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Stephanie watched her friend cross the cafeteria as excitement bubbled up in her like a dishwasher that’d been filled with hand soap. She’d been looking forward to the event but now she was ecstatic.
“I think the reopening is the perfect night to start the program,” Misty declared eagerly. “All you need is a date. There has to be someone that you’re interested in.”
A mental image of her neighbor popped up in Stephanie’s head. He was shirtless and hovering over his motorcycle. His muscled back, arms, and abs were highlighted by a sheen of sweat. The image wasn’t born from her imagination, it was a mental snapshot that she’d taken when she’d come home from work and seen him in his garage two days ago. Every line and curve of his chiseled frame was burned into her memory. She’d tried to erase it, delete it, forget it, but it just kept popping up.
Ace had moved into the condo next to her about a month ago and she’d purposefully kept her distance from him. He had trouble written all over him. She didn’t have the time or energy for trouble in her life. He was the epitome of tall, dark and handsome with his deep dimples, southern accent, and striking blue eyes, contrasted perfectly by his dark hair and olive complexion. Top him off with an air of mystery and danger and he was firmly in the off-limits zone.
She’d managed to have spoken to him only one time six days ago. It had not gone well.
After arriving home from a thirteen-hour shift, she’d collapsed in bed and was blissfully asleep when she’d been startled awake from a loud knock on her front door. Her eyes were still shut as she’d stumbled down the hall. She’d barely pried one eye open when she’d swung the door open. Her brain hadn’t quite received the message that it was no longer asleep until she laid eyes on her sexier than sin neighbor and then it woke right up.
His hair was damp, like he’d just gotten out of the shower. The white shirt that pulled taut across the muscled planes of his chest and the rounded curves of his biceps contrasted his olive skin perfectly. The jeans he wore hung low on his waist and were faded in all the right areas. His large hands were holding a cardboard box with the words Fresh and Healthy on the side. He explained that it had accidently been delivered to him instead of her. The label on it said refrigerate upon arrival so he wanted to get it right over to her.
What she should have done in that situation was thank him, take the box, and shut the door. Unfortunately, Stephanie tended to speed-ramble when she was exhausted, nervous, or turned on. Combining all three was apparently a trainwreck.
In under thirty seconds she’d explained that the mail mix-up happened a lot because their house numbers were displayed between their two front doors and it caused confusion for any delivery person other than Mitch, their normal mailman who was out on disability because he’d slipped and broken his hip. He was going to be in the hospital for at least another week and then would need surgery and physical therapy. She’d also explained that the reason for the sticker was because the contents of the box were perishable premade meals that she ordered bi-weekly from a service because since it was just her now, she didn’t cook anymore because she hated doing dishes. But she liked to eat healthy and this was the third service that she’d tried because the first two tasted worse than the cardboard that they came in. But she’d seen an advertisement for Fresh and Healthy and she thought, that’s the one for me. And they were. So now their boxes were delivered to her twice a month.
Then she took a breath.
When she did an amused look in his striking blue eyes caused the tiny hairs on the back of her neck to stand, or maybe it was just his eyes and had nothing to do with the amusement in them. His only response to her turbo-fueled speed-ramble was the twitch of the left corner of his mouth and a simple. “Oh.”
Knowing that if she opened her mouth again she’d most likely make an even larger fool of herself, she did what any sane woman trying to salvage a shred of dignity would do. She grabbed the box, shut the door, and then yelled thank you through it. It wasn’t one of her prouder moments. She knew that it would be getting a page in her awkward moment chronicles, and that had been before she’d seen her reflection in the hallway mirror. Her hair looked like a bird had built a nest in it and thanks to her pillow she had two very large creases running down her right cheek.
Now, as she stared down at the table she shook off that memory and knocked him out of the running as a potential date. When she glanced up she saw Misty looking at her expectantly. She didn’t want to make any commitments, but she also hated disappointing people.
Stephanie blew out a breath. “I’ll think about it.”
She would…and hopefully come up with a better candidate than her sexy next-door neighbor.
