Mixed Match Read online

  "Good boy. Stay," he said firmly. When Blue sat back on his haunches, Everett set the leash down beside him with his phone still sandwiched between his ear and shoulder, and kneeled to tie his laces.

  It might've been the second wind, or the simple urge that every dog gets at least once in its life to make a run for it. Whether for freedom or a squirrel, Blue bolted. In a fuzzy brown blur, he made a swift right and hightailed it down Vista straight toward Java Hound. Dammit.

  "Zo, I'm going to have to call you back. Blue is on the move."

  The rain let up only a little over an hour ago and already the streets were crawling with people. Not that rain ever deterred the residents of Portland, let alone the state of Oregon as a whole. Today, though, the sidewalk seemed unusually busy.

  Everett was trying to keep up with his dog while he whipped through fast-disappearing openings in the crowd. He passed a few groups, all holding plates piled with food. Some were drinking what looked like wine or beer, and most carried totes emblazoned with the Annual Foodie & Brewery Festival logo.

  Dang, it is today.

  But this was no time to think about outings and entertainment. Heart pounding and breathing labored, Everett searched the streams and eddies of people, excusing himself when he bumped into someone.

  “Stop, Blue!”

  The dog couldn’t be too far ahead. Though the farther behind Everett fell, the harder it would be to find him in the crowd.

  It wasn’t until he reached the Mediterranean cafe two doors away from Java Hound that he caught sight of Blue sitting just outside the entrance, his leash puddled around him. The years of training paid off—almost. He sat there like a perfectly well-behaved pet, the complete opposite of the one who ran away only moments earlier. To anyone else, Blue likely looked as if he was waiting for his owner to finish shopping.

  Only the dog wasn’t alone.

  Sophia Kent.

  There she was, crouched down beside him, petting his coat and cooing. Her face was at just the right angle, and there were those midnight eyes again—the darkest ebony with flecks of golden embers. They were curved into a perfect almond shape, suggesting a Dominican or Spanish family background. But those cheekbones and full lips were unmistakably Black.

  He ambled toward the two of them, still trying to figure out what his angle should be.

  Should he go for old friend? Or maybe, funny seeing you here? Fuuuuuck.

  She still didn’t seem to have noticed him as she leaned closer to check Blue’s collar. While she did, he continued to study her. Images of her had played in his mind since yesterday, and he’d almost memorized her. She’d forgone the skintight jeans and barely-there tank of the prior day in exchange for pink pants and a dotted navy blouse. He wouldn’t have called it fancy so much as preppy. But there was something about the understated way she paired the outfit with pearls. Shiny navy flats and light makeup gave the impression she was low-maintenance but well-kept.

  Maybe she didn’t require expensive vases or paintings, but she could just as easily be one of those women who’d spend obscene amounts on a single pair of shoes or a handbag. He scrutinized every inch, from head to toe, in hopes of figuring her out. If he didn’t, it would keep bothering him, not knowing whether she was a pawn or running the whole game.

  Taking a deep breath, Everett slowed his pace and composed himself, patting at his pants pockets for another dog treat. He allowed his shoulders to fall back as he settled into a strong stance and quietly cleared his throat. As his pulse leveled, he stood just behind Sophia and his furry traitor, who by now lapped up all the spare attention from a gorgeous woman.

  Boy, would I like to trade places with you, buddy.

  “Blue.”

  In one fluid movement, Sophia rose to meet Everett’s eyes. “It’s you. The messenger.” One full brow raised in question. But she seemed genuinely excited to see him, which was…nice. Unexpected, but nice.

  “Is this your dog?”

  Everett gave a single silent nod without a word to accompany it...because the perfect approach still hadn’t come to him. But “brooding and mysterious” was growing on him.

  “You make a habit of letting your dog run free? You should try using the leash.” Her lips were pursed, but he could see a smile creeping into her expression. She was warm and refreshingly down-to-earth.

  He pressed his lips together and swallowed. For some reason, although she seemed to be joking, Everett felt the need to explain. “I, uh…only put the leash down for a second to tie my shoe and he made a run for it.”

  Sophia rubbed Blue’s head, mussing his dark brown hair to his pure satisfaction. She lifted her chin and looked at Everett over the top of her nose, scolding him playfully. “Well…you take good care of my new friend.”

  “I’m sure Blue is pleased to make your acquaintance. He makes friends everywhere he goes.” He squinted at his dog in mock disappointment. “If you ask him, he’ll tell you this fine establishment is his favorite place. He’s friends with the owner.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Uh-huh. She bribes him with treats. Which is why he’s sitting here pretending to be such a good boy. Huh, Blue?”

  At the mention of the word “treat,” Blue’s tail wagged like crazy, and Everett lifted his brows to Sophia. Case closed. He proved his point, but now Everett needed to deal with a boatload of tragic whimpers and puppy dog eyes gazing up at him. “All right.” He reached into his pocket and plucked out a Milk Bite, which sent Blue into a squirming frenzy.

  As Everett lowered his hand to Blue, he shot an I told you so at Sophia, which earned him a soft, musical laugh and a prime view of the delicate line of her neck. He nodded his head toward the back of the store, where they could all see the owner was waving from the register. “Blue knows what he’s doing.”

  Sophia gave the woman a quick once-over. “It’s pretty low to blame all this on an innocent dog.” She giggled, having way too much fun picking on him.

  When the laughter died down, they stood there in silence, both looking at Blue.

  But Everett was more afraid of how his body would react if he looked at her directly. Already he wanted to run the pad of his thumb over her full lips and trail his hand down the silky brown skin of her neck, not stopping until he reached her toes. His face burned. There was no denying he was attracted to her, which pissed him off. It was counterproductive, especially since his goal was to find out about her deal with Patton Place.

  “Do you have a dog?” He was genuinely interested, but he was also eager to fill the silence.

  She met his eyes. “No. I’ve always wanted a chocolate lab, though.”

  “Ahem.”

  When Everett looked up, another woman stood beside Sophia. There were some similarities around the eyes, but not much else. The woman who joined them sported big, curly hair, unlike Sophia’s loose waves. Her skin was a little lighter, but it wasn’t hard to tell they were related.

  The woman stretched her hand between Everett and Sophia. “Since my cousin has apparently forgotten her manners, I guess I’ll have to introduce myself.” She shot Sophia a glare, then turned her penetrating attention on Everett. “I’m Julie. And you are?”

  “This is the guy I was telling you about who was so kind as to serve me with papers,” Sophia said loudly, carefully enunciating every word. Her eyes were wide, apparently sharing an inside joke with the other woman.

  At this, Julie cocked her head at Everett, as if the information changed her entire view of him. “This is the messenger?” she shouted. “Damn. You said he was cute, but I didn’t believe you since you usually have the worst taste in guys. But shee-it! You didn’t tell me he’s downright gorgeous.”

  A flush crept across Sophia’s cheeks as her chin dipped to her chest and she froze. She fidgeted with her collar before lifting her eyes to meet his.

  Everett bit back a laugh. He could see she was mortified, undoubtedly trying to figure out what to say that wouldn’t further embarrass both of the
m. “Um. You’ll have to excuse my cousin. She has no filter. Plus, she’s very forward—” Sophia cut her cousin a sharp side-eye “—and also almost married.”

  On the outside, he was confident and cool, but on the inside he was giving himself high fives to the thunder of a roaring crowd. She thinks I’m cute.

  “Engaged to be married.” Julie clarified, winking at Everett. “Chill, Soph.”

  After a long and seemingly satisfying eye roll, she continued. “Since the two of you are just standing there like nervous train wrecks, seems I’ll have to be the one who does all the talking. Now, Messenger. Mess. Again, what’s your name?”

  “It’s uh…Everett.”

  Of course Sophia’s quit-witted cousin didn’t miss his hesitation. “Well, is your name Everett or not? You don’t seem too sure about it. Should I be worried?”

  “No.”

  “Okay, good then.” Julie placed her hands on Sophia and Everett’s shoulders to square them to each other. When they were face-to-face, she stretched Sophia’s hand out. “Soph this is Everett. Everett this is Sophia.” She grabbed Everett’s hand and wrapped it around Sophia’s. “Now you know another person in Portland, Soph, and you guys can be friends or...whatever.”

  * * *

  A wave of people filled the sidewalk, edging Sophia and Everett close to the store window, where they squeezed into a small corner beneath the awning. As soon as Blue noticed their closeness, he snuggled up between them and Sophia watched while Everett endearingly ran his palm over the dog's soft head. But as she lifted her eyes, she also took note of a visibly harder head in Everett’s jeans.

  She bit back a grin and whipped around to see Julie wandering into the dog treat store before peeking up at Everett. "Do you, uh, know what's going on? Why all these people are here?" She craned her neck to see how many people were still crowding the sidewalk.

  "It's the Foodie and Brewery Festival. They have it every year in June."

  "Sounds amazing. I'm a full-on foodie."

  A sheen of excitement illuminated his face. "Yeah? No kidding?"

  Sophia felt a small zing of excitement settle in her chest. "I'm actually thinking about opening up a restaurant. It's why we're down here. I mean, we went to an appointment with my lawyer earlier and checked out a wedding dress shop for Jules, but now we're walking around checking out the empty storefronts. I've only been here a little while, so it's kind of hard to know where to start. You know, in terms of what's a good area, if there are any other restaurants like the one I have in mind, foot traffic. You know, all the logistics."

  "Awesome. What kind of food do you make?" He sounded genuinely interested, but the way he stiffened gave Sophia pause. It was almost like he didn't want to get too personal. But it was a little too late to worry about that—their bodies were pressed so close she could feel his breath and his heartbeat. She could smell his fresh scent, a mix of mint and ocean air.

  Sensing his discomfort, Sophia changed the subject, but remained steadfast in her pursuit of small talk. "So...what do you do, Everett? I mean, is the courier service your main job?" Her voice was low against the harsh noise of the crowd. She glanced over her shoulder again. The sidewalk traffic was finally dying down.

  When she looked back at him, he appeared to study her face. "I'm a real estate developer. Mostly commercial, but our residential end is growing."

  "So you've probably lived here awhile then. You must know this place really well."

  She could barely hear his answer. "All my life."

  She waited, but he didn't say anything else. In the silence between them, suddenly Sophia became increasingly aware of her proximity, and in turn, of herself. Every nerve ending in her body stirred. The hair on her arms stood up, and though her posture was relaxed, her heartbeat pounded with an unsteady rhythm.

  She craved to touch him—to close the narrow distance between them. She imagined how soft his honeyed skin would feel on her fingertips, him leaning into her gentle touch—and getting a good look at what was making that impressive impression in his jeans.

  "So, Mess...” Julie barged in. “If you've been living here for forever, you can probably help us with two things. One, you can probably help us figure out a location for her restaurant. Maybe get us some information about the storefront we saw. And two, you must know something about this guy, John E. Monroe, who's trying to steal my cousin's house."

  Sophia snapped out of her daze.

  Everett took a small step back, looking everywhere but at them while he slid his fingers under Blue's collar and tightened his grip. The crowd and the noise seemed to dissipate as Sophia's throat tightened and ached.

  "Do you know him?" Julie pressed stubbornly, never knowing when to quit.

  Sophia noticed the way Everett's shoulders tensed. He seemed to force a smile as he cleared his throat and centered his focus on Julie. "Uh, yeah. He's well known in Portland. What type of information you get depends on who you ask, though.” All the emotion seemed to have drained from his voice.

  Sophia didn't say a word, but she could still feel the weight of his stare as he turned to her.

  Then, Julie let out a cynical gag? "What kind of sociopath doesn't have a picture online? Or, any social media accounts?" With the sidewalk all but clear now, she walked to the edge of the curb and allowed her head to fall back, seeming to absorb the sun peeking through the thin clouds.

  Neither Sophia nor Everett moved an inch, but Julie was still running off at the mouth.

  "He's probably some Scrooge who sits and counts his coins every day." She sighed loudly, releasing a frustrated groan. She lowered her chin and returned her attention to the two of them. "I mean, really. Where does he get off trying to swoop in and steal my cousin's house? If he thinks she's going to give it up easily, he's got another thing coming. Especially with the lawyer we've got."

  Everett gave Sophia yet another thin smile before checking his watch. Then he reached in his pocket, pulled out a gum wrapper, jotted down his phone number, and gave it to her before he clicked the leash onto Blue’s collar. "I guess it's our cue. Come on, boy. It was nice meeting you, Julie." He flicked a glance Sophia’s way. “And nice seeing you again, Sophia. I hope we can get together soon."

  She returned his sentiments with a genuine smile. Sophia watched as he walked away, but he didn't look back.

  Chapter Five

  The Sunday after Julie left the rain finally let up for a few hours and Sophia was ready to take action on her dream.

  A black Prius drove up to the curb and Sophia checked to confirm that the license plate number on the front of the car matched the details from the rideshare app. Through the window she waved at the driver Ahmed, a young, spiky-haired guy with thick brows and smokers' lips who looked similar enough to the nerdy picture at the top of her phone screen.

  Sophia rang Kara to see if she wanted to go to the farmer’s market with her, but she already made other plans. Apparently the time for wine-fueled boy talk and fun girly staycations was over. Kara was busy and Julie was back home in Vegas, so it was back to real life for Sophia. Which meant she needed groceries.

  So here she was with Ahmed, who seemed nice enough, but not like they'd end up sharing recipes or texting on the phone all night. As she slid into the back seat and buckled up, he double-checked the destination and whipped his teensy hybrid car into traffic.

  At some point I'm going to have to shell out the money for a car.

  "Would you care for some music or a water?"

  "No, I'm okay. Thank you, though. I'm just going to take in the sights." Sophia leaned against the door and stared out the window, hopeful Ahmed would get the hint that she wasn't in the mood to talk.

  "Sure. No problem."

  Outside, the city passed by in a blur of green and gray overcast day, but still she used her phone to snap a picture of a bridge among the clouds in the distance and posted it to Instagram. The caption read, Rain, rain go away. Come again another day. Perhaps when I'm not headed to an open a
ir #farmersmarket #portlandia #portlandfoodie

  Swiping to the rideshare app, she saw the estimated arrival time was thirteen minutes—enough time to just catch her breath. For four days she was an Energizer bunny, dragging herself around in nonstop fun with Julie and Kara. They ate out, shopped, danced, and talked till sunrise. Every morning, Sophia was positively buoyant about the prospect of the day, and every night she was love-drunk on having good girlfriends around to sample her new recipes and dissect the smallest little things about her new city life—although one way or another most of their conversations circled back to Everett.

  Kara wanted to know every detail about him, and Julie was eager to describe him down to his very full, un-chapped lips. The amount of wine the two of them consumed while they scoured the Internet for his picture—and coming up empty—was obscene and impressive at the same time. They even searched for pictures of his dog Blue on the off chance Everett might be in the background. And even though they never did find him, Sophia reveled in the idea he was out there, in the same "weird" city, as the locals called it, while everyone vied for top honors in the informal keep-Portland-weird sweepstakes.

  Why don’t I just call him?

  Based on the way his body reacted to hers on the porch the first day, and on the street last week, she harbored this sneaky feeling that behind his tight smile and his loose-fit jeans, he felt something for her too.

  "Is it too cold in here?" Ahmed asked, yanking Sophia from her thoughts.

  Sophia smiled and sat up straighter. "No. It's fine, thanks."

  His tone was hesitant, but he seemed like he genuinely cared about his customers. "Not too much longer. By the way, this is Portland’s best farmer’s market. Make sure you hit the vendors in the back and try their biscuits. I promise you won't regret it."

  "Thanks. I've never been, so I'll be sure to try them."