“I have to say, I’m surprised you live in a house,” she said.
“Why is that?”
She shrugged. “I guess I expected you to live in a bachelor pad of some sort. An apartment or condo where you don’t have to worry about taking care of things when an association or landlord could do it for you.”
“I always knew I’d stay in Serendipity, so why throw my money away on a rental?”
Why indeed? The man had hearth and home written all over him, making Nicole wonder why he hadn’t settled down with one woman long before now.
“So why haven’t these people listed their home in the paper?”
“It’s been up for rent for a while, and they live on a fixed income. They didn’t want to spend any more money on advertising, so they put up signs around town. But they plan on leaving their furniture for whoever rents. They left me the key to show to potential buyers when they’re gone.”
He turned onto a treelined street with older but appealing-looking homes. The kind she’d always imagined living in when she was growing up in her parents’ overly large, too coldly decorated mansion.
“Home sweet home,” he said, pulling into a driveway that appeared to have freshly laid blacktop.
“This is your house?” she asked.
“Mine and the bank’s,” he said. “But I’ve been able to pay a little more on my mortgage each month, and I hope to own it outright sooner rather than later.” He jumped out of the truck and came around to her side just as she’d picked up her bag and opened her car door.
“Let’s go inside and I’ll show you around. Then I’ll call the Browns and ask if it’s a good time for us to come over.”
Excited, she scrambled out of the car, eager to see where and how Sam lived. She followed him to the front door.
As Sam led Nicole into his house, damned if he wasn’t nervous to see her reaction. Not something he understood, but he realized her opinion of him was important.
“The good news is my mother and sister insisted on making this place livable, so you won’t find that bachelor pad you mentioned.”
He swung open the door and gestured for her to walk in ahead of him.
This, of course, gave him a good view of her delectable ass in white, fitted denim. Her pink flip-flops with flowers on top smacked against the floor as she entered.
“Sam, I love it,” she said from the den immediately on the right, the room that overlooked the street.
He shut the front door and headed into his favorite space, the family room, which boasted a large television on the wall above the stone fireplace and plush oversized furniture in brown and cream. But there were touches that made the place a home, like photos of his family, and
accent pieces, as Erin called them, that looked good but Sam didn’t know anything about.
“Oh, look! A softball trophy.” She bent down and read from the plaque. “Star pitcher.” Straightening, she met his gaze with a full-on grin. “I’m impressed, Officer Marsden.”
“Detective,” he automatically reminded her.
“Right.” A smile curved her beautiful lips.
“We play two nights a week during the summer,” he said, keeping his brain on track.
Her eyes lit up. “I’d love to come watch you play.”
“Next game’s tomorrow night at the high school field.” He watched her expression to see if she was serious or just being polite.
She clapped her hands, her excitement genuine. “I’ll be there.”
“Pizza after?”
She smiled. “It’s a date . . . Detective.”
Their gazes held for a long moment, before she broke the connection and continued her inspection of the room.