Free The Nosy Neighbor by Fern Michaels Page A

running a fever?”
    “I don’t know. Probably. I had chills a while ago. Yes, please stay. I’d appreciate it, Wylie. I’m sorry I never made an effort to introduce myself after I moved in. I guess life just got in the way. I like your dog. I really do.”
    Wylie jerked at his tie and tossed it over a kitchen chair. His suit coat followed. “I like making myself at home. I’ll borrow your slicker to walk the dogs,” he said, pointing to the coatrack by the back door. “When I get back, I’ll make you some hot tea. Do you have any cognac? My mother swears by hot tea and cognac. Makes you sweat. Go back on the couch and don’t do anything. I’ll replenish the fire. You can thank me some other time.” Wylie grinned as he bustled about.
    Even as bad as she felt, Lucy took a moment to marvel at how sexy her neighbor looked in his white dress shirt, the collar open, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She admitted she had a thing about white dress shirts on certain men. Men like Wylie. Jonathan in the same attire did nothing for her. How weird was that ? She pushed the thought away. She had enough on her plate just then without thinking about a sexy neighbor she’d met only the day before.
    Grateful for the help and attention, Lucy tottered back to the living room and the sofa that beckoned. She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She heard the door open and close before she drifted off to sleep…again.
    On his return, dressed in jeans and a fleecy sweatshirt that said GEORGETOWN on the back, Wylie set to work in the kitchen. He worked swiftly and cleaned up after himself as he mixed up the meat loaf, slid it into the oven, and removed the contents from the take-out restaurant onto plates. While he worked, he talked to the dogs, who watched him intently. “I’m probably a better cook than I am a lawyer.” He looked down at Coop and felt a pang of something he couldn’t identify. His dog was in love with another dog and her owner. Where did that leave him in the mix? Standing on the sidelines, that’s where.
    As he waited for the water for Lucy’s tea to boil, he set about adding kindling and logs to the dying fire in the living room. When he was finished, he dusted his hands and walked over to the sofa where Lucy was sleeping. He put his hand on her forehead the way his mother would have. She didn’t seem overly warm to him.
    He stood back to watch her. When she was asleep, she looked vulnerable, and so very pretty. He was almost certain he’d met her someplace, somewhere before, but he couldn’t recall where or when.
    He bent over the coffee table to shuffle the papers and photos back into the manila folder lying on the floor. If there was one thing Wiley hated, it was a mess. He wasn’t being nosy, he really wasn’t but he’d never seen so many brokerage accounts in one person’s name in his life. Nor had he ever seen so many zeros. He barely looked at the arrogant-looking, elegantly dressed man in the photos. He was about to replace everything in the folder when he thought better of it. He left the papers and photos just the way they were and headed for the dining room where he saw the litter on the floor.
    Wylie gaped at the chewed-up invitations, knowing instinctively that Coop had had his teeth in the shredded mess. He sighed heavily as he picked up everything and placed it on the dining room table. He wondered what this was going to cost him.
    His shoulders slumped as he walked back to the kitchen, where he made the tea and drank it himself. His lovely neighbor was getting married. Just his dumb luck. Damn, he really liked Lucy. He’d even dreamed about her last night, and he’d almost killed himself getting to her house that afternoon.
    “Story of my life,” he muttered to the snoozing dogs.

4
    Lucy woke at eight o’clock, when she felt a cold wet nose nudge her chin. Through sleep-filled eyes, she did her best to focus on Sadie and her surroundings. She felt groggy and cranky at