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The door swung open to reveal a young man. She guessed him to be no older than twenty, twenty-two, tops. A baby compared to her twenty-seven years. He looked at her with eyes the color of the bluest ocean. He seemed a little surprised to see her there, but before he could say a word, she was talking.
“Are your parents home?”
He blinked a few times. “My parents?”
“Yes, are they home?”
“Probably.”
“Great. I’d like to talk to them.”
“They aren’t here. They live in Milton. What is this about?”
It was Reese’s turn to be confused. “Sorry, what?”
“They live in Milton. You know, a few hours from here.”
“Yes, I know where Milton is.”
“Okay, cool. So why are you asking if they’re home??”
She pursed her lips, figuring out a way to approach this. There had to be some story here. Maybe he went to the university downtown and his parents had gotten him the condo. And because he was a rich kid with no respect for his neighbors, he played the music as loud as a DJ at a nightclub.
“Who owns this place?” she asked.
He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head just as a hard rock song blasted through the condo and into the hallway.
“Sorry, why are you here? Who are you?”
“I am your neighbor. And for the last few days, I’ve had my sleep interrupted by your music. You aren’t here on some short-term rental, right? That’s not permitted. Condo rules.”
He smirked at that, as if something had dawned on him. “Well, hello, neighbor. Iownthis condo. I moved in last week. I’m not renting it and my parents didn’t buy it for me.”
She was trying to make sense of everything with her sleep-deprived brain. “Look, I’ve lived here for two years. And I enjoy peace and quiet. That peace and quiet was shattered when you moved in because your music is too loud. I can hear it clearly and very loudly from my condo. So I’m asking you very nicely to turn it down because if you don’t, I’ll make a formal complaint with the condo board.”
His light brown hair flopped into his blue eyes, and he nonchalantly brushed it away. She was infuriated by how casually he was taking all of this.
“My name is Grady,” he said, extending his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I wish the circumstances were different, but now that I understand your problem, I’ll make a concerted effort to keep the music down. And thank you for asking so nicely.”
She frowned because she wasn’t sure whether he was being sarcastic. Nevertheless, she shook his hand. “I do appreciate that, Grady. I get up early for work, so I need my sleep.” She paused for a moment, realizing how that must sound. Did he think she was crazy? “Look, I understand we probably got off on the wrong foot, so I apologize for that. Maybe we can forget this conversation?”
“Sure. Already forgotten.”
She was about to turn and leave but he spoke again.
“You didn’t introduce yourself, or would you rather remain my mysterious next-door neighbor?”
She smiled at that. “I’m Reese.”
His eyes narrowed again. “Why do you seem familiar? Where do I know you from?”
“No idea,” she said. “Anyway, thanks for keeping the music down.”
She headed back to her condo, and for some reason, she couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. She told herself it was because she’d won, and not because she’d enjoyed meeting him. If she’d been younger and single, cute Grady may have been more interesting to her. For now, as long as he kept the music down, that would make her life a lot less complicated.
* * *
Reese had never slept so well— she’d even slept through her alarm. When she did finally wake up, there were a million texts and missed calls on her phone. As she padded to the kitchen for her morning glass of lemon-infused water, she scrolled through the messages. Most were from her agent, but a few were from Daria, and even one from her mother. What was going on? Had she missed an important meeting? She didn’t remember having anything planned. She hit Daria’s name. Her assistant answered on the second ring.
