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"Sophia," she says. "Your house sitter. And she's kind, too."
"We're not dating," I say. "She's just...I'm just paying her to watch my dog, that's it."
"But she likes you."
I can't help but laugh at the idea that gorgeous, accomplished, whip-smart Sophia would have a thing for an old guy like me.
"Why are you laughing?" Amanda asks. "I mean it. The way she was talking about you...I thought she was your girlfriend."
"She's just a nice girl," I say. "But that's not what this is about. This is about..."
It was about me calling to yell at her for showing up unannounced at my place and avoiding me all this time.
But here we are...talking.
And it's good.
"Next time you want to come by, tell me first," I finally say. "And if you want all your stuff...you know where it is."
"You don't want any of the kitchen towels?" she asks. "The books, the pet stuff, the photos..."
"Can we set a time to go through it all together?" I ask. "It was just...it was too hard when you cut me out of your life. I'd rather parse through the items with you, then we can finally put an end to this."
She sighs. "Yeah. It's about damn time, isn't it?"
I let out a humorless laugh. "Yep. About time."
I get home a few hours later, a million thoughts racing through my mind about what I'm going to do when I get there. I already texted Sophia while I was stopped at a gas station to let her know that I'm okay with Amanda having been in the apartment, that it's not Sophia's fault, that we're all good...but that doesn't resolve what I'm really interested in.
What Amanda said about Sophia being into me.
I want Sophia. I can't deny that any longer. For those two nights in Salem, I couldn't stop thinking about Sophia sleeping in my bed, cuddled up with Tex, sitting there in that sports bra and shorts like she belonged in my bedroom.
I need to talk to her. Even if it's against the rules at the White Oak.
Because I think she's interested, and I've been alone long enough.
I climb the stairs to my apartment with a weight on my shoulders, nervous like a kid. I hear Tex woof softly, little clawsscratching at the door, and then I hear footsteps as I pull out my key to put it in the door. Before I can unlock the door, Sophia opens it for me.
She's gorgeous.
"You're back!" she says. "You're...early. I was just about to head in for a shift at the White Oak."
She's wearing her uniform—a black button-up with slacks that hug her hips and ass—and I can't stop looking at her as I walk in with my duffel, Sophia shutting the door behind me.
"Sorry," I say. "After you texted me about Amanda, I just wanted to get home."
"Okay," she says. "I'm really sorry again about letting Amanda in. I wasn't prepared for how weird that whole thing was."
"Yeah..." I kneel to pet Tex, glad to be back with my dog. He's happy, too, licking my face and wagging his tail at a mile a minute. "I think I owe you an explanation for that."
She bites her lip, crossing her arms. "I don't want to pry, but of course I'm curious."
I nod. "Makes sense. It's pretty odd. Let me just grab a cup of coffee, and I'll tell you the whole sad story."
Sophia follows me into the kitchen, her eyes lingering on me longer than necessary as I get the coffee going. I can feel the tension between us, the unspoken attraction that's been building up for days.
I need to do something about it.
