“I said I’ll take care of it and I will.”
Something in my tone must have gotten through my brother’s thick skull, because he and Carter just studied me in silence for another minute. I couldn’t take my eyes off the shop door, staring out toward the busy street like Eden might reappear at any second.
“It’s okay,” I said, managing a smile for Carter’s sake. “She wasn’t expecting to see me and I think she was a little overwhelmed.”
“Right. Buddy, grab your backpack. Milo, if you need anything,” Maverick murmured, “I’m here. I swear I’ll make it up to you. And her.”
I managed a nod, ruffled Carter’s hair when he passed, and waited until they were gone before moving toward the door. The sidewalk was empty when I stepped outside, and the red SUV I now knew belonged to Eden was gone from the prized parking spot on the street out front. I turned to look at Eden’sshop, but behind the papered windows and door, I could tell the lights were off inside.
What were the chances? How impossibly unlikely was it that we would become neighbors when I’d been so sure I would never see her again?
I thought back to how I’d been drawn to her across the hotel ballroom, how she’d sought my company at the bar, how gutted I felt at finding she’d disappeared after an unforgettable night together.
Then I thought about the look on her face when she first saw me behind the counter today, her eyes shimmering brighter than ever thanks to the green blouse she wore, the unmistakable flare of hope within them as her surprise melted away.
I recognized it because the same parade of emotions had marched through my chest.
Something else followed, though. I saw it as I came toward her, an uncertainty that was nothing like those hints of vulnerability at the bar that night. She looked like she expected me to rip into her, like she was bracing for it. Who had made her expect anger instead of forgiveness?
I didn’t like that, not one bit.
When I smiled and moved closer, though, she’d softened, loosened up, looked more like the woman I’d had in my hotel bed for far too short a time. Maverick and his impeccably bad timing had interrupted whatever she was trying to say.
God, I hoped it was something like, “Milo, I want to see you again,” or, “Milo, leaving without getting your number was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
The threat that it might have been more along the lines of, “Milo, what happened was a mistake and we should never speak of it again,” almost knocked me on my ass.
Sighing, I went back into Dueling Dragons to start closing for the night. I needed a plan, preferably one that would lead to spending more time with Eden. I wouldn’t invite my brother into my plotting, but Eden’s cousin…that might be an avenue worth exploring. The woman was bright enough to put two and two together when she came into the shop and invested enough to send Eden to my door.
Adelaide could be just what I needed to ensure I got a chance to have a real conversation with Eden—preferablybeforeshe ground my heart into dust by admitting our night together didn’t mean as much to her as it had to me.
“Psst!CanItalkto you?” I whisper-yelled the words from my back door as Adelaide rounded the building, headed toward the door to Eden’s shop.
Her immediate smile was radiant. “Of course.”
I peeked around the heavy steel door to make sure Eden wasn’t watching, then gestured for Adelaide to precede me intothe dim hallway at the back of Dueling Dragons. There wasn’t much of a resemblance between the cousins, though they were each gorgeous in a very different way and both of them dressed like pin-up girls from the 1950s. Adelaide was tall and slender in contrast to Eden’s dramatic curves, but she had that same regal assurance about her.
Somehow, I couldn’t imagine this woman looking alone in a crowd the way Eden had.
“Sorry, watch your step,” I muttered as we moved around the piles of boxes that lined the hall.
“You need a bigger space,” she replied, then her head snapped up. “Oh, shit. You were one of the other interested parties, weren’t you? The landlord said he had a couple applications from other people and needed a decision quickly.”
I sighed. “Is there any chance of you not mentioning that to Eden?”
Adelaide wrinkled her nose at me. “I’d like to say yes, but she’s a super sleuth and we don’t keep secrets from each other. I won’t go blabbing to her, that’s all I can promise. If—no,when—she figures it out herself, I’ll have to confirm.”
That shouldn’t have made me even more desperate to get to know Eden, but it did. I wanted to see her mind at work, get to know her true self as well as I’d gotten to know her body in our hours together.
I needed to know if I had a chance at that.
“You’re really into her,” she mused, her gaze searching my expression. It was clear she was adept at uncovering secrets herself.
“I am, yes.”
“She regretted it,” Adelaide said.
The words plunged into my gut so forcefully, I almost doubled over. Her shoulders jerked and she held up her hands as she frantically shook her head.
