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She tilted her head to the only other door on this floor. “There.”
He hoped like hell she was joking. “There?” he repeated.
“Yes.”
“How long have you lived there?” he asked, not believing this.
“Ever since I moved to Charlottesville nearly four years ago. I was out of town last week attending a Forensic Science Convention, so I wasn’t home when you moved in. But I brought you a welcome gift…although I didn’t know it was you.”
Roland leaned in the doorway. “Are you saying that if you’d known I lived here, you wouldn’t have brought me a gift?”
“Of course not. What I meant is that I didn’t know you would be moving into the Majestic Pines Condos. No one told me.”
He shrugged. “There’s no reason they would have.” Although they had mutual friends, it wasn’t likely anyone would say anything about his new home to her.
“You’re right. Here’s your gift. Welcome to the floor.”
Accepting the gift basket, he said, “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. Enjoy the rest of your day,” she said. He noticed she was slowly backing away.
“You too, Lennox.” He watched her hurry across the hall to her door, open it and quickly slip inside. It was only then that he closed his door.
Going in to the kitchen, he placed the basket on the table and looked inside. Cookies--around a dozen or so--and a bottle of wine. That was downright thoughtful of her. He walked over to the counter, opened the cabinet and grabbed a wine glass.
Then Roland sat down, poured a glass a wine and took a bite out of one of the cookies. He shook his head. Who’dever believe that the only woman he found attractive, since Becca, lived right across the hall from him, on a floor that only had two condos--his and hers?
And now, the question was…what was he going to do about it? He knew he wasn’t the only man who found Dr. Lennox Roswell totally captivating. He’d even heard that some of the guys on the police force called her their fantasy woman. But a fantasy woman was nothing more than a dream--imagination and lust. Fantasies never became reality. And the last thing he wanted or needed was to have his own fantasy woman as a neighbor.
As he ate, he realized that something he’d said to Lennox hadn’t been totally true--the part about there not being a reason any of their mutual acquaintances would have apprised them that they would be neighbors.
Stonewall had caught Roland’s gaze straying in Lennox’s direction a fair amount, at Dak and Mellie’s wedding reception, and he’d mentioned it to Roland. But at the time, Roland’s only response had been to tell Stonewall to mind his own business.
Besides, though he couldn’t help his attraction to Lennox, that didn’t mean he intended to act on it. She was the type of woman who grabbed a man’s attention the moment she walked into a room. Stonewall should have been concerned if he hadn’t looked. After all, he was a male with a normal testosterone level. However, he had to admit, that level went through the roof whenever he caught sight of Lennox.
He drank the last of his wine and closed the Ziplock bag. He’d finish the rest of the cookies later. Standing, he began tidying up the kitchen and tried to convince himselfthat it was no big deal that Lennox lived across the hall. Chances were, their paths would rarely cross since he left for work early and usually came home late.
Lennox being his neighbor shouldn’t be a problem. Not a problem at all.
• • •
Lennox leaned against the closed door, trying to control all the emotions rushing through her. She definitely needed to get a grip. Of all the things she had expected when she delivered the welcome basket across the hall, it hadn’t been for the door to be opened by Roland Summers.
He was the man who often crept into her nightly dreams, although she’d tried hard to keep him out. At least she had, at first. Then at some point, she’d accepted his presence…even welcomed him. She’d dream about seeing him and doing all kinds of naughty things with him--things that would make her blush during daylight hours. Things she’d definitely never thought of doing with DeWalt.
She went into the kitchen, figuring cleaning up and putting away her cooking utensils would occupy her time and give her a chance to clear her thoughts. An hour later, her kitchen was sparkling and she was back to thinking about Roland, and how things might change, now that they shared the fifth floor.
She hadn’t told anyone just how attracted she was to him. Not Joy or Aggie—her two closest friends. She’d figured she’d eventually get over her attraction to him since she saw him so seldom. After all, out of sight usually meant out of mind. However, their paths had crossed more in thepast month than they ever had before. And now that he was living across the hall, she couldn’t help wondering what that could mean.
Nothing.
It couldn’t mean anything—she couldn’t let it. Hopefully, their work hours would be different, making it so that they’d seldom run into each other. She remembered overhearing Stonewall complain to Joy that Roland often didn’t even go home after work but would spend the night in the sleeping quarters at their office. If that was the case, this could be similar to the way it had been when Richard lived there. There were months when they wouldn’t run into each other at all.
Leaving the kitchen, she entered her bedroom and realized she’d been so busy baking, she’d forgotten to unpack. So, she dug into her suitcase, putting things away, but when she walked over to the closet to hang up some of her things, she noticed a box in the corner--the box containing DeWalt’s personal belongings.
She had donated most of his things to charity. However, she’d kept this particular box, no larger than a boot box, because it contained his personal belongings--cuff links, jewelry, pictures, papers and other items he’d kept in a certain drawer in their bedroom.
Moving to Charlottesville had been a big step for her. And it had nearly killed her to get rid of DeWalt’s things. So, when she’d realized she’d forgotten about his personal drawer, she’d simply emptied the contents into a box that she could go through when she was more emotionally equipped to do it.
