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Play nice. Don’t give him any reason to be suspicious. Politely send him on his way because if the crew comes out here, you’re screwed.
At the thought, her heartbeat picked up, and she took two calming breaths while she pretended to watch the dogs play.
“Can I talk to you later?” she said. “I just need to finish up—”
“Are they hiring you to draw them a house?” He peered at the truck. “Where did they find land? Is it a teardown?” He looked at her. “You’d tell me if there was land for sale around here, right?”
“It’s not for my job, Robbie. It’s for my friend’s.”
“Your friend is helping someone build a house?”
“No. He’s up here on business, and since he’s staying with me, I offered to host his meeting—”
“Bye, Dana!” a voice called, and Daphne looked to see Sofia and the crew walking toward their truck with Chris right behind them.
CHRIS
The neighbor. That was who Daphne had heard and run out to meet. What’s-his-name, who very clearly wanted to get more neighborly. Asshole.
Okay, that didn’t make him an asshole, but Chris still got those asshole vibes, and not because he’d insulted Chris on their first meeting.
Okay, not entirely because of that.
Was there something going on between Daphne and neighbor-dude? Did she like assholes?
He almost laughed at the thought. Uh, no, by the time he’d left their first meeting he’d known that Daphne McFadden definitely did not go for assholes. But presumably neighbor-dude wouldn’t be an asshole to her.
Chris watched them as he escorted the crew to their truck. Daphne and neighbor-dude huddle-talked while their dogs played together.
The guy was decent looking. Okay, he was good-looking. And living out here meant he was outdoorsy. Was this Daphne’s inspiration for Zane? Neighbor-dude was a lot less polished than Zane, but that sophistication had been Chris’s take on the role. He got the feeling “polished” wasn’t Daphne’s type, any more than “asshole.”
Hey, Chris could be a little rough around the edges if he wanted. He could be so damned unpolished, he’d walk through the house with his shoes on and not even ask whether it was okay.
Take that, neighbor-dude.
His inner voice sighed. Deeply.
Fine. That was more rude than “rough around the edges.” Daphne wouldn’t like rude. Just a little more real. Like her. Daphne wasn’t Zane. She wasn’t fake. She didn’t shop for designer flannel and probably laughed at guys who did.
He looked down at his two-hundred-dollar flannel shirt.
Sofia called to Daphne, saying goodbye. When she used the Dana name, Chris tensed, but he could see Daphne saying something, no doubt laughing it off as a mistake.
“Should I go say goodbye?” Sofia said. “She was such a great hostess.”
“Mmm, better not. That’s a neighbor, and he’s a bit of an ass. You might want to flee while you still can.”
Before he comes over here and realizes what’s going on.
Chris hadn’t even thought of that.
Because you were too busy being jealous to realize Daphne is holding him off before he blows her cover?
And now the neighbor was heading their way while Daphne jogged along, trying to intercept him.
Shit!
Chris put out his hand to help Sofia into the truck, which was the gentlemanly thing to do and not at all to hurry along her departure.
