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He opened his mouth to reply, and then he glanced down at me, his eyes crinkling with amusement behind the black mask. “How vague am I supposed to be so I don’t ruin the theme?”
“Muddy as a riverbed.”
He sighed, but his eyes still held that twinkle. “Fine. A family friend wanted me to bring her so she didn’t have to come alone. She’s like a little sister to me, and when she turns those puppy dog eyes on me… Phew.”
“Little sister, huh?” My eyes reflexively scanned the faces I could see from this part of the patio like she’d have a floating red arrow hanging over her head.
No such luck.
“Yeah, a sister,” he affirmed, halting our stroll so he could casually lean on the stone railing. “And don’t think for a second that mask of yours hid the flash of green in your eyes.”
I rolled my eyes, letting out a huff of laughter. “My eyes are green because my momma’s are.It has nothin’ to do with you.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I don’t even know you. How could I be jealous?”
“Fair point. I’m not hard to get to know, though. I keep life simple because I don’t have time for complicated.”
Instead of replying, I gave him a small smile, encouraging him togo on. I liked the smooth timbre of his voice.
“It might not be the dark and dangerous thing that goes over so well with the ladies,” he continued, shooting me a pointed look, “but I am who I am.”
“A stand-up guy,” I parroted his earlier words.
“Yup. I love my momma even though she’s a little off her rocker sometimes, my dog’s my best friend, and there ain’t nothin’ I wouldn’t do for my family.” He paused abruptly, tilting his head. “You know what?”
“What?”
“I sound like a dang country song,” he mused, chucklingself-consciously whilerubbing the back of his neck. “I gotta get outta here before I turn intoRiley Conrad.”
I laughed, but I was relieved to find outthat he wasn’t a country star. Not to look a gift job in the mouth, but the lastthing I’d wanna do was date someone in the world I worked in.?Now that Laney’s career had blown upand she was fake-dating Riley to soar even higher, I got to see firsthand how exhausting her lack of privacy was.
The girl couldn’t even do her own Target run for tampons anymore.?Yeah, it was afirst-world problem, but still.
Plus, I’d probably just wind up managing his career. The mystery man had hit the nail on the head when he’d suggested we come outside for a “work-related reason” instead of something romantic like a moonlit stroll.
But if hewasn’t a musician, whatdidhe do?
Where did he live?
And, for goodness sake, what was his name?
The biggest question of all, however, was ifit would even matter if I found any of that out. And if I were honest, I already knew the answer.
4/
adam
I leaned against the doorway, arms crossed. It was Paisley’s first day of training at the call center, and even though I’d shown up to watch the show… it seemed like I might’ve wasted a trip.
Here I was, ready to give Paisley Stevens a piece of my mind if she got a little too big for her britches with the reserved, girl-next-door they’d chosen to train her. I figured Miss Good-at-Everything would roll those big green eyes of hers and tell Hope she already knew everything about this job. And I’d been itching for her to show off a bit ‘cause I was gonna remind her that she may have known her hometown like the back of her hand, but she didn’t know Charlotte Oaks.
But… nope. It didn’t look like any of that was gonna happen today.
Turned out, Paisley was a model student. She hung on every word that came out of her trainer’s mouth, replying only when needed, and not butting in with her past experiences.
And when Hope would click around one of the five screens that made up the giant console before them, I lost track more than a few times. But Paisley? Not her. She’d remained focused, her eyes trained on Hope’s every movement.
