She looked, as Sian used to say,uh-maz-zing.
“It’s late, O’Hare,” Kinga said, leaning her shoulder against the wooden doorframe. “Go away and we’ll meet in the morning.”
Griff glanced at his watch and shrugged. “You weren’t sleeping,” he pointed out. She might look like she was ready for bed but she didn’t look remotely sleepy. Griff suspected she’d been working when he leaned on her buzzer.
Griff turned at the sound of a door opening behind him and in that doorway stood a gorgeous woman with long, straight, coal black hair, pale, creamy skin and navy blue eyes. Sexy as hell, but she didn’t nudge his I’m-attracted-to-her needle. However, the whiskey-eyed beauty with the sharp tongue, still glaring at him, sent it revving into the red zone.
“Griff O’Hare, meet my sister, Tinsley.”
Tinsley, dressed in blue jeans, thick socks and a cable-knit sweater, mirrored her sister’s pose against the doorframe and uttered a cool, “Hello.”
“It is ridiculously late, Mr. O’Hare,” Tinsley stated. Like her sister, she was equally unimpressed with his late-night visit. And with him.
Griff looked from one sister to the other and shrugged. “On the West Coast, we normally only start our evening around about now.”
“And get up at noon,” Kinga snapped. “Some of us have real jobs that start early.”
She had no idea of the time and effort it took to reach his one-time level of success. Rising early, hitting the gym, learning lines, filming, rehearsing or recording. When one worked fourteen-or sixteen-hour days, the only time to socialize was from eleven onward.
He wanted to defend himself, something he hadn’t had the urge to do in a very long time. Damn, that was the second time he wanted to explain and had no doubt it wouldn’t be the last.
He returned his gaze to Kinga and saw she was looking past him to Tinsley. The two sisters seemed to be having a silent but intense conversation.
What was he missing here? Whatever they were discussing, they gave off enough of a vibe to make him feel he’d overstepped. He raised his hands and put some distance between himself and Kinga’s door. “You’re right, it’s late. We can meet in the morning.”
He turned to Tinsley to tell her that it was nice to meet her and caught her shocked expression when Kinga ordered him, “Come on in.”
“Would you like me to join you, make coffee or something?” Tinsley asked, her eyes not leaving her sister’s face.
Kinga sent her a soft smile. “No, we’re good. Thanks, Tins.”
Tinsley’s eyes widened again in surprise and Griff knew he was missing a lot of subtext. He didn’t like it.
He started to demand an explanation but then remembered he hated people asking him personal questions, so he pushed down his curiosity.
After nodding to Tinsley, he walked into Kinga’s apartment and heard the door shut behind him. Turning, he saw Kinga eyeing the four locks on her door, as if trying to decide whether to lock them or not. Four locks? Wasn’t that excessive?
A thought occurred, one that burned a hole in his stomach. “Are you scared of me?” he demanded.
Kinga slowly turned, and when she faced him, she cocked her head to the side, as if trying to figure out her answer. Griff held his breath, waiting for her reply. If she was even remotely uneasy, he’d leave.
One hint of hesitation and he was gone.
A soft smile passed through Kinga’s lovely eyes but Griff knew it wasn’t directed at him. “I’m not,” she said, sounding amused. “You annoy me and irritate me but, surprisingly, you don’t scare me.”
Okay. Well, good.
Kinga released a tiny chuckle and brushed past him. His nose filled with her scent, something light and subtle and thoroughly sexy. It wasn’t perfume...shower soap, maybe? Shampoo?
Disconcerted, Griff followed her into her open-plan living, dining, kitchen area. A staircase was to his right, and her walls were covered with abstract works of art that were both playful and thought-provoking. Cream couches holding bright, jewel-colored cushions sat next to the bay window, and he looked through the glass coffee table to the Persian rug tossed over the old hardwood floor. The back wall of the kitchen was exposed red brick.
There were fresh flowers on a side table and roses in a round glass bowl on the mantel next to an ornate silver frame, its face to the wall. He frowned. What was up with that?
Griff looked around and whistled. “This place is fantastic.”
Kinga padded over to the kitchen and turned her slim back on him to take two fat wineglasses from a slim cupboard next to a stainless steel fridge. “Thanks. My dad dabbles in real estate and he found this place and converted it into three apartments. As you noticed, Tinsley is opposite me and there’s a much smaller third apartment behind us both. We bought the building from my dad a few years back.”
“And I presume you rent the other apartment?” Griff said, taking off his coat and draping it over the back of the closest sofa.