As he walked Ella through his place, he started to think maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. He found himself cringing more than once. They walked out into his backyard with the spectacular views of the city lights. Ella remained uncharacteristically quiet as she took it all in. The unfenced pool area with the party-sized hot tub boasted a fully stocked restaurant-sized bar. The cozy fire pit sitting area was big enough for entertaining more than one guest at a time and he had—more than once. Felix walked her back to the house, and they headed to the great room.
“I bought this house after I won my second big title fight,” he said in attempt to explain the party-like atmosphere it encompassed. “I was a lot younger, and I guess you can see what my priorities were like back then when looking for a home.”
The bar in his great room was as equally impressive as the one outside. The ridiculous sound-and-light system in the room was one he had installed after partying at a Hollywood nightclub and asking the owner what kind it was. Within a week, he had the exact one, including a new stage in the middle of the room complete with not one but two stripper poles.
All right, he definitely didn’t think this one through. To his relief, Ella smirked when he glanced at her.
“I heard those are a pretty good workout,” she said.
“Oh they are,” he said, jumping up on the stage. “You know me. I’m all about staying in shape.” He lifted his leg to demonstrate. “It’s why I had them installed.”
“I’m sure that’s why.”
She laughed and he jumped off the small stage and kissed her. “I’m changing a lot of this,” he said, cupping her face. “In fact, I might even put this one on the market and start completely fresh.”
“Why?” she asked, pulling back looking utterly shocked.
“Because,” he said, looking around, “it never even dawned on me until just now how fucking flashy this all is.”
“Flashy?” she said, looking around now too. “I don’t think it is.” She shrugged. “It’s glamorous. That’s for sure. And the stripper poles?” She turned back and smirked at him. “Okay, that’s a little much. But it’s to be expected from a young, rich, single celebrity like yourself.”
“Exactly,” he said, kissing her nose. “Single. That’s not me anymore, so this isn’t gonna fly anymore either. Let’s get out of here.”
“What? Why? I haven’t even seen the whole place.”
She walked away from him and into the next room. Well, shit. He followed her, still trying to think of what else he’d forgotten about that might be embarrassing. She walked through what was supposed to be a dining room. Instead of buying a fancy dining table he knew he’d likely never use, Felix had placed a pool table there.
He sure as shit wasn’t showing her his bedroom with the huge hot tub, fireplaces, and floor-to-ceiling panoramic windows. The room opened up to a balcony that overlooked his backyard. The agent who sold the house to him had suggested the large balcony could be used for a cozy breakfast area to sit out and enjoy a cup a coffee in the morning while taking in the breathtaking views. Felix, of course, had other plans. He’d brought an oversized daybed out there instead. And, yes, it was for the purpose everyone knew it was for the moment they saw it.
What the fuck was he thinking bringing her here?
Ella walked around the pool table, taking in the art work on the walls and the photos in frames on the mantel over the fireplace. Several of the photos had fallen over, and she picked one up. She stared at it for a moment then looked back at Felix. “You baptized Gio’s son?”
Felix nodded, smiling and knowing she’d think it odd that Bianca and Gio would choose him out of all the guys to baptize their kid, but there was no way she’d know the reason. Then he froze because earlier, when he’d racked his brain to think of any photos that might be awkward for her to see, he hadn’t even thought of the other photos on that mantel. It wasn’t something that might be awkward; he just wasn’t sure he was ready to talk to her about it yet.
Fortunately, she was too fixated on the photos of Felix holding Little G in his tiny white tux to notice the others, some of which had fallen facedown. Out of sheer panic, Felix said the first thing he could think of to get her attention away from the mantel.
“There’s something I wanna show you.”
She turned instantly with a curious smile. “What?”
He held out his hand, gulping nervously. “C’mere.”
There were a ton of things he could show her in this house, but where to start and what room was least likely to have anything incriminating about his less than stellar past was the real question. Dammit. Why hadn’t he thought this out before bringing her here? Having her meet his mother so unexpectedly and finding out she’d made up her mind had thrown him for a loop. The overexcitement of it all clouded his thinking.
Then he remembered just as he took her hand in his. “You like reading, right?”
She nodded with a big smile. Good. This was perfect. His sister liked to read too, and she’d been so dreamy eyed about the library in this house he’d had one just like it built for her in at his mom’s place where she lived.
Felix squeezed her hand, smiling in relief. “You’re gonna like this.”
They took the stairs up to the second floor. Felix led her down the dimly lit hallway, turning on lights as they walked through it. He turned to her as they arrived at the oversized, dark mahogany, closed French doors. “Ready?”