Page 34 of Diego

“Good.”

His brows lift slightly, like he expected a stronger reaction.

I gesture toward the range. “Then you’ll appreciate the setup.”

He follows my attention to the appliances. “Do you?”

“Hmm?”

“Cook,” he says. “Do you cook?”

“I do.”

“Well?”

I smile. “Very.”

“Arrogance?”

“I call it confidence.”

His mouth curves, and I let the moment pass as I move around the island. There is a smaller dining area tucked into the far side of the kitchen, surrounded by windows and positioned to view the lake from two directions.

“This is the everyday eating space,” I say. “You could fit a decent-sized group here without needing to use the formal dining room every time someone comes over. If your brothers drop in with their families, you can squeeze everyone in here and call it cozy. But there is a larger dining room.”

Diego takes in the space slowly. “You keep bringing up my family.”

“Because you have one, and I get the feeling you like them.”

He laughs. “I do, unfortunately.”

I walk toward the wide opening that leads from the kitchen into the adjoining living space. “You may live alone, but that doesn’t mean you buy like someone who has no one else in his life.”

For a second, he just looks at me.

Then he nods. “Fair.”

The living room is one of my favorite spaces in the house because it manages to be large without losing warmth. A stone fireplace takes up one wall, while another is almost entirely glass, opening the room to the lake. The furniture is arranged in smaller groupings instead of one massive seating area, and a second room sits just beyond it through a wide opening.

“This is where I think the layout starts making more sense for a family,” I say. “You can have adults in here without everyone feeling spread across half the house, and that room next door works as another sitting room, a playroom, whatever you want it to be. If there are kids in there, you can still see them from here.”

Diego glances through the opening toward the second room.

“No walls blocking the sightline,” I continue. “So if your nieces or nephews are playing in there, no one has to keep getting up every five minutes to make sure they haven’t found a way to destroy something expensive.”

He laughs softly. “So you’ve met children before.”

“I’ve met enough.”

“Leonardo just started walking. He would find something.”

“Then I’m sure whoever is responsible for him would appreciate being able to see him from the sofa.”

His smile changes at the mention of his nephew, softening just enough for me to notice. I file that away too.

I take him through the second sitting area, which has another fireplace and a slightly more intimate layout than the first. “This one would probably be better in winter. You’ve got the fireplace, the lake view, and enough separation from the main living room that people can spread out without disappearing into different wings of the house.”

“Chicago winter sales pitch?”