Page 28 of Love in the Details

Chapter 16

It had been over a week since they’d all gone sledding, and her siblings still kept giving Kassidy guff about the tumble down the hill into Dustin’s arms.

To be honest, there weren’t many moments in between their comments when she wasn’t thinking about it either. It was Monday, and she needed to go to the mansion. If only she knew when Dustin would actually leave the house for something. Then she could sneak in there and get done what she needed without complicating things, like her developing feelings for the CEO.

She'd made a lot of mistakes in her life, and she was determined not to repeat what she'd gone through after dating Trace.

Her Jeep finally made it up the steep incline to the mansion, and once she opened the garage door, her stomach sank as she saw his car parked inside. Did the guy ever leave aside from going to the same places she was?

Then her brain pulled up the time he'd brought her the paper to her house, and when he'd been driving around and joined them sledding.

Tilting her head back, she straightened her shoulders and strode in, hoping she could get what she needed and then head out to finish the ever-growing list of purchases to decorate the mansion.

“I need you to schedule a meeting with Greggerson for either later today or tomorrow. I need the numbers and projections for the beginning of the year.” For once, it sounded like he wasn’t on a conference call as she didn’t hear the person on the other end talking.

She decided to sneak past him, hoping to get into the great room just on the other side of the wall, but she’d have to walk across his line of sight. With how her emotions had been all weekend, analyzing every little thing that had happened between them like a seventeen-year-old with a crush, the best thing was for her to avoid him as much as possible.

A guy as good-looking as he was and with as much money as he had, he could get anyone. She was fooling herself if she thought she could turn his head.

She’d made it two steps past him when he said, “Bye.”

Maybe he hadn’t seen her.

“Hello, Kassidy. How was your weekend?” The warmth in his voice caused her to turn, and she smiled, playing with the coat she’d taken off and draped over her arm.

“It was good. Just finished some ideas for decorating. How about you?” The words came out strangled, and Kassidy willed herself to go to that place of steel, the one she’d used every time she readied for a race around the barrels.

“Good. I got a lot done here.”

They looked at each other for several seconds and then spoke at the same time.

“I’m just going to—"

“Please let me know if—"

“—get some measurements of the—”

“—you need anything.” He smiled, and Kassidy stopped mid-sentence, unable to concentrate on the words she’d been about to say as she was caught in the trance of his smile.

“Oh, as far as decorations,” he said, standing, “I talked to my grandmother yesterday, and she said there are a ton of old decorations in the storage room.”

He waved for her to follow him, and instead of going downstairs, where she assumed most storage rooms were kept, he led her upstairs. She’d never been up in that part of the house, but the hallway seemed to go on and on, with doors on both sides every twenty or so feet as she followed him.

“You don’t have to use any of this if it doesn’t work with what you’ve already got planned. I just figured I’d show it to you as an option. I know trying to plan this thing in three weeks can be tricky when trying to get everything shipped here.”

Kassidy grunted in agreement. That had been the most time-intensive part of planning. Ordering things was the top priority, and she had to keep crossing her fingers that the items wouldn’t be back-ordered, canceled, or delayed.

He opened the door at the end of the hall, revealing a stairway to a massive room with rows and rows of totes, all of them neatly labeled.

“Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an attic this well-organized before.” Kassidy walked down the first section, taking in the names of what was in the boxes.

“That’s my grandmother. When she and my grandfather first married, he was trying to start this business. She worked with ladies in her neighborhood on organization. I guess by the time things took off with the fabrication company, she’d built her business enough to sell it to someone else.”

“So your entire family is full of entrepreneurs, then?” Kassidy said with a smile.

“They definitely had that spirit. I’m just trying to keep it up, to not let down the legacy of what they built all those years ago.”

Kassidy folded her arms over her middle. “Is that why you don’t ever stop working? You’re afraid it will go downhill?”

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