Free The Cinderella Seduction: A Suddenly Cinderella Novel (Entangled Indulgence) by Hope Tarr

her.
    Her expression lightened. An adorable dimple appeared on the right side of her mouth. “All right…Nick.” She looked up at him with a smile, sending the construction hat seesawing. Acting on instinct, Nick shot out a hand to right it.
    Before he could, something or someone caught Stefanie’s eye and she spun away. “Mrs. Gianikos!” she shouted, throwing both arms high into the air.
    Dropping his hand, Nick followed her gaze to the roadside where a seventyish woman wearing a sports visor and wrist weights power-walked up the jogging path toward them. “This is a friend of yours?”
    Expression fevered, she turned back to him. “Mrs. G and her husband were among the first wave of purchasers in ’07. C’mon, I’ll introduce you.”
    Grasping his hand, she ferried them forward. Taken by surprise, Nick hesitated, then relaxed, allowing her to tow him along. Though her behavior struck him as odd, even suspicious, he followed anyway. Like his hand molding to her shoulder, her slender fingers fitting about his felt so very…right.
    They met the newcomer midway. Stefanie broke hands and sallied forward. “Mrs. Gianikos I’m so glad we ran into you. How are you today?” she asked, pitching her voice higher.
    “Fit as a fiddle,” Mrs. Gianikos replied, a smile cracking her wizened face. Tanned, slender, and silver-haired, she could have been a poster “child” for AARP. “Only how many times do I gotta tell you it’s Mona?” She turned to Nick, raking him from head to foot with her keen, wizened eyes. “Who’s the hottie?” she asked, waving a wrinkled hand his way.
    Face heating, he stepped forward. “Nick Costas,” he answered, taking her hand in his.
    Cheeks pink, Stefanie hurried to explain, “Mr. Costas’s company provided the startup funding for Acropolis Village. He’s visiting us from Greece.”
    The two women exchanged what struck Nick as a significant look. “Oh, that’s swell,” Mona enthused. “My family emigrated from Rhodes when I was a little girl. I don’t remember much but what I do remember I miss.”
    “Mrs. G—Mona—and her husband own one of the lovely two bedroom bungalows,” Stefanie added, steering the conversation back to the project. “Every room has a water view.”
    The woman bobbed her silvered head. “All my life it’s been my dream to live by the water. We bought one a block from the beach. Since making the move, we’ve come to think of ourselves as pioneers,” she added with a chuckle.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Nick caught Stefanie flinch. “Why is that?” he asked although standing amidst the staked tarps and rusted construction equipment, the answer seemed obvious.
    Mrs. G hesitated. Looking from him to Stefanie, she said, “Well, there aren’t all that many neighbors, not that we mind. After living in the city for most of our lives, we appreciate the peace and quiet.”
    Stefanie cleared her throat. “Since this is Nick’s first time seeing the project, I’m hoping you can spare a few minutes to talk about why you and your husband decided to retire here.”
    The leading question confirmed Nick’s suspicion that Mrs. G hadn’t just happened by. She was a plant, a setup Stefanie had enlisted to dupe him. Still, one of the many lessons Nick’s father had impressed upon him was that a wise man put his pride aside long enough to listen. Even when people set out to deceive you, they almost always revealed something of value. In that spirit, he folded his arms across his chest and waited.
    “A few minutes, ha! Honey, I’ve got the rest of my life. What do you want to know?”
    Stefanie opened her mouth, but this time Nick cut her off before she could get the first word out. “Perhaps you would be so good as to take me through a typical day?”
    She blinked. “A typical day?” Clearly his question must mean going off script.
    Nick nodded. “Yes, in your own words, if you please.” He darted Stefanie a deliberate look. Really, she must