Senada’s heart twisted. She smiled gently. “You must be Maria. I’m Senada Calhoun and this is—”
“I’m Hazel Rodriguez. We’re your new neighbors, and we want to welcome you. Oh!” she exclaimed when she saw the two children, who were sitting at the kitchen bar eating cereal.
“What beautiful children. What are their names?”
Rocky scowled, but his younger sister smiled.
Maria gave a faint smile too. “Rocky is my little man. He’s nine. And Angel is five,” she said, squeezing the little girl’s shoulder. “You’re so kind to come visit us, but the food—” She shook her head self-consciously. “You really shouldn’t.”
“It’s not much,” Senada assured her, and set the baked chicken and bread on the counter. She glanced at Mrs. Rodriguez as she moved closer to the kids. “Just a little neighborhood tradition. Here’s my phone number,” she said, pulling out an index card with the information written on it. “If you need something, call.”
Maria seemed to be holding her breath.
Senada gazed at her thoughtfully. “Are you okay?”
“Everyone’s so nice. Troy, you, Mrs. Rodriguez.”
Senada laughed and tried to put her at ease. “No, no, no. We’re just nosy neighbors. You’ll see. Hope your kids like chicken.”
“They love chicken,” Maria assured her as a knock sounded at the back door. “Oh, look! It’s Troy!”
Senada’s gaze met Troy’s, and she felt a ridiculous spurt of excitement. He looked as if he hadn’t slept well, probably a by-product of where he’d spent the night. She wished she had a good reason for why she hadn’t slept well.
“Good morning,” he said, shifting the grocery bag he carried but keeping his eyes on her.
“How are you?”
There was a hint of sexual turbulence in his gaze that caused an answering rumble inside her. Sin ignored it and smiled. “Fine. I was just on my way out the door.” She deliberately looked at Maria. “It was nice meeting you. Do give me a call if you need me. Okay?”
She managed to get out the door before Troy could add anything. “Bye,” she called, and cursed the breathless sensation in her chest. No good reason for it, she told herself. No good reason at all. Troy Pendleton was not her type.
Senada was still repeating the mantra twenty minutes later when he showed up on her doorstep.
“You have something for me,” he said.
Senada blinked. “That was last night, and since then, I’ve come to my sen—”
“I’m talking about Mrs. Rodriguez’s pie,” Troy said dryly, and walked past her.
“Oh,” she said, and fought the urge to kick herself. She quickly went to the refrigerator and pulled out the pie. Giving the chocolate pastry a wistful glance, she made a quick decision.
“Here.” She thrust the pie in his hands. “You can have the whole thing. Take it back to the hotel with you.”
Troy looked at her as if she were crazy and pressed his hand to her forehead. “Are you sick? Or nuts?”
Impatience licked through her. “Neither. Just take the pie. Okay?”
“But you love chocolate.”
“I’m turning over a new leaf,” she told him. “I’m curbing some of my basic hungers.”
“Well, don’t do it on my account.” He gave her a once-over and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Listen, there’s nowhere I can put this in that shack where I’m staying. Do you mind if I eat it here?”
He looked rumpled, his violet eyes were a little cloudy, and there was a distinct razor cut on his chin. Past her mile-high defenses, Senada knew she had softened toward him for giving his apartment to Rocky and his family. “Sure,” she said quietly. “Have a seat.”
Troy did a double take. He hadn’t heard her use that tone of voice before. Soft, he thought, even her expression was soft. He sat in a chair and just stared at her.
She cut a piece of pie and set it in front of him, then lifted her finger to his chin. “Have an argument with your razor?”
“Dull. It’s been a helluva morning. I talked to Brick.”
“Problems?”
“The worst,” he said, shaking his head. “Ethan eloped.”
Senada frowned, clearly confused. “Did he marry a terrible woman?”
“Don’t know,” Troy said with a shrug. “Doesn’t really matter. All I know is when one of my brothers elopes, it brings another woman into the family, and I get stuck with crazy assignments. And it doesn’t matter which brother it is, whenever they get married, they start acting loopy.”