CHAPTER ONE
Briggs
I pouredmyself a cup of hot coffee, adding just a dash of milk before stirring and sipping. Strong and delicious. I took it and my laptop out to my raised back patio and settled in the chair.
My time with the morning news and my coffee was precious. It was how I started my day, got into work mode, and kept myself up to date in a rapidly changing world. Especially working in the financial word, with stocks and bonds, you never knew how the market might behave.
As I sipped and read, the peaceful stillness of the forest behind me, a loud honk followed by a laugh pierced through the air. Who the hell could that be?
There weren’t any neighbors around, no other cabins on this road except for the abandoned one next door but no one had lived there in ages, at least not since I moved in years ago.
Another loud laugh and the slamming of a car door. I cringed. What the fuck was going on?
I slammed my computer shut, downed the rest of my coffee, and stood up in search of the noise. With my porch raised, Icould easily see the cabin next door, into the driveway and side door. There wasn’t anything but woods to see in the back of my cabin or on the other side.
The person I bought the cabin from informed me of its past, two brothers owning the side-by-side cabins until they got into a bitter fight over a woman and never spoke again. One moved out of the state and left his cabin abandoned. It was taken over by the bank but has sat empty for many, many years.
I walked to the edge of my patio and looked towards the cabin.
A car sat in the driveway.
What the hell?
More laughter drifted towards me, and my annoyance grew tenfold.
And there I spotted the source of the noise.
A beautiful woman, reddish brown hair sparkling in the sun, large sunglasses framing her face, and ruby red lips I could see from here popped up from the passenger side of the car before slamming another door shut.
She spoke loudly as she turned towards the walkway, strutting to the side door of the cabin, bags hanging off both arms, keys in one hand, and her phone in the other. Clearly, she was on speakerphone and unaware of anyone else around her.
Great, just fucking great.
She’d only been here five minutes, and she was already noisy as fuck.
I watched her open the side door and walk inside, leaving the door open behind her. I could still hear her voice carry over to me.
Please tell me this wasn’t my new neighbor.
I liked my peace and quiet. My solitary existence. I didn’t need someone coming in and fucking it all up.
And since when had the cabin gone up for sale?
I gripped the edge of the porch and stared at her door, unable to look away. She was pretty, but that was beside the point. I wasn’t about to let someone come in and fuck up the world I’d so craftily built for myself, that was for damn sure.
With a sigh, I pushed off the porch ledge and headed back to my seat. But then her door opened, her voice loud and clear once again, and I froze on the spot but not before turning back around to watch her.
She moved from her car to the door and back, bringing in bags and packages, all while talking a mile a minute on the phone.
Jesus Christ, who is this woman?
I couldn’t tear my eyes away, like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from. Her loudness was intriguing yet annoying all at the same time.
And then she turned in my direction, her phone no longer out.Fuck!
“Hi!” the woman said loudly, her gaze now pinned on me.When did she hang up the phone?!
“Hey.” I replied. I should say something like how are you, welcome to the neighbor, let me know if you ever need anything like sugar or some bullshit, but I kept quiet and said nothing. I didn’t want to interact. It wasn’t my thing, my style. No matter how gorgeous she was.
