The first thing Jaya ever learned from life was to work hard and never get attached to someone else. So what's a woman to do when she ends up living next door to a male supermodel who's looking for a connection that goes beyond skin-deep?
At twenty...
"What happened?" Noah asked his niece and nephew as soon as he returned to the deck.
"Penelope ran over to the house where the girl was painting," Paris told him. "She fell off the ladder. The paint flew through the air. Then she was lying on the floor. We thought she was dead."
Finn grinned. "She said fuck."
The word almost slipped from his own lips.
Noah jogged over to Jaya's, where he found her outside lying on a red and black plaid blanket.
"Sorry, Jaya, I forgot about the gate." He knelt next to her to assess her injuries, but she kept him at a distance.
"It is what it is," she mumbled just as a guy in gym clothes arrived. He was tall, bald, and had a slightly darker complexion than Jaya.
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"What is it with the women in this family?" the guy said. "Can't you go a week without injuring yourselves?"
"Noah, my brother Dr. Garon Arcus Young. Gus, Noah Santino." Jaya gestured with her chin because she'd tucked her right arm close to her body and massaged her temple with her other hand. "It wasn't my fault this time. His kids startled me."
"My sister's kids. And I said I was sorry." He shook her brother's hand. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Young."
"Call me Gus. It's my day off." He turned to Jaya. "Your boyfriend?" he asked as he began examining her from head to toe.
Jaya cocked her head but winced at the movement. "Good one, bro. Do you know what he does for a living? He's a model," she said like it was taboo.
Noah folded his arms across his chest. "You're really judgmental, you know that? And you don't even know me. If you gave me a chance, you'd see I'm a normal guy."
"You're not normal, Noah. I've never seen anyone who looks so... so perfect."
Noah raised his hands and gestured wildly—his parents would be proud. They reminded him all the damn time they were Italian first, American second. "You know what I don't get? You're objectifying me, something you criticize. And what's considered attractive lies in the eye of the beholder. Not everyone thinks I look 'perfect.'"
"It should be subjective, but it's not," she disagreed. "The society we live in greatly influences what we find attractive."
"Either way, I'd like you to hold off on judging me until you've gotten to know me."
Lifting her arm, Gus said, "Sounds like a fair request."
"I'm not going to date you, Noah," she assured him. "You're my neighbor."
"He didn't say anything about dating." Gus gave him a conspiratorial wink.
Jaya glared at her brother. "We don't have anything in common."
"And you know that how?" Noah challenged her.
"It's a feeling, and based on what you do—"
Peering at the sky, he cursed—yup, in Italian. "I'm more than a pretty face, Jaya. I have interests and hobbies that go beyond what I do, and you don't even know what they are."
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