What? “How—”
“You still have the mark on your finger. Those seem to take longer to fade away than an actual marriage.”
“Mine disappeared in the blink of an eye.” And I just told a total stranger something so personal.
“Trust me, it’s way better than dying over a decade piece by piece, taking your sanity with it.” He turns to the left. “You should find what you’re looking for over here. If I can help, give a holler. I’m around shelving books somewhere.”
“Thanks. Not just for the books.”
Bram nods. “Anytime.”
***
Do I wrap them or just bring them over and hand them to him? The stack of books sits on my island, mocking me. This shouldn’t be a big deal.
You get more flies with honey…or so my mother says when she wants me to be nice to a mean aunt. I wrap them in one of the pretty papers that just so happens to already be stocked in my house, along with a shiny pink bow.
Perfect. And I know he’s home. I heard his motorcycle drive up a little over an hour ago. Time to go stop the teenage drunken parties like the responsible neighbor that I am.
It doesn’t take long for him to yank his front door open. “WHAT?”
He’s as cheerful as ever, it seems. “Hi. I’m your neighbor from next door.”
“Like I didn’t already know that. What do you want? Make it fast.”
“I brought you these.” I hold out the present with a friendly smile, regardless of his sour face.
Gifts
Havoc
That woman is standing at my door again. This time with a wrapped present covered in a fluffy pink bow. She’s got to be insane. Either she doesn’t take a hint, or she’s feeling desperate.
What do I have to do to get her to leave me alone? I snatch the gift out of her hands. “There. Now you can consider us introduced. We aren’t ever going to be friendly neighbors. If you need a cup of sugar or someone to water your plants, look elsewhere. I don’t want you here. Get it?”
She blinks twice.
Are those tears in the corners of her eyes? Why do women play dirty like that? Then, like a flip of a switch, she changes before my eyes. Her already good posture sharpens, and her eyes turn hard. “I don’t know what your problem is, but let me lay it out for you. What happened last night isn’t going to happen again. Nor does whatever this is—” She waves her hand around. “—allow you to speak to me like that. You don’t need to worry. I have plenty of friends and am perfectly fine not having a man like you included in that list. The next time I have an issue, I’ll handle it a different way.” She turns on her heel and stalks off to her yard.
Like she had any right to be insulted. That woman is such a con. I slam the door closed and walk back into the kitchen, dropping the bribe on the bar.
“What’s that? Who was at the door?”
I walk over to the stove and stir the ground beef. “The neighbor.”
“Hot neighbor?”
“Creed.”
He reaches for the present. “What did she do to irritate you this time? I’m guessing she just had to breathe and smile.”
“Creed.”
“I know she’s a scary, sexy lady. What did she get you?”
“Does it matter? She’s just trying to curry favor with me so that I take care of her when her sugar daddy isn’t around.” That woman thinks I’m an easy mark. The way her wrapping paper crackles is even irritating. “Why are you even looking at that?”
“Because I want to know what this temptress got so I can help protect you from her evil machinations.” Creed thinks he’s funny, but he’s not.
