A New Foundation Rochelle Alers (read aloud .txt) 📖

Taylor kissed her hair. “I’m going back to the car to bring your bags in.”

“And I’m going upstairs to see the rest of the place.”

Sonja felt as if she was walking on air as she climbed the staircase to the second story. The condo contained two bedrooms: one master and another smaller one she could use as an office. The master had a sitting area and an en suite bath. She thought of the bedroom as a romantic retreat with voluminous pale silk drapes covering floor-to-ceiling windows and sliding doors with built-in blinds that opened out to the balcony. She focused her attention on a king-size four-poster mahogany bed. The bed linens, with layers of pillows in differing patterns, repeated the first floor’s blue-and-white palette. A creamy-white armchair with a matching footstool, close to a small round mahogany table in the seating area, was the perfect place for her to kick back and relax before retiring for bed.

Sonja left the master suite and walked into the bedroom across the hall, wondering if Taylor had chosen this unit because he’d believed she would like the colors and furnishings. Suddenly she recalled his preference for blues and grays while she preferred earth tones. Had he, she mused, selected this unit because of his affinity for blue? She recalled the exquisitely tailored royal blue suit he’d worn during their initial meeting at The Cellar.

The decorating style in the smaller bedroom was Swedish country with wood furniture painted in tones of white. The decorator differed from the classic approach by including French provincial and country influences. Duvets in a toile de Jouy pattern covered twin beds with off-white headboards, and white linens and a crocheted bed skirt beneath the duvets artfully corroborated the Swedish theme of elegant white. A table and chair next to a blue-and-white-checkered upholstered chair and ottoman would do double duty as her desk. Sonja had walked out of the bedroom when she spied Taylor coming up the staircase carrying her Pullman.

He had removed a sweatshirt to reveal a tee stamped with a college logo; it hugged his muscular upper body like second skin, and her mouth went dry when Sonja realized she was lusting after a man with whom she would have to work closely over the next year. And she didn’t need anyone to tell her that she was being a hypocrite. Taylor was her boss and he’d offered friendship, but for Sonja that wasn’t enough. She wanted more and the more translated into what had been missing in her life even before she’d considered ending her marriage: intimacy. The very notion of her wanting to sleep with Taylor shook her to the core.

“Where do you want me to put this?” Taylor asked her.

She blinked slowly as if coming out of a trance. “You can put it in the master. I’ll go and get the other bags.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll bring them up.”

She wasn’t about to argue with him. “I’m going downstairs to get my cell and bag from the carry-on. Then you can put it in the other bedroom.” Sonja knew she had to put some space between them for a few minutes if only to regain control of her fragile emotions.

Smiling, Taylor executed a snappy salute. “Okay, boss lady.”

“Yeah, right,” she drawled, trying not to smile. Sonja discovered the two bags at the foot of the staircase and removed her cell phone and cross-body from the carry-on.

Taylor returned and hoisted the two bags, his biceps bulging from the exertion. “After I come down I’ll give you a key card for the house, fob for your car and the corporate credit card. I’ll hang onto the extra key card and fob in case you either lose or misplace them. There’s a remote device under the visor that will allow you access at the gatehouse.”

Sonja nodded. She wanted to tell Taylor she’d never lost or misplaced her keys, but if it made him feel more secure then she wasn’t going to argue with him. Walking into the kitchen, she opened the French-door refrigerator. It was empty except for a box of baking soda. Sonja opened the cabinets, finding them empty, and then a door in a far corner of the kitchen and discovered a pantry and half bathroom. A stackable washer and dryer were set up behind café doors.

She detected movement behind her and turned to find Taylor standing only feet away. Her heartbeat kicked into a higher gear.

“You can’t do that,” she said in a breathless whisper.

“Do what?”

“Sneak up on me.”

Crossing muscular arms over his chest, Taylor smiled at her. “Sorry about that. Next time I’ll make some noise.”

Sonja blew out a breath. “Thanks. I need to go food shopping to stock the fridge and the pantry, and also buy plates, cups, glasses and flatware.”

Taylor held out his hand. “Come with me. I have to pull my car out the driveway before you can get yours out of the garage.”

“What did you get me?”

He winked at her. “You’ll see.”

Sonja doubled over laughing hysterically when Taylor tapped the button on the automatic garage opener and she saw the vehicle he’d leased for her. It was an Infiniti QX50—the smallest model of the QX SUVs.

“I can’t believe you got the same style and color as yours.”

“When you admired mine, I thought I’d get you the smaller version.”

“Thank you.” The two words sounded empty to Sonja once she realized Taylor was thinking about her when he had made the decision to lease the SUV. “I really appreciate the thought, Taylor.”

He handed her the fob. “Anything to make the lives of my team easier. You’re going to have your work cut out for you once you begin going through those crates. What you saw in the cellar wasn’t even half of what has been stored there.”

Sonja went still. “What are you talking about?”

“The maintenance people discovered a door to a storeroom hidden behind several armoires. The space is filled with as many