Sweet as Candy - Karla Doyle Page 0,51
King—very classy.” She lifted the accompanying business card and waved it at him. “Did you pick up anything for me?”
“Not this time, sorry.”
“You should be sorry. You know that’s my favorite store. You wouldn’t even know about it if I hadn’t dragged you in there to look for authentic bell-bottoms to wear to that pimp-and-ho party a couple years back.”
“I owe you one. Two, if you pull this off for me. Now close the box and get moving.”
Megan wrinkled her nose at him while replacing the lid. “Maybe I’ll tell Candace how much of a stubborn, demanding ass you can be. Though if she’s spent even a small amount of time with you, I suspect she’s already aware of those qualities.”
“Yeah, yeah.” He shooed her toward her mission, leaning across the empty seat before she closed the passenger door. “Hey. Thanks for this, Meggie. I mean it.”
“I’ll do my best to get you what you want.” She jiggled the glossy, pink box. “But if she says no to this invitation, she doesn’t deserve you.”
He nodded as Megan pushed the door closed with a hip bump. If Candace turned down his offer a second time, it’d be motivated by insecurity and uncertainty. Understanding her reasons didn’t mean he had to accept them. As his sister had pointed out, he could be a stubborn, demanding ass. Qualities that had burned him on occasion, but were exactly what he needed to break through Candace’s walls for good.
Candace
“There’s a lady coming up our sidewalk,” Macy said, from her position on the couch across the room. She shifted onto her knees to hang over the back for a better view out the front window. “Now she’s at the door.”
Thank goodness for her daughter’s warning, or the doorbell would’ve startled Candace out of her standing-bow pose, likely to one that involved her face meeting the living room floor.
“I’m not answering it,” she said, resuming her yoga routine. “Move away from the window. Whoever it is will go away.””
Too late. Macy was already waving at the person. “She’s holding a box.”
Probably a courier with the wrong address. Happened a lot in a townhouse development where dozens of units looked identical.
Candace sighed and pulled on a sweatshirt. “Get down,” she said, waving Macy off the back of the couch. Rarely did she have to tell her daughter to do something more than once. Especially when it was privacy or safety related. At the front door, she put an eye to the peephole and saw what had piqued Macy’s interest.
The woman on the other side of the front door wasn’t wearing a uniform. She didn’t have a clipboard and there wasn’t a courier truck idling at the curb. The box in her hands was shiny and pink with a removable lid. Not your typical package out for delivery.
Candace unlocked the deadbolt but kept the slide chain engaged while opening the front door a crack. “I think you have the wrong unit, I’m not expecting anything.”
The woman smiled. “Unexpected gifts are the best kind, right?”
“Sorry, I really think you’re at the wrong door.”
“I’m sure he told me Unit 3. And you’re exactly how I pictured you after hearing my brother’s lengthy, detailed description.”
The calm she’d achieved doing yoga flew out the window. Surely the woman on the other side of the door wasn’t referring to Jake. There had to be a mistake.
“You are Candace, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Good thing. Jake wouldn’t be happy if I gave his present to the wrong woman.” She lifted the box higher. “This is for you. And so are my babysitting services, if I meet your approval and Macy is comfortable spending the evening with me next Saturday. I’m Megan Campbell, by the way.”
“Hi, and wow, this is a lot to take in.”
“I bet.” Megan jiggled the box. “Mind if I come in, so you can take your gift?”
“Yes, of course.” She could hardly say no to Jake’s sister. Or to his gift, however unwarranted it might be. She unfastened the chain and opened the door wide. “Come in. Sorry, you took me completely off guard.”
“I believe that was part of his plan,” Megan said, on her way inside.
“I’m sure.” Candace locked the door, then followed her guest down the hall. “Your brother is relentless once his mind is made up.”
Megan laughed. “Sounds like you’ve experienced this fine trait of his before.”
“Oh, yes. Several times.”
“Then you’ve probably also realized that his heart is always in the right place when he’s being relentless. Like now.” Megan stopped at