Free A Little New Year's Romance by Katie Ingersoll Page B

morning of Valentine’s Day, buying two dozen of the most perfect long stemmed red roses he could find. Why was he so nervous? Surely she must feel something for him. After all, she’d experienced the electricity, too. Or did she just say that? No. He was sure she’d been truthful about it.
    Even if she’d once had feelings for him that were now gone, he still felt he owed her an apology for his barbaric behavior. It didn’t matter any longer who tipped off the media, but he felt sure it wasn’t Allison.
    On top of all that, Dylan had kept asking about her. He wanted to know when Daniel was going to bring “that nice lady” home for dinner. Maggie was no help, either. She’d insisted he wasn’t giving Allison enough credit, and that he should call her. That was what eventually prompted him to go to her apartment in the first place, only to find that she’d moved.
    However, all of that was behind him at present. He would soon know what her feelings were for him—if she even had any.
    He pulled the Lexus up to the curb in front of the address Colson had given him. He’d even found out which apartment was hers.
     
     
     

 
    CHAPTER TEN
     
    “So, are you all settled in your new place?” It was obvious to Allison that her mother was enjoying the more frequent calls.
    “Well, there’s a few more boxes to go through, but I’m mostly settled in.” Luckily, the place was furnished—like the last one—and she didn’t need to haul all that stuff up to the third floor. Only a bunch of boxes.
    “That’s good.” Ruby’s tone indicated that she had more than just small talk on her mind.
    “I’m sure you didn’t call just to chit chat about things.”
    There was a brief hesitation on Ruby’s end. “You’ve always been so perceptive, Allison. But you’re right—I did want to ask you about that young man. Have you called him yet?”
    She rolled her eyes, even though her mother couldn’t see it. “No, I haven’t. And I probably won’t.”
    “Why not, dear? He’s most likely gotten over that little spat by now.”
    Allison couldn’t stop the giggle. “Yeah, yeah. I know. You want some grandkids. Neither of us is getting any younger. Yada, yada, yada.” Interesting. She could say this in a playful tone now instead of a sarcastic one. That was definitely something new.
    “Don’t be a Miss Smarty Pants.” Ruby was giggling. “But that’s the general idea of it.”
    “Well, don’t be surprised if I don’t find a man anytime soon. Daniel’s not the kind who’s easy to forget.”
    “Okay, but just keep in mind that the clock is ticking. Tick, tock.”
    “Mom! I’m only twenty-eight! Not thirty-eight. I still have some time.” She stifled a chuckle.
    “I still think you should’ve smoothed things out with Daniel. Judging by the way you talked about him, it seemed like you really cared for him.” Her mother sounded almost melancholy.
    Allison sighed silently. “I’m fairly sure he’s still mad at me, even though I had nothing to do with what he accused me of.”
    “Has it occurred to you that maybe he found out the truth, and now he knows he had it all wrong?” That was an excellent question.
    “No. I can’t say it has.” Why hadn’t it? Was she so wrapped up in believing he could hold a grudge for so long that a simple thought like that never crossed her mind?
    “Well, you might want to give it some consideration. Wouldn’t surprise me if he doesn’t even care about that incident anymore.”
    She made a good point, but enough was more than enough. She had to think of something to get Mom to hang up the phone before the woman made her crazier than Aunt Cindy ever dreamed of being.
    “If anything changes, I’ll let you know. In the meantime, I have a lot of work to do today. The sooner I get it done, the sooner I can get paid.” It wasn’t a lie. She’d been given a big editing job the previous day, and wanted to keep her reputation as a good, fast, and reliable editor.