“You were having so much fun finally moving into your own place that I didn’t want to take away from it.” His expression turned vulnerable. “And I was worried you might not want me as a neighbor. Me getting this particular unit was totally random.”
Holly’s heart ached at the thought that her insecurities might have hurt Zack. He’d done nothing to make her doubt his sincerity, even during those two summers they’d spent as youth camp counselors. The corner of her mouth quirked up.
“I can’t think of anyone who would be a better neighbor. Can I help with anything?”
“I have more stuff than you,” he warned. “Could you organize my kitchen?”
Holly blinked and then narrowed her eyes. “Why, because I’m a girl?”
“Don’t hit me!” Zack held his arms in front of his face.
“What?” Holly sputtered, indignant he would think such a thing.
Then he lowered his hands, the corners of his mouth twitching, though the tone of his voice was serious. “I know you wouldn’t, but you ought to know I’m not a sexist either.” Zack tilted his head, brows arched, and his eyes twinkling. “Kathy says you know your way around a kitchen. And it’s not a skill I’ve needed since my mom is always giving me leftovers. Look, my friends even had to help me put together a seven-layer dip for the Fourth of July barbecue. I really am incompetent.”
“Sorry.” Holly couldn’t believe how she’d overreacted. Nothing Zack had said or done was anything like the misogynistic doctor in Denver and his rants about awoman’s place. “Isn’t your apartment a studio? Do you mind showing it to me?”
Zack turned toward his door,keeping his expression neutral despite the sudden rush of exhilaration. He needed to play this subtly or give away too much of how he felt about her. As hard as the last four months had been, it had given him time to think of ways to woo her. His biggest worry had been that she wouldn’t want him to.
Then Holly had totally sniffed him a few minutes ago. Her spontaneous reaction alone was an enormous step in the right direction. And she liked how he smelled.
“The kitchen’s here.” Zack pointed to the left. “I’ve already put the freezer stuff away.”
“Wow. For a studio apartment, this place has a decent amount of counter space.” Holly went down the short hallway and turned the corner into the bedroom area. “The design is kindof brilliant the way they’ve used the wall of closets to separate the sleeping space from the rest. Put in a door, and they could call this a one-bedroom apartment—and charge more. Dang!” she grumbled with a huff.
“What’s wrong?” Zack asked, fighting back worry that he’d done something wrong.
“I never even looked at the studio apartments here. In Denver, I leased one for a year. It had theworstlayoutever. I could have gotten one of these and saved some money.”
“But then we wouldn’t be next-door neighbors.”
Looking at his pleased expression, Holly appeared to fight back a grin. “That’s true.”
So, Zack took a mental breath and braved more. “Doesn’t it feel like serendipity that you ended up here in Canyondale, of all places?”
“Right?” Holly did smile then, her cheeks pinking a little, the flush showing off the sprinkling of freckles on her nose. “Maybe itwasmeant to be. I’ll get to work in the kitchen.”
Grinning, Zack got busy organizing his small living room. He should have the guys come again later to set up the wall mount for his television.
After a few minutes, Holly poked her head over the counter dividing the kitchen from the dining/living room space. “That didn’t take long. Your kitchen is in order. What there is of it, anyway. If you plan to do any cooking, you need to make a grocery store run.”
“I told you it wouldn’t be hard.”
When she stepped into the living room, she cried, “Oh, what’s this?” and immediately headed to the drop-leaf table Zack had retrieved from his mother’s attic last night.
“That’s the table I made my junior year of high school.”
“I remember you talking about it.” Holly lifted first one rounded leaf and then the other. “Didn’t you win a prize in the state fair with it?”
“I did.” Zack’s heart thrilled that, even after all these years, she hadn’t forgotten how much it meant to him to win.
“Where will you put it?” She scanned the room. “You already have a small dining table, and this would get in the way in your entry.”
“I brought it for you.”
Holly straightened and turned to stare at him. Something flashed in those blue eyes again that made him ache for her.
“My older sister had it in her house until they outgrew it,” Zack quickly explained. “It’s sat in my mom’s attic for a couple of years, and I figured you could get some use out of it. Unless you don’t like it and want to buy something else.”
