allow me,” I kindly offered before swiftly jumping out and walking around the front of the car to open the door for her.
Gently slipping her hand into mine, she elegantly unfolded her lithe body and straightened just as a gust of wind unexpectedly blew, catching the hem of her short peplum skirt. Which, in turn, captured the attention of a passing jogger. His widening eyes growing bigger than saucers, he paused to ogle at the enticing view of her long shapely legs and the soft curve of her pert behind. I promptly pushed the skirt back down and lifted my sunglasses, glaring darkly at him. He wisely heeded to my silent warning and promptly hot-footed it out of there.
My hand firmly lingered in place as an oblivious Teddy shielded her eyes and looked around.
“Ari, where are we?”
I grinned. “We’re in the lovely suburb of Hampton. And this -,” I stiffly swivelled and swept a free hand towards the ranch-style house. “- is the surprise I wanted to show you; a house, obviously, one that unfortunately needs work, a lot by the looks of the rather dated and austere façade.”
“You’re not wrong there,” she agreed, screwing up her nose at me. “And as you’re aware Mid-century isn’t exactly my favourite genre. Well, you should, considering our many discussions!” she scornfully added.
Ignoring the snippy attitude and inhaling sharply, I turned my attention to the silver Audi SUV pulling alongside us. As the motor shut down, the door opened, and a stout, middle-aged man wearing an expensively tailored suit stepped out. His thick, slicked-back hair gleaming in the sun as he briefly spun and closed the door behind him before confidently waltzing towards us.
“Mr Jaeger, I presume?” His toothy smile beaming, he thrust out a hand for me to shake. “Drew Griffyn, owner and Manager of Griffyn Real Estate.”
“It’s a pleasure,” I acknowledged, reciprocating with a firm shake before politely introducing Teddy. “And this lovely lady beside me is my girlfriend, Teddy McGovern.”
“Lovely to make your acquaintance, Ms McGovern,” he enunciated, demurely slipping her slender hand within his and shaking a little less enthusiastically.
“Likewise,” she replied, blushing as he lifted her hand to his lips. I sighed impatiently. What was with the men around Teddy today? They were acting as if they’d never laid eyes on an attractive woman before. Call it jealously, but I’d had enough and tugged Teddy to my side, forcing him to remove his smarmy lips. He almost seemed put out as he straightened and looked across at me. Fuck him. He was lucky I opted for the more gentlemanly approach instead of punching him.
“We are here to view a house, are we not?” I icily queried through clenched teeth.
Smoothing a hand over his jacket, he flashed a well-rehearsed smile at us once again. “Of course.”
Not about to offer him a chance to perv on my girlfriend’s behind either, I curtly gestured for him to move ahead of us. “Well, if you don’t mind, Mr Griffyn.”
Taking the hint, he prudently walked ahead of us. He wasn’t the only one to pick up my ill-tempered mood.
“That caveman behaviour wasn’t necessary, Ari!” Teddy blazed, folding her arms across her chest. Her gaze darted, clearly checking to see that Drew wasn't within earshot of us before defending his lingering handshake. Thankfully he was already inside waiting for us. “Drew was only being friendly.”
I scoffed sarcastically. “Oh, I noticed.”
“Just because he held onto my hand…”
“And kissed it! You might want to sanitise though, who knows where his lips have been!” I shot back.
“You don’t get this bent out of shape when your fathers kissed me!”
“My fathers a gentleman, that’s why!” Her mouth tightened before huffing at me. “Can we go view this house now, please, instead of arguing?”
“Fine! But no more caveman bullshit! And get out of your bad mood, you’ve been cranky since you picked me up.”
I scruffed my hair and sighed. My foul mood had been rather uncalled for, that’s for sure. Teddy’s upset expression was enough to sober me. “I’m sorry. Now, can we go and check out this house, please?”
Her passionate kiss was enough to say she’d forgiven me, and with both of us smiling, we made the ascent up the curved and cracked concrete driveway. But as we drifted up to a rather grotesque front door painted in an equally disgusting bright blue, Drew I had noticed, was waiting for us in the foyer.
“I’ll wait here, and feel free to ask me any questions once you’ve completed your inspection.” With that, he swiftly stepped aside into another room and pulled out his phone, his exuberant voice booming throughout the empty house whilst we freely wandered.
But considering we’d scarcely landed inside a just as outlandish entryway when an intuitive Teddy rapidly launched into her suggested changes. The colour was just for starters. Then we ventured upstairs. The layout, as well as the size of the bedrooms, were also an issue. I endeavoured to keep up with her, barely.
“It just doesn’t work—any of it. If we knock out a wall here in the main bedroom and take away space from the bedroom next door, we could rebuild the ensuite, making it substantially bigger and add a decently sized walk-in-robe to suit both our needs. We’d need to ensure the walls weren’t load-bearing beforehand though.” She sighed sadly. “Even better yet…”
“Knock it down and start again?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking.” I was right in my guess; just showed how well I knew her. “The entire layout of this house is such a mishmash. For it to make any sense, it would require ripping out and rebuilding every single wall – upstairs and downstairs. Not ideal, is it?”
“Not particularly no. But we have the advantage of remaining in either of our houses whilst we rebuild at least,” I advised as Teddy’s nose scrunched distastefully at the musty smell seeping from inside one of the small wardrobes. “Unlike the unlucky few, who unfortunately have no other choice but to live amongst the rubble and the constant dust until completion.”
“That’s true too,” she thoughtfully murmured, once again looking out over the busy road at the gentle surf. “It’s not aesthetically pleasing either; it needs to fit in with its surrounding environment.”
“That we can both agree on,” I replied, slipping my hands inside my trouser pockets, my fixed gaze observing as she listlessly wandered. Eventually, she paused in the doorway of the ensuite. Decorated with garishly bright blue tiles, the current size of the bathroom was barely big enough for one person, let alone two.
“Yeah, that’s true…”
“I sense a ‘but’ coming on?”
Pivoting on one of the spikes of her heels, she propped a slim shoulder against the mud-coloured doorframe and stared apologetically. “I’m not sure I could be bothered with the headaches renovating brings either, particularly now we have a baby on the way.”
“Whatever you want. You’re the architect and knows what works or what doesn’t.”
Teddy’s
