“My poor baby, are you okay? I’m so sorry.” The woman checked over the mutt.
“You okay?” Sam asked because that seemed the appropriate thing to say.
“Sure, sure, I’m fine.” She blew a strand of short blonde hair from her face and shot a smile his way. “You scared me there. You must be my new neighbor. I expected you to show up onthe other side of the door.” She let out a nervous laugh. “Well, hi. Hello.” She waved, too, in case the verbal greetings weren’t clear enough. “I’m Sadie.”
“Sam.”
“Right. Nice to meet you, Sam.”
He knelt to help with the books, and his gaze dropped to the cover in his hands. Wow. Those were some impressive pecs. He lifted a brow as he dropped the book into the box.
Sadie’s cheeks bloomed with color. Long lashes swept down over brown eyes. “Oh, thank you, but I’ve got it. These are just a little bit of, uh, research. I’m a writer. Not a romance writer but... Well, I am now sorta, I guess. But that’s a long story. We’ll just put these away.” She shoveled the books into the box and stood.
She came up no higher than his shoulders. Speaking of small, her dog jumped up on his leg, making it only as far as his knee.
“I locked myself out—can you believe it? Been here all of two seconds, and I left my phone in the house when I went out to unload my car and... Well, I don’t have the code memorized yet, of course—and it’s on my phone, which is in the house. This is Rio, by the way. I named her after the vivacious character of Rio McDonald fromThe Outlaw. She was played by Jane Russell.”
She took a breath. “Sorry, I’m talking too much. I do that sometimes.” She shifted the box to one arm and stuck out her hand. “Nice to formally meet you. We’ll be neighbors all summer after all.”
He had a feeling this woman sent peace and quiet running for the hills. He sighed as he took her hand. “Pleasure.” Her hand was small and dainty in his. Smooth skin. And she had some kind of clean, sweet scent that teased his nose. Maybe her hair.
“Down, Rio. Get off the nice man.” Sadie grabbed the dog’s leash and gave a little tug. “She’s harmless, I promise. And I’ll keep her out of your side of the yard. I’m sorry to bother you, but can I use your phone? I need to call Mrs. Miller to get the code.”
“I know it.”
Her brows pulled together. “You know it?”
“The code. Had to go over and check on the hot water heater last week.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh! That’s great then. I was already going to bake you a cake—you know, just to be neighborly, but now I’ll make you cookies too.”
His head was spinning a little. He hadn’t heard this many words in the two weeks he’d been here. “That’s not necessary.”
She waved him off. “Oh, I don’t mind. I love to bake. But I’ll get out of your hair if you tell me the code?”
“It’s 124060. Can I carry the...?”
But she was already skirting the dog and carting her box and belongings off toward her own stoop. “Thank you. Sorry to have bothered you. I’ll memorize the code this time. Go on, Rio, that’s a good girl.” She leaned close to the keypad, pressed some buttons, straightened, and twisted the knob.
She threw him a smile over her shoulder. “Worked like a charm. 124060. See? I already have it memorized.” She juggled the box, leash, and suitcase as she navigated the screen door. “Thank you again!” She gave another wave. “I’ll bring those goodies over in the next day or two.”
“You don’t have”—he began, but she was already gone—“to do that.”
Three
Weave the threads of your characters’ pasts into their present-day lives in a way that deepens the story.
—Romance Writing 101
Sadie woke to the bright morning sunlight puddling on the white duvet. In the distance the surfwhooshedagainst the shoreline in rhythmic waves.Aah. She could get used to that sound. When she stirred, Rio hopped up and licked her face. “Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well? Yes, you did. Do you have to go potty?”
Rio froze, all but her fluffy tail, her brown eyes lighting.
“Let’s go! Let’s go potty.” Sadie grabbed the dog and stopped by the restroom on her way downstairs. Wearing a pair of leggings and a tee, she deemed herself presentable enough to make an appearance outside.
She detoured to the kitchen. “Just a minute. Gotta get thecoffee going... Mommy needs her caffeine. There we go. See, that didn’t take long. Now we’re ready to go outside.”
She slid open the patio door, and Rio dashed past her onto the deck and down the steps to the fenced-in yard. Sadie followed. She’d be sharing the long wooden deck, which was divided by three potted trees. She peeked around the palm branches and spied her neighbor reading the newspaper with his morning coffee. “Well, hello! Good morning.”
