“Hello, honey. Have you met Adam Parker? He’s your new neighbor,” she says in a voice that makes me feel a little like a preschooler being introduced to a classmate. “I think you two should get to know each other.”
She obviously doesn’t know about our date yet.
Adam takes a seat on the sofa, on the side closest to the recliner, and pats the cushion next to him. “Yeah, come sit down, Claire. Let’s get to know each other.”
I take a seat on the sofa, making sure to put at least a foot of space between Adam and me.
“What did you do today? Where’s Tina?” I ask as I turn to Cora.
“Adam’s been taking care of me today. He gave her the day off,” she says, her eyes crinkling with delight.
I narrow my eyes at him and he grabs Cora’s hand as he turns back to her. “It was my pleasure. I didn’t have anything to do today since the only other person I know in this town was working.”
“You work too much, Claire,” Cora chimes in as she continues to stroke Bigfoot with her free hand.
Geez. It’s like these two have spent the past six hours scheming to get Adam and me together. First he switches my schedule without my knowledge and now he’s using Cora to get on my good side. He is a master conspirator.
I stand up and do a quick check around the kitchen just to satisfy my curiosity. As expected, he did everything I asked. He even stocked her cupboard with plenty of hot cereal packets and her refrigerator with lots of fresh fruit.
“Well, it looks like you’re all taken care of so I’m going to head home,” I say as I plant a kiss on Cora’s forehead and rub Bigfoot’s head. “I need to shower and get to bed early. I have the early shift tomorrow.”
“Walk her home, Adam,” she says sweetly and he immediately pops up off the sofa.
“See you later, Cora. We’ll have to watch that movie another time.”
“See you later, sonny,” she says, and I know what’s coming next. “But just because I call you sonny, doesn’t mean you’re bright.”
He laughs and points at her. “I can’t keep up with you, C.”
Adam follows me out of the apartment and uses his own key, which Cora must have given him, to lock her deadbolt.
I take a few steps and turn around when I reach my door. “C? Did you spend the whole day with her?”
“I ran a few errands for her, but other than that, yes, I spent the day with Cora. She’s funny and we were about to watch a movie before you interrupted us.”
“Oh, well, don’t let me interrupt your date with Cora. Please, go right back in.”
He steps forward and my back hits my front door as I take a step back. He leans against the door with his hands on either side of my head, effectively caging me in.
“Are you jealous of my relationship with Cora?”
His breath is hot against my nose and warmth rushes through me, lighting up my core.
“I just don’t want her to get used to having you around. She’s had a lot of people bail on her and I….” His face is getting closer with every word I speak. “I don’t want her to get hurt.”
“Are you sure we’re talking about Cora?” he whispers against my lips, lingering for a moment before he pushes away from the door. “I work all week, but I’ll be by your house at nine a.m. on Saturday. Wear a bathing suit under your clothes.”
I let out a deep sigh and scramble into my apartment, slamming the door behind me. I take a few calming breaths, trying to ignore the ache pulsating between my legs as I make my way toward the bedroom to meditate.
Chapter Seven
Relentless Games
I DON’T HEAR FROM ADAM all week. And, although I do hear him coming in and out of his apartment a few times, he never stops by to say hi. But I know he’s still visiting Cora because every time I pop in on her, she’s always wearing an enormous grin. When Senia and I arrive at her house on Friday evening at seven, Tina answers the door.
“Oh, hi, Claire,” she says in an exasperated tone.
She quickly waddles into the kitchen to continue washing the dinner dishes. I try not to get upset with Tina. That’s just her manner. She’s never been particularly friendly and I’ve never taken the time to get to know her enough to find out why.
I step inside with Senia and find Adam and Cora engaged in a game of cards on a wooden TV tray table. Neither of them look up from their cards. I know he said he was going to be working all week, but it’s not as if he couldn’t just drop by and say hello—at least pretend I exist. The fact that I neglected to ask him what he does for a living just made the entire week of waiting even more uncomfortable. When Senia and I discussed it, our best guess was he changed his mind about the date and couldn’t bring himself to break the news to me.