Free Sin for Love by Claudia Bradshaw

with a grin.
    Two could play at this game.  I popped my hip out, put my hand on it, and said with as much attitude as I could muster, “Yeah, well, don’t go getting a big head about it, buddy.  Are you going to show me around your big house or not?”
    As we entered the house, the first thing I noticed was that it had the most amazing curved glass windows that provided a panoramic view of the ocean.  I dropped my purse on the coffee table and walked past the half-circle couch to stand in front of the windows that stretched from floor to ceiling.  I’d thought the windows in my apartment were the best I’d ever seen. I’d been wrong.
    The sound of Reese’s voice broke me from my awe. “The windows in the master bedroom upstairs are the same, but you get a better view.”  I jumped with joy and ran up the stairs as fast as I could.
    Reese was right. From up here, I could see the entire ocean.  I could get used to this.  Shut up, Tessa. Don’t do that to yourself. Just enjoy the few days that you spend here and pretend that you are in a hotel.  You can’t keep this.  Remembering that this was only temporary sobered me up a bit.  I didn’t want to admit that the thought also made me a bit sad.
    I looked up to see that there were no treatments on the windows and turned to give Reese a questioning look with my eyebrow raised.  “Oh, special glass.  You can see out but not in.  Even at night when it is dark outside and the lights are on in here.”  That was all I needed to hear before I ran towards him, jumped, wrapped my arms and legs around him, and began kissing his amazing lips.
    We were lying in his king-sized bed recovering from our midday romp when Reese said, “Ready to see the rest of the house now?  If you tackle me in every room, this could take a while, so we might want to get a move on.”
    I smacked his arm and got up to put my pants back on.  We moved around the house, and I learned that it had four bedrooms, six baths, and a kitchen that would make Paula Deen’s panties wet.  When Reese led me up another staircase to the roof, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was.  Up here, above the street, higher than the surrounding buildings, was a private dreamland that spread across the entire roof.  Reese said that we needed to go to dinner soon, so we didn’t have time to linger, but he promised we would come back and he’d show me how the firepit worked.

    “Reese”
    Tessa’s reaction to my home wasn’t like anything I had expected.  I could see the awe in her that I’d first felt when I found this place a few years ago.  I had just cashed out a lot of stock that had skyrocketed and needed something to the put the money into.  I had also been outgrowing the personal space that I kept for myself at the shop and needed somewhere to put my projects.  I had almost given up on finding anything, and I hadn’t been about to settle, considering the amount of money I had been prepared to spend when I got an early morning call from my real estate agent telling me that a new place was going to be put on the market and that she could get me in to see it before the listing went public.  It had a five-car garage, so that had taken care of one of my requirements, but it hadn’t been until I’d stepped onto the roof that I’d known I had to have it.
    That Tessa was as overwhelmed with it as I had been when I first saw it made me feel like I was on the right track.  And I hadn’t felt that way in a long time.  But I couldn’t get my hopes up too high. We still had a long way to go.  I knew I’d feel better once tonight was over. Either I’d have the next two days to just enjoy Tessa or we’d be headed back to the airport sooner than originally planned.
    We had just finished dinner at an Italian restaurant that provided family-style dining where you ordered dishes to share.  I’d ordered about eight dishes too many, saying that I just wanted a little bit of each one. Some of them