ever hope to be, and I didn’t know really how to respond to her open affection.
“Oh, sorry.” Jack gave the dog one final pat before standing up. “Alice, this is Mae. Mae, this is Alice.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I floundered. There was something about her that made me feel safe and oddly loved, but it was so unexpected that I didn’t really have time to collect my thoughts and respond.
“The pleasure is all mine!” Mae gushed, placing her hand over her heart again. “You really have no idea.”
“What have you been saying about me?” I gave Jack a sidelong glance, wondering what he possibly could’ve said to get her so excited over me. He was the one with all the magical powers. I just argued with him and got myself in ridiculous situations.
“Not that much,” Jack shrugged, but he didn’t seem embarrassed or surprised by Mae at all.
“Shall I give you the grand tour?” Mae offered, suddenly looping her arm through mine. Then she looked over at Jack. “Would that be alright with you?”
“Yeah, do what you want.” He had already started playing with the dog again, seemingly contented to let Mae kidnap me and do with me as she pleased.
“This is the entryway, obviously,” Mae gestured to the vaulted ceilings and marble floors around us, and the rings on her fingers flashed in the light.
Then she started to lead me into an adjoining room, which appeared to be some kind of expansive living room. The rest of the house had dark golden oak wood floors and cream colored walls. Somehow, it managed to combine a warm modern motif with touches of a castle. It was beautiful and perfect and really, so utterly Mae. “Here’s the living room. Windows, fireplace, etc.” Before I could even really take it all in, she started leading me into the kitchen. The tiles were granite in natural neutral colors and the cupboards matched the hardwood floors. Off the back of the kitchen, there were giant windows and glass French doors leading out to a massive stone patio and revealed a beautiful view of the lake that stood right off the backyard. “This is the kitchen, and the view.”
“That is truly breathtaking.” I pulled away from her just enough so I could peer out the window. It was dark out, so I couldn’t fully appreciate it, but the backyard was lit with several large lights and I got a glimpse of it.
“That’s why Ezra chose this place.” Mae put her hand on my arm when she returned to my side, and I noticed that her skin felt the same as Jack’s -
silky soft, but completely temperatureless, like touching a doll. “This land, anyway. He built the house.”
“He designed it and everything?” I know I sounded surprised, which made me feel embarrassed. Of course her husband had built this amazing piece of architecture. They were obviously superior to everyone in everyway, and I better start getting used to it.
“Well, I helped, a little.” Mae smiled modestly at me, and I realized that I was already falling in love with her. Not like sexually or anything lesbian like that, but they were just so inviting and charismatic, I couldn’t help it. That’s when I realized that I was a little bit in love with Jack. He was impossibly wonderful, and I couldn’t stand to be away from him. I had started craning my head to look around for him when Mae pulled onto the next room.
“This is a really fast tour you’re giving me,” I commented as she went through the grand dining room connected to the kitchen. We had just started down a hall and she laughed a light, tinkly laugh. It was really the female equivalent to Jack’s, and it cemented my affection for her forever.
“Well, you’ll see the house enough, I’m sure.” Her eyes sparkled at me, and I knew that she was implying that I’d be hanging out there more, which suited me just fine. “I really just wanted a chance to get acquainted with you, and this seemed like the perfect way.”
“Oh.” I nodded as if I really understood.
“There’s the lou if you need it,” Mae gestured to a gorgeous half bath, and then vaguely pointed to two rooms at the end of the hall. “That’s Ezra’s office at the end, and our bedroom next to it. They’re not that exciting, really.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” I murmured, but I let her pull me onward and up the stairs. She claimed that she wanted to get acquainted with me, but I didn’t understand how she really meant to do that when she as rushing me through the house.
“Here’s Jack’s room,” Mae pointed to an open door at the top of the stairs, and I took a moment to peek in. The walls were dark blue, as he had told me they were, and the bed was massive and laid out in black silk blankets. There was a giant flat screen television hanging on the wall, and tons of gaming gear and videogames filling the built-in entertainment center in the wall. Some clothes were strewn about the room, but really, it was exactly as I expected it would be.
“There’s a guest room, with another bathroom, at the end of the hall,” Mae explained, then looked a little perplexed. “I don’t know why there’s another bathroom up here. Each bedroom has it’s own attached bathroom, and it’s own fireplace. I think someone must’ve suggested it to Ezra that it was a good resale point.”
“This house is all bathrooms and fireplaces,” a velvety voice grumbled, and my heart stopped at the sound. It was coming from the bedroom across the hall from Jack’s room, and completely unabashed, I took a step towards it. This room had been styled much closer to the rest of the house, with wood floors, and a four-poster bed made with white linens. There was a large white rug in the center of the room, and the French doors leading out to the balcony were open, letting the cool breeze ruffle the thick curtains. The walls were lined with books, and there was someone sitting in the overstuffed white chair in the corner. An aged copy of Wuthering Heights covered his face from me, but just the sound of his voice had already mesmerized me. He wore faded jeans and a close fitting sweater. His slender fingers were deeply tanned, but they seemed to be gripping the book unnaturally tight. I wondered if I was irritating him in some way, so I took a step back, trying to sneak out of his room, but I bumped right into Mae.
“Alice, this is Peter,” Mae introduced us. Maybe it was just my imagination, but her voice seemed to have filled with a sense of self-satisfaction that I didn’t understand. “Peter, this is Alice.” He grunted something but didn’t lower the book. “Jack told you that she’d be coming over tonight.”
“I remember.” Peter definitely sounded annoyed, so I tried to edge my way out of the room, but Mae, who either chose to ignore or didn’t notice his growing irritation, blocked my path.
“You could at least say hi to our guest.” Mae reprimanded him, but her tone was playful. “It’s the polite thing to do.”
103
“Hello,” Peter sighed, and finally lowered his book.
At first I could only see his eyes. They were an intoxicating shade of green and completely captivated me. His hair thick, chestnut hair had been kept a little long, and he had it tucked behind his ears. His jaw had tightened, strong on his slender features. He breathed in sharply, and his lips parted. It wasn’t his intention, but there was something so seductive about that. He was stunningly perfect in a way that made him almost painful to look at.
“Aha!” Mae exclaimed quietly behind me, but I was too preoccupied with Peter to figure out what she meant.
“Shouldn’t you continue your little tour?” Peter asked icily, and his eyes dropped from mine.
I suddenly remembered to breathe and tried desperately not to gulp down air the way my lungs requested. My heart was pounding wildly, and I could feel the blood burning my cheeks. I was being the same ridiculous fool that Jane had been, the one that I had been terrified of becoming, and I felt like sobbing in shame.
“I think we’ve seen all the main points,” Mae looped her arm through mine, and the combination of her soft voice and reassuring touch calmed me down enough where I didn’t burst into tears. “Would you care to join us, Peter?”
“I’ve seen the house.” He lifted the book again, hiding his exquisite features from me.
“Peter’s always a grump,” Mae explained, but she sounded a tad disappointed when she started leading me away from Peter’s room. “Come on, love. There’s still more for us to see.”
“Well?” Jack appeared at the bottom stairs, looking up expectantly at us.
There was something anxious and almost protective about him. Mae and I walked slowly down towards him, and I couldn’t meet his gaze, afraid he would see what an idiot I had become.
“Well what?” I mumbled.
“What do you think?” He waited until I was at the bottom of the stairs, then I felt him inspecting me. The dog came over and licked my hand, and I absently started petting her.
“The house is amazing.” I tried to force a smile to prove how spectacular I thought everything was, and I
