Page 3 of Texting Mr. Stranger

“Eh?”

“You’re smiling.”

She says this with so much surprise that I wonder if I’m usually that much of a grim bastard.

“I can see how passionate you are about this,” I say to save face. Even as I talk to my sister, I find it difficult to look away from the screen.

“I am. I’ve thought about it a lot.”

She buys my excuse. There’s no reason for her not to. I’m not some monk who’s never been on a date, but I’m not exactly some playboy. Since our father passed and I took over the Family, it’s been the last thing on my mind.

“Can I, then? Please?”

“You’re an adult.”

“That’s a copout,” she snaps. “Sure, I could leave and go to her anyway, but I don’t want to think about you and E being all pouty about it when I come home. I won’t be able to relax and learn if I’m worrying.”

I laugh. “Pouty? Us?”

“Matty?”

As Bella glides the bow over the instrument, her dress shifts, causing her cleavage to wake things up inside me. I quickly turn away before this silliness gets out of hand.

“Okay, Sofia, but on one condition. I have to come with you.”

She skips over and throws her arms around me. “Yay!”

I hold her close. She deserves every happiness. “How do we make arrangements?”

“She has a cell number on her page.”

CHAPTER TWO

BELLA

“Another no-show?” Emily asks, poking her head around my open bedroom door. When I nod, she says, “You need to charge a deposit. You can’t keep letting people get away with this.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got enough for this month.”Just. “What if they had a genuine reason?”

Emily walks into my room and drops onto the bed. We’ve been friends since high school. When I told her I planned on working two jobs to help pay Mom’s way through college, she immediately offered to move in to help with the finances.“We always said we wanted to live together …”

She’s one of the only people who didn’t look at me like I was nuts. After all, it’s supposed to be the other way around. But Mom worked herself ragged after Dad left, and I want to repay her.

“It doesn’t matter,” Emily says. “You’re way too kind. Maybe I should handle the bookings from now on?” She takes one of the scrunchies from her wrist and ties her pink hair up. “You can think of me as your enforcer.”

“We’ll see,” I mutter.

I pick up my phone when it buzzes with a text.Hello, Bella. I’m interested in booking some private lessons for my sister. She’s a big fan of your online instructionals. Do you have anything available for this week?

“That looks good,” Emily says when she sees me smiling.

“More work.” I glance at the clock. “I’ll reply and get ready for the restaurant.”

“You’re working too much.”

“When Mom’s working her dream job, helping to cure sick animals, it’ll be worth it.”

Emily stands up. “You’re right. Anyway, I’m going to take a shower. Let me know if you need any skulls busted.”

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