Anne Ha - Husband Next Door

“I know.” He stood on the porch and faced her. “It wasn’t until I started cooking dinner that I remembered our date. I had to call the restaurant to make sure she was still there.”

She arched an eyebrow. “You’d better get going before she grows a brain and takes off.”

“Ouch.”

She looked him over, her green eyes narrowed appraisingly. “Wait Your tie’s crooked.”

Aaron raised a hand to check, then lifted his chin with a long-suffering look.

After a moment’s hesitation, Shelly put her hands to the brightly colored silk. Her knuckles grazed his chest, distracting her with unwelcome sparks of awareness. Fleetingly, she remembered the sight of him shaving the other day, then quickly suppressed the image.

She struggled in vain for a few moments, before untying the knot completely.

Aaron tapped his foot.

“Unappreciative fool,” she said, tugging the tie through his collar to realign it. She took a fortifying breath and suppressed her physical response to his tall, lean body. “Just be glad I’m here to save your evening.”

Shelly tied a beautifully proportioned knot and slid it snug against his collar. Then she straightened his lapels, brushed a speck of lint from his sleeve and patted him on the cheek. “Now get going.” She watched him descend the stairs, then turned back to her apartment to join Chloe.

Her best friend stared at her. “Wow…”

Shelly closed the door and fastened the bolt. “I can’t believe he’s already got you under his spell,” she muttered.

“ Me under his spell?”

“Oh, never mind. Come on. I’ll give you the grand tour.” She walked Chloe through the small apartment, ending at the sleeper sofa and the Japanese folding screen she’d borrowed from Aaron in order to give her house guest more privacy.

Chloe’s gaze kept wandering to the wall.

“What’s wrong?” asked Shelly.

“You mean you can’t tell?” She approached the blackand-white, framed poster that Aaron had examined the week before. “Use your eyes, girl. This picture’s totally crooked.”

“Oh.” The thing did seem to be a few inches out of alignment, now that she looked a little closer. It was natural that Chloe, with her engineer’s mind, would notice the discrepancy at once.

Chloe reached out to right the frame. “You always did have a knack for missing what’s right in front of your nose, Shelly. I bet it’s been like that for months. Nice poster, though.”

Shelly barely heard the compliment. She crossed over to the sofa, shaking her head. “I can’t believe him sometimes….”

“Who?”

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