“Are you actually eighty years old?” Drew teased. Brooke rolled her eyes but offered a slight smile.
“At least you’ll keep things interesting,” Brooke said dryly.
“I promise you won’t even notice I’m here,” Drew laughed.
“Too late for that,” Brooke grinned.
“Goodnight, Tomes.” Drew smiled.
“Goodnght,” Brooke gave her a half wave as she walked back to her own door, closing it behind her.
“Hate to watch her go, but love to watch her leave.”
Tatum’s words resounded in her head. Drew rolled her eyes at herself. She slid her mattress into the living room. For tonight the living room would work. Drew grabbed the blankets she’d already brought up and made her bed.
What were the odds that Brooke lived right across the hallway? The apartments were close to their stores. Still, Drew didn’t know what to make of her newfound closeness to this new woman. She’d hoped they could stay out of one another’s way, yet it seemed as though they would be seeing more of each other. Drew fell back onto her bed and let out a long sigh. Her mind wandered to Brooke. The woman was a knockout. Too bad she seemed determained to hate her.
Chapter 3
Brooke stopped just inside her door. Drew seemed bound and determined to rob every last bit of peace from her life. First, Drew invaded her shop. Now the woman would be invading her living space as well. Brooke folded down her duvet cover and slid into bed. I must have been terrible in a former life to deserve all of this.
What was even worse was that Drew had the unmitigated gall to be attractive. She had stomped into Brooke’s life and caused so much chaos, and it was only day one, but then to be so attractive on top of that. Truly unforgivable.
Pearl her white Persian cat hopped up on the bed and curled up by her feet. Brooke had no idea how old Peal was. She only knew that the cat was ancient. Pearl had once belonged to her grandmother. After her grandmother’s death, Pearl had moved in with Brooke. She hadn’t let Brooke forget how inadequate these new accommodations were for one single day since moving in. Pearl was adept at escaping the apartment. When she wasn’t actively escaping, Pearl was destroying all of Brooke’s belongings, the fluffier the better. No pillow was safe from Pearl’s claws.
Sometimes though, Pearl would come and grace Brooke with her presence. Brooke could feel Pearl’s purring through her blankets. She glanced to the foot of the bed and found Pearl stretched out in her majestic glory, sleeping.Good thinking,Brooke thought. She lay her head down on her pillow and allowed sleep to sink over her.
Brooke was awakened to the sound of booming music. She opened her eyes, already annoyed. Brooke had a sneaking suspicion that she knew exactly where the noise was coming from. She jerked the covers back with such force that Pearl let out a hiss, jumping from the bed. The momentary guilt that she felt was swept aside by the sound of a loud thrumming base. Brooke stalked across the bedroom and out the door to her apartment. She could hear the music coming from Drew’s apartment. Anger simmered inside of her as she knocked on the door.
Drew swung the door wide, a look of panic on her face. Brooke folded her arms over her chest and pinned Drew with a deathstare.
“I’m sorry. I can’t get my stereo to turn down.” Drew raised her hands up in defense. Brooke rolled her eyes and strode past Drew. She yanked the stereo cord to out of the wall and returned to her place in the doorway.
“Thanks,” Drew managed to sputter out before Brooke turned and walked back to her apartment. She was pretty sure she heard Drew give a loud sigh behind her.
Once safely inside her apartment Brooke gave a sigh of her own. Pearl pinned her with a knowing glare.
“Don’t give me that look. I’m not being rude. I just hate to be woken up early.”
Pearl yawned, seemingly unconvinced.
“It’s not my fault Drew just barged into my life and was immediately annoying.”
Pearl stretched and began to walk off. She gave Brooke one last glance over her shoulder before walking to the kitchen and yowling loudly for her breakfast. Speaking of annoyance, how had she ended up with this demanding cat anyway?
Brooke heard Drew’s apartment door slam and loud footsteps down the hall and to the stairwell. She felt a pang of guilt. Brooke knew that she had been a bit mean to the woman ever since she’d found out that she was renting the store beside her own. It wasn’t as if Drew had stepped in and knowingly stolen the space right out from under her nose. Drew probably had no idea anyone had expressed interest in the space. Was it possible she was making Drew suffer for something that was her landlord’s responsibility?
She gave a half scoop of dry food into Pearl’s bowl. Pearl glared at her and yowled. Brooke mixed a scoop of wet food in and watched as Pearl eyed it suspiciously. She gave Brooke one last malicious glare before deeming the offering worthy of her attention. Brooke shook her head. The apartment was quietand she could only assume that Drew had left for the day. She knew that her attitude towards the woman was unfair. But she couldn’t help being a little salty because that thing she’d wanted for so long had simply been handed to Drew.
Her phone buzzed and she swiped the screen to find a message from Emily. Her friend was planning to stop by for a cup of tea that morning. Brooke sighed and smiled. Outside there was a rumble of thunder, a clear threat that Nashville’s weather was planning to be difficult. She pulled on her raincoat and walked outside. Huge rain drops pelted her as she ran across the street to her storefront. Drew stood in front of her own shop, leaning against the door frame. The woman watched as Brooke ran through the rain.
Drew didn’t offer her usual greeting, instead she gave Brooke a cold glance. The expression threw Brooke off enough that she paused. Unfortunately, she paused under the roof runoff. Cold rainwater soaked her back and she stiffened. Brooke watched as Drew covered a chuckle with her hand. She shrugged when Brooke turned towards her with a warning glare.
“Hey, this is one thing you can’t blame me for,” Drew offered coldly before turning back to her own shop. Brooke allowed a frustrated sigh to escape her. There was something about the coldness of Drew’s response that had hit Brooke the wrong way.
Drew had always been pleasant throughout their interactions. Brooke could admit she certainly hadn’t been kindto Drew in return. She hated the cold feeling of guilt that settled in the pit of her stomach. She and Drew were likely to be business neighbors for the foreseeable future, and Brooke might have ruined the chances of their interaction being cordial.
She stared at the spot where Drew had just stood and wondered if she should go after the woman. She could apologize and hope that Drew would let her cold shoulder be water under the bridge.
