Read Online Guardian Of Fate (Fate Series) by L.J. Kentowski - Free Book Online
Authors: L.J. Kentowski
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claiming her innocence.
"What were you doing out here, Nora Hawthorne?"
"I told you, I was checking to see if our paper had come."
"Nora, I live here. We don't get a paper! Now 'fess up!" I pushed her back into the apartment and closed the door.
Avoiding me, Nora went to the cupboard and grabbed a wine glass. She held it up, raising her eyebrows, her tacit invitation for me to join her. I nodded and she grabbed another glass, along with a bottle of wine from the cabinet. She filled the glasses slowly, and I started to lose my patience.
"Well? Spill, Nora. Were you really spying on me?"
"What? No! Of course, not! I was just as surprised to see you guys at the door as you were to see me."
"C'mon, Nora. I've lived with you for two years now. I know all about your 'Nosey Neighbor' habits."
I met Nora in one of my undergrad classes when we were paired up for a psych project. We hit it off from the start. She asked me soon after we met why I disappeared so much and I told her it was a long, complicated story that I'd tell her about someday. She never asked again, accepting me with all of my absences and stand-ups without questions or complaints. I often thought about telling her, but I was too afraid of losing the only other person in my life, besides my mom, that seemed to accept me for who I was, or at least, who she thought I was. I knew people had a tendency of shying away from what they didn't understand.
"Okay, you got me!" she said, laughing. "I was being a 'Nosey Neighbor', but not to spy on you. I heard voices earlier coming from the empty apartment next door, so I decided to see what was up. When I got out into the hallway, the property manager was out there with this gorgeous hunk of maleness. Of course, I stuck my tail between my legs and ran back inside before they could even say, 'Hey, Nosey Neighbor'."
As talkative and outgoing as Nora usually was, she seemed to lose all sense of formative words when it came to good-looking men. Unless she was all prettied up, she lacked the confidence to initiate anything. Her shoulder-length, blond hair was piled on her head and there were no signs of makeup. She was probably at the gym earlier and just took a quick shower to freshen up. She couldn't even try to appear less than beautiful, but it was definitely not a look that would have given her the confidence to strike up a conversation with the hunk she claimed was next door.
Wait! Hunk next door looking at the empty apartment? Could it have been Hunter? That would explain why he was at the complex. There were only two apartments open, one next door, and the other in the building next to ours.
"So when I heard voices again," Nora continued, "I planned to go out there and apologize for being such a rude potential neighbor. I didn't want to scare this one —"
"Nora, what did he look like?"
My narrowed eyes and tightened body language must have shown how serious I was, because her normally light demeanor changed.
"I only saw him for a minute, but he was tall and muscular, not bulky muscle though, you know? Um, short dark hair, a little messy on top. Oh! His eyes! They were the bluest I've ever seen in my life! When he turned to look at me, I nearly lost my breath!"
No doubt about it. Hunter had been next door with the property manager. So he was looking for an apartment now? And it just happened to be in my complex? This was really starting to freak me out. Maybe Caleb was right, and I should be careful. Something wasn't right about all of this. Who was this guy? I made a mental note to talk with the property manager in the morning and see if she could provide me with any more info on him.
"So what's the big deal?" Nora asked.
I wasn't ready to tell her about Hunter yet. I could see her going straight to the cops if I told her that I'd met him, as well as Caleb, at Luke's yesterday, and they both mysteriously showed up in my life today. Nora didn't like to take chances. Not that I did, but I had a little more
"What were you doing out here, Nora Hawthorne?"
"I told you, I was checking to see if our paper had come."
"Nora, I live here. We don't get a paper! Now 'fess up!" I pushed her back into the apartment and closed the door.
Avoiding me, Nora went to the cupboard and grabbed a wine glass. She held it up, raising her eyebrows, her tacit invitation for me to join her. I nodded and she grabbed another glass, along with a bottle of wine from the cabinet. She filled the glasses slowly, and I started to lose my patience.
"Well? Spill, Nora. Were you really spying on me?"
"What? No! Of course, not! I was just as surprised to see you guys at the door as you were to see me."
"C'mon, Nora. I've lived with you for two years now. I know all about your 'Nosey Neighbor' habits."
I met Nora in one of my undergrad classes when we were paired up for a psych project. We hit it off from the start. She asked me soon after we met why I disappeared so much and I told her it was a long, complicated story that I'd tell her about someday. She never asked again, accepting me with all of my absences and stand-ups without questions or complaints. I often thought about telling her, but I was too afraid of losing the only other person in my life, besides my mom, that seemed to accept me for who I was, or at least, who she thought I was. I knew people had a tendency of shying away from what they didn't understand.
"Okay, you got me!" she said, laughing. "I was being a 'Nosey Neighbor', but not to spy on you. I heard voices earlier coming from the empty apartment next door, so I decided to see what was up. When I got out into the hallway, the property manager was out there with this gorgeous hunk of maleness. Of course, I stuck my tail between my legs and ran back inside before they could even say, 'Hey, Nosey Neighbor'."
As talkative and outgoing as Nora usually was, she seemed to lose all sense of formative words when it came to good-looking men. Unless she was all prettied up, she lacked the confidence to initiate anything. Her shoulder-length, blond hair was piled on her head and there were no signs of makeup. She was probably at the gym earlier and just took a quick shower to freshen up. She couldn't even try to appear less than beautiful, but it was definitely not a look that would have given her the confidence to strike up a conversation with the hunk she claimed was next door.
Wait! Hunk next door looking at the empty apartment? Could it have been Hunter? That would explain why he was at the complex. There were only two apartments open, one next door, and the other in the building next to ours.
"So when I heard voices again," Nora continued, "I planned to go out there and apologize for being such a rude potential neighbor. I didn't want to scare this one —"
"Nora, what did he look like?"
My narrowed eyes and tightened body language must have shown how serious I was, because her normally light demeanor changed.
"I only saw him for a minute, but he was tall and muscular, not bulky muscle though, you know? Um, short dark hair, a little messy on top. Oh! His eyes! They were the bluest I've ever seen in my life! When he turned to look at me, I nearly lost my breath!"
No doubt about it. Hunter had been next door with the property manager. So he was looking for an apartment now? And it just happened to be in my complex? This was really starting to freak me out. Maybe Caleb was right, and I should be careful. Something wasn't right about all of this. Who was this guy? I made a mental note to talk with the property manager in the morning and see if she could provide me with any more info on him.
"So what's the big deal?" Nora asked.
I wasn't ready to tell her about Hunter yet. I could see her going straight to the cops if I told her that I'd met him, as well as Caleb, at Luke's yesterday, and they both mysteriously showed up in my life today. Nora didn't like to take chances. Not that I did, but I had a little more
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