Then You Happened (5 page)

Chapter 7

Sierra

“Oh shit!” I exclaimed as I looked at my clock and saw that it read eight forty five. How the hell did I sleep that late? I never slept that late. The thought of Cameron being here in fifteen minutes terrified me. I looked like shit. My hair was sticking up every which way and I had mascara stains under my eyes because I was too tired to take off my makeup before bed last night. I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom. There was no time for a shower. I poured makeup remover on a washcloth and washed my face. Damn it! I couldn’t let him see me with no makeup on. I tore off my nightshirt and threw it on the ground. I grabbed a maxi dress out of the closet and put it on. Shit. I forgot a bra. Oh wait; this dress had a built-in bra. I heard the intercom buzz. SHIT! I ran down the stairs and pushed the button.

“Cameron?”

“Good morning,” he said.

“I’ll open the gate. Let yourself in. I’ll be down in a few minutes. Just make yourself comfortable.”

“Okay,” he replied.

I opened the gate and flew back up the stairs. I quickly brushed my hair and threw it up in a high ponytail. I dabbed on some concealer to hide the bags under my eyes and then a light coat of BB Cream. I ran a soft pink shadow across my eyelids and brushed on a coat of mascara. I dabbed my cheeks with some pink blush and looked at the final product. Not too bad, but not too good either. SHIT! After I composed myself, I walked downstairs and saw Cameron standing in the foyer holding two cups from Starbucks. He looked at me and smiled. Suddenly, my day just got brighter.

“For you,” he said as he handed me the cup.

“Why, thank you.” I smiled. “You didn’t have to bring me coffee.”

“I had to stop by Starbucks and pick up my measuring tape that I left there last night, so I asked Anna what your usual was and she made it.”

“Thank you, Cameron. That was very sweet of you.”

“You look great,” he said. “I’m not used to seeing you out of business suits.”

I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “So are you saying that I don’t look great in business suits?”

“Oh my God. NO! That’s not what I’m saying,” he said in a panic.

I took a sip of my coffee and smiled. “Relax. I was just kidding.”

“Very funny,” he smirked. “So show me around your palace and tell me what you’re thinking about having done.”

“First and foremost, I need to show you my bedroom closet. I need more shelves put up for my shoes,” I said as we walked up the stairs.

He walked into my bedroom and looked around. I gasped when I saw my thong and nightshirt lying on the floor. Too late, he saw.

“Don’t mind this. Rosa, my maid, is off on the weekends,” I said as I picked them up.

“You have a maid?”

“Yeah. Being a CEO of a company doesn’t exactly allow time for cleaning.”

“I sort of get that.” He smiled.

He walked into my closet and flipped the light switch. He stood there and looked around. “You seriously want to expand this? It’s bigger than my apartment. Actually, it’s probably bigger than two apartments.”

“Yes. I have a lot of shoes and they need to be displayed properly.”

“Does one really need that many pairs of shoes?” he asked with a smile.

“A girl can never have too many pairs of shoes. If you’re going to walk the path of life, you might as well do it in style.”

He looked at me and then raised one eyebrow. Fuck, he was sexy. “I guess I never looked at it that way before.”

“See, now you know!” I smiled.

He took out his measuring tape and I heard my phone ring. “I’ll be right back.”

I picked my phone up from the nightstand and it was Kirsty.

“I can’t talk right now. I’ll call you back,” I whispered.

“Why? What are you doing?”

“Someone’s over.”

“Who?”

“The builder guy, Cameron. The one who brought me my credit card to the office.”

“Oh, Mr. Sexy man with the green eyes. What’s he doing there?”

“I may have him remodel the house. Now I have to go,” I whispered.

“Wait.”

“No, I can’t. He’s coming.”
Click
.

He walked out from the closet and then took some measurements on the outer wall. “Well, the good news is there’s enough room to expand. I can bring this wall out to about here, and then line it with shelves for your thousands of pairs of shoes.” He smiled.

“Perfect.” I smiled back as I sipped my coffee.

“Was there anything else?” he asked.

I motioned for him to follow me downstairs. I took him into the living room.

“See where that door wall is?” I pointed. “I want that entire wall filled with windows. I love the backyard and the pool. But I also love the view. So I would like to be able to sit on my couch and look out and see that beautiful view. I also need a corner bar put in. I was thinking about here. And I want the fireplace spruced up.”

“Spruced up how?”

“I don’t know. Maybe stone or something.”

“Okay. I think I have an idea you’d like. Anything else?”

“You saw the spiral staircase in my room, right?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go back up there. I want that space turned into an office.”

We walked back to my bedroom and then up the spiral staircase. “The view up here is amazing. This is what made me fall in love with this house.”

“It is beautiful up here,” Cameron said.

“I want this wall all windows too and I want wood floors put in. This carpet is nasty.”

Cameron chuckled. “Okay. Got it.”

“Follow me.” I motioned with my finger. “We’re not done yet.”

We went into the hallway where the two guest bathrooms were. “I want both bathrooms completely redone. New tub, fixtures, tile, everything. Start from scratch.” I smiled.

He wrote it down on his pad of paper and then looked at me. “Anything else?”

“No. I think that should do it for now. So when can you start?”

“I haven’t even given you an estimate yet. I have to draw up plans and price it all out.”

“Doesn’t matter. I trust you and I know you won’t rip me off. How soon?”

“You’re not very patient, are you?” He smiled.

“No. Actually, I’m not. How soon?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head as he laughed. “I don’t know; maybe next week. Maybe. I need to finish up a couple other jobs first and then go apartment hunting again.”

“I’m starving. Have you had breakfast yet?” I asked.

“No.”

“Then let’s go grab something to eat. There’s this great little café just around the corner. We can walk.”

“Okay. Sounds good.” He smiled.

I couldn’t believe I asked him to breakfast. It just fell out of my mouth. But I was starving and he wasn’t leaving. As soon as I opened the door, Kirsty was getting out of her car.

“Hey!” She smiled with a big wave.

I could have killed her at that moment because she knew I was with Green Eyes.

“Kirsty, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is my assistant and best friend, Kirsty.”

“Nice to meet you, Kirsty.” He smiled as he shook her hand.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“The question is, where are the two of you going?”

“We’re just going to get some breakfast. Would you like to join us?” Cameron asked.

I shot her a look. The look that said, “Come with us and die, bitch.”

“Um. No, I already ate. But thanks anyway. I’m just going to use the pool.”

Good girl
, I thought.

“Okay, enjoy the pool. I’ll see you later,” I said as Cameron and I headed down the driveway and to the café.

“Oh, don’t you worry. I will!” she yelled.

Chapter 8

Cameron

We reached the café and I held the door for her. We sat in a booth and the waitress handed us the menus.

“Coffee?” she asked.

“Yes, please,” we both said at the same time.

I looked across the table at her as she opened her menu and looked it over. She was by far a very beautiful woman and I enjoyed being around her.

“You mentioned earlier that you had to go apartment hunting. Why?” she asked.

I closed my menu and set it down. “I received a letter yesterday that they are turning the apartments into condos and I either have to buy it or get out.”

“Ouch. That won’t be cheap,” she said.

“I’m not staying in Los Angeles for any length of time, so I’m not buying it. The thing that sucks is it took me a long time to find that apartment. It’s the cheapest I could find.”

“Where are you from?”

“A place I can guarantee you’ve never heard of.” I smiled.

“Try me.”

“Robbinsville, NC. My parents own a house on Lake Santeetlah.”

“You’re right. I never heard of it,” she said.

The waitress finally came over and took our order. I ordered a big breakfast and Sierra ordered two scrambled eggs and fruit.

“So what brought you to L.A.?” she asked.

“Work. Things were a little slow in North Carolina, so I bid on a job here remodeling a restaurant. I got it and then it led to a couple home remodels, the Starbucks remodel, and now your lovely home remodel. I was supposed to leave after the restaurant remodel, but then other work started popping up.”

“Do you like it here?”

“In L.A.? Yeah. It took some getting used to. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to the traffic. I’ve never seen anything like it. How about you? I’m assuming you were born and raised here?”

She flashed me her beautiful smile. “Yeah. I’ve lived here all my life. I’m a big city girl. L.A., Chicago, New York. If it’s big, has lots of traffic and people and, most importantly, more than ten shoe stores, I’m there.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You think I’m kidding?” She smiled. “I’m very high maintenance.”

“I can tell.”

Her mouth dropped and she made the cutest face. She threw her napkin across the table at me.

“Now that’s not very lady-like, you big city girl.”

“Who said big city girls are lady-like?”

The waitress smiled as she set down our plates in front of us.

“Have a piece of bacon,” I said as I held it up.

“Hell, no. Do you know how much fat is in that piece?”

“That’s what makes it so good.” I smiled as I shoved it in my mouth.

As we ate our breakfast, she kept checking her phone over and over again. “Do you ever take a day off?” I asked.

“Huh?” she said as she looked up. “Oh, sorry. I had to answer a couple of emails. Everything’s urgent in the corporate world. Unfortunately, this is my job and it goes with me everywhere I go.”

I gave her a small smile and the rest of our breakfast consisted of me eating and her picking at her food and sending emails. I felt out of place with her. I guess I wasn’t used to corporate women. I only dated small-town girls. Once we finished our breakfast, we walked back to her house. I opened the door to my truck.

“I’m going to head on home. I’ll draw up the plans for the renovations and I’ll have a final price for you on Monday. I’ll drop it off at your office.”

“Before you leave, can you come in the back with me for a minute? I want to show you something,” she said.

I followed her into the back. Kirsty was in the pool.

“Hey, you two.” She waved.

“Hey.” I waved back.

“I have a guest house.” Sierra smiled.

“That’s nice. Do you want that remodeled as well?” I asked.

“No. Not right now, at least. At breakfast, I did some research. The apartments are slim pickings right now. The cheapest one I could find, even twenty miles away, is over $3,000 a month. So, since you’ll be doing work at my house for what’s going to seem like forever, I’d like to offer you my guest house to stay in.”

“You said you were answering emails.” I laughed.

“I didn’t want you to know that I was looking up apartments for you. Plus, I did send a couple emails out to some contacts of mine who are in the real estate business. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking good for you, apartment-wise.”

“Thanks for the offer, Sierra. That’s really nice of you, but I can’t stay in your guest house.”

“Why not?” Kirsty said as she walked over to us. “What’s wrong with the guest house?”

“Nothing’s wrong from what I can see. It looks great on the outside.”

“Well, hold on a second and I’ll go grab the key,” Kirsty said.

A moment later, Kirsty came back and inserted the key into the lock. She opened the door and flipped the switch. We walked inside and I was surprised how much bigger it looked on the inside.

“Look; you have everything you need. Living room, small kitchen with appliances, excluding a dishwasher, a not overly small bathroom, and a bedroom that is fully furnished with a queen-size bed and dresser.”

I looked over at Kirsty and smiled. “Are you sure you’re not in real estate? I think you’d be good at it.”

“Hush your mouth. She’s my assistant and, without her, my life would be complete chaos,” Sierra said.

“I appreciate your offer, but I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s up to you. I was just trying to help you out and since you’ll be working here, I thought it would be convenient. Excuse me; I have to take this call.”

She walked out of the guest house and Kirsty slapped me on the chest. “What the hell is the matter with you?” she asked.

“Ouch. What was that for?”

“Listen to me. This whole thing has me freaked out. Sierra doesn’t do shit like this. All she does is work. She barely goes out. She only dates suits.”

“Suits?” I asked in confusion.

“You know, businessmen. Powerful, corporate businessmen. Her life has been turned completely upside down since Ryan left and I’m trying like fuck to get her back on track. So you are to move into this guest house because she offered it to you. Plus, I won’t have to worry about her as much for a while if you’re right in her backyard.”

“Why do you worry about her?”

“I just do.”

Sierra walked in and told Kirsty that she needed to call a client. Kirsty let out a big sigh before leaving.

“What’s the verdict?” Sierra asked.

“Yes, I’ll take you up on your offer, but you will charge me rent. I won’t stay here for free.”

A big smile fell upon her face. “That’s fine. I can charge you rent. I’ll have Rosa clean this up first thing Monday morning and you can move in Tuesday if you want. Feel free to use the pool and hot tub whenever you’d like and you can use the barbeque.”

“Thanks, Sierra. I appreciate your help.”

“No problem, Cameron.” She smiled.

I said my goodbyes to her and Kirsty and drove back to my apartment. I couldn’t believe that a few days ago, I saw this beautiful woman that was out of my league standing in line at Starbucks and now I was moving in
to her guest house. I sure hope I had made the right decision. It was bothering me what Kirsty said about Sierra’s life being turned upside down by some dude named Ryan. Also the fact that she only dated rich, corporate men. I needed to put Sierra out of my mind for the rest of the weekend.