apartment, but on the eighteenth floor, right? I was told you bought the corner unit up top. Please don’t tell me you’re going to be living on the fifteenth floor.”
Charlotte’s pulse began pounding in her ears. I haven’t even moved in, and I’m going to have to start thinking about moving out.
* * *
Michael was going to have to lie about the location of his apartment. There was no way around it. “I always meant to be on fifteen. It’ll be quieter. Those top units are too close to the shared terrace. There will be all sorts of parties up there. I don’t want to deal with that.” The truth was that he’d asked to have his unit moved to Charlotte’s floor. He’d told Sawyer it was because the upper units were primo and would be easier to sell. Hell, he’d told himself the same thing. But the minute he saw Charlotte again today, he suspected that she was the real reason. He was still so drawn to her, but it was an even more pronounced feeling now. Was it because she seemed to despise him so much? Was that what made it so hot? The conversation they were having was a prime example of their incompatibility.
“You’re going to be living down the hall. From me.” Her voice and expression carried what he could only describe as profound disappointment. Was he really that bad?
“I’m sorry if that’s a disdainful idea, but yes.”
“Hmm. Okay.” She twisted her lips into a kissable bundle. Charlotte made annoyance and anger sexy.
“Got it,” one of the movers said, and just like that, the end of the sofa popped out of the elevator.
“Oh, good. Now we can get off Mr. Kelly’s naughty list.” Charlotte touched Chad the mover’s arm with the tips of her slender fingers.
Michael wrestled with the reasons it bothered him so greatly, while trying to ignore Charlotte’s sarcastic comment. He had the elevator reserved and she was using his time. She needed to stop acting as though he was being petty.
The movers in the elevator carried the bright turquoise sofa wrapped in a cocoon of clear plastic out into the hall. “Can we give you a lift?” Chad asked Charlotte.
“I’m sorry?” she asked in a voice that rivaled a cartoon princess.
“A ride. Hop on the sofa and we’ll carry you down the hall.”
She giggled. “Really?”
“Yes, really. We promise we won’t drop you. It’s fun.”
Chad is fun. Good for him.
“Oh. Okay. Great.” Charlotte sat on the couch and the men hoisted her into the air. She grasped the sofa arm as surprise and delight crossed her face. They carried her away, Charlotte waving her fingers at him.
At this rate, Michael just wanted them gone. He couldn’t stand another minute of Charlotte and the muscle squad.
Time to get back to work. He made a quick call down to his movers, a perfectly normal company called Manhattan Moving, and retreated to his apartment to make a few phone calls while waiting for the first load to arrive upstairs. Without his home office ready, he was forced to set up in the kitchen, his laptop on the counter. His chocolate Lab, Abby, had already made herself at home, stretched out in a sunbeam gracing the living room floor. One of his hopes with now being closer to his office was that he’d have more time to take Abby to the park and out for runs. He had a dog walker, but it wasn’t the same. Abby wanted to spend time with him, and he wanted to spend time with Abby. The relationship between dog and master was a simple one, much easier and more symbiotic than most human relationships.
He touched base with three clients about a handful of different properties, including the client who was coming to see the Grand Legacy that evening. The movers were bringing in the first load when he got a call from his younger brother, Chris. They talked or texted almost every day.
“The Islanders won last night,” Chris said.
“Sometimes I wish you had a real job so you wouldn’t call me in the middle of the day.” Michael smiled and leaned back against the kitchen counter. Chris lived in Washington, DC, about twenty minutes from their parents in Maryland. He worked as a lobbyist. As Michael had learned over the last several years, it’s pretty easy to get someone to take a meeting with you when you’re a former Olympian.
“You owe me five bucks.” They were always betting on sports. No longer living in the same house or competing in swimming, it was one way to keep their sibling rivalry going.
“The winning goal was completely bogus. He kicked it into the net.”
“Nope. It went off his skate. They reviewed it. A win’s a win.”
“Fine. I’ll pay you when you come at Christmas.” Michael stepped aside as a mover brought several boxes into the kitchen. He pointed at the center island, indicating that was a good landing spot. “I mean, if you still want to come.”
“What else am I going to do? Go visit Mom and Dad? I don’t think so.”
Michael and Chris had been spending Christmas together, but separate from their parents, for six years now. Things had always been difficult with their father. The man had all the warmth of a dark night in Siberia. There was no parental affection, only an intolerance for anything short of perfection. It was one thing when that revolved around swimming. It had helped both Michael and Chris get to the Olympics. It was quite another when it came to one of their sons being on the wrong end of a broken engagement.
“Okay. I’m just saying that I’m fine. I don’t want you to feel like you have to come to New York every year and console me.”
“Hey. It’s not just you. We both sort of lost our parents that day.”
Michael did his best to ward off the guilt. Chris had sided with him when Dad went off the rails about Michael’s admittedly disastrous engagement party. Mom took Dad’s side, which still confounded them both. Their marriage was anything but blissful.
Out of the corner of his eye, Michael saw a small dog rocket through his foyer. Charlotte raced in behind him. “Thor! No!”
“Hey, Chris. I need to run. Talk to you later?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Michael hung up and rushed to investigate. Charlotte’s dog was in the living room, straddling a very startled Abby’s leg, humping away. “I take it this is Thor?”
Charlotte pulled her dog off Abby and tucked him under her arm, scolding him. “No. Bad dog.”
“Does he always do that? Rush into someone’s house and try to mate with the nearest canine?” Michael crouched down and showed Abby some love. “I’m sorry, sweets. He woke you up from your nap and everything.”
Charlotte blew out a breath. “I’m sorry. He got out of his kennel and bolted down the hall. He’s my little Houdini.” She lowered herself to the floor and sat with her legs crossed, letting the dogs sniff each other while she petted Abby. “Hi, Abs. Long time, no see.” Charlotte had such a sweet side when she chose to let it out, and he’d nearly forgotten what it was like to witness it. It made her even more beautiful, if that was possible. She cast her eyes up at him. “I think they can get along. I swear Thor’s not really like this. I think the move has him
