Stephanie felt her cheeks flush at the thought of the washboard abs that had starred in her dreams for the past month…
It was time to change the subject. “How’s school going?”
Fall semester began four weeks ago and Stephanie was crossing her fingers and toes that her little sister hadn’t already thrown in the towel. She’d graduated from high school two years ago and it’d a taken a small miracle and a large bribe to get her to finally agree to go to college.
Her sister’s long, dark hair fell over her shoulder as she shrugged. “It’s whatever.”
That non-answer wasn’t exactly reassuring.
“More importantly,” Simone sat up on her heels and faced the kitchen, looking over the back of the couch expectantly. “What’s the four-one-one on tall, dark and sexy next door?”
Tall, dark and sexy…Yeah, that pretty much summed Ace up.
“I don’t know him.” Stephanie answered honestly.
Simone’s eyes narrowed. “How long has he lived next door?”
Five weeks, two days, and about eleven hours…give or take.
“A little over a month.”
“A month!” Simone pointed past Stephanie’s shoulder. “That gorgeous specimen of a man has been sleeping within a hundred yards of you for a month and you don’t know anything about him? How is that even remotely possible?”
Easy. I’ve been avoiding him like the plague.
Now it was Stephanie’s turn to shrug. “I work. A lot.”
“You know what they say…” Simone wagged her brows. “All work and no play—”
“Pays the bills,” Stephanie inserted harshly.
Her sister winced. She hadn’t meant for her statement to sound so blunt and severe. Honestly, she didn’t resent the fact that she’d taken care of her siblings all of her life, but being called ‘boring’ or told that she ‘needed to go out more,’ ‘have fun’ and ‘lighten up’ was irritating. Especially since that’s all she wanted to do.
Simone’s posture straightened and her arms crossed in a defensive pose. “I told you I would get a part-time job. And I don’t have to be in school at all. I could work full-time and contribute.”
“School is your job right now,” Stephanie repeated the sentiment that she’d been spouting since her sister wanted to drop out of high school to start working her sophomore year.
They’d taken a ride around this conversation carousel more times than she could count and the last thing she wanted to do was climb on for another whirl.
“I’m an adult now. I am perfectly capable of supporting myself. You don’t have to take care of me anymore.”
“I know that. And I appreciate you offering to help out, but getting your education is all the help I need.”
And I do need to take care of you,she finished silently thinking of the messes she’d just cleaned up this morning.
“Fine. But I can get loans to help out with Scotty’s treatment.”
“No. Just go to school and focus on your studies.”
The last thing that she wanted was for her sister to be drowning in student loans when she graduated. Thankfully, Stephanie had been able to get academic scholarships to cover most of her own schooling so her student loans were manageable. And yes, things were tight, especially since their insurance only covered thirty percent of Scott’s new assisted living facility. But Stephanie would make it work. She always had and she always would. Somehow.
“Fine.” Simone pouted as she flopped back down on the couch with enough dramatic flair to give Meryl Streep a run for her money.
Stephanie wanted to follow-up with more questions about school, classes, grades, but she knew better. If her sister wanted to talk there was no way to shut her up, but if she didn’t there was no way to get her to open up. It was frustrating, but over the years she’d learned to deal with it.
The ding sounded announcing that the coffee was done and she wanted to cry she was so happy. After pouring herself a large cup Stephanie opened the refrigerator door and reached in to grab the creamer. When she lifted the cardboard container her heart dropped. It was empty.
She could feel her nostrils flare as she asked a question she already knew the answer to through clenched teeth. “Did you use all the creamer?”