"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.
"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."
"Okay, name a few." Her gaze was probing, but in a way that made him think she was hoping he'd prove her wrong.
"I like to spend most of my free time with my family and friends, and aside from that, I like basketball and surfing. And believe it or not, I like to read." He sure wasn't as dumb as people assumed. Maybe not a brainiac like Jaya, but he could appreciate some thought-provoking literature.
Gus chuckled. "Anything you've got to say to that?"
She ignored her brother's question. "What's your diagnosis, Doctor?"
"Sounds like a good fit," Gus said and received a jab in the ribs. "I'm taking you to get an X-ray. Your arm is a concern."
Gus helped her up, and Jaya linked her uninjured arm with her brother's.
"You just named her favorite things," Gus called over his shoulder as they walked off. Jaya gave her brother another jab with her elbow.
Noah grinned.
Game, set, match.
***
Three hours later, Jaya headed over to Noah's. Too late she realized it hadn't even occurred to her to walk around the block to ring his doorbell.
Pausing in the middle of his yard, she stared at his pristine house. There wasn't a leaf or stalk of grass out of place. Cacti and small palm trees in jet-black pots flanked the steps leading up to the deck. Everything, down to the white gravel between flagstones, was meticulously arranged as if it were meant to appear in Better Homes and Gardens.
She wanted to muss it up, just a tiny bit, but got distracted when the light breeze carried the scent of freshly cooked onions and garlic her way. Her stomach growled on cue.
Because turning around would look weirder than staying frozen in place, she continued walking. Thankfully, Noah was nowhere to be seen, but what she presumed to be his family was sitting outside.
The kids from earlier welcomed her with glee.
Jaya crouched so they could inspect her blood-red cast. "Cool, right?" They oohed and ahhed as if she were showing them a bionic arm. "Where's your uncle?"
"He's cooking," the girl told her.
"Are you having dinner with us?" the boy asked.
"I just need to talk to your uncle real quick."
"You should stick around for dinner," said a man who looked like he could be Noah's brother. "He's making pasta so you're in for a treat. I'm Luca, by the way. Noah is my little brother."
Jaya suppressed a snort at the word 'little.' Noah was freaking ten feet tall—at least that's how it felt whenever she stood in front of him.
Luca added, "This is our sister Rita and her kids, Paris and Finn."
"I'm so sorry they startled you," Rita said. "How is your arm?"
"It's fine." It took Jaya a moment to realize they were waiting for her to say more than that. "Sorry, I'm buzzed on pain meds," she said, tapping her forehead to get a grasp on her jumbled thoughts. "Nice to meet you. I'm Jaya. I live over there." She pointed behind her.
"Where are you from originally?" asked Rita.
"I grew up in L.A." Jaya knew it wasn't what Rita was asking, but she enjoyed seeing what people came up with when they tried to figure out her ethnicity.
Rita probed further. "Your family isn't from the US, though."
"I'm not entirely sure where they're from." She saw the expected confusion in their faces. "My parents died when I was a baby. I have no memory of them." It was a partial lie but better than admitting her begetters had left her for dead. Who knew if they were still alive? She'd never met them. "My name is Sanskrit in origin, so my guess is somewhere in India." She shrugged, noting the change in atmosphere. Hearing she grew up an orphan tended to have that effect on people.
"Dinner's ready," Noah said, and all eyes turned toward the glass door. Jaya wondered how much of their conversation he'd overheard. "You're going to join us?"
She blinked, surprised by the sight bestowed upon her. Noah was wearing an apron. And not just any apron, but one of those old-school ones with a bib. It was emblazoned with the words: Kiss the chef, but don't touch the buns!
"Um... Can I talk to you for a moment?"
He glanced down at the apron, then did that sexy hand motion thing where he brushed along his stubbly jaw, and then, of course, his tongue did the same with his teeth.
C'mon, Universe! What cruel and unusual punishment to make that beautiful man her neighbor.
"You can talk to me over dinner. Pasta tastes best when it's fresh," he said, motioning her inside.
Patting his chest, she lifted on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I promise to keep my hands off your buns."
She heard him chuckle behind her when his niece and nephew grabbed her good arm and tugged her through the door.
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Thanks for reading! :) Please remember to vote and feel free to leave comments. xo—A