Dating the Guy Next Door Read Online Free PDF Page B

couldn’t even remember when they’d discussed more than the weather and the price of real estate. Uneasy politeness would probably be the best way to describe it.
    â€œNo, thank you,” Matt said as he took a bite of the bagel she’d bought for him. “I was starving. I guess selling paintings takes it out of you.”
    Kate immediately forgot about her mother. “Y-you sold a painting?”
    â€œYes, a couple came in about an hour ago and fell in love with the one that had an owl, some pink trees and what looked like three pineapples.”
    â€œ
Tropical Paradise
?” Kate glanced over to where the quirky take of Seattle in summer had once been, but all that was there was an empty wall space. So that’s what had been different about the place. “You sold
Tropical Paradise
?”
    For a moment she wondered if he was pulling her leg. But as she studied the way his strong, tapered hands were casually leaning against her small counter, she realized he was telling the truth.
    Perhaps it was from living with Harry that Kate had finally learned how to sniff out a lie at ten paces. Though, she admitted, it sure had taken a lot of practice. She’d finally discovered that whenever her ex-husband had been lying, he gripped his fingers tightly onto whatever was within reach.
    Not that she should really be comparing hands. Matt’s long fingers were tanned with carefully clipped nails while Harry’s had resembled a sausage factory. Funny she’d never noticed it when she’d first married him.
    â€œYes, I did. Though why are you so surprised? You must know that you’re an exceptional artist.” Matt stood up andneatly put the empty bagel bag into the trash can before walking around her small studio.
    â€œT-thank you,” Kate said in surprise as she realized he was serious. Though she loved painting more than just about anything in the world, she still tended to get tongue-tied when she talked about her own work. Also, thanks to being married to Harry, who only liked to talk about one artist—himself—it wasn’t something she had spent much time doing. It also might explain why her business was doing so badly.
    â€œYou’re welcome. Oh, and before I forget, here’s the check,” he said as he passed it over to her, his dark eyes never leaving her face. She reached for it, but as her fingers grazed his, a sizzle ran down the length of her body like an old-fashioned pinball machine.
    In fact, Kate was almost certain that her heart was making the same noise the machine flippers did when they tried to belt the silver ball back up to the other end. Any minute her eyes would start spinning around in their sockets to indicate a high score.
    â€œIs everything okay, Kate? You look pale.”
    â€œFine.” She managed to drag her gaze away from his face. “But I really need to get back to work. I—I need to finish some sketches.”
    â€œSure,” he said in an understanding voice. “But I was just wondering if you could do me a favor?”
    â€œYou mean apart from letting you hide out in my studio for the day?” she said dubiously as she edged away toward the door. If his favor included standing within a five-foot radius of him, then she was going to have to decline on the grounds of saving her heart rate from further wear and tear.
    â€œI need some clothes and my laptop from next door.”
    Kate sucked in a lungful of air. Clothes sounded dangerous. Especially since to put on new ones, he had to take off old ones, and it was that stage in between that sent another silver ball off and spinning throughout her body. Then she realized that if he needed clothes he wasn’t planning to go home at all, which meant that he was intending to increase his stay. Kate froze.
    â€œLook, Matt, about this whole arrangement. The thing is that I have a really small apartment, and no spare blankets, and I still have a lot of