Page 11 of Long Story Short

My cheeks heat all over again as I stare at my reflection.

Suddenly, my eyes go wide as a question dawns on me.

I think through the moment I picked up Mouse and held him to my chest. His body was warm against mine, and I hadn’t even realized that his fur on my bare skin meant I was more exposed than I thought.

Oh God.

I close my eyes and groan.

Did I accidentally flash my hot neighbor?

SEVEN

TYSON

I can’t stop thinking about the woman next door.

It’s been three days since she came searching for her cat, and for some reason, I can’t get her out of my mind. I’ve been replaying the interaction so much that I swore I saw her when I was golfing with my friends at Pembroke Hills yesterday, but it might’ve been my mind playing tricks on me. I’ve tried finding out about whoever owns the house next to me, but so far, I’ve come up short. I can’t explain it, but something about the woman I met yesterday intrigued me.

“Tyson?” The sound of my sister’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.

“Hmm?” I ask, sitting up in my chair. I grab my phone from where it rests on my knee and hold it closer to my face in hopes I can pay better attention to whatever my sister is going on about.

“Were you listening to anything I was saying?” she asks, her tone gentler than maybe I deserve, considering I haven’t been listening for at least the last minute.

I grimace as my ears feel hot from getting caught. “Sorry, Win, I’m listening now.”

She sighs softly but doesn’t lecture me on not paying attention. “There are going to be contractors at your house starting tomorrow. They’ll start replacing the wall furnishings.”

“The hardwoods are staying though, right?”

Winnie laughs. “Yes. I wouldn’t dream of replacing those.”

I nod, even though she can’t see me. I don’t really care what she does with the house, but I’m really attached to the character of the hardwoods. I’m good with letting her take control of updating and decorating this house, but the floors have to stay. There’s the sound of something rustling in the bushes across from me that catches my attention. I watch in that direction for a moment before focusing back on my phone once again. It must just be the wind.

“You know you don’t have to handle all of this, right?” I ask, guilt washing over me. I know how busy Winnie is with work. We just acquired thirty new hotels throughout the country, and we’re doing an extensive redesign of all of them. She’s got a lot on her plate, and I don’t mean to add more to it with the purchase of this house.

“You and Archer need to stop spending so much time together. He’s been telling me the same thing. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t want to, Ty. Promise. Believe it or not, this is my definition of fun.”

I can’t help but let out a laugh because it’s the exact opposite of my idea of fun. Quite frankly, I don’t know what I find fun anymore. Before the merger with Moore Hotels, I was so swept up in trying to impress my father at every turn that I didn’t take the time to do anything fun. And then, after we took over Bishop-Moore hotels, I wanted to make sure we put everything into bettering the companies that bore our family names. I didn’t want to let down the people who trusted Winnie, Archer, and me to lead the company to new heights. Now that we’ve done better than anyone could’ve ever hoped, I’m realizing that maybe it’s time I start focusing on myself.

“As long as this isn’t making you stressed,” I tell my sister, realizing that, yet again, I forgot we were on the phone for a moment.

“I’m not. This is making me not stressed. I’ve got to go. Archer needs me for something.” I try to ignore the way she lets out a giggle.

“Gross,” I mutter, trying to wipe the sound from my brain. I don’t want to know what Archer needs my sister for. “Goodbye, Win.” I hang up the phone before having to listen to anything else that has to do with the two of them being madly in love.

I go through my texts, trying to figure out what I want to do with my day. I’ve been enjoying going to Pembroke and hanging out—something I never thought I’d say. Part of me hoped someone would set up another day of golf plans or something at the club today, but it seems like everyone is busy. There’s a welcome party hosted by Pembroke happening this weekend, and apparently, it’s a big deal. Everyone’s been talking about it. It seems like they’re all getting ready for the event, so I might have the day to myself.

Or I could go to the club.

My eyebrows pull together as I think about the potential of meeting new people. I’ve never been a huge people person. While I am still finding out what my idea of fun is, I don’t know if it’s going to Pembroke on my own yet. In the past, I’ve had Jude there to help ease me into conversations, but over the last month, Jude’s disappeared. He’s not answering me, and I don’t know if I want to go to the club completely alone. I told myself I would venture out on my own, but now that I’m faced with actually doing that, it doesn’t necessarily sound appealing.

The bush with blue flowers rattles again. I narrow my eyes, and just as I begin to lean forward to investigate, the same cat from a few days ago springs out of it.

I fall backward, the cat startling me as it lands right in my lap. I take a few deep breaths as my nervous system regulates and realizes that some weird creature isn’t trying to attack me. It’s just a house cat who must have a propensity for sneaking out.

“You again,” I mutter, staring at the gray-and-white cat in my lap, wondering what I should do with it.