Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 382(@200wpm)___ 306(@250wpm)___ 255(@300wpm)
“Sweet!” Tabitha flashes a grin, her eyes wide as she takes in the exterior of my townhome. “This place is amazing, Angie.”
“How did you get through the gate without calling?” I ask.
“I told the guard you were expecting me. He let me go.”
Great. A guard who lets a flirty young woman bypass the rules. No harm done, of course, but the neighborhood management will be getting a call from me.
I swing the door wider so Tabitha can enter.
She breezes past me, her rosy perfume wafting in the air around us.
Jason takes a step back, nodding at her as she passes. “Nice to see you, Tabitha,” he says.
“You too, Dr. Lansing,” she replies with a flirty grin. Probably not unlike the one she gave the security guard at the gate.
“I guess I’ll leave you to it.” Jason steps away from the door. “Good luck with your studying.”
“Thank you,” I say, my voice more detached than I mean for it to be.
He smiles once more before turning and walking down the path leading to his place.
I close the door behind him and lean against it. The smell of Tabitha’s perfume is strong in the air, and I hold my breath for a moment, desperate to let Jason’s scent linger.
“So…” Tabitha begins, plopping down onto my couch and kicking off her shoes as if she’s been here hundreds of times before. “When were you planning to tell me that hunky Dr. Lansing is your next-door neighbor?”
I raise an eyebrow at her. Are we supposed to be besties now that we’re lab partners…and apparently study buddies? “I didn’t realize it myself until today.”
Her eyes widen. “Seriously? How can you not notice a man like that living next door?”
“Easy,” I reply, making my way to the kitchen. “By being too absorbed in my studies to bother about who’s living next door. And besides, he’s our professor, Tabitha.”
“Well, yes, but he’s also hot.” She follows me into the kitchen. “And single, as far as I know. I didn’t notice a ring on his left hand.”
I guess I’m not the only one who made it a point to check out Jason’s ring finger.
“That doesn’t matter.” I pull plates out of a cupboard, trying not to let talk of Jason make me tingle so much.
She pouts at me from where she’s perched on one of the bar stools. “Spoilsport.”
I roll my eyes at her as my phone rings. I grab it. “It’s security, probably calling to let me know the guys are here.” I put the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Ms. Simpson, it’s Derrick at the gate. I have an Elijah Garrett and Ralph Normandy here.”
“Thanks. They’re fine.”
A moment later, the doorbell rings. I open it to find Ralph and Eli and two bottles of wine.
“Hey, Angie,” Ralph says. “We brought wine.”
“Not sure how much studying we’ll get done with that,” I reply, stepping aside for them to enter.
Eli waltzes past me, the woodsy scent of his aftershave replacing Tabitha’s rosy perfume. Thank God. I’m not into floral scents. They give me a terrible headache.
“Somehow I knew you’d be a killjoy,” Eli says with a laugh.
“We’re here to study, not to drink,” I remind him.
“But where’s the fun in that?” Eli walks into my living room. “Where should I put these?”
I gesture to the kitchen when the doorbell rings again. Pizza. I’ve got my food apps on the security list, so they don’t bother calling me each time.
I grab the three pies and bring them into my kitchen.
“Where’s your corkscrew?” Eli asks.
I open a drawer, fish it out, and hand it to him.
“You like red?” Ralph asks.
I glance at the bottles and widen my eyes. “Oh! Yeah, I love it. Would you believe my cousin makes this wine?” I peruse the label. Steel Vineyards Ruby. The wine is named for my uncle Ryan’s wife, Ruby Lee Steel. Uncle Ryan used to run the winery, but he retired, and now my cousin Dale runs it.
“Really?” Eli wrinkles his forehead. “You’re related to the Steel family?”
“Yeah.” I swallow. “Marjorie Steel Simpson is my mother.”
Ralph frowns. “Fuck me. That explains the gated community.”
I grab four wineglasses out of my cupboard, turning so they don’t see my eye roll. I get it. Ralph doesn’t like people with money. He sure seems happy to eat pizza on my dime, though.
When I turn back around, Eli has joined Tabitha in the family room, but Ralph is still in the kitchen, standing very close to me.
“Uh…did you need something?” I ask.
“Just this,” he says, and presses his lips to mine.
Chapter Eight
Jason
Once I’m back at my own place, I strip off my coat and gloves and turn on the gas fireplace.
I’m chilled.
But not so much from the weather.
From the effect Angie has on me.
I just visited the graves of my wife and daughter, and the guilt is still eating at me.