ScandalandSin (7 page)

“Perhaps you’d be in the way more than
you’d help. Isn’t that right, Mr. Coleman?”

Alaina looked at Rye to find his gaze on
her and not Bella. She couldn’t make out the emotion in his eyes. It drew her
to him, made her want to know his thoughts. “I’m sure we could find things for
Alaina to do.”

Bella took a dainty sip of her tea. “You
have the necessary financing to buy the house,
if
I agree to sell?”

It was difficult for Alaina to look away
from Rye, but she forced her attention back to Bella. Hope bloomed in her
chest. If Bella asked about money, then she must be considering selling the
house. “Financing isn’t a problem. I can give you a check now for the down
payment.”

“You’re determined as well as ambitious.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

After one more sip of tea, Bella set her
cup on the table next to her chair. “I looked at the house two weeks ago.
You’re right that it’s slowly deteriorating. There’s no reason for it to remain
standing. I should have it torn down.”

Alaina’s stomach leaped into her throat.
She opened her mouth to protest. A firm squeeze on her arm stopped her. She
looked at Rye. He shook his head slightly. Alaina closed her mouth again.

“I’m curious to see what you’d do with my
old home, Ms. May. I know with the Coleman brothers doing the work, you’ll get
the best construction firm in a three-hundred-mile radius.”

Rye tipped his head. “Thank you.”

Bella laced her hands together over her
stomach. “I’ve decided to sell the house to you.”

Alaina wanted to jump up and do a happy
dance. She didn’t think Bella would appreciate the outburst, but it was
difficult to remain seated. “Thank you, Mrs. Olinghouse. I promise you won’t
regret it.”

“I don’t expect to.”

Alaina opened her purse and removed a
checkbook. “I’ll give you a down payment right now. How much do you want for
the house?”

“Twenty-five thousand.”

That seemed like a fair down payment.
Alaina found a pen and opened the checkbook to write out the check. “I don’t
have a problem with twenty-five thousand for the down payment. How much do you
want for the house?”

“That isn’t a down payment, Ms. May. I want
twenty-five thousand for the house. Period.”

Alaina’s mouth dropped open. She lost the
strength in her hand and dropped her pen. Rye picked it up and handed it back
to her. “You aren’t serious.”

“Don’t I sound serious?”

“But-but I want the land too.”

“Yes, I assume you do.”

“You’ll sell everything to me for
twenty-five thousand dollars?”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it? Do you have
a problem with your hearing?”

“No offense, Mrs. Olinghouse,” Rye said,
“but that’s ridiculous. There has to be twenty acres with the house.”

“Twenty-two.”

“Land in that area runs for ten thousand an
acre. You could get a minimum of two hundred thousand without the house.”

“I’m aware of land prices in our area, Mr.
Coleman.”

“You’re willing to throw away over a
hundred thousand dollars?”

“I believe the deal is between Ms. May and
me. It’s none of your business, Mr. Coleman.”

“Mrs. Olinghouse, are you sure?” Alaina
asked. “I appreciate the low price, but I don’t want you to have any regrets.”

“Shall I take back my offer to sell, Ms.
May?”

“No!”

“Then do not argue with me.” She held out
her hand and wiggled her fingers. “The check, please.”

Alaina scribbled out the check and handed
it to the older woman. Bella laid it on the end table without looking at it.

“I’ll have my attorney draw up the
necessary paperwork. As far as I’m concerned, the house is now yours to do with
as you please.”

“So Rye and his brothers can start the
remodeling now?”

“Mrs. Olinghouse,” Rye said. “Again, no
offense intended. Alaina can’t do anything with the house until the land is
rezoned as commercial property.”

“You take care of whatever building permits
you need, Mr. Coleman. I’ll take care of the rezoning.”

Just like that, Alaina owned the house. She
didn’t want to breathe, to move, for fear she’d awaken and this would all be a
dream. She’d wanted this ever since her grandfather died five months ago.

“You’ll have to excuse me,” Bella said. “I
have an appointment at ten.”

“Of course.” Alaina stood. “Thank you. You
have no idea how much this means to me.”

“I expect it to be glorious when it’s
finished.”

“It will be. I promise.”

“We’ll see ourselves out.” Rye took
Alaina’s arm. “Thank you, Mrs. Olinghouse.”

Once outside the huge house, Alaina
couldn’t contain her glee any longer. She gave a loud “Whoopee!” and turned in
a circle, her arms flung wide. “Ohmigod, I can’t believe the house is mine!”

“I can’t believe it either. I don’t
understand why she sold it to you so cheap.”

“I don’t care. All I care about is she
did
sell it to me and it’s
mine
!” Clasping her hands together in front of
her breasts, she gave Rye a huge smile. “When can you start working on it?”

“We have a lot to talk about before any
work is done.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m too happy right
now to let anything bring me down.”

* * * * *

The fact that Bella had sold the house and
land so cheaply made Rye suspicious. There had to be something seriously wrong
with either the house or property for her to almost give it away. He decided
he’d do some checking on his own and find out what had made Bella agree to
almost give away her place to a virtual stranger.

“What’s first?” Alaina asked once they were
back in his pickup. “Do I have to hire an architect? Can I tell you my vision and
go from there? Do I sign a contract with you? Do I pay you a flat fee or by the
hour? You hire all the subcontractors, right? I don’t have to worry about
that?”

She was shooting questions at him so
quickly, he had trouble understanding all the words. “You don’t have to hire
anyone. I’ll take care of that. We’ll talk about my fee and the contract at the
office.”

“Okay.” She shifted on the seat and turned
toward him. “I have a notebook in my car with my ideas. I want to keep the same
layout of the house. I researched what colors were used in houses when it was
built. I want to use some of those colors, but also mix them with a more modern
color scheme.”

“Dax can help you with that. He has a great
eye for color. He’s also blunt. If you pick a color he feels won’t work, he’ll
tell you.”

“That’s good. I want the house to be
magnificent when it’s finished.”

“We’ll do our best.”

“I know you will.”

He could feel her watching him, yet she
didn’t say anything else. He glanced at her. “What?”

“I didn’t expect it would be you and your
brothers who own the company. I thought it would be your father, or even your
grandfather.”

“Why?”

“Because of Coleman Construction’s
reputation. I assumed it would take someone older to build up such a sterling
reputation.”

“Our dad started the business. We started
working for him when we were barely teenagers. As I got older, I wanted to
expand the business to include other areas of construction. I talked to Dax and
Griff and they agreed it was a good idea. Dad said he’d give us the business
and we could do whatever we wanted, as long as he could work for us.”

“What other areas of construction?”

“Anything a person needs. Plumbing,
electrical, roofing, flooring. You need it, Coleman Construction can do it.”

“Sort of a one-size-fits-all.”

“Yeah.”

“Your idea worked. Even the queen said
you’re the best.”

Rye glanced at Alaina again to see her
grinning. He chuckled. “I suppose I should feel honored to get a compliment
from Bella. She doesn’t give out many of those.”

“Do you know why she’s so bitter and rude?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Could be she’s
lonely. She doesn’t have any family who lives close. I doubt if she has any
friends.”

“That’s sad. A person needs friends. I
don’t know what I’d do without my two friends, Emma and Kelcey. They’re the
best.”

“I have my brothers. They’re my best
friends.”

“No arguments with them?”

“Hell, we argue all the time, but it
doesn’t take us long to get over it.”

A comfortable silence fell between them.
Rye felt at ease with Alaina, and he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to think
about how good she’d felt in his arms yesterday, how her pussy had fit his cock
so perfectly. He didn’t want to think about that sexy little sound she made in
her throat when she came, or how much he longed to feel her in his arms again.

He couldn’t get involved with another
Pearson sister. Alaina was off limits.

Rye had to remember that.

Chapter Six

April 12, 1937

The Sullivan sisters intercepted me at
the drugstore, so I did not get the chance to speak to him. Laura is visiting
our grandparents in Fort Worth until the weekend. That gives me the chance to
try to speak with him again while she isn’t here.

I know she would tell me not to bother
him, that he’s a very busy man. I don’t care how busy he is. I must get close
to him to protect my sister.

* * * * *

Alaina walked into Coleman Construction
after Rye opened the door. She tried not to touch him, but her arm brushed his
stomach as she walked past. Just like that, she was thrown back to Stevens
House yesterday afternoon when Rye had taken her against the wall.

She hadn’t had a vast number of lovers in
her lifetime, but that had been the hottest sex she’d ever experienced. His
cock had been so hard, so thick…

“Are you planning to live in the house?”
Rye asked, taking the chair behind the large desk.

His question snapped her out of the erotic
trance. She cleared her throat so her voice wouldn’t sound hoarse. “I’d like
to. What do you think?”

“It’s been a long time since I was in the
house, but I think there are four bedrooms on the second floor. There’s also a
large attic that runs almost the entire length and width of the house. It could
easily be turned into at least two bedrooms, maybe three.”

Goose bumps erupted on Alaina’s skin. She
could hardly wait to jump in and start the remodeling.

Rye reached inside his desk and withdrew a
yellow legal pad. “Guess I’d better start taking notes.” He selected a pen from
the holder on the desk. “I assume you’ll want to add private bathrooms to each
of the bedrooms.”

“Oh definitely. Can you do that?”

“Sure. Walls will have to be moved, but
that isn’t a problem.”

“What about an elevator?”

“An elevator?”

“Don’t I need one in case I have a guest
who has trouble climbing stairs? Isn’t it a law about handicapped access?”

“I’ve never remodeled a house that old.
I’ll have to check to see what the law requires.”

“It doesn’t matter. I want an elevator for
my guests’ comfort.”

He rubbed his knuckle across his mustache.
Alaina remembered the feel of it when he’d kissed her. She wondered how his
mustache would feel tickling her nipples, brushing down her stomach to between
her thighs…

“Before we get too far into this, I’ll call
my dad and see if he can meet us at the house in about an hour.”

The mention of Rye’s father quickly doused
her desire. “Your dad?”

“He’s an architect. I can do the structural
stuff, but I’m lousy at designing.”

His eyes twinkled with humor. Alaina liked
this Rye much better than the rude man of earlier today. She smiled and he
returned it.

As quickly as it had formed, his smile
disappeared. He frowned and looked back at his legal pad. “I’ll start with the
roof. That needs to be repaired first.”

Okay, what just happened?
They seemed to be getting along fine, then the light went out in
his eyes and he became stiff and wooden again. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No.”

His voice said no, but his tone said yes.
“Rye, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong, Alaina. This is a
business arrangement, nothing more. You need to remember that.”

She had no idea why he’d say something like
that. “What did I do to make you think I don’t know that?”

“You smiled at me.”

“I
smiled
at you? Since when is that
a sin?”

Scowling, he tossed his pen on top of the
legal pad. “I don’t want you thinking there will be a repeat of what happened
between us yesterday, because there won’t be.”