“I…what?” He looks me over like he’s sure I got a head injury.
“What were you doing with that body in your backyard?”
Realization dawns in his gaze. “That was a CPR mannequin. I’m auditioning for a role…” His voice trails off. “You thought I killed someone?”
Heat assaults my face. Of course Dustin Sawyer isn’t a murderer. I’m an idiot. Squint doesn’t care, he’s still happily barking.
Dustin scoffs. “Is that why you were hanging out your window?”
I must be twelve shades of red by now. I’m talking full-body blush. I look like a lobster spending a day at the spa.
“Sorry.” I suddenly remember my phone in the pool. If there’s any way to save it, I must go fish it out fast. “I dropped my phone…” I say as I brush past him, trying to explain why I have to rush off.
“Were you filming me? Is this all part of your plan?” He follows me into Jera’s bedroom.
My plan? Was he daft? Who would plan to get stuck in a window? “No.” I look around for a dresser but Jera doesn’t have one.
He swipes a hand through his hair. “I know you’re upset about the fence, but I swear, I didn’t know it was on your property. It’s only one inch, for Pete’s sake. One inch!”
I have no idea what he’s talking about, and I need to find a bathing suit, so I open the closet door. Holy cow, there’s a whole country in her closet. Why is her closet larger than my apartment? I flick on the light. Er, I should say lights, because every inch of the place has a spotlight on it, and all the glitzy bedazzled clothing lights up like a Christmas tree.
“I’m sorry, can we talk later? I have to go fish my phone out of the pool.”
Dustin shakes his head. “You never want to talk. I’m tired of trying to talk to you through my lawyer. I just want to know why you won’t take my offer. It’s quite reasonable. You’ll get to collect rent for a stupid fence.”
I know nothing about the argument between them so I keep my mouth shut.
He stares at me. “Are you still mad at me for what happened last year?”
Jera really didn’t tell me enough about her life to prepare me for this. “No, I’m not mad,” I say before I realize Jera may be indeed mad at the man. Oops.
Dustin comes into the closet with me. “Just take the deal. It’s a fair price for the space my fence is taking.”
I can’t take a deal for my sister, so I shake my head. “I’m sorry, I can’t.” I pull a two-piece striped suit out of a cubby hole. It still has the tags on it. Sheesh, why is there so little fabric to it? Couldn’t she have a one-piece somewhere?
“I don’t understand why you’re being so unreasonable,” Dustin says as he rubs his neck.
“Please, talk to…me in about a week. I’ve got a situation.” I shove him out of the closet and shut the doors, resigning to putting on the little strappy thing.
“If it’s money you want, I can increase the offer,” he says through the doors. Squint sniffs all the shoes.
“I don’t want your money!” I yell as I yank the suit on. Jera doesn’t need any more money, that’s for certain. She’s paid off my mother’s debt, bought her a big house in Seattle, and gave her a nice nest egg. I know she’d do the same for me if I’d let her, but I don’t want her to. It doesn’t sit right with me.
“Then what’s the—?” He stops mid-sentence as I fling open the doors and rush out. “Wow,” he says under his breath.
I shoot a glare at him. Was that a remark about my cellulite? Because Jera definitely looks better in a swimsuit than I do. Did I mention my love for Oreos? But I don’t have time to call him out for being rude. I rush down the stairs, Squint barking again as he follows me.
“Jera,” Dustin calls out as he races after me.
“My phone!” I shoot back at him.
“It will be fine. They make them waterproof now.”
I doubt my phone is waterproof. It’s a dinosaur. If smartphones made fun of each other, mine would be the one always picked on. I can’t even take any more pictures with it because the memory is all full.
I don’t wait for Dustin, I jump into the pool and grab my phone. I surface, holding it up and water drains out of it. It’s toast, I can tell already. I try not to think of all that I lost.
I rush to the stairs and climb out as Squint barks at Dustin. He looks down at my dog as if seeing him for the first time. “When did you get a dog?”
I don’t answer. I don’t want to lie to the guy. He looks pretty nice now that I know he’s not a murderer. “I need rice,” I say under my breath as I rush inside the patio door. I race to the kitchen, Dustin at my heels. I start opening the cupboards. Rice…rice…rice. Jera must have rice somewhere.
Dustin stares at me. “What are you doing?”
“Rice!” I screech at him like he should know. “Where is it?”
He holds out his hand. “Let me see your phone.”
I don’t even stop to think. I toss it at him while I’m searching for the rice.
“Geesh, Jera, get a new phone. This one’s like a hundred years old.”
I blink back tears as I realize the only photo I had of my father was on that phone. He left when I was six, and Mom tore up all the pictures she could find. I kept one hidden from her for years. I’d snapped a picture of it once, so I could use it as my screen saver. I’ve since lost the original, so the one on my phone was all I had left. Why didn’t I back it up on my laptop?
I open the last cupboard and grab a box of instant rice. Finally! I pull a bowl out and shake the rice into it as I grab my phone back from Dustin. “I can’t,” I finally say, emotions choking me.
Dustin looks at me like I’m a math problem he can’t solve. “Why not?”
I keep shaking rice out until my phone is buried and there’s no rice left in the box. My hands shake as I set the bowl down on the counter and stare at it like it’s going to do something.
“What’s wrong?” Dustin asks me, his voice soft.
I realize I’m crying. I quickly wipe my face and shake my head. “It’s nothing.”
His jaw muscles tighten. “It’s not nothing,” he says. He sounds like he actually cares. What happened between him and my sister, anyway? My heart does funny things in my chest.
“What is it?” he says, his voice quiet. “Tell me.”
My breath hitches. He’s so stunningly gorgeous, I can’t think. I’m exposed, standing there with just a bathing suit on, my feelings on display. I turn from him. “You wouldn’t understand.”
He lets out a breath like he’s giving up. “All right. Have it your way.”
He moves to leave, but I grab his arm. I feel bad for everything. He was just trying to help, and I’m being rude. “I’m sorry. I’m not myself today. Please forget this ever happened.”
He looks down at my hand on his arm. “You’re not kidding.”
I have no idea what he means by that. “Huh?” I ask as I remove my hand.
“You’ve never apologized to me. Not once. Until today. Now you can’t stop saying it.” He raises one eyebrow and I about faint. Why does that make him look even more handsome?
I resist the urge to apologize again. I’m messing this whole thing up. What on earth made me think I could pretend to be Jera? Dustin is going to figure me out, and I just met the guy. I bite my lips to keep from saying anything else wrong.
His gaze softens and he takes a step toward me. Heat radiates off him on my skin. My heart picks up speed. What in the world is wrong with me?
“I think we got off on the wrong foot last year,” he says, his voice low. “I don’t know what happened, but let’s start over.”
Starting over sounds good. I nod. “Okay.”
“Come over tonight. Bring your phone. I’ll see if I can fix it.”
I shouldn’t. I know this. But I need my phone. I bite my lower lip, trying to decide which is worse, me pretending to be Jera in close quarters with her hot neighbor, or me not having a phone where Jera can tell me all the things I need to do.
“I’ll make you dinner,” he adds.
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