One in a Million(11)
When she’d grown up here, she hadn’t had a lot of friends. Her best friend from school, Hannah, had died of cancer five years ago. Her loss had made it easier to stay away.
She left her apartment and knocked on Olivia’s, right next door. Olivia stuck her head out wearing a man’s white button-down and what looked like absolutely nothing else.
“A new look?” Callie asked.
Olivia laughed and stroked a hand down her definite bedhead hair. “Yeah. Um, was everything okay last night? You slept good?”
Callie leaned against the wall. “You mean did I hear anything coming from your love nest after you stuffed something in the pipes?”
Olivia grimaced. “Socks. I used socks this time. Better than the rolls of toilet paper.”
“Worked like a charm,” Callie said. “Even more efficient than the insulation we don’t have.”
“Good.” Olivia gave a relieved smile. “Didn’t want a repeat of the other night. I’m still sorry about that, by the way.”
Unfortunately, the warehouse was so poorly constructed they could hear each other sneeze. And more. And in Olivia’s case there’d been a lot of that more lately, thanks to her new relationship with Cole, one of Tanner’s business partners.
“No worries,” Callie said. “I put on my headphones as a precautionary measure.”
Olivia groaned. “We’ve really got to get the landlord to put in some insulation. Listen, about breakfast…I’ve got a…thing.”
“Uh-huh,” Callie said on a laugh. “Let me guess. A six-foot, gorgeous, green-eyed thing that goes by the name of Cole?”
Olivia bit her lower lip. “He didn’t dock until three a.m. and we need a few more hours of shut-eye.”
“Go for it,” Callie said. “I’ll just get Becca. We’ll make it a wedding planning breakfast.”
Becca was marrying Sam, Tanner’s other business partner, and Callie had promised to step in for this last month before the wedding and help however she could.
“You didn’t get her text?” Olivia asked.
“No, I—” Callie looked down at her phone. “Oh.” Indeed she’d missed a text from Becca:
The guys didn’t get in until 3 a.m. Sorry to bail on you, but I’m toast. I owe ya breakfast and I have a feeling Olivia does too.
Callie laughed. “Got it,” she told Olivia. “Go back to bed.”
“Thanks. Have a doughnut for me, will ya?” Olivia asked. “Try one of Leah’s old-fashioned chocolate glazes this time. You shouldn’t choke on those.”
Callie opened her mouth to ask how she knew, but Olivia shook her head. “It’s Lucky Harbor,” she said. “You know how it works. You can leave your front door unlocked and no one would ever touch your stuff, but you can’t keep a secret.”
“There’s no secret,” Callie insisted. “I just had coffee.”
“And doughnuts.” Olivia paused. “With Tanner Riggs.”
“The tables were full,” Callie said. “He sat down because there was nowhere else to sit.”
“That’s not what I heard,” Olivia said.
“What did you hear?”
“That he was smiling and laughing. Which is a big deal because he hasn’t had much to smile or laugh about in a while.”
“He was smiling and laughing because I made an ass out of myself,” Callie told her. “And to prove it, ask your source what I was wearing. Yoga capris and Uggs. Fake Uggs. That’s not a hot-mama look, in case you were wondering.”
“Yeah, I heard that too.” Olivia grinned. “And, um, not to be critical or anything, but today isn’t all that different.”
Callie looked down at herself—nice blouse, blazer, and sweatpants—and groaned.
Olivia laughed but then her smile faded. “Listen, Tanner’s been through a rough time. You’re going through a rough time.” She paused and waited for Callie to say something. When she didn’t, she said, “Do you really not see where I’m going with this?”
“It was coffee,” Callie repeated. “And you should know, even given what I do for a living—or maybe especially because of what I do for a living—I’m not at all sold on the male race.”
“I get that,” Olivia said gently. “But just think about it.” And then she blew Callie a kiss and shut the door.
Callie shook her head and started to head out of the building. She stopped short and once again looked down at her “work outfit.” Since Sam and Cole hadn’t gotten in until three in the morning and Tanner had probably been with them, she wasn’t going to run into him this morning. Right? Right. So there wasn’t a reason to change her clothes. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone.