Page 13 of Home Team Advantage
Only then did Anna notice that the man was holding a covered Crock-Pot with a brown paper bag atop it. His bare hands were big with long, capable-looking fingers.
Stop drooling over the neighbor. Aloud, she said, “That’s very kind of you,” and held out her hands for the pot. “I can take that. Please, take off your coats and have a seat. I’ll let Mrs. Campbell know you’re here.”
“It’s heavy,” the bronzed god said, retaining his hold on the offering as well as his devastating smile. And, yep, his teeth were as perfect as the rest of him. “Would you like me to put it in the kitchen?”
Anna reined in her hormones and did a reality check. This was more than a social visit. If the people around here looked out for one another as much as Mrs. Campbell had claimed, the neighbors probably noticed her presence and felt compelled to check on Elsa and ensure all was well. Anna didn’t take offense. She was the outsider and the unknown.
“Thanks. I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“I’m sorry,” the woman said. “I didn’t catch your name.”
Yep. Nosy. But concerned for their elderly neighbor, which wasn’t a bad thing. When talking about them earlier, Elsa had said how they often checked on her and how helpful they’d been when something needed to be done.
“Anna.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Anna.”
“Nice to meet you as well.” Anna excused herself and went to inform Mrs. Campbell about her guests, then offered to make tea and coffee. Her plan was to stay out of the way but remain near enough in case she was needed.
Every time she went into the living room, she felt their gazes. Assessing. Curious. Especially the guy’s. As if she was some puzzle he was trying to solve.
No mystery here, she wanted to tell him, but that would be a lie.
He had some mystery of his own going on though. In the service? He sure didn’t look like it with that longish hair and those piercings. Maybe he had been out for a while. He did have a quiet intensity about him. Beneath the rich playboy style and the bright smile was a man who had seen and done things.
She knew because it was impossible to grow up and survive in her world without being able to recognize the posers from the predators. Despite Mrs. Campbell’s obvious affection for him, the man was definitely a predator.
Chapter Eight
MATT
“So?” Faith asked when they returned to their house. “What do you think of Mrs. Campbell’s new girl?”
That was the thing. He didn’t know what to think, and that bothered him. Matt was usually adept at reading people. It was a natural skill, but one he’d honed to perfection.
Mrs. Campbell’s new live-in caretaker was a challenge—in more ways than one.
The physical characteristics were easy enough to catalog. He put her around his age, maybe a little younger. Smooth skin with a slightly darker base, hinting at a Mediterranean heritage, like Aidan Harrison and his sister. Dark hair that would fall well below her shoulders if it wasn’t pulled up into a ponytail. Brown eyes so dark that they could be mistaken for black. No makeup. The only thing not natural about her appearance was the bookish glasses she wore.
Clothes, simple and practical. Not expensive. Perfectly suitable for a caregiver on a budget.
Quiet, polite, respectful.
And yet … there was something about her. Something that suggested there was a hell of a lot more to her than a mild-mannered aide for the elderly. Something that had hit him solidly in the chest the moment she opened the door and pinned him with those dark, dark eyes.
“She seems capable,” he answered carefully.
“And attractive,” Faith said.
Matt said nothing because while Anna was attractive in a very natural, no-airs sort of way, agreeing with his mother might put crazy ideas in her head.
“And Mrs. Campbell seems to like her,” Faith continued, “which says something. Elsa didn’t think much of the previous people sent by the county.”
That was another thing. Anna wasn’t from one of the licensed county caregiver associations. Elsa had admitted that Anna had been applying for a job at IHOP when she hired her, for God’s sake. Matt was still trying to make sense of that one. Mrs. Campbell seemed to think it was a divine crossing of paths. Him? He wasn’t so sure. Seemed a little too convenient.
As it turned out, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.
* * *
