“Tilly, no. I don’t want any help with my social life. I’ve got enough to do for you and my job.”
“Writing about nuts?”
“Editing about nuts. And crops and agriculture.” The agricultural magazines she edited for didn’t appeal to her creative side, but they paid well enough that she didn’t starve.
“Magazines are dying.” Tilly shook her head. “It’s all about cell phones and computers anymore. Sadly. Bah. I don’t know how you can afford to live anywhere editing for no-name magazines.”
Thanks for that, Tilly.“It’s not a bad way to make money, you know.” And it allowed Erin to live anywhere so long as she had access to the Internet.
“Get me a cup of tea and we’ll call lunch quits. And don’t forget, you’re coming for dinner tonight.”
Which meant the conversation had ended. Thank God.
“I’m looking forward to it.” She prayed Tilly would drop the whole matchmaking with Smith idea. Erin had enough problems trying not to think about her sexy, taciturn neighbor. She hadn’t been enough to hold Cody’s interest. What made her think she could nab Smith’s? If she’d been in the market for a man, which shesowasn’t.
After fixing Tilly a pot of her favorite jasmine green tea, Erin poured her a cup then left the pot for her on her side table, next to the recliner which faced her television. Tilly had an addiction to daytime TV.
Erin would have liked to have so much downtime, but in order to make ends meet, she had to get busy. She went home, ignored the depressing sight of her nearly-empty apartment, and went to work on the laptop she’d propped on the $20 table purchased at a garage sale the past weekend.
She now had a table and two chairs, an uncomfortable, inflatable single bed, and a beautiful cherry antique armoire and matching dresser she’d brought from home. She had no television, but she didn’t need one with a laptop. And she had a cheap set of cookware, dishes and cups, and silverware she’d acquired from Walmart, so she could at least cook and eat.
“I have my health, two great jobs, and a place to live. What more could I want?” she asked herself in her empty apartment covered in tacky mango-orange painted walls. The vinyl floor passed as functional, if not pretty. No one would ever mistake the fake-wood flooring for real hardwood.
The kitchen, while not large, had a decent gas stove, microwave, and small refrigerator. A wall of counters gave her enough space to prepare food for one, but she needed a small island or butcher block to give her more room to prepare. Ideally, she might be able to use Tilly’s kitchen to continue her home cooking show. That’s once she made herself indispensable to the woman and bribed her with treats.
Erin stopped dithering and buckled down to work. She edited four articles, posted on two magazine blogs, and checked over a few agricultural social media sites.
But her dream job lay just out of reach, sharing her recipes on a profitable home-baking vlog. Back in Colby, she’d had a weekly series that had garnered her thousands of followers, and she had to continue to serve up sweets. She’d accounted for her move to Seattle, promising to come off her hiatus as soon as she settled in.
Since the move, she hadn’t filmed anything new, though she continued to answer questions and comments on her vlog. She was giving herself another two weeks of time off. After that, she’d have to start posting again, which created a whole new host of problems. But the added income from a few vendors on her site helped. And she needed the money now more than ever, living in Seattle.
Heck, the other day she’d bought a bag of ground coffee for ten dollars! And that was apparently on the low end. She groaned, turned back to work, and didn’t look up until her timer went off at six.
Fortunately, Tilly didn’t insist on eating supper at an early hour, like many of the seniors at home.Not home. Colby,Erin told herself.Seattle is my home now.She felt more grown-up living on her own, so far away from family. At twenty-five, she had no call to be tied to her parents. Even if she did sometimes feel so alone here.
Erin stood with a sigh, stretched, and left her apartment to head down the hall to Tilly’s. Only to bump into Smith on her way. “Oh, sorry.”
He didn’t move, though she rebounded a step back. He grunted at her and walked away.
Erin had had enough. “Hey.” She grabbed his arm and froze him in his tracks. “Could you at least smile or say hello? I swear, I’m not asking for anything other than a polite greeting. It’s called being neighborly.”
Smith turned around, and his presence had an impact, as usual. The man dwarfed her in size, but it was that aura of power that overwhelmed. Smith seemed to be burning with fettered rage just under the surface. She swore she could see it in his eyes before they crinkled, and he smiled at her.
And that smile knocked her off her axis.
Man, he was hot. Handsome, sexy,reallllygood looking. Her mind kept going in circles, trying to provide a better description.
“Sorry. Hello, Erin. How are you?”
“Uh, um. Good. I’m good. How are you?”
“Great. You all settled in?” He was speaking slowly, making eye contact, acting friendly.
“Are you making fun of me?” She planted her hands on her hips, calling him on what sure the heck seemed like a patronizing attitude. After Cody, she was done playing nice just because a woman “should ignore rudeness and be kind because men don’t know any better.” Geez, were her mom and grandma wrong on so many counts.
His grin widened. “Maybe.” He brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes as he studied her, and her heart did jumping jacks. “You are so little.”
She fumed, angry and wanting to provoke a similar response. Not at all the way she normally behaved with people. Erin was nice. Usually quiet until she grew to know someone. Polite, well-mannered. “Look, buddy. I can’t help that God made me the perfect size, and that you’re too jealous to deal well. I have beentryingto thank you for being nice when I needed it. I don’t care for your platitudes. Now excuse me while I have things to do. I won’t bother you again.”
