Page 112 of The Man Next Door
He nodded. “Taking a chance. Look, Zona, I’m not going to pressure you to sleep with me if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Well, darn. Just joking,” she added.
We’re not, chorused her hormones.
“Not that I wouldn’t want to,” he said, and his words coupled with his smile struck her heart like an electric charge. “You’re a beautiful woman. But we’re hanging out, that’s all. Starting new diplomatic relations.” He smiled at her. That smile looked delicious. “Now that we’re not hissing and growling at each other, I kind of like being with you.”
And she was liking being with him. And that was scary.
“I don’t want to do relationships anymore,” she said. She didn’t want to cry, to feel unloved or unsafe or angry. Her exes had taken her there. She had no intention of making a return trip.
“We all do relationships,” he said. “We just do some better than others.”
She looked at those hazel eyes of his. He had nice eyes. And a nice mouth. Nice chin. He had nice everything. No, make that great everything. Why was he alone?
“Why don’t you have a girlfriend?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Been too busy with work. And Angela,” he added with a frown. “I’ve been divorced four years, but dating hasn’t really worked out. Makes it hard to have a relationship when you have family drama in your life all the time.”
“Hard on a marriage, too?” she suggested.
He nodded. “My wife got tired of the drama. She told me I needed to cut the cord. I didn’t.”
“Couldn’t,” Zona supplied. “Your stepsisters were family.”
“It was toxic. I should have listened to my wife,” he finished wistfully. “Anyway, water under the bridge. I’m ready to move on,” he added, hitting her with that smile again.
It was magnetic.
“I’m sure not,” she said, determined to resist the pull.
Don’t fall for this man. You hardly know him and you don’t want to know his family.
So very true. She assured her common sense that she was not going to fall.
But she had tripped. Not good.
Chapter24
THE FOLLOWING EVENING FOUND ZONA ANDAlec out on the sidewalk in front of his house, working again with Darling.
“You have to be firm,” he said when Darling decided he preferred to bound over to her instead of staying. He demonstrated again, making the dog sit. Then he held out his hand like a stop sign and said, “Stay.” He waited a moment before giving Darling a treat. He repeated the process again and took a step back and then reinforced the command once more.
“He likes you better,” Zona said.
“No, he just knows who the big dog is. You’ve got to be firm.”
“Firm,” Zona said. “You hear that, Darling? I’m the big dog.”
“Not the big pushover,” Alec joked.
It was a civilized, neighborly interaction. An observer would have thought the two of them had been pals forever, both smiling at each other. It looked for sure like they could be lifetime pals.
Then Zona caught sight of the familiar red PT Cruiser coming down the street.
Alec saw it, too, and his eyes narrowed and his smile compressed into a thin, angry line. The car slowed, he shook his head, and it sped up and hurried on down the street.
It had barely turned the corner before Bree pulled up. Zona could feel her daughter’s disapproving frown before she even saw it.
