The Future of Love (Bachelor Billionaire #6) (12 page)

“
This
is beautiful. I can only imagine it in the day as well. You have
woods surrounding you. I could sit out here all day and get lost in a
book.”

“
Check
this out. It's my favorite part,” Kyle said with excitement.

He
opened the door to the deck and turned the outside lights on.

“
You
have a hot tub. This deck is amazing. Did you have it built?”
she asked.

“
That
was already here. I haven't really taken advantage of the hot tub
yet. I imagine it's pretty cool at night.”

“
You
haven't used it yet?” she asked with a shake of her head.

“
I've
only been here a little over a month. John and Heath helped me get
everything the way I wanted it. I'm just getting used to coming home
to my own house after work. Maybe you could come hang out one night.
We could use it then.”

“
I'm
totally down for that,” she said.

Kyle
was shocked that she'd actually seemed excited about his offer. She
turned around and walked back into the house. He took her upstairs
and showed her the bedrooms and bathrooms. By the time they got to
the last one, she let out a laugh.

“
You
must have someone to clean for you. It would take forever to clean
all of these rooms.”

“
I
have a lady that comes in twice a week. I try not to be a slob. I
plan to live here for a very long time,” he said.

“
I
bet your niece and nephews love it here,” she said.

“
They've
been calling to see if they can come over. I haven't had them yet.
Maybe in the next few weeks. I'm not sure yet.”

He
walked back down the stairs and stopped on the main floor. She looked
at him with a smile on her face.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
The
basement,” she said.

“
You
want to see it?” he asked.

“
I've
heard so much about this basement. Between what you told me and what
I've heard Gavin say, I have to see it.”

Kyle
had a proud feeling hearing her talk about it. He loved what he had
done with it, and he was happy to hear that Gavin was talking about
it too.

“
What
did Gavin say?” he asked.

“
That
it blows Ethan's room away and that it's the ultimate man cave.”

“
Come
on,” he said feeling like a kid in a candy store.

Without
thinking, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the stairs. She was
right behind him. When they got to the bottom, he turned on the
lights and walked into the room.

“
Wow,”
she said from behind him.

Kyle
was right where he belonged. Being down there always brought him
happiness.

“
Gavin
was right,” she whispered.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
This
blows Ethan's out of the water,” she said.

“
You've
been to Ethan's?” he asked, feeling slightly aggravated.

“
I
went once a few months ago with Becky. Julie showed me his game room.
This is huge,” she said.

So
she wasn't there with Ethan, Kyle thought. What was up with them?

“
How
many televisions does one man need?” she asked.

Kyle
walked into the room.

“
These
computers are set up with my stuff for the company. They hook to that
television,” he said, as he pointed to the wall. “That
table is set up with my personal games.”

“
You
have your own?” she asked.

“
I
do,” he said. “That was something I agreed with when I
first started working for Ethan. I keep my rights to my own games.
The company has even bought some of them.”

“
Are
you serious?” she asked.

Kyle
nodded with the biggest smile on his face.

“
My
stuff hooks to that television. The last television is hooked to the
cable for movies and games. That's why there are chairs and couches
in front of it.”

“
You
have an office upstairs as well?” she asked.

“
I
do,” he said. “When I come home late at night, I work on
stuff that I need to do without being interrupted. I don't
necessarily need to come down here and turn everything on. Those are
the times I work in the office. Ethan calls and asks questions or a
client calls. Those are things I can do up there as well. I come down
here on the weekends most of the time. Heath and John helped me put
it all together.”

“
This
is amazing, Kyle. I can only imagine how proud you are,” she
said.

“
I
am,” he said with a smile.

“
You're
so different down here,” she said, as she looked around.

“
What?”
he asked.

“
You're
so happy. You have a great smile. Can I play one of your games?”
she asked.

“
You
want to see the newest one? We just released it,” he said.

“
Not
the company. I want to see one of yours,” she said.

“
One
of mine,” he said. “You don't have to do that.”

“
I
want to,” she said. “I understand if you don't want to
show me.”

“
I'd
love to,” he said, as he walked to the table and started
turning everything on.

Kyle
was shocked that she'd asked to see his personal games, and he
couldn't wait to show her.

“
I
wasn't thinking of the time, Kyle. Am I keeping you from anything?
You just invited me over to show me the house.”

“
I'm
good,” he said. “Unless you have somewhere to be.”

“
Nope,”
she said.

He
turned on the huge television on the wall and motioned for her to sit
down at one of the laptops he had turned on. Seconds later, Kyle
turned on a game and dove right into explaining it to her.

Jenny

Jenny
sat patiently as Kyle showed her the features and explained the point
of the game. She sat next to him and moved around the screen. She was
not a gamer and could never understand Julie's fascination with any
of it. Within minutes, Jenny was hooked. She found herself deep into
the game and so aggravated that her character was trapped. When she
yelled out at the screen, Kyle looked over with a shocked expression.

“
What
was that for?” he asked.

“
Every
single time I come around that corner, I get trapped. It doesn't
matter what I do,” she snapped.

“
Settle
down, Killer,” he said with a laugh.

Kyle
moved his chair closer to hers and leaned in to help her. She
couldn't help but smell the mix of Kyle and his cologne. He smelled
so damn good. Being close to him sent shivers through her body. She
was trying to concentrate on what he was showing her, but he was
right there. His light scruff looked so sexy. It took all she had not
to run her fingers across it.

When
she was satisfied that she could get out of the trap her character
was in, she started the game over. Kyle told her he'd be back in a
minute with drinks. When he walked back into the room, her breath
caught. He'd traded in the loose tie and rolled up sleeves for a pair
of running shorts that hung perfectly and a tight t-shirt. He had two
sodas in one hand and two glasses in the other. When he sat down next
to her, he cracked open her soda and filled her glass before setting
it in front of her.

“
Thank
you,” she said.

“
You
hungry?” he asked.

“
No,”
she said. “Are you?”

“
A
little.”

Jenny
laughed and looked over at him.

“
How
do you stay in that kind of shape eating like you did tonight?”
she asked.

“
I
run,” he answered.

“
I
run too, but I can't eat like that.”

Jenny
was so excited when she passed the point of the trap and yelled out
into the air.

“
I
did it.”

She
could feel his eyes on her, but she was too sucked into the game. He
sat next to her playing along.

“
I
can't imagine what it takes to make a game like this. You have to be
so talented. I had no idea you made games this detailed. Gavin just
does software. You guys do the cool stuff. I can't imagine how much
you have to go through or even how it's possible.”

“
I
can show you sometime,” he said.

“
Really,”
she said. “You'd do that? I don't want to take up time you
would be working.”

“
Of
course I would,” he said. “I like what I do. Showing you
would be fun for me.”

“
That
would be awesome,” she said.

“
What
did you want to go to school for?” he asked. “Before you
started working for Gavin.”

“
I
wanted to be a teacher or do something with kids. I love being around
them,” she said.

“
You're
great with Becky's kids. Do you want kids?” he asked.

“
I
used to,” she said. “I'm not sure now. I would never want
to risk not being able to give them what they want and need. If I
have kids, I want to be sure that I can send them to college. I want
to be sure that I'll be able to put them ahead of everything else. I
worry about that after seeing how my mom was.”

“
Did
your ex want kids?” he asked.

“
I
actually never thought I would want them with him,” she
answered honestly. “It's really late. I should probably get
going. I've taken up so much of your time already. I can't believe I
played that game for two hours. I've never done anything like that
before. It makes sense to me now.”

“
What?”
he asked.

“
Julie
said she plays for hours at a time. I thought that was crazy. I can
definitely see it now. These things are addictive.”

Jenny
stood up, picked up both glasses and cans, and walked toward the
stairs.

“
I'm
surprised Gavin hasn't called you yet,” Kyle said.

“
He
could have,” she said. “I left my phone upstairs. What's
the deal with you two anyway?”

“
What
do you mean?” he asked.

“
I
heard you say something about him on the beach. I saw him give you
dirty looks in Hawaii. Do you guys have something going on?”

“
I
honestly don't know what his problem is with me,” Kyle said.
“I've never done anything to him except take the job with
Ethan. Can you do me a favor?”

She
grabbed her purse and pulled out her phone. As soon as she turned it
on, there was a missed call from Gavin. She turned it for Kyle to
see.

“
I
won't tell him where I was,” she said.