The Daddy Box Set

“No, no, nothing like that,” he said. “I was sitting around in the kitchen a few nights ago and started to really look around the house. I was thinking that a change in décor and the whole feel of the house might help Kayla and myself be able to move forward a bit easier. Christina was completely in charge of decorating the house, and it’s been pretty hard on Kayla, especially, to move on when the fact that Christina left is shoved in our faces every time we come home. I know she isn’t going to love the idea, but I think it is what is best for her at this point, something new and fresh.”

“Oh,” I said, smiling. “That makes sense.”

“I know it’s a lot, but I figured with your expertise, it could be a really great house,” he said. “Otherwise, it might end up looking like a ski lodge if I’m left alone with the reins.”

“Oh, God, we don’t want that.” I laughed. “Kayla is sweet, but a giant moose on the wall may just give her nightmares. It might actually give me nightmares whenever I come over there. Besides, it’s really hard to find overstuffed brown leather couches unless you are going for vintage. And by vintage, I mean thrift store.”

“See, this is why I need you,” he said with an awkward pause. “To decorate the house, I mean. Thrift stores are cool and everything, but I don’t want to lay down on a couch someone else’s leg skin has stuck to on a hot summer day.”

“That is disgusting,” I groaned.

“And of course, I would be more than happy to pay you your customary fees,” he said. “I would never imagine taking that much time out of your work schedule for this place. It’s a bit eclectic, which I think might be the opposite of what it needs to be.”

“Yeah, I mean your ex-wife definitely had an artistic vibe to her, which was not something I would have guessed when I met her that one time,” I said.

“Honestly, she read a bunch of magazines and like, copied rooms from them,” he replied. “I think all of the magazines are stacked in boxes in the garage still. I’ll probably use it for kindling for the fireplace this winter.”

“Waste not, want not,” I replied. “But yes, that is definitely something I can do, and it sounds like a lot of fun. I have a pretty stacked week this upcoming one, but after that, I can definitely put you on my schedule. I’ll be honest, it’s a bad habit of mine to dissect everyone’s house when I go into it, so after watching Kayla for so long, I have already put quite a bit of thought into what I would do if I could redecorate your house.”

“Uh oh.” He laughed. “I hope you weren’t miserable with the giant paintings hanging on the walls.”

“No.” I laughed. “But you will definitely be able to sell them for some good money. They are pretty reputable artists. The art itself may not be my taste, but the painters behind them bring in a pretty penny in the big cities. I’ll do some research on it and see where I can submit them to.”

“That would be awesome, because I don’t need any more junk in my garage,” he gruffed.

“Okay, tell me what some of your ideas are,” I said, interested in hearing what he thought.

“Seriously, you don’t want me to put my two cents in.” He chuckled. “I have no idea other than different than what it is. Besides, I don’t want to make you biased toward anything. I fear that bringing up the ski lodge was even a bad choice.”

“No.” I laughed. “Trust me. There will be no ski lodge influence in the décor of your home. I’m sorry, but I can’t allow it.”

“All right, it’s a deal.” He laughed. “Well, I gotta get to work, and I don’t want to hold you up. Just let me know later this week when you want to start, and I’ll make sure to be around.”

“Sounds good,” I said happily. “And tell Kayla I said hi.”

“I will,” he said before hanging up.

I set the phone down on the desk and smiled. It was really awesome that I could do this for them, especially since I would be helping both of them feel more comfortable in their home. It wasn’t very often that I could use my skill set to really help someone, so this was exciting. In fact, I was a little bit more excited than I should be about redecorating Ryan’s place. I wasn’t going to lie. It was going to feel good to get rid of that bitch’s fingerprints in their home. There was a certain amount of satisfaction I could already feel in getting rid of the gaudy new age décor she had hanging on the walls. On another note, I would get to spend a little more time with Ryan, something that had constantly been on my mind, but I wasn’t sure what I should do about.

I put my hand to my cheek and could feel the warmth swarming my face. He made me feel all kinds of different ways, and I still wasn’t sure if that was okay or not. I really wanted to talk about it with someone, but the idea of talking that way about my stepbrother still seemed too taboo, even for my free-spirited family. I would wait and see how this new venture went, hoping that it calmed whatever emotions I had going on in my stomach.

Chapter Nine

Ryan

It had been a week since I had talked to Alissa about redecorating the house, and she was on her way over to get started. I took the day off from work so that I could be there to go through her ideas with her, hoping that what she had come up with was more like a total transformation. We really needed the change in the house, and I was thinking this was going to help Kayla out a lot.

Kayla was back at school since spring break ended, and I was glad she wasn’t there to see us pick apart everything that her mother had done to decorate the house. The last thing I wanted was for Kayla to get hurt feelings over the entire thing. She needed to understand that life was moving forward without her mother, and that, although I would never pressure her to forget her mom, I wanted her to be healthy and happy at the same time.

“Hey,” Alissa said, walking in the kitchen door. “How are you?”

“Good,” I said, hugging her gently. “I am ready to get this started.”

“Awesome,” she replied, putting her bag down and pulling out a large notebook.

I stood there, very aware of Alissa standing so close to me. There was definitely something different about how it felt to be close to her when Kayla wasn’t around. There was an attraction that was almost palpable between the two of us, and I could feel my heart begin to beat faster and faster the closer we got. Our arms brushed against each other, and goosebumps ran up my spine. I glanced over as Alissa attempted to hide the blush on her cheeks. She was definitely feeling the same thing that I was.

“Okay,” she said, clearing her throat awkwardly. “Since we are in the kitchen, we can start here. I am going to give you the full rundown, and then we can change and not change anything you want. I tried to work around your current appliances so that you wouldn’t have to replace them. They are relativ