Declan’s lawn mower rumbled so loud I could practically hear my windows vibrating. My patience was slipping with each passing second. I couldn’t take it any longer.
I stormed over to the door and opened it wide.
“Kat, I’m going to have to let you go. I’m going over there.”
“Good luck,” she chuckled. “Call me back and let me know how it goes.”
“Will do,” I said and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind me.
I slid my phone into my back pocket and marched down the driveway. The privacy fence prevented me from cutting across the yard. Once on his property, I could hear the clanking of the dilapidated-sounding lawn mower coming from his backyard; the thing was about to clearly blow up. I had to cover my ears the closer I got.
When I spotted Declan around the corner, his back was to me, and he was bent down and inspecting the mower that was now giving off a thick cloud of smoke. He didn’t have the body of an old, hairy man. In fact, it was the complete opposite. He was dressed in cargo shorts and a T-shirt. His arms had just the right amount of muscle and his legs were toned. However, I had yet to see his face.
“Hey!” I shouted, edging a little closer. The mower was so deafening I had no doubt he couldn’t hear me. “Hey!” I called out even louder. Again, he didn’t turn around, so I closed the distance and tapped his shoulder. Declan jerked around so fast that I lost my footing and started to fall backward, but he reached out and grabbed me before I could hit the ground. The breath left my lungs, and everything moved in slow motion. My body reacted to him instantly, like a spark igniting the second his skin touched mine. What caught me off guard more than anything was Declan’s eyes; they were so blue, bluer than any I’d ever seen. His lawn mower blew up with an ear-piercing bang, and then all went silent. It was what I’d been waiting on.
Declan let me go and pulled out the earphones in his ears. Judging by the bit of gray in his five o’clock shadow, he was older than me, probably in his late thirties.
“Are you okay?” he asked, staring at me with impatience as ifIwas the one who had inconveniencedhim.
And just like that, his hypnotic blue eyes had no effect on me.
I planted my hands on my hips. “Actually, I am now. There’s finally peace and quiet.” I glared downat his lawn mower and then back to his face. “I’ve had to listen to that contraption of yours for three weeks now. Not to mention all that banging around you do in your garage. It’s not what I want to hear on my days off when I’m trying to relax.”
His lips spread wide, revealing perfectly white, straight teeth. That was the dentist in me; I always looked at people’s teeth. But there was nothing sweet about his smile. I knew something smartass-ish was about to come out of his mouth. Then again, what I said wasn’t exactly welcoming and friendly; it actually sounded quite bitchy. He didn’t know me or my work schedule, or that I only had Fridays off.
Declan nodded toward his lawn mower, which continued to give off a stream of smoke. “Thatcontraptionwas my grandfather’s. I’m not going to go out and buy a new one just because it has issues. When something’s broken, you fix it.” His blue gaze roamed up and down my body. “Then again, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand that.”
I knew what he meant by that. I probably looked like I didn’t know how to get my hands dirty or do manual labor.
Crossing my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You can assume all you want, neighbor.You don’t know me, and I clearly don’t know you. All I ask is that you show a little bit of consideration to the others around you and keep the noise down. You’re not the only one who lives on this street.”
A hint of humor sparked in his eyes, but then it disappeared quickly, replaced with grumpy impatience. “Duly noted,neighbor.” He glanced back at the mower. “Looks like you’ll get your silence today.”
I didn’t know how to respond, so I turned on my heel and headed back to my house. As soon as I made it back to my driveway, I pulled out my phone and called Kat.
“Hey, how did it go?” she asked, her voice excited.
I blew out a sigh. “Well, he’s not old and hairy.”
“So, he’s hot?”
There was no denying he was a good-looking man. “Yeah, I’ll give him that. But I do have to say one thing.”
“And what’s that?”
I glanced over at Declan’s house even though I couldn’t see him. “He is one smug bastard.”
Kat chuckled. “Is he going to stop making so much noise?”
Judging by his attitude toward me, I’d say no. “Doubt it,” I replied. “However, as luck would haveit, his lawn mower died on him a few minutes ago. I’m going to go back to the pool and enjoy my reading time while I can.”
We hung up and I went inside to take off my tank top and shorts and grab my book. All was quiet when I made it out to the pool and sat down in the lounge chair. There was about twenty minutes of blissful silence until a chainsaw revving jerked my attention toward the fence by my pool.
Declan was just on the other side, trimming one of his trees. My blood started to boil again.
I slammed my book shut and leaned my head against the chair. “You have got to be kidding me.”
What an asshole.
