“I’m not scared of smart women,” I said, still watching to see if the curtains twitched again. “And I have no issues with women who are smarter than me, either. I guess the real question is if she would be interested in a simple guy like me.”
“You’re a great guy,” Annie countered. “But that being said, if you act like a dick to my sister, I’ll murder you myself.”
The white lace rustled again, and I laughed to myself. “I wouldn’t blame you,” I said. “We all threatened to do the same to Clive when he got together with Frankie.”
“Great,” Annie said brightly. “I’m glad we had this talk. Good luck with my sister, Andy.”
After George apologized for Annie’s threat on my life, we ended the call and I sat back in the front seat of the truck, chewing my sandwich thoughtfully, my gaze still fixed on that upstairs window as an idea took shape in my head. And after I swallowed my last bites of food, I grabbed my keys and carefully removed the keys to my condo from the ring.
Josie was in the living room when I walked back into the house, papers and books spread out across the coffee table with a laptop open in front of her. Her brows crinkled with concentration, but at the sound of my booted feet against the wood floor as I approached, she looked up, her mouth opening slightly as if she had something to say. But nothing came out—not until I dropped my keys on the table in front of her.
“What’s this?” she asked, gesturing toward the keys.
“My house keys,” I replied. “My place is quiet and clean and not too far from here, so if you want to go study there instead without all my construction noise, it’s all yours.”
Josie looked up at me and cocked her head, eyeing me curiously. “What brought this on?”
I shrugged. “Just thought you could use a quieter place to work, and study. And it’s not like I’m some random stranger. We’re family.”
“Family.” Josie reached toward the keys, gently closing her fingers around the cool metal. “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.”
“I’ll text you the address. I’ll be home in a few hours,” I said, turning away to head back toward the family room and my growing pile of rubble. “If you have to head out before I get there, just leave the door unlocked. It’s a safe neighborhood.”
“Hey,” Josie called out as I stepped away. I looked back at her, at the tiny, grateful half-smile that played at her lips. “Thanks. Really.”
“It’s the least I could do for waking you up so early this morning,” I said.
I had an in, and for the first time in—well, months, maybe even longer, I was excited about something.
Someone.
And I couldn’t wait to learn more about her.