Читать книгу One To Win - Michelle Monkou - Страница 12

Chapter 3

Fiona tried to focus on the book on her e-reader. She tried to stick with the story to figure out who’d committed the crime. But her thoughts wandered without restraint to the point that she was merely staring over the top of her e-reader. That was when she saw her grandparents walking together, completely absorbed in their animated conversation without noticing her. It took only a second to make the decision to seek out Leo. To satisfy her curiosity, nothing else.

Even if she didn’t find out why he was here, she wanted to know what he’d been up to. Her conscience needled her for her desire to catch up on his life. She didn’t deserve the privilege—that was more than likely what he thought. Her rationale was a bit kinder, that it could be the open door to regenerating a friendship between them.

Besides, finding out any juicy bits would shut down her cousins’ silly plans to push Leo at her for debriefing. Seeing him in the flesh did bolster her openness to this second chance. The young man who had once interned at Meadows Media had morphed into a self-assured, handsome sight. His nerdy, boyish charm had evolved to well-dressed sophistication with a bit of old-Hollywood confident sex appeal.

Immediately, his intense, dark brown eyes fixed on her. She didn’t look away. Couldn’t. Too much to admire, from his beautiful brown skin to his clean-cut features that showed off the bold contours of his face to the tall, lean lines of his body gifted with the right muscle tone.

Stepping aside to let him focus solely on his career had been the hardest thing to do. But right before her eyes, she could see today that her decision to let him go had been for the best. Damn if it still didn’t hurt like hell, though.

Seeing Leo rattled her. Although she’d anticipated his arrival, when he got out of the car, she hadn’t expected the dizzying rush of emotions to race to the surface. Then seeing him in the house with only a few feet between them had had her almost hyperventilating. Outwardly, he looked unscathed by her earlier actions.

Not that she wanted to see him broken or bitter. The last image of him before they separated, as if her decision had dealt a physical blow to his gut, had become her lasting image of him.

New chapter, new beginnings—maybe that would be the theme for the reunion. Fiona stayed preoccupied, contemplating a strategy about picking up where they’d left off. Truthfully, she didn’t think her attempt would be difficult, especially if he wasn’t in a relationship. But after seeing him in person, the doubts weighed in her belly.

Looking into his face, those eyes staring boldly at her, she sensed the difference in him. No sign of the shy smile or tentative attitude. His cool regard of her resonated like an echo in his demeanor, expression and body language.

If it weren’t for the persistent nudging from her cousins, she’d have ground out the flicker of hope and worked hard to scrub the memories of their times together once and for all.

Clicking off her e-reader, she tucked it against her chest and headed indoors. Time to get started gleaning what she could from her ex-boyfriend.

Fiona stepped inside and went on the hunt. No one was immediately in sight, although she heard activity coming from various parts of the house. As she walked down the hallway toward the staircase, she noticed luggage sitting in the middle of the entryway. Leo appeared and stopped near the parked garment bag and suitcase.

“Done with your super-secret mission? Leaving?” Fiona tried to sound nonchalant and not disappointed.

“I’m moving out to the guesthouse.”

“Really? What are you up to?”

Denton entered and Fiona waited until Leo was done talking to the handyman. The guesthouse was within walking distance, but another part of the garden separated the two houses. Maybe Leo’s staying off-site could be used to her advantage. He’d be out of Grace’s watchful gaze. Slightly beyond her cousins’ annoying interference.

“Are you going to work now? I noticed that my grandmother is off doing her own thing.” Fiona motioned toward the back of the house with her chin.

“I’m going to head into town to buy a few things.”

“Oh, great—I’ll come with you.”

“Why?”

She stuck out her hand. “Hi, I’m Fiona Reed.”

He stared at her hand and then up at her face, his confusion printed in his wrinkled forehead. “Hello, Fiona.” Finally he took her hand, gentle and unsure. “I’m Leo.”

“Good to meet you, Leo.”

“Why are we doing this?”

Fiona didn’t have a clue, was just going with her gut. “That’s how I greet new friends.”

He slowly nodded, releasing her hand. “But we’re not new friends.”

“If you start from the beginning of something, it’s new. Or you can fast-forward and continue with barely a ripple.” She tried with every bit of effort to keep up the facade that this was a casual conversation. “Circumstances have brought us together. Figured that we can be civil, all friendly-like, as we’ll be sharing the same space.”

“Sounds logical.” His doubt in her perspective poured out of his tone.

“I can hear the ‘but’ about to come. Here’s the start to my peace offering. Let me drive you into town.”

His eyebrows shot up.

She had to fight back a chuckle. “Hey, it’s all on the up-and-up. And I know the roads around here.” She crossed her heart. “I won’t jump your bones.” Yet.

Leo’s smile almost emerged. “It’s not that. I know you’re only interested in knowing what I’m working on.”

“I won’t lie that I’m not interested. Okay, very interested. However, I would like us to be on amicable terms while you’re here. And if that’s comfortable for you—” she paused to read him: nothing “—then we could...” Her attempts whimpered into silence.

Leo looked toward the open door. Did he want to shut this down now?

“Well, I won’t push. But just wanted to toss that out to you.” Fiona’s pride stung around the edges.

The staircase provided her escape and she turned to leave.

“Give me an hour to get a few things settled and then we can go into the city.” He stopped in the doorway.

“Hey, it’s cool. Don’t want to force you.” Fiona wanted back on firm ground, not this squishy place of uncertainty and regret.

“You’re not forcing me. Can’t, really.” He shrugged. “I’ll take your invitation with the spirit you intended. A small step toward friendship.”

“One hour, then.” She watched his exit away from the tense interaction. She guessed they were in test mode. All she needed was a slight thaw in the frozen bridge between them.

Fiona headed up to her room to change her clothes. She wanted jeans and a T-shirt. Maybe dressing way down could benefit her plan to be casual and nonthreatening. As for her hair, she pulled it back into a ponytail and then put on only a light cover of makeup and an equally light sweep of lip color.

A series of short knocks on her door provided the only heads-up that her cousins were about to barge into her room.

“Heading out?” Dana asked, unabashedly sizing up her outfit selection.

“Yeah, going out with Leo.”

“That was fast. Hell, I lost the bet.” Belinda pouted as she made for a chair.

Fiona rolled her eyes. “You two are of no help. I was having a hard time convincing Leo that I wanted to be friends.”

“He’s only playing hard to get. Why wouldn’t he want to be friends?” Dana climbed onto her bed.

“The project. He thinks that I’m coming at him because I want to know what is going on,” Fiona said.

“I call that being astute,” Belinda remarked.

“And right,” Dana interjected.

“I do want to be friends.” Fiona stated her conviction for the first time to her cousins.

“For your two-week jaunt or beyond?” Dana pushed.

“You’re making me sound like a calculating wench. Looks like I’ll have to prove myself to Leo and to you.”

“Oh, hon, no need. We’re teasing.” Belinda waved off her concern.

Fiona accepted the reassurance, but deep down, the teasing had a certain bite. Even Leo’s cool reaction to her overture had the undercurrent of distrust. Of all the things she could be accused of, being insincere wasn’t one.

Dana leaned forward from her perch on the bed. “Are you leaving soon?”

“Yeah. Why?” Fiona noticed Dana’s hesitation.

“Grace wants the family together at dinner. ‘It’s our first night under the same roof’ spiel,” Dana explained.

Fiona asked, “Are my parents here?”

Belinda shook her head. “I’m guessing that they will be here by dinnertime if Grace is requesting that we all be there.”

Fiona wasn’t confident on that front. A glance at the clock on the mantelpiece over the fireplace let her know that it was time to meet Leo. After checking her face in the mirror and feeling satisfied with her reflection, she breezed past her cousins and headed out of the room.

“Don’t do anything I’d do.” Dana laughed over her witty remark.

“I’m going on instinct. No promises.”

“I feel sorry for that guy.” Belinda shook her head again, her mouth curved in a grin.

Fiona ran down the stairs and hit the outdoors. At that moment, Leo pulled up in his car and waited for her. Taking a deep breath and exhaling some of her nervousness, she pasted on a bright smile.

Leo beckoned to her.

She slipped on her sunglasses and headed toward the car.

Leo opened the door and she slid in. “I was going to drive.” She looked up at him as she pulled the seat belt over her body.

“That’s because you thought you were going to take charge of the situation.” He winked before he closed the door.

She bit her cheek to stop from grinning.