Mr Right, Next Door!

For the second time that evening, Sophie heard herself saying, “I beg your pardon?”

“That,” he said, nodding toward the front door, “was my dinner. I missed the delivery because I was downstairs showing you the broken meter.”

In other unspoken words, he blamed her.

“I’m sure if you call, he’ll turn right around.”

Another glare, this one accompanied by him jamming his fingers through his hair and mussing it. If only disheveled looked that good on her. “It was pizza from Chezzerones.”

“Oh.” Sophie was beginning to understand. Chezzerones had the best pizza in the area, as well as a very strict delivery policy. Fail to answer the door and your number got put on the “bad” list. Something to do with drunken university students and too many wasted calls. Sophie made the mistake of inquiring and had gotten a very detailed explanation from Chezzerone himself one night. It looked like, by helping her, Grant had gotten himself stuck on the bad list.

Darn it all, she did owe him a dinner.

CHAPTER THREE

LAST thing Sophie wanted was to have a debt hanging over her head. “All right, come with me,” she said.

This time Grant was the one who scowled. “Why?”

“For dinner. You said I owed you a dinner. I’m paying you back. Now come with me.”

As she fished her keys from her pocket to unlock her door, she once again felt him standing close, his peppermint scent finding a way to tease her from behind. A flash of heat found its way to the base of her spine.

What was with her? Lord, you’d think she’d had never crossed paths with a good-looking man before.

She so needed a shower and good night’s sleep.

Of all the co-op residences in the building, Sophie’s was the largest. U-shaped, the apartment reached around the back stairway onto the other side, where the master bedroom was located. The main living area was really two rooms, a parlor turned living room and a dining area. Both rooms featured the same heavy black woodwork as the foyer and contained beautifully scrolled wood and marble fireplaces. The kitchen was located in the rear, on the other side of the dining room. Having let them in, Sophie headed in that direction only to find Grant hadn’t followed. Turning, she found him studying the framework dividing the two spaces.

“You kept the doors,” he noted, tracing a finger along the molding.

He meant the pocket doors, which could be drawn to divide the space. Obviously he’d been in the space before. “For now. I’ve only been here a month. I figured I should live with the place awhile before making any major changes.”

He nodded, and without asking, gave the door a tug. There was a soft scraping sound as the heavy panel moved outward. “Did the Realtor tell you that these are original?” he asked, brushing the dusty wood.

“He mentioned something.”

“Etta—Mrs. Feldman, the owner, insisted on keeping a lot of the original fixtures. Most of the other units are far more modernized.”

“The Realtor told me that, too.” Apologized, really, over the fact that Sophie’s hadn’t been one of the redesigned spaces.

“My…” She found herself stumbling for a word to describe David. Companion was most correct but the word felt awkward on her tongue. Then again, she was finding talking difficult in general watching Grant caress the paneled door with the tenderness of a long-lost lover. “My… friend suggested I remove them and paint all the woodwork white.”

“God, I hope not.” She swore he winced at the suggestion. Better not to tell him David’s full suggestion—that she gut the place. “This is black walnut.”

“So?”

“So—” his look was way too condescending for someone so young “—you paint soft wood, like pine. Hard wood like walnut is meant to be shown off.”

“I didn’t realize wood came with rules.”

What she did know was watching him run his hands up and down the woodwork was damn unnerving. The soft brushing sound of calluses against the wood’s rough surface made her stomach knot.

“Did you know Mrs. Feldman well?” she asked, pushing the door back into place.

“We met when she turned the building into apartments. She filled me in on the building’s history.”

“The Realtor told me she was the original owner.”

“Well, not the original original,” he noted. “This building predates the Civil War. But, her husband’s family was. The only reason she converted was because she was convinced a developer would gut the place after she died.” Sophie swallowed a kernel of guilt on David’s behalf. “She fought right to the end to make sure the building retained as much of its original look as possible. Especially her living space. ‘You can push me into converting, but you won’t make me change my living room,’ she used to say.”

“Sounds like you two were like-minded.”

“Last couple years, I’ve come round to see her way of thinking.” He gave the woodwork one parting swipe.

There was regret in his words that made him sound older than his years. Look older, too, as a melancholy shadow accompanied them, darkening his golden features. Odd.

“I have to confess,” she said, trying to break the mood, “I like some of the old fixtures. The entranceway for example. It’s nice how the place is both modern and antique at the same time.”

“A brilliantly designed blend,” he softly replied. Almost sounded as if he was reciting a quote. Again, the words came across as weighted and old.

She had little time to wonder because Grant had crossed the dining room and was already pushing the swinging door leading to her kitchen. After trying to move him along earlier, she now found herself scurrying to catch up. She did only to find he’d stopped short again. This time he was studying the kitchen cabinetry with the same sensual attentiveness. She had to catch herself from bumping square into his back.

“Then there’s the kitchen.”

Unlike the edge from before, this time she heard a note of amusement in his voice. Though she couldn’t see his face—she was still stuck behind his broad back—Sophie could easily picture his expression, basing the image on the many amused looks he’d shot in her direction over the past two days. Interestingly, in hindsight, those looks weren’t nearly as infuriating as they seemed at the time.

“You don’t like this room?” she asked.

“Etta was stubborn. She insisted on keeping it as is. Right down to the hardware. Making a last stand, I suppose.”

The last line was said as he knelt down to examine a lower cabinet door. Sophie took advantage of the movement to slip past, sucking in her breath to avoid brushing up against him. Her neighbor, attention on the cabinet, didn’t appear to notice.

“Maybe she simply knew her mind.”

“That she did. Your hinges need replacing,” he added, opening the cabinet door.

“I wouldn’t mind replacing the entire room.” Although she spent little time in the kitchen, Sophie found the space narrow and cramped. She found the room even more cramped now thanks to the addition of Grant’s large form. His broad shoulders—so broad they practically filled the expanse between the counters. “Unlike your Mrs. Feldman, I don’t need to keep this room exactly as is.”

“Won’t get an argument from me. Any idea what you’d do?”

Not really. Oh, she had ideas, but they were nebulous and atmospheric, based more on fantasy than any actual plan. “Brighter, definitely,” she told him. “Sunnier. With windows and gleaming wood cabinets.”

“Sounds like another woman who knows what she wants.” Their eyes met, and he flashed her a smile that implied far more than cabinetry. Or so it felt from the way her insides reacted.

“Pizza,” she announced abruptly. Goodness but the kitchen was cramped. And really warm. There was absolutely no air circulation at all on these hot nights. “What kind would you like?”

“I have a choice?”