Social Neighbor (The Social Series Book 1) (2 page)

“My point exactly.”

“There he is.”

“You’re such a creeper.” I shook my head and fought the smile tilting up the corners of my mouth.

“Shut up. Here he comes. Act the part, hooker!”

“You owe me,” I whispered, tucking a lock of hair behind my ear.

“That was so sweet of you to buy our tickets to come here tonight. You know how much I love astronomy!” I beamed loud enough for Cal to hear me on his approach. “Oh! Look at this—oh excuse me, Cal! Fancy seeing you here! Matt, it’s Cal. Serendipity.” I shrugged with a smile plastered on my face.

“Well I guess I’m glad you dragged me along after all.” The flirtatious undertones in Matt’s voice were hard to miss.

“You guys enjoying the exhibit?” Cal asked a little shyly. He looked charming and professional in his suit and tie. His short, light brown hair complimented his hazel eyes. I could feel the attraction between the two of them, and I decided right then that they’d make a charming couple.

“I love it.” I sighed, looking around.

“It’s great. She loves this stuff, so here I am. I had no idea you would be here.”

“Yeah, I’m the assistant-assistant exhibit coordinator. That just means I mostly bring coffee to my boss.” Cal shrugged sheepishly.

“Oh, come on! I’m sure you do a lot more than that!” I prodded with another overly sweet smile in place.

Cal blushed.

“Well, if you had anything to do with how this place turned out tonight, you’ve done a fantastic job,” Matt said, winning a smile from Cal. I could tell Matt was setting the stage for a private conversation, and I made sure to not miss my cue.

“Oh, you know what? I think I just saw someone I know. I’ll be back in a few.” I gave a wave in no specific direction and scurried away as though a pressing social matter had just come up.

I smiled to myself as I walked pretty aimlessly through the rest of the gallery, careful not to stay in Cal and Matt’s line of sight. I’d hoped, for both our sakes, that Matt’s crush on Cal was reciprocal. If it wasn’t, it meant Matt would be a gloomy guy, binging on ice cream and listening to his unrequited love playlist for days until someone else sparked his interest, which never took too long. Still…

I found myself standing in front of a stunning canvas painting of something out in space, I surmised, though I couldn’t quite figure out what the hazy swirl of watercolors represented. I leaned forward to read the small placard beside the canvas.

“That’s home.” A deep voice reverberated from beside me like someone had just plucked the bass cord on a cello, the low G note resonating right through me.

Sexy stranger in G minor.

A strangled squeak worked its way from my throat and I turned to see a man—no—a goliath standing beside me.

Wow.

I swallowed hard and tried to collect my thoughts but it was proving to be difficult standing beside him. My black cocktail dress suddenly felt too tight and not nearly tight enough. Too short and not nearly short enough.

“Home?” I forced out, abandoning my spiraling thoughts about my dress and how gorgeous the man next to me was, and how much the tone of his voice reminded me of a G note.

“The Milky Way. Our galaxy,” he explained with a smile, one hand tucked into the pocket of his suit pants.

He had to be well over six feet tall and at least two hundred pounds. More. His obsidian black hair perfectly imperfect—neither short nor long, neither combed nor unkempt. Just…
perfect
, resting just at the tops of his ears and the nape of his neck.

Dark eyes twinkled and blazed as he peered down at me. His height gave me a great point of view of his jawline, his slightly dimpled chin, and long eyelashes that hooded eyes.

“Oh,” I breathed, feeling more than dumb. “Yeah, I was just trying to see who the artist was.”

“Rudy Sandoval is his name.” He nodded, motioning his chin toward the small placard with the details on it. “Do you like it?”

“Yes. It’s remarkable.”

“Yes, it is.” I looked up just then, noting that his dark gaze was on me and not the canvas. I could see Cal making his way over to me and I panicked. The moment was lost. The heat creeping throughout my body cooled and nerves moved in swiftly.

“Oh shit. We know each other, okay?”

“What?”

“Oh, Cal! Did Matt cut you loose so soon?” I winked. Cal smiled and averted his eyes down before looking at me again.

“Look at me being rude. Cal, this is a good friend of mine.” I looked up at the colossal man beside me and smiled, hoping he would understand that I needed him to oblige me.

He shoved his huge hand toward Cal, whose eyes darted from side to side. He extended his hand, looking perplexed. “You and Mr. Stone know each other?”

“Mmm,” I hummed a neutral sort of sound and snagged a champagne flute from a passing waiter. I scanned the crowd milling about the gallery hoping to see Matt soon.

Dammit, Matt where are you?

“Well, why in the world would Matt buy tickets when you know the exhibit benefactor? Did you not have enough complimentary tickets, Mr. Stone?” he asked incredulously, turning his attention back to the goliath.

Benefactor?

I kept my eyes averted as I pretended to scan the other people in the gallery, nonchalantly.

“Hm? Oh,” I said waving my hand dismissively. “Matt’s a gentleman like that and he knows the money is going toward a great cause. That’s just Matty for ya. A real stand up guy.” I smiled again and took a generous gulp of champagne.

I glanced up at the stranger, noting the twinkle in his eye and the smirk on his face.

Jesus.

“Mr. Stone, is there anything I can do for you?” Cal asked, looking up at the man beside me who was at least half a foot taller than Cal.

Mr. Stone? Where have I heard that name?

He surveyed the canvas in front of us and squinted his eyes marginally. “Calvin, I think I am going to take this one for myself. It’s…
remarkable
.”

Hearing my own choice of words describing the canvas slip from his mouth had heat rising to my cheeks and I fidgeted with the thick bangle on my wrist as a distraction.

“I just don’t think I will ever be able to forget this one in particular. I’ve got to have it.” My eyes met his gaze straight on, and beyond the twinkle there was also something else, something that felt an awful lot like attraction, want, and intentions rooted in carnal need.

Holy. Shit.

Yes! Please! I wanted to pull him to me, rock up on my tiptoes and say something utterly naughty but I would never do something like that. I blamed inexperience, displaced chronic paranoia thanks to my mother, and a self-esteem that could be better. I was neither confident, nor insecure. I supposed the best word to assign would be
average.

“Of course. I’ll let them know to hold it on your behalf.” Calvin nodded.

“Thank you, Calvin.”

“Of course, Mr. Stone. It was nice seeing you again, Flor.”

“You too, Cal.” I nodded.

I waited until Cal was out of earshot before I dared saying a thing to my new friend. “I’m so sorry,” I mumbled. “My stupid roommate…he…”

“No need to apologize, Flor.” He shook his head and smiled a devastating smile.

Oh God.

His tongue, lips…his entire mouth seemed to curl around my shortened name as if it were something delicious to eat and God how I hated myself for the pathetic flutter it had spawned in my chest.

“I better go find my friend,” I said, wishing he would insist that I stay. He only nodded his head, one hand back in his pocket, his other curled around a glass tumbler of clear liquid.

I smiled and bowed my head slightly then took my leave, wishing that I had a great excuse to stay right there with him and a pretty picture that he had called home.

“Where were you?” I asked, jabbing Matt in the ribs with my index finger once I’d found him. He took my arm in the crook of his and we strolled casually toward the exit.

“Me? Where were you?”

“Apparently I was home.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I was looking at some painting of our galaxy with a really handsome man who did a good job pretending to be a friend when Cal showed up out of nowhere, but the guy turned out to be the benefactor, so they already knew each other.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah. No worries, though. He played along. Did you ask Cal out?”

“Yep. He gave me his number. I’m going to call him tomorrow to set something up.” Matt smiled triumphantly.

“Mission accomplished. Let’s go. My feet are killing me and if I’m forced to tell one more lie tonight, I may screw it up and blow this whole thing before it even gets off the ground.”

“Let’s not do that,” Matt whispered as we waited for a cab.

Graham

Sold

“S
orry I’m late,” Martin said, extending his hand to shake mine.

“No apology necessary. I’ve been…busy.” I smiled, thinking back to the captivating woman that I’d come across in front of the Sandoval piece. The piece I now owned simply because I knew I’d never forget her.

“That sounds both promising and dangerous.”

“Ah, yes, well, if you’d seen the woman, you’d know why.”

“I’m sure, bud. I’m sure.” Martin squeezed my shoulder and smiled, looking out over the crowd of do-gooders in formalwear.

“Looks like it’s going to be a great turnout this year. Maybe better than last. Have you been given a head count yet?”

“No, not yet, but I hope you’re right.”

“I’m proud of you. Doing all this every year.” He waved his arm out toward the gallery. Waiters floated around the crowded space with trays of champagne for guests. Checkbooks were being whipped out left and right. It was going to be a great benefit this year, and I’d hoped that Martin was right. Perhaps it would be even more successful than last year’s benefit.

It felt good to see the ICCSO do well enough to keep bringing in more kids each year, offering them additional education in science that many of them were lacking in the public school setting. It felt even better knowing that many kids just like Tommy had a safe place to go to dive into subject matter that inspired them.

“Where’s my favorite lady hiding out?” I asked, searching for her bright blonde head of hair, but it was a lost cause because at that moment there had to be dozens upon dozens of blondes roaming around.

“Oh, she wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed home.”

“Oh. Make sure you tell her that I missed seeing her.”

“I will.”

“Mr. Stone, Margaret is at the front. The photographer from the
Times
is here.” Conrad, my assistant, wore the look of a man who’d just been dealing with the she-devil herself. Poor guy.

“I’m being called,” I mumbled to Martin. He laughed and clapped me on the back.

“Women, bud. Women.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Graham, fix your tie,” the she-devil admonished as she fidgeted with the bowtie at my neck. God how I couldn’t wait to take the damned thing off. I batted her hand away and leveled my tie, posed beside her with an acceptable smile on my face and waited for the photographer to take his shots. The camera clicked subtly a half a dozen times and he nodded.