Tamara Larson - Open House

By the way, give your mom a call, okay? She's worried about you. And it'll save me making any future trips out to the middle of ass-crack nowhere to check on you.

See you Thursday. And don't wear the Oscar the Grouch T-shirt, okay? It's tacky for a grown-ass man to wear a cartoon character on their chest.

There, the stage is set, Serena thought, rubbing her palms together as she sent her final email off to Jack. She would spend a few hours with Lacey on Thursday, and if the pretty nurse was a good match for Jack, then she would bring her out to his cottage and reveal her brilliant plan to both of them. If not, then she would take Lacey to see a totally inappropriate townhouse on the wrong side of town, and that would be the end of her match-making. But if this worked out, then not only would her cousin Live Happily Ever After with Lacey, Serena would also have a potentially lucrative new business venture to distract her from her own single status. It seemed like a win-win situation to her. If Jack and Lacey would just cooperate.

"Ummm… Serena. Where are we going exactly?" Lacey asked nervously from the passenger seat of the Mercedes. She gripped the armrests tightly as the little car neatly veered around a squirrel who had the poor judgment to venture out on the country road they were currently traveling on.

They had been driving for close to forty minutes, and as far as Lacey could tell, Serena was not familiar with the term speed "limit." In truth, Lacey felt like a little like she was trapped in the Delorean with Dr. Brown from "Back to the Future," and they were about to take off. That's how fast they were going.

"We're almost there. See that turnoff on the left? That's our destination," Serena said, steering deftly into a hairpin curve.

"But why are we going there? You know I want to buy something in town, right? And I don't think there are any townhouse developments being built way out here." She squeezed her eyes shut as yet another squirrel came close to meeting his squirrel-maker.

Serena just smiled secretively and said, "Wait and see. I don't want to spoil the surprise."

Lacey and Serena had met that afternoon as planned. But instead of immediately heading out to see Serena's mystery property they had sat for hours, just chatting and drinking coffee. And sampling some of the coffeehouse's famous red velvet cupcakes.

Lacey had found herself talking about her job, her dog, her mom, her hobbies, even her ex-boyfriend, Boring Barry. She felt like she'd been grilled by the world's nicest interrogator. She was actually a little embarrassed by how much she had revealed about herself, but Serena had seemed so interested. She had just kept asking questions, and her honest, non-judgmental responses had compelled Lacey to really open up and talk about herself for a change. It was a tad disquieting how much she'd volunteered. Clearly, this real estate agent should be working for Homeland Security or Scotland Yard or someplace like that. She certainly knew how to draw information out of a person.

Now they were in the middle of nowhere, driving up a long winding driveway towards a huge, colonial-style house that looked like it belonged in the Old South rather than the Pacific Northwest. Surrounded by trees and heavily landscaped, the house at the end of the long drive featured a four car garage, a wraparound porch and a set of stately black double doors, so large that a giant could walk through them with ease.

Lacey gaped in disbelief. "Serena. If that 'scaled down' mansion is what you had in mind for me, then it must need an exorcism. Or maybe it has an indian burial ground, or possibly a nuclear power plant in the back yard. Because there is no way that place is in my price range. And I'm pretty sure we're going to get arrested for trespassing if we try to go in there. Or worse, this place looks like the owners might employ an army of rabid Rottweilers to guard the family jewels."

"Relax. That's my cousin's house. No one lives there now. Not even a single rabid Rottweiler. Besides, we're not going there. The cottage out back is our destination."

"Oh. I get it. Is it for sale?"

"Nope. It's not even finished yet. I think the hardwood floors are being put in today, or possibly tomorrow. But I want you to keep an open mind. Check out the floor plan, the size, and the fixtures. I think something similar might be a perfect fit for someone like you."

Lacey wasn't sure what Serena meant by 'someone like you' but she was too distracted by the sight before her to comment. They had driven behind the monstrous white house and followed a narrow paved road into the woods until they came to a clearing. In the middle of that clearing was a small, adorable house. It was tiny, yes, but had a huge bay window and a porch large enough for a swing, or some chairs. In short, it was lovely.

"Oh. Wow. Look at that," Lacey sighed, getting out of Serena's car, and walking toward the cottage. "It's so cute. What is this place?"

"Well, it started off as a playhouse, but my cousin modified it from the original plan, and turned it into a cottage. Only a few people have seen it. Last time I was here it was just a big room, with some of the framing completed, but it didn't really look like much. One of my other cousins told me that Jack has been working on it like mad. So I'm just as curious as you are to check it out." They walked up the small flight of steps to the porch. "Let's go inside. Evidently, the door is missing, so we probably don't even need to knock."

The missing door was just inside, lying on two saw horses. A familiar, dark-haired figure, naked to the waist, was leaning over it, running a piece of sandpaper over its rough edges. He was so intent on his task that he didn't even notice their arrival until Serena cleared her throat. Jack looked up, clearly annoyed at being interrupted, but then his expression changed to what could only be described as surprised delight when he saw who was with Serena.

Lacey's expression, however, was one of horror. "You," she said. "What are you doing here?" She loved this little cottage, but running into him again, especially shirtless, was too much for her. She needed to get out of here.

Jack frowned at Lacey, shocked at the way she had gone pale when she recognized him. What exactly had Serena said about him? "I'm here because this is my place. What are you doing here?" He hadn't meant to sound quite so belligerent, but she was looking at him like he'd just belched the alphabet or something equally disgusting.

Serena interrupted. "She's here, Jay, because I wanted to show her your cottage. I think something similar would work for her, don't you? Why don't you introduce yourself and show us around?"

But Lacey was already out the door and down the steps. She knew she was being incredibly rude, especially considering Serena had gone to all the trouble of bringing her out here. But being around him was too much of a temptation. Just the sight of that all that tan skin and muscles made her think about indulging in some downright dirty immoral and possibly illegal acts. None of which were possible with a married man. The best thing for everyone involved was to get the hell out of here before she made an ass of herself again, or worse, caved into her carnal impulses and jumped him, hard.

If she'd had her own car, she would have been gone already. But she had foolishly carpooled with Serena. She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and was relieved to see that she was able to get reception. She started to call a cab company when she realized that she had no idea where she was. What now? She was trapped out here with Captain Temptation.

"Lacey, what's going on?" Serena called from the porch. "Are you not feeling well?"

That was a great idea. Maybe she could fake an illness and have an excuse to leave with some of her dignity intact. Perfect. "Yeah. I'm really not. Can we go? Like right now?"