Xander grimaced.
“So, you gonna tell me where I’m going, or what? I hate driving in the city.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“Because you know me.” I flashed a grin Xander’s way. “I told you. This is going to be a breeze.”
7
Xander
“THIS IS ME.” As the elevator glided to a stop at the twenty-fifth floor, Sean side-eyed me.
“Yeah, I kinda got that, since it’s private and there’s nothing else above us.”
The last few minutes were the quietest Sean had been the entire way over here. After we’d parked, he’d insisted we stop by the lobby so he could take a quick look around before we went up to my place. But as the doors slid open and he stepped out into the narrow entrance hall, Sean stopped dead in his tracks and let out a low whistle.
Directly in front of him was a large marble feature wall with a beautiful gas-lit fireplace in the center. To the right, a slim feature window that rose from the floor to ceiling overlooked the city, and to the left was the way into the heart of the place.
I was about to step out and give him the guided tour, when I heard, “Are you fucking kidding me with this place? This is where you live?”
Sean glanced over his shoulder at me, and as I walked out of the elevator and the doors slid shut, he shook his head.
“It’s like a goddamn hotel.” He paused for a moment and then added, “Not one that I’ve ever stayed in, but you know, one those classy fucking places.”
As I moved around him, I took in the immaculate décor of the entry foyer and nodded. “I suppose I could see that.”
Sean scoffed. “You suppose you could see—” He stopped in the foyer and looked from left to right. This was where the condo really showed its size, because you could choose to go either way, the apartment encompassing the entire twenty-fifth floor.
To the right were the bedrooms, pool, and gym, to the left the living areas, and the double doors directly in front of him opened up onto the terrace that surrounded the top floor of the building.
When it was clear Sean was at a loss for words, I turned to head toward the living room and kitchen.
“If you’ll come with me, I’ll make us both a drink and then show you around.”
With his hand still gripping his duffel like it was a lifeline back to a world he understood, I gestured toward it and said, “You can leave that here if you like.”
Sean looked down to his bag and nodded. “Yeah, uh, okay.” He placed it on the floor by one of the cream accent chairs and began to follow me through the halls.
As we passed by one of the many seating areas, I looked back to see him walking carefully as though he was inside a museum, and I couldn’t help but grin.
He was usually so confident and sure of himself, and I’d never seen Sean look so out of place, so…uneasy because of his surroundings. He reminded me of a bull in a china shop, or a little kid who’d been told to keep his hands to himself and not break anything. It was really rather endearing—until, of course, he opened his mouth.
“Fucking hell, Xander. I was joking around about the fancy ass skyrise. But this place is a little over the top, don’t you think? I mean, you’re the only one who lives here. How many bedrooms does a person need?”
I stopped at the entrance to my kitchen and turned to him. “About ten more if it puts distance between you and me.”
“Hilarious.”
I flashed him a fake grin as I made my way to the fridge and opened the door. I looked at the fully stocked shelves. “What’s your poison tonight? Beer, wine, something harder?”
When I got no response, I looked over my shoulder and saw Sean walking around the kitchen island and heading toward the main feature of the place—the great room.
With a soaring twelve-foot dome ceiling that housed an elaborate chandelier, the rotunda sitting area offered mesmerizing views of both the city and the lake from every vantage point.
A luxurious leather couch curved around each side for maximum viewing potential, and when Sean came to a stop on the plush white rug, he placed his hands on his hips and slowly pivoted, taking in the multitude of twinkling lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.
“Holy shit.”
I shut the fridge door and braced myself for whatever smartass comment he was about to make. But when nothing came, and Sean just stood there looking out at the million-dollar view surrounding him, I waited in silence, letting him drink it all in.
“I…I didn’t even know places like this existed.” He turned, and when he spotted me over in the kitchen, I smirked.
“They don’t. I paid top dollar to make this one of a kind.”
“One of a— This is a goddamn castle, Xander.” Sean looked to the chandelier and dome ceiling above him. “You have a fucking turret.”
A bark of laughter escaped me before I could rein it in, but Sean’s reaction was priceless. He was so blue collar, even when he wasn’t wearing a uniform. All of the Baileys were. They grew up with that “one of the boys” mentality. He loved his barbecues on the weekend, watching sports, and drinking beers in the afternoon.
I was the exact opposite. “It’s not a turret. It’s a rotunda.”
“A what?”
“A ro— Oh, forget it.” I headed in his direction, then stopped by a touchscreen control panel on the wall. “When I moved in and saw this view, I knew it would be a shame not to experience it from all angles. So I hired someone to make it…special.”
“Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure special might be a fucking understatement.”
“I’m glad you think so. But not only does it provide views from wherever you stand, when you’re sitting, and you press this button here”—I lightly brushed my finger over the controls, and Sean’s eyes immediately fell to the floor moving under his feet—“the center of the room rotates.”
Ahh… If only I could capture and replay this moment for Bailey and Kieran, because Sean completely and utterly gobsmacked was a rare occurrence. He looked like Alice after she’d fallen down the rabbit hole, and it was extremely gratifying to have tripped him up.
“Your fucking floor moves?”
“It does. It’s a slow rotation, obviously,” I said, as though there was nothing at all unusual about having a revolving living room. “Barely noticeable, except your view continues to change. It does a full 360 rotation in forty-five minutes.”
The sheer bewilderment in Sean’s eyes made me chuckle. It was the first time I’d felt like myself all night, and I could’ve hugged him for it. But I didn’t, of course.
I turned on my heel and made my way back to the kitchen. “Ready for that drink now?”
8
Sean
HOLY FUCKING SHIT.
Okay, Bailey had always said that Xander’s place was unreal, like something out of a movie. But as I stood on his revolving living room floor, I didn’t even think Hollywood could come up with this shit—only Xander.
Ever since I’d stepped off his elevator and into his palatial paradise, I realized that even though I’d known Xander for most of his life, I really didn’t know anything about him at all.