The man raises to his feet and flips his glasses up onto his forehead so I can see his whole face.
Dropping my hand, I stand in shock. I can't breathe. My lungs hurt as they beg for air, but I can't give them what they want.
“Kent?” I ask, squinting my eyes as if they're not working right.
“Perri,” he says smoothly with a big grin. “Glad to see you finally made it.” His smile grows, it's coy, almost brazen with the amount of sarcasm he put in his tone. “Beautiful place you guys got here.” He looks back over his shoulder at the water, then back at me. “I've had quite some time to enjoy this view by myself.”
It's a dig at me being late, and I'm concerned immediately.
This isn't right. Why the hell is he here?
“What are you doing here? Is there electrical work or something that needs to get done before the new tenant arrives?”
Standing in front of me is Kent Hayes, my father's business associate. In fact, he’s the other half of Dean and Hayes Electric, the company that gave my father the capitol to buy all these properties that I’d like to manage one day. I've known him for years, but standing in front of him right now, I feel like I’m seeing him again for the first time. Were his eye always this blue? His chest, cut like marble, was that always hiding under his button up shirts? Not to mention his perfectly tanned abs that look like they were carved from granite.
Kent's mouth peels up higher as he tilts his head into his shoulder. He’s enjoying my shock. The sun catches his eyes perfectly and they sparkle like the ocean. I'm left in this state of confusion and desire, my panties still wet from my fantasy, and my heart beating with anxiety.
What the hell is going on? Why is he here?
“New tenant,” he says, pointing to his chest. Pausing for a moment, his lids lower as he strokes his bottom lip. “Your dad didn't tell you?” he asks, brows dipping into the bridge of his nose. “I am the new tenant, Perri.”
His voice trails off as my brain tries to process what he just said. It can't be right. Why wouldn’t he tell me it would be Kent here? Is Kent just here to test me, to report my every misstep to my father?
Would he do that to me?
Does my dad really hate me? Is that what this is?
Could he really not trust me this much?
2
Perri
His smile, I want to slap it off his face, but I also want to feel his lips on my skin.
I've never felt this angry or this turned on in my life. That smile on his face, the way his lips contort and twist, it's working its way down my body, making my heart pound. My stomach flutters and buzzes, my nipples turn hard, and my pussy drips.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Forcing the feeling away, I ignore my body. Now is not the time for me to let it run wild. Yes, Kent is sexy and my body is screaming out a four alarm fire like it never has before, but here I'm responsible for this house, not for ogling this godlike man in front of me.
I'd be lying if I didn't say I was angry that my father did this to me. I know he put him here for a reason, and it's not for eye candy. Why exactly? I can’t put my finger on that just yet.
“What do you mean you're the new tenant? That's not right, it can't be right.” Pulling out my phone, I take a step back. “This is crazy.”
“What are you doing?” he asks as I put my phone to my ear.
“I'm calling my father. This is bullshit.” Pressing the phone tight against my ear, I talk out loud. “What did he do, send you to keep an eye on me? Are you his personal mole? This is ridiculous. When is he going to stop treating me like I'm a damn child? And he sends you? Of all people, you're the one here to do his dirty work—it's bullshit.”
All I'm seeing is red. My father doesn't trust me at all. If he had even a sliver of trust in me, Kent wouldn't be here. This is his safety net, someone who won't ruin his reputation in case I mess up. That’s it. Dad sent Kent here to be my training wheels. I'm not too stupid to see this for what it really is. It's easy bait. Someone who will be honest with my father, and not afraid to speak his mind.
He's my father's songbird. Simple as that. Of course this whole situation was too good to be true. I should have seen it from the second my father said yes to me. I’d been asking for this chance for so long, it never occurred to me to question why he suddenly had a change of heart. Because Kent isn't a real tenant at all. There's no threat to my father this way.
Why am I so surprised?
Did I expect anything less from my dad?
Of course he's setting me up. He already anticipates my utter failure
“Perri, hang up,” Kent says, closing the gap between us, and bouncing his hands softly in the air, trying to calm me down. “That's not why I'm here. I'm not moonlighting as some spy.”
My father's answering machine picks up, so I end the call, and steady my stare. I don't trust him.
“Yeah, okay. You expect me to believe that?” Huffing under my breath, I roll my eyes and move my hands wildly as I talk. “You're going to tell me that my father didn't place you here to keep an eye on me? It's bullshit, Kent. Do I look that stupid?”
He rakes his hand through his hair and looks off at the water. “You see that view?” he asks, not waiting for me to answer as he keeps talking. “I'm newly single, and I needed a place to stay for a bit until I get on my feet, and your dad offered me this place to help me out. I'd be stupid to say no.”
I desperately want to believe him. My brain is playing a game of tug of war, pulling back and forth, rationalizing and refusing to accept his explanation at the same time.
His eyes soften, his lips fold into a pout, and my heart hammers inside my chest. There's a twinkle in his eyes, a small spark that hits me right in the gut. I feel for him, but I can't let my emotions get the best of me.
If it's as simple as what he says, then why didn't my father mention Kent is the tenant? If my dad really is helping out Kent, why wouldn’t he have mentioned that from the beginning?
It doesn't add up.
Inhaling a slow breath, I thin my lips. “Seriously, Kent, just tell me the truth. Why are you really here?”
“I am telling you the truth, Perri. I need this, just as much as you need this. I know you want to prove yourself to your father. I've seen the way you try to sell yourself to him every time a new opportunity comes up in one of his properties. But the truth is I really needed a fresh start and a place to stay for a while and get my head on straight. I'm not here as your enemy, I promise.”
Pursing my lips, I fold my arms under each other and stare up at him. I want to trust him. I just don't. He's my father's partner, that's all I need to see through him. He isn't on my side, not one bit.
But this could also work in my favor. If I do everything I'm supposed to, if I go above and beyond and Kent loves this house, he'll only be able to go back and tell my father how professional I was and then, I gain my father’s approval .
Let's prove Dad wrong. This is my chance.
“Okay,” I say coldly, nodding my head. “I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. For now. I don't really have a choice in the matter anyway, do I?” Dropping my arms to my sides, I lift up on my toes and fall back down to flat feet. “So, I guess we can go inside and check the place out.”
“I peeked in the windows when I first got here. He did it all up, huh? With furniture and everything.”
“Yeah, he renovated the kitchen, had the wood floors refinished, fresh paint,” I say as we walk side by side, and I find the key. “It's like a brand new house.”
My eyes dart to his face, and I'm trying so hard to keep them there, right where they should be. But they shift around his body, down his chest, over his arms, across his abs. I can feel my body tingling, the sensation soft and foreign.
Kent is, and has been, hard to not stare at since he and my father began working together. His big blue eyes, his thick, full, peppered hair, with a chiseled jaw, and perfect kissable lips.
He's a
lways looked incredible in his suits, tailored to fit him perfectly. A few times I even had to force myself to stop staring at him.
And now the attraction I feel toward him is even stronger. I'm standing next to him while he's half naked, with salty wind blowing his hair around, and his skin glowing bronze from the sun.
He's sexy as hell, and my entire body is reacting, the fire in my core has ignited, and I'm not sure I can put it out. Swallowing hard, I avert my eyes to the ground.
“Wow, he went all out,” Kent says.
“He really did on this property. I think this is the first house he put this much work in to out of all the others.” Unlocking the door, I push it open, and hold out my arm for Kent to go in first.