Page 49 of Raff
Raff glanced over, that playful smile on his lips again. “If I knew you’d be so impressed with my rich friends, I’d have boasted about them sooner. This friend is Teddy. Theodore Kane, actually.”
“Theodore Kane. Teddy Kane. Of the Kane billionaires. That’s your friend?”
“To be fair, he’s more of a friend of the Golden Glades club. But we’ve hung out a few times. He’s good people.”
“He’s the generational, can’t-burn-through-this-kind-of-money-if-they-tried kind of wealthy.”
“So you can imagine how nice this place is gonna be. Though, he’s using the big house for some charity thing this weekend, so we’re getting one of the smaller ones.”
The ‘smaller’ one was still three floors of stone and glass. Right on the water. With a breathtaking infinity pool.
The interior was all white walls, wooden floors and ceilings, and understated, classy furniture.
“I’m almost afraid to ask how much a house like this costs.”
“I think when he bought it, it was for eighteen million.”
Eighteen million dollars just burning a hole in his pocket. That was insane.
“Why does he have multiple properties in the same area?” I asked as we both naturally gravitated toward the pool on the back patio, overlooking the ocean.
“He mostly lives at his penthouse and the big mansion if he’s looking for more privacy. I think he buys up these properties just as investments. Sits on them until the market is right, then sells them for a profit.”
I pulled up my skirt and lowered down next to the pool, dropping my legs into the water and letting out a groan at the coolness.
“You have a plan for a pool in that future house of yours?”
“I do. It would never have this kind of view, but I need somewhere to cool off with these awful heat waves we’ve been having.”
“You don’t need views like this. These are vacation views. What you need is a pool with enough room to fill with inflatable flamingos, beach balls, noodles, and one of those nets so you can spend hot days playing pool volleyball with the kids.”
I liked how he talked about the future. With so much certainty, like he didn’t doubt for a second that I would get all the things that I wanted. The way… he almost seemed to imply he’d be there in it.
But no.
Nope.
That wasn’t an option.
I had standards for a reason.
My mother had shown me what happens when you are so desperate not to be alone that you settle for any man who says he wants you, even if he has nothing to offer you and no skills to build with you. Thankfully, she did eventually learn her lesson and find a good man, but my childhood was a revolving door of men who all said the right things, but then never had the actions to back them up.
Better not to even talk about the future around Raff if my mind was going to start inserting him into it.
“So, what’s the plan today?”
It was a short day of travel—just three hours on the road. We had no check-in times to worry about. The day was wide open.
“I mean, aside from seeing Arty, that is,” I said.
“About that?”
My stomach twisted.
“What about that?”
“Don’t go clenching those muscles you just had rubbed down last night,” he said, shaking his head at me. “I just haven’t beenable to get in touch with him today. Tried calling twice. But that’s not unusual with him when he’s on a job. It’s usually more of a good sign.”
