I should have known the moment I saw her that this was no coincidence. A hot crazy lady randomly appears in my house? Not f*cking likely. This has Mom's fingerprints all over it, and the keys clutched in the blonde’s hand are the nail in her coffin. I sigh. The woman is eyeing me like I'm a rabid dog about to strike. Or at least, that’s how she’s looking at me now. I caught the flash of heat in her gaze when my towel dropped a moment ago.
Groaning again, I lean against the doorframe and wonder what I did to deserve this. I've spent a long day completing work on a brick fence. My back aches, and all I want is to crack open a beer and watch hockey.
"So?" The blonde clasps her hands together, fidgeting. She's pretty, if a bit skittish. Her moss-green eyes dart around the kitchen, returning to me every few seconds as though she's wary of taking her attention off me for too long. "What's going on?"
I nod toward the keys in her hand. "Those belong to my mother. She owns the house next door, which is the one you actually rented."
"Oh." Her slim shoulders slump in relief, and her curls bounce. "Thank goodness for that. It's all a big misunderstanding."
I laugh dryly. "It’s no such thing."
A furrow forms between her brows. "What do you mean? Surely she just gave me the wrong set of keys."
"If only."
She seems baffled by my cryptic comment, and I sigh, already able to tell that she's the type who's curious enough to stick around until I explain everything.
"Mom intentionally sent you here," I say, figuring I may as well get the awkwardness out of the way. I'm sure it's not the only time she'll be subject to Mom's match-making machinations if she plans to live next door. She has a wholesome, sweet vibe that Mom will just eat up.
Yeah, I'm going to be dodging this woman for the foreseeable future.
"She hoped we'd run into each other, and that I'd be smitten with you. She set us up."
"Oh." This time, there's a whole other level of meaning to the word. But then she cocks her head, and the furrow deepens. "I wouldn't have thought you needed to be set up." Her gaze rakes over me once again, and I can't help but puff out my chest. It's been a long time since anyone looked at me with such blatant appreciation, and I can tell she doesn't even realize she's doing it, or else she'd be mortified.
"I don't," I reply firmly, and her eyes snap up to mine. A delicate, pink flush journeys down her neck. Damn, I need to get rid of her before I actually do start to find her charming. "Here. I'll get you my key for the place next door, and you can give me that one." I nod at the key in her hand. She drops it on the counter.
"I'm so sorry about this." She wrings her hands, looking awkward as f*ck. "I didn't mean to just walk into your house and make myself at home."
"I know you didn't," I assure her. "I'm going to come closer now, is that okay?"
She nods, but her eyes remain on me as I enter the kitchen and head for the key hook by the fridge. I remove the one for the rental and replace it with the key she left on the counter, then offer her the one she actually needs. Our fingers brush as she takes it, and something jolts in my chest. Shaking it off, I snatch my hand away and check that the towel is still secure. The last thing I need is to give her another peep show.
"That key will open the front door of the house next door. Hold onto it for now, and I'll get Mom to drop by with the proper key tomorrow."
"I can do that." She smiles, and I resist the urge to fall back a step, because it lights up her entire face, elevating her from pretty to gut-wrenchingly beautiful. "I don't want to put you out any more than you already are."
"Don't worry about it." Despite my frustration, I find my lips curving. "It's not you I'm angry at."
Her expression softens. "Please don't be too mad with Nadine. She seems like such a nice person, and I'm sure she only wants to make you happy."
Damn, she has a point. But whether her intentions are good or not, it’s going to stop me from giving Mom a piece of my mind. She needs to know it's not all right to hand out my house key to total strangers just because she wants grandbabies.
1 comment:
Probably not my kind of read but my sister in law would love this.
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