“Please, MJ.” He reached over the console and took her hand. “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
“I did.”
He squeezed her hand and slid a playful but easy-to-read look her way. “Come on, now. We’re honest with each other, right? And open? Communication is key and all? So, tell me what’s got you so quiet.”
“Okay, okay.” She sighed. “I’m wondering…what we are.”
“What…like us? Our relationship? Is that what you mean?”
She nodded. “Are we…a couple?”
“A couple of what?” he joked, adding a wink. Then his expression grew serious. “Only if you want to be, MJ. This is all up to you.”
“Me?” She nearly choked. “It takes two to be a couple.”
“Well, I’m all in,” he said without a second of hesitation.
All in? What did that mean? Even the word “couple” felt foreign to her. She’d never been a couple with anyone but George.
“Oh, looks like we’re here,” he said, glancing at the dashboard screen and saving her from deepening the conversation. “Pick this up later? Over dinner?”
She nodded, looking out the window as the house appeared around a bend—an architectural marvel of steel and stone perched on the edge of the canyon, all sharp lines and glass walls that caught the light like a prism.
“Nowthisis something,” Matt said, pulling into the completely dry driveway—which meant it was heated.
MJ eyed the place doubtfully. “Wow, that’s luxurious. I mean, if you like the spaceship-crashing-into-the-slopes concept.”
He choked out a soft laugh and jutted his chin as the driver’s door of a navy-blue Tesla opened and a tall man in his forties stepped out. “There’s Christopher, my agent. Do you even want to see this place?”
She let out an unsteady breath, not sure how to answer that. Truthfully, as he’d said.
Gathering her thoughts, she turned to him. “I do want to see it, mostly out of curiosity. It’s your house, Matt. My thoughts on it don’t matter.”
Disappointment clouded his eyes. “But I want you to like it. And I really value your opinion. And…I don’t want to do this alone.”
Dowhatalone? Buy the house or live in it? What was he asking her?
Christopher walked toward the Escalade, giving a wave and a warm smile. “Morning, Matt.”
Matt held up his hand in greeting and turned to MJ, searching her face. “Let’s just look and then we can talk, honey.”
The endearment felt good, but she just nodded. They were here now, and she really was dying to see what a house like this looked like on the inside.
Climbing out, Matt handled the introductions and chatted with the Realtor, chummy enough that MJ realized these two knew each other fairly well. Matt had been in and out of the lodge frequently these last few days, but MJ had been preoccupied with the soft opening and a few new guests.
Obviously, Matt had been seriously house-hunting while she was making people comfortable.
With some small talk about the square footage, the HOA fees, and the asking price—all of which were quite high—they walked up to a massive contemporary front door and she followed Matt inside.
The entryway was like one for a small hotel, dazzling and open and ultra-modern. There was no furniture, as the owners had recently decided their ski house should be in Aspen instead of Park City.
“This was their second home,” Christopher explained. “So it’s essentially a blank slate for you to decorate.”
Decorate? MJ looked around. Nothing she owned or would want to own would work in this soulless house.
“Come see the kitchen,” Christopher said, gesturing for them to head to the back. “It’s the heart of this house.”
MJ looked around that heart—massive, icy, angular, and not even functional—and decided she simply couldn’t cook here.
