Ben reached out his hand and took her now empty one. “Ben Tyler.”
“You’re the one with the pool?”
He winced again. “Is everyone going to hold that against me?”
I looked down at my kids and thoughtyesinside my head, but I let my sister throw out a flirty, “Only until you redeem yourself.”
“Hey,” he joked, “my Pop-Tarts saved the day this morning.”
I resented that on principle. “I would have gotten her out eventually.”
He shot me an indulgent smile. “Sure.”
“Sure?” I raised an eyebrow at him.
“Mommy, I want a Pop-Tart!” Lucy squealed.
“Pop-Tart!”Jaceechoed.
I bit back a tired sigh. “Can I have just twenty more minutes,Em? I promise I’ll be fast.”
“Twenty,” she said firmly. “Then I have to go. My study group will kill me if I’m late again.”
“Twenty, I promise.” I gaveJacea sloppy kiss on his cheek and passed him back to my sister. I told Lucy to wait with her Aunt Emma while I took off for the house again.
I left my kids and sister to chat with my new neighbor in hopes that they could repair some of the damage I’d created with just two interactions.
Part of me felt extremely sorry for Ben for having to put up with me. I didn’t know what had come over me. Sure, grief and depression ruled most of my moods these days, but I at least tried to put on a show for the rest of the world. I’d managed to stay polite and cordial to almost everyone else in my life, except for a select few, and those people had deserved every last bit of my ire.
Ben Tyler didn’t deserve ire or anger or bitchiness or anything else unpleasant. He had been nothing but nice since we crashed his pool and his morning. Still, there was something about him that just bothered me.
I snuck a peek through the frosted paned glass in my front door once I’d slipped inside. Emma laughed hysterically at something Ben said and he seemed absolutely captivated by her smile.
I wanted to be happy they had hit it off. I should be grateful she could represent my family with her own kind of charm, but I wasn’t. Irritation and frustration bubbled inside my stomach and spread out through my arms and legs hotly. I didn’t understand all this animosity for a man I’d just met.
And I hated that I let it get to me and affect what could be a perfectly comfortable relationship as neighbors.
Emma was still smiling when they said goodbye to Ben at the mailbox and turned back to the house. He watched her walk away from him, holding a letter absently in between his long fingers. I couldn’t help but laugh a little as he clearly checked out her obviously swaying ass.
My sister, thehottiewith the body.
But then his eyes flicked up to the house and I realized I had been standing there spying on them. I jumped away from the window and sprinted up the stairs. I now had only fifteen minutes to get through my shower and do something manageable with my shoulder length hair. I couldn’t let Emma down again.
She did so much for me. Allowing her to get to her study group on time was the very least I could do. Besides, I desperately needed a shower. I needed to wash away the sweat and grime from my run and the weirdness andangstyfeelings Ben Tyler seemed to bring out of me.
I tried to convince myself that having a neighbor in that house would be a good thing. He’d offered help and I knew without a doubt at some point in the future, hopefully far future, I would need it. I needed toomuchthese days.
I just hoped by the time I had to ask him for it, I could get over whatever hostility I felt for him and could treat him with the grownup respect I should naturally have.
Or, at least not snarl every time I got within six feet of him.
Chapter Four
I finished bucklingJacein his five-point harness and pointed a finger at Lucy. “Stop screaming.”
She didn’t.
I pushed my hair out of my face and let out a frustrated sigh. We were late. Again. Only this time it was worse than usual.
