Dream of Me: A Sweet Contemporary Romance Read Free Page B

consciously. I want peace, Phoebe. That’s not possible with a woman in the house.”
    “Stop with that nonsense and give her a chance. She’s not like most women her age.”
    Again he laughed. “Well, she’s certainly not like you.”
    “Considering how much you and I argue, that’s something in her favor.”
    When he put down the phone a few minutes later, he realized that nothing in that conversation had been reassuring. Grabbing a roll of blueprints, he moved to the drafting table. He vaguely registered the sound of the front door closing. Aubrey had returned. Hopefully, she remembered this was Paul’s night off and had planned accordingly.
    He wasn’t prepared for her sudden entry into his office just seconds later. Her steps came to an abrupt halt as did the song she’d been humming under her breath.
    “I thought you were gone,” she admitted.
    “Sorry to disappoint you. Don’t you usually take a walk at this time?”
    The fact that he’d studied her movements amused her. She wasn’t the only one playing the ‘trying to avoid someone’ game. “I can come back later.”
    “And interrupt me again? You’re already in the room; you might as well stay.”
    Not liking the challenging look in his eyes, she shrugged and went to sit at her desk. If he could put up with her, she could certainly put up with him.
    Out of the corner of his eye, Corbin watched her flip through the contents of a thick binder. He knew it contained the details of a renovation he’d done last year. Was she actually interested in what he did? The thought gave him more satisfaction than it should have. Biting his lip, he returned his attention to the blueprints. He had a deadline to meet.
    For a time, the only sound in the room was the rustle of paper and the occasional creak of a chair. Corbin should have been able to work in such quiet conditions. The fact that he couldn’t was exasperating.
    Why did his glance keep wandering in Aubrey’s direction? It was too often to be labeled coincidence, but he refused to call it anything else. He wasn’t ready to admit to something as obvious as interest. A more likely and much more acceptable explanation was the strangeness of having someone new with him. He was accustomed to Jason, who’d worked with him for years. It would take time to get used to Aubrey and the scent of strawberries that surrounded her like an invisible cloud. Jason had never smelled like strawberries.
    After a long interval during which he grew more and more frustrated, he heard the welcoming sounds of her departure. He acknowledged her parting words with an absent nod that belied the fact that he’d been aware of her every move.
    Once he was alone again, Corbin leaned back and ran his fingers through his hair. He’d been sitting there for over an hour and had nothing to show for it. What was it about Aubrey that disturbed him? She was pretty, but no more so than many other women he knew. She wasn’t overly talkative, and she hadn’t yet made the mistake of trying to flirt with him. Why couldn’t he ignore her? There had to be a reason she got under his skin and for his own peace of mind, he was going to find it.
* * * *
    Aubrey’s faith in her ability to evade Corbin had led her into trouble tonight. He was gone so often in the evening that she hadn’t bothered to make sure his SUV was in the garage. She walked blindly into the office and had to make the best of it. She forced herself to stay because she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing she didn’t like being around him.
    This meant she couldn’t do any ‘real’ work. She’d learned the hard way that things went terribly wrong when he was there to see it. And as much as she wanted to, she couldn’t lay all the blame for this irrational attitude on Corbin. He wasn’t nearly as distant as he’d been at first. So why did she still feel so uneasy in his presence?
    In the safety of her room, away from his aura of cool indifference, she