“Wait. Alex, this is my sister, Misty. I don’t think you’ve met.” Jake sounded flustered. “Misty, this is Alex. She lives across the way and this…” He put his hand on the squirming child’s head. “…is Matty.”
Now that he was still, she could see the child was cute as could be and not more than three. He had a mop of dirty blond hair and a smudge of chocolate on his face.
“Hi,” Matty shouted and promptly turned around and scurried back into the kitchen. Misty hadn’t noticed until then, but Alex held a dishcloth in her hand and was wiping what appeared to be flour from her shirt.
“Hi, Alex. Nice to meet you.” She nodded in the direction of the kitchen. “Matty sure seems spirited.”
Alex laughed, a soft happy sound. Jake watched Alex with such intensity she felt like an intruder. It was the first time she’d ever seen her brother so taken by a woman. How long had this been going on?
“Yeah, that’s one way to put it. Sorry about Matty. He’ll run you right over when he’s got something on his mind.” Alex held out her hand, and she shook it “Nice to meet you too. Sounds like you need to talk to your brother.” She looked at Jake. “Matty and I will disappear back into the kitchen,” she said.
“We’re making brownies,” Jake blurted out. “Why don’t you come and sit at the table?”
“Uh. Oh, okay,” she muttered, dumbfounded by her brother’s sudden domestic side. She followed the group into her brother’s eat-in kitchen. Alex walked to the counter, opened a cabinet and pulled out a hand-mixer. Matty dragged a stool to the counter and assisted his mom.
As she shook her head to clear it, Misty focused on her brother, who still stared in the other direction. She cleared her throat. “I got a call from my landlord this morning. I’ve got to be out in seven days.”
She had his attention, and Alex’s too.
“What? Why would he do that?”
“He’s turning the entire building into efficiency apartments or something. I’m not sure. I haven’t been happy there for a while anyway. But I didn’t expect to have to move so fast.”
“I bet,” Jake said. “I guess you’ll be moving into the mausoleum with Dad.”
She stiffened. “No. No, I won’t. There has to be another option. I’ll find a place…fast.”
Alex turned toward her. “I know it’s not any of my business, but this market is hell for renters. I’ve been looking myself.”
“You what?” Jake said, and by the shell-shocked expression on his face, he’d let out more than he intended.
Alex looked sheepish. “I’ve been looking. You know Matty will be starting school soon. I have to think about that, Jake.”
Jake paled, and watching these two, it seemed as if she’d been transported to another dimension. Moving in with her brother wouldn’t be an option. She made her excuses and left Jake and Alex in the middle of a heated discussion.
An hour later, she entered the red-brick building with its elegant white-framed windows. Though a new construction, it held a comfortable old-time feel. In the elevator rising to the top floor, she balled her fists and sucked in a deep breath. She could do this. Had to do this. The elevator stopped and a bell dinged as the doors glided open on the top floor. She rallied her courage and stepped off.
No one was in the reception area. She’d only been here once, but knew the way to Tanner’s office and found the cluttered desk outside his door vacant. Her watch read noon. Lunch time. She tapped on Tanner’s door anyway. No answer. She checked the knob, and the door opened. There was no sign of him inside. Instead of leaving a note on his secretary’s desk, where he might not get it, she’d leave one on his.
His scent surrounded her when she entered. It was a strong masculine smell she always associated with Tanner, but didn’t know if it was cologne or just him. She inhaled. A computer monitor and the calendar she’d given him for Christmas were the only two things visible on the top of his desk. As she turned to go out and find something to write on, an interior office door swung open and Tanner strolled out wearing a white towel low on his hips. His light brown hair looked darker when wet.
She gasped. Tanner stopped mid-stride. “Hi.”
How could one simple word be so seductive? She managed to squeak out a return greeting. Heat raced up her neck and spread across her face. A vivid memory flashed. An image of Tanner shirtless…wearing wet swimming trunks that hugged his lean hips as he strolled to her across her parents’ backyard. Her twenty-first birthday party, and the heat and desire in his eyes had been obvious. They’d shared one hot, passionate night a couple of months before. She’d sampled his body, knew what was under those shorts, how he could make her feel. But she’d arrived late with one of her best guy friends in tow. She’d asked Tim to come home with her as a safety net, in case things were awkward with Tanner. It had been the first time they’d seen each other after... The heat that sparked, extinguished as soon as Tim played his part. Things were never awkward, just left unsaid.
Quickly Tanner reached over and grabbed a gym bag from the low sofa along the side wall. “Give me a couple of minutes. I’ll be right back,” he said and disappeared the way he’d come in. A heavy door closed behind him.
All she was capable of was a nod. It’d been a long time since she’d seen Tanner in all his shirtless glory. As hard as he worked at his career, he still exercised. Broad shoulders narrowed to well defined pecs where beads of water had glistened. Her fingers itched to touch him…and those abs, she wanted to do more than touch. Her face wasn’t the only part of her growing hotter by the second.
A photograph caught her eye. She walked over, and for the first time noticed each wall held a border-like line of picture frames. Making her way around the room, a picture of Tanner and Jake taken pretty recently on a fishing trip stopped her. Tanner’s eyes were squinted against the sun and he wore faded jeans stretched over his powerful thighs. A white t-shirt clung to his chest, making his tan seem darker. He was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
She shook her head and moved around the room taking in all the photos. Most were of buildings or vacant land. Things he must have owned or had bought and sold. The next picture she came to with people in it was of Tanner and his mother. He must have been three or four, and they were sitting on a blanket with a child’s toy ball and picnic food spread all around. Ms. Theroit looked more relaxed in that picture than at any time she’d ever seen her. No wonder Tanner would treasure it.
As she followed the frames around the room, she heard softly running water in the background. The final picture with people was of Tanner and Jake taken the day of their college graduation. Each had an arm wrapped around her, standing between them. She smiled to herself and mindlessly slid her locket on its chain, studying the picture intently.
The door swung open and he stepped into the room. His presence filled the space, knocking her for a loop.
“That was a long time ago,” Tanner said and slipped into the chair behind his desk.
“Yes, it was. You’ve both come a long way since then.” She smiled.
“I wasn’t thinking about that, but true enough.” He looked lost in his own thoughts. “You know, you’ve certainly grown up since then too.”
She laughed. “I should hope so. Like you said, it was a long time ago.”
“I doubt you’ve come by to talk about old photos, huh?”
“You’re right. First I want to say thank you.” She still held out the locket in her hand. “I appreciate you driving all the way over to pick me up.” She took a deep breath. “And everything else.”
Tanner gave her a crooked grin. Her toes curled. He didn’t have a clue.
“Well,