How to Love Your Neighbour(48)

After he left, Emily, Noah, and Grace settled on folding chairs in the wide-open living space.

“I really love that window seat,” Emily said, pulling a notebook from her bag.

Grace glanced at Noah, startled that he was already staring at her.

“That was Grace’s idea. She’s got a great way of mixing comfort with class.”

“Oh, I like that. Thanks for the opening line,” Emily said, her smile widening.

When Noah’s gaze met Grace’s, he looked away, crossed one ankle over his knee, tapping his calf.

Emily looked back and forth between them. “Okay. I have ten questions; I’ll jot down both of your answers. Say the first thing that comes to mind. We want to give readers an impression of who you two are, how this is different from what we’ve done before.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Noah said, clearly not picking up on Grace’s nerves. Maybe it was easy for someone who was in the society pages, but all of this was new to her. If she focused too much on the fact that she’d be under the microscope for her very first job, she might hyperventilate.

“Hope so,” Grace said quietly.

“Taking on a project like this is like entering any other kind of a relationship. There are risks and rewards for both parties. Name one risk, one reward you think you’ll get out of this,” Emily said, her gaze locking on Grace.

Twisting her fingers in her lap, Grace sucked in a breath. Wow. Be yourself. Just answer the questions. Go with your gut. Risk? My heart. Could they hear it stomping around in her chest like an angry toddler? “The risk is misreading Noah’s tastes and style. Creating a look he isn’t happy with. The reward is the opportunity to do this project at all.”

Emily’s hand flew across the page. “Excellent. Noah?”

She felt his gaze but didn’t look up. Which didn’t matter when his voice slid over her like a caress. “You know my tastes well. That won’t be a problem. I think my risk and reward are two sides of the same coin. I want to be more involved but I don’t have the same know-how as people I hire. It’s one thing to know all the right people to make it look like you want it to. Quite another to have a hand in the final result.”

“Great. Favorite style?”

They answered at the same time, Noah saying, “Modern,” while Grace said, “Classic.”

“Guess we’ll see a blend of the two,” Emily said. “Color you’d never allow?”

“Pink,” Noah said, just as Grace answered the same. They laughed, which helped loosen the knots in her stomach.

“Room you’re most looking forward to redoing?”

“This one,” Grace said.

Noah nodded. “And the master bathroom. I want absolute luxury.”

She could do that. Spending other people’s money was way more fun than spending her own.

“Favorite room in a house?”

“Kitchen.”

Noah grinned at her. “Same.”

“Favorite store for furniture?”

“Pottery Barn,” Noah said without hesitation.

Grace actually gasped. “What? Have you ever even been in a Pottery Barn?”

“Of course. Briefly. I like their stuff. You don’t?”

“Sure. But it isn’t my favorite.” Why would a place that sold mass-market anything to anyone be his favorite when he could afford anything?

“What is?” Noah asked.

“There’s a store in Venice Beach called Mi Casa. We’ll go. You’ll love it.”

“I’ve been there. Love it. You have excellent taste,” Emily said.

“What’s more important, cost or aesthetic?”

Noah said aesthetic while Grace answered the opposite.

Lifting her shoulders, she changed her answer. “Actually, since it’s not my money, I’ll go with aesthetic too.”

Both of them laughed. The rest of the interview was painless and, according to Emily, a great launching point for their impending success. When she left, Noah stood by the door while Grace gathered her things.

Memories of the night before brought back tingles with a side of renewed embarrassment. She had to go. Her ideas were swirling and Noah tended to muddle her brain. The less time alone they spent together until she could stop thinking about the way he made her skin tingle with just a look, the better.

“You look ready to bolt,” Noah said, leaning his shoulder against the wall.

Was it okay that he could read her so easily? He considers you a friend. Think of him that way. “Sort of. It was great but overwhelming.”

“I might not have planned to ask but I’m really glad it’s you.”

The muscles surrounding her heart spasmed. “Me too.”

He hesitated a second, then asked, “You ever feel like life leads you where you’re supposed to be, even if you don’t know why?”

Grace looked at the floor a moment, catching her breath. When she looked back up, he was still staring. “Not really. I guess I’ve worked too hard to get where I am, and it’s felt like a grind every step of the way. Either way, I’m glad we landed next door to each other.”

He chuckled. “Something I never thought I’d hear you say.”

“Trust me,” she said, opening the door, “I’m every bit as surprised as you are.”