And he knew without a doubt, that when he closed his eyes all he’d see would be red hair and green eyes and it would send him surging.
A wall’s width away from the woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.
9
“Okay.” Meghan nodded. “I’ll do it. Or we can do it.” Her smile was shy. “Whatever. But I have one proviso.”
Rich looked exhausted, as though all the work and late nights had finally caught up with him. She could understand how he felt. She hadn’t slept much last night either. She was so aware of him being just a few inches away from her through the wall.
Why the hell did she have to crush on her neighbor? It was so cliché.
“What’s the proviso?”
“We keep Isla out of it, and I don’t need you to pretend to be my boyfriend to my parents. I can handle them.”
He frowned. “But then it’s not even. What do you get out of it?”
She shrugged. “I help out a friend. Isn’t that enough?”
From the look on his face it wasn’t. Not for him. “I can’t ask you to do that. I’ll think of something else.”
Pulling her lip between her teeth, Meghan tried to think of an appropriate response. The weird thing was, she wanted to pretend to be his girlfriend. Wanted to know what it would be like to actually be with this gorgeous, strong man.
Pretend. That’s all it would be.
“How about if you do something else for me in return?” she suggested.
“Like what?” A half smile played at his lips.
“You can take Isla out for a swim in the ocean. She keeps begging me to take her swimming and I can’t stand the thought.” Meghan gave a mock shiver. “It’s way too cold right now.”
Rich blinked. “Let me get this straight, you pretend to be my girlfriend and get a persistent stalker off my back, and I just have to go for a swim?”
“It sounds fair to me,” Meghan pointed out. “I get to stare at you with doe eyes. You get to freeze your ass off for however long Isla insists you stay in the water. I’m happy with that exchange.”
His smile widened.“Are you sure? Because there’s no hard feelings if you change your mind. You’ll still be my favorite neighbor.”
“Don’t tell Gloria that. She thinks she’s your number one.”
He looked amazing this morning, his hair wet from the shower, his strong body encased in jeans and a grey t-shirt that skimmed every ripple in his stomach and chest.
“It’s our secret.” He winked at her. “Let’s not ruin her day and tell her.”
“So, what’s happening tomorrow morning that you need me to be there for?” Meghan asked, passing him a coffee. They were in her apartment
. Isla was at school, and she’d been getting things ready for work when he’d seen her message and come over. Her purse was on the kitchen counter along with some handwritten recipe notes. She took a sip of coffee as she looked at him.
“My sister’s meeting with Carlyn to discuss her graduation show.”
“Carlyn’s the stalker?”
Rich nodded. “Yeah.”
Meghan’s eyes widened. “You need to backtrack a bit. Why is Carlyn involved with your sister?”
“My sister’s at college studying art. Her show is part of her assessment for graduation. She can either have it at the college or in a private gallery. Belle wanted to have it in a gallery, and here we are.”
“Belle’s your sister?”