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Alyssa’s disdain for Heather was out of character. She was usually compassionate and rarely judgmental. But she insisted Heather seemed sneaky and fake. He didn’t see it.
Her face softened immediately. She hurried over and hugged him. “I know the Pritzker is your tribute to Dad, but it won’t bring him back. It doesn’t change all you’ve already accomplished. You know that, right?”
He turned back toward his desk and massaged the iron cords on the back of his neck. Their parents had died in a car crash when he was nineteen and Alyssa was fourteen, altering their lives forever. He’d raised his younger sister on his own while finishing college. Building his business with the intent to honor his late father’s legacy required he keep his relationships simple and commitment free. How he liked it.
“Fine.” She raised her dark blonde brows. “So who was it?”
Damn, she was relentless. He blew out a breath.
“Okay, okay, I took the new tenant to dinner.” He glanced back and groaned at her smug expression.
She pressed one hand to her throat. “Wow, sweet of you. Was that part of the rental agreement? Hmmm… So how did it go?”
“It was just dinner.” He frowned. Of course it wasn’t just dinner. His sleepless night proved that. Two cold showers failed to cool down his teenager-like hormones.
“Sure.” She rolled her eyes. “Does that mean it wasn’t really a date and you weren’t trying to impress her? Are you going to see her again?”
“Stop with the twenty questions, okay? No plans. She does seem alone. Maybe you should drop by and welcome her to the neighborhood.”
He gritted his teeth. Why hadn’t he thought his brilliant idea through? Because painting Sophie as lonely and having Alyssa befriend her wouldn’t exactly help his cause.Damn it.
Alyssa waggled her eyebrows. “Great idea. You know I’m curious about her. Shall I ask her about your date?”
He grimaced. “It wasn’t a date. And don’t ask her about it either.” And now they’d reverted to grade school.
“Calm down, dear brother, calm down. Methinks thou doth protest too much.” With a quick wave, she exited as quickly as she’d appeared.
He heard a click and hoped it was Alyssa letting herself out and not Heather next door. No need to antagonize his right-hand person.
Now that his sister was going to check on Sophie, his shoulders softened.
With a resolute sigh, he faced his desk, picked up his pencil, and shoved his feelings into the vault.
* * *
Sophie splashedcold water on her pale face in a vain attempt to shock some color into her ghost-like demeanor. The sleepless night showed. Not that she was planning on entertaining visitors today, but nobody enjoyed resembling death warmed over. Good thing Zack approved of her no matter what she looked like.
Damn Nicholas Morgan. He was the sole snag in her simple new life. An unwelcome complication. Well, she’d start today fresh and relegate last night to the past, where it belonged. He was her landlord, nothing more, nothing less.
With ruthless precision, she checked her calendar and grinned because all she had scheduled today was to write. All day if she felt like it. At least for one thousand words if she didn’t.
New day.
New opportunity.
She placed a steaming mug of her favorite spearmint green tea on the coaster next to the computer. She piled sliced bananas, strawberries, juicy raspberries, and vanilla wafers on a cheerful yellow plate for nibbling. Her favorite grapefruit candle offered its fragrant bouquet. No reason for her to be distracted or leave her computer for the foreseeable future.
After a few false starts, she dug in and committed to writing without stopping. Everyone advised her to sit down and let it flow, without worrying about the language, the prettiness of the prose, even whether it made any sense. She considered herself a true student of the Hemingway school of writing, where you wrestled the words until you’d found only the perfect ones and jettisoned the rest. Her journalism training didn’t help either.
And, big shocker, until her doorbell rang, her fingers flew across her keyboard. Stretching like a cat, she rose and strolled toward the door. Her breath caught and she halted in the middle of the room. What if it was Nick?
Donning an imaginary suit of armor to combat his charm, just in case, she approached the door. A sharp knock alerted her she was taking her sweet time. The additional prodding only served to stiffen her resolve to be cool and collected if it was her tempting landlord. When she opened the door, she blinked at the stunning blond holding a cellophane-wrapped plate of cookies. Wow, were supermodels delivering cookies these days?
“Hi, I’m Alyssa, Nick’s sister.” The tall willowy goddess-like creature, with bouncy Victoria’s Secret waves smiled, revealing perfect white teeth. “I brought you some of my famous oatmeal cookies.”
“Hi, thanks so much. I’m Sophie. I’ll put on some tea. You need to help me eat these.” As if she needed more sugar after she’d reduced the box of wafers to a few measly crumbs. At this rate, her blood sugar levels would explode.
Alyssa didn’t bat an eyelash at Sophie’s sweats, messy topknot, and wan complexion. “I’d love to. I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”
