and saw what was in the box: it was a brand new MacBook
Air. On the desk beside it sat a copy of Adobe Creative Suite.
Dallon stood behind
me, his breath soft on my neck.
“I thought it would be
good if you could practice what you learn in your courses at home as well. I’m
not sure if your office uses Apple computers, but I prefer them myself. I’m
sure the programs look the same on either computer.” He shifted uncomfortably,
and I realized I had just been standing there, staring at his gifts. “Do you
like them?”
I snapped out of it.
“Sorry, I… I was speechless. Dallon, this is amazing.”
His answering grin
made my heart melt. He looked relieved, but also triumphant, and another piece
of the Dallon puzzle fell into place. What really made Dallon happy was to make
people he cared about happy. He was looking at me the same way he looked at
Brendan when they were shooting hoops, but his eyes were warm and wet.
I must have been
looking at him with a similar expression, because he cleared his throat and
began opening the laptop box to pull it out for me. It was then that I
remembered Sam and Luke were still with us. I turned to see them standing in
the doorway still and laughed. “You can come in, you know.”
Luke was the first to
enter, a boyish half-smile on his face. “We didn’t want to ruin the moment.”
“This was a very nice
surprise,” Sam agreed. Dallon looked up from what he was doing and gave her a
nod in response.
Dallon had my Airbook
up and running and I couldn’t believe my good fortune. It was the most
beautiful laptop I had ever seen and so thin, I thought I might snap it in two
if I picked it up.
“For now, let’s just
leave it on the desk,” I told him, and he laughed.
“I’ll show you how to
use it and install the software this weekend. It looks like it might be time
for more wine.” Dallon took Sam’s empty glass from her hand and, putting his
arm around me, led us back downstairs.
Even though we’d all
had dinner, Dallon insisted we fondue. He had already set the dining room table
with place mats, plates, two sets of forks and wine glasses. Red wine was
decanting in a carafe at the center of the table. Dallon told us to sit and
when he disappeared to prepare the fondue, Sam grabbed her opportunity.
“He’s head-over-heels
for you,” she whispered excitedly.
I quickly took a sip
of my wine, unsure how to respond to that. “You think so?”
She cocked her head to
the side in her you-can’t-fool-me gesture. “And you’re head-over-heels for
him.”
“I am,” I surprised
myself by responding with no shrug or sigh. “I really am.”
Luke held up his
glass. “Cheers to the two of you then.”
“I’ll help Dallon
bring everything in,” I said and after we’d clinked glasses. When I entered the
kitchen, Dallon’s back was to me, and I admired the view of his broad shoulders
under his shirt and his ass in his jeans before he looked over his shoulder.
“Admiring the view?”
he winked.
“Yes, actually.”
He laughed and turned
around, grasping the counter behind him and crossing his ankles. “I’m admiring
the view too.”
I sighed. I was
wearing a jean skirt and a tank top, hardly anything special, and yet he was
still looking at me like I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. I’d
never been looked at that way before. I went to him and reached for his arm,
running my fingers along the hairs on his arm.
“Thank you again for
the gifts.”
He nodded but didn’t
say anything, his eyes growing heated. My hand stilled and I moved to the
stove, stirred the fondue. “I think it’s ready.”
“Only two more hours
and then you’re mine,” he whispered in my ear, moving behind me to remove the
pot from the stove, the other hand sliding under my shirt to touch my lower
back briefly. I shivered, grateful he was too busy pouring the fondue into the
pot to notice. I grabbed the platters of food he’d prepared earlier—French
baguette bread and freshly chopped vegetables, as well as various spreads and
dips—and followed him back into the dining room.
Luke and Sam were in a
passionate embrace when we entered, and she quickly pulled away, face flushed.
Apparently Dallon’s home had that effect on them as well; it was all a little
much, the ambiance, expensive red wine and fondue. I caught Sam’s eye and we
smiled at each other. It felt good to finally be in the same place as her.
Dallon lit the fondue
candle and told them to dig in before filling their glasses with the decanting
red wine. He told us the vintage, but I was too focused on his face as he
poured, the slight determination of his jaw. It wouldn’t have mattered to me
anyway; I enjoyed most wines, as long as they weren’t sickly sweet.
Sam took a sip and
nodded appreciatively.
“So, I researched your
company a bit,” she said, placing a piece of baguette onto her fondue fork.
I stopped mid-dip to
flash her a look, but she continued unperturbed.
“Walters King… Walters
was your step-father?”
Dallon acted
nonplussed, focusing on dipping his own baguette, but I could tell from the
tightness in his jaw that he wasn’t pleased. Meanwhile I was wondering why I’d
never thought to research Dallon King. What did Sam know that I didn’t?
“Yes, he was my
step-father,” Dallon said simply.
“What confused me was
that you started the company after he passed away. Two years ago.”
“Yes, I did. He left
me a rather large inheritance, so including his name was sort of a way for me
to thank him.”
It was a nice
gesture, but stated with an air of detachment, as if he’d only felt it was
something he should do, not something he’d wanted to do.
“Were you close?”
I closed my eyes as
Sam asked the question I was afraid she might ask next. Like me, she had picked
up on his tone, but unlike me, she was going to go there.
Ever the gentleman,
Dallon removed his dipped baguette from the fondue fork and ate it with a
regular fork. He took his time before responding.
“Not especially. My
mother left us for him when I was young.”
“I’m sorry,” Sam said.
I reached over and put
a hand on Dallon’s leg, and he covered mine with his own, holding it there. “My
family is not something I like to discuss.”
“Fair enough,” Luke
said, turning the conversation to me. “So Amy, are you looking forward to your
first day of work?”
I nodded. “I think
I’ll start playing around with the software tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” Dallon
raised a brow at me.
“I mean, Sunday.” I
heated at the reminder.
“I have a day planned
for us tomorrow,” Dallon explained.
“Nice, what are you
doing?” Luke asked.
“It’s a surprise for
Amy, I’m afraid.”
“You’re full of
surprises,” Sam stated in an unreadable tone, her eyes on the fondue as she
dipped a piece of broccoli.
When she glanced up,
Dallon smiled that trademark smile of his, the one that made him look smug and
mysterious at the same time. “You have no idea.”
Sam swallowed hard,
her hand shaking slightly as she brought her food to her plate, extricating the
broccoli from her fondue fork the way Dallon had. Previously she had only been
using the fondue fork.
Luke cleared his
throat. “So, man, we know what you do for a living, but what do you like to do
for fun?”
Dallon’s sexual
predilections popped into my mind and I tried to pull my hand from his leg, but
he only grasped it tighter, smiling pleasantly at Luke. “I have many hobbies,
but photography is my passion.”