Page 7 of Perfect Together

She cinched the tie on her bathrobe. Used to being extra careful in Manhattan, she glanced into the peephole of her door.

The unexpected visitor standing on the other side made her breath catch in her throat and her heart begin a steady gallop.

“Sam,” she whispered, shocked right down to her toes.

He knocked again, and she fumbled with the lock before opening the door.

He braced one muscular arm on the doorframe and grinned. “Hi.”

“Hi,” she managed in return, her gaze steady on his.

His smile deepened, revealing dimpled grooves in the sides of his mouth. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks,” she said as his husky voice rippled through her.

He hadn’t shaved, and with stubble and sexy messed hair, he looked even more delicious than she remembered. Her mouth ran dry and she ran her tongue over her dry lips.

“I wasn’t expecting you,” she said, wincing as the words came out not at all like she’d intended.

“Disappointed?”

Lord no,she thought and shook her head. “Of course not. Just surprised.”

His heavy-lidded gaze met hers. “So was I when I heard you’d moved here.”

“I bet.”

“Are you going to invite me in?” he asked.

She clutched her bathrobe lapels together, torn between doing just that and doing the proper thing. “Umm, I’m not exactly dressed.”

A grin lifted the corners of his mouth. “I don’t mind.” Those gorgeous eyes, green mixed with brown and rimmed by gold, traveled over her, from her bare legs to the short hem of the silk robe, up again to meet her gaze.

Sweet heaven, this man was potent. Unable to resist him, she stepped aside. “I haven’t had a chance to do much with the apartment yet.” Though she’d unpacked her clothes, she still needed the accessories and personal touches to make the place feel like home.

He shrugged, obviously unconcerned. “I’m used to it. My brother lived here before you and did nothing to it.”

She raised an eyebrow, surprised. “I didn’t know that.”

“Yep. Then he married Cara, bought himself a big house by the lake, and settled down.”

“Do you like his wife?” she asked, because he didn’t sound happy about the settling-down part. His voice had turned grumbly over the words.

“She’s great. You remember her, Cara Hartley? The police officer who arrested your...” His voice trailed off awkwardly.

Nothing like the memory of Victoria to bring an abrupt end to any conversation, Nicole thought. “I remember Cara. She was decent to me.”

Sam openly studied her. “She had no reason not to be. You weren’t your sister.”

Nicole drew a deep breath and nodded. “That’s why I decided Serendipity would be a good place to start over. Nice town, people willing to give you a chance to prove yourself, not jump to conclusions or put you in a little box where they think you ought to be.”

Sam, being as perceptive as she remembered, narrowed his gaze at that.

She bit the inside of her cheek, realizing she was getting too deep. “I should get dressed and meet you downstairs.”

“I’ll wait.” He headed for the small dining set in the corner that came with the apartment, hooked one foot around the leg of a chair, and settled his very fine rear end into the seat.

He relaxed comfortably, as if he’d been here many times before and belonged. He had said his brother lived here before, which explained his familiarity—but not the sense of rightness she felt on seeing him in her personal space.

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