AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I straighten my dress and cross my feet at the ankles, shrugging. “It was okay.”
Liar, liar, panties on fire.
Silence descends on the room for a few moments and I take a peek at the women around me. Trina has been unusually silent. She’s still studying me with that assessing stare, but it’s not judgmental. I wonder what she’s thinking.
“Just okay?” Simone cries, breaking the tension. “What a disappointment! What a waste!”
I laugh. “I didn’t know you all were counting on me making out with him to get your thrill for the evening.”
“Well, now you know, honey,” Fiona says, standing up to put her mug in the kitchenette sink. “At least think of us a little next time,” she adds with a grin.
“There will be a next time, right?” Candice arches her brows at me.
I clear my throat. “Yeah. I’m going to some charity event with him next weekend.”
Simone blows out a breath. “That boy moves fast.”
I laugh. “Except I kind of invited myself to it.” I tell the group what happened with Rudy’s cousin, and they all nod in approval when I tell them how I reacted, and hoot when I say Rudy texted me that he was happy I’d be his date to the event.
Trina finally clears her throat to speak. My chest seizes as she meets my eyes, and for a horrible, interminable moment, I think she’s going to ask about the pregnancy. But she just gulps and jerks her chin at me. “What are you going to wear?”
Tension melts away from me as I shrug. “I was hoping you might help with that.”
Trina gives me a soft smile. “Of course.”
“Speaking of help,” Fiona cuts in, “is everyone helping out with Dorothy’s community garden project tomorrow? She’s been pestering me about it all week.” Dorothy and her twin Margaret recently got approval from the town to create a community garden on the lot where Candice’s old café used to be before it got condemned and demolished.
“Jen’s coming out of her love nest with Fallon to help with the planting,” Candice says. “She said to be there at eight o’clock tomorrow morning with work clothes on.”
I hum. “I have a few clients waiting on work from me, but I can be there in the afternoon.”
“Jen is out of her mind,” Simone says as she drains the last of her wine. “I’m not going to be there before eleven, and she better not complain about it.”
“She’ll complain about it,” Candice replies with a laugh. “But you’ll both live.”
When we break up for the evening, I feel lighter than I did when Rudy dropped me off. I’ve spent so long on the road that I’d forgotten how good it felt to have a home—a real home. Somewhere where people are so comfortable around each other that they know each other’s moods and reactions. Where it’s a given that there will be an army of helpers for a new town project. Where I’m automatically included.
So, with a smile on my face, I head back to my new house and wonder if it’s already a home. Even when things end with Rudy, it doesn’t mean I have to give it all up and leave again.
CHAPTER 5
Rudy
The day after my date with Lily, it’s hard for me to focus on work. One of my employees is sick, so I end up having to show a new client around a few potential homes. It’s been a while since I did this type of work, but at least I don’t have to be in the office on a Saturday.
I drive up to a stately house that sits on two acres a few minutes before a sleek Mercedes pulls up behind my car. The woman who gets out of the vehicle is beautiful. Tall, lithe, built like a supermodel. She’s a bit older than me, but that never bothered me before. I’ve never been picky. Her hair is shiny and curled to perfection, and every inch of her looks like money and class.
She’s looking at a four-million-dollar home, so it’s not surprising.
What is surprising, however, is the fact that I don’t feel an ounce of attraction to her, even when she rakes her eyes over my body in an overtly suggestive way.
“You must be Mr. Dorset,” she says, extending a hand toward me. Her nails are long—really long. Lily kept hers shorter.
“Call me Rudy. Mrs. Neves?” I paint a professional smile on my face and shake her hand.
“If we’re doing first names, you should call me Georgia.” Her smile is flirty.
In response, I angle my body toward the property. “Gorgeous, isn’t it?”
