He might not be a killer but she was still standing in front of a strange man who was a foot taller than she was, alone.
“Who wants to know?”
“Me. I’m your housewarming gift.” He spread his arms wide. His thin jacket opened, revealing a pale gray T-shirt and, fortunately, no guns or shady weapons. Maybe a little conceited but still no killer vibe.
“Excuse me?”
“Just introduce yourself already before she knees you in the goodies. I taught her how, you know,” Morty said, coming up behind her “gift.”
Grace rolled her eyes. “You did not.” She looked at the guy. “But I do know how.”
He swallowed, looked back and forth between them, and stepped to the side. “I don’t doubt it.”
Morty ambled up the steps, slower than usual, making Grace worry. Of course, if she asked, he’d blow it off, so she’d just observe and see if his hip or foot was acting up.
He gestured to the guy with a thumb. “This is Shane. He’s my gift to you.”
Grace crossed her arms over her chest. “While that’s very kind of you, I was hoping for a puppy.” She smiled at Shane. “No offense.”
He laughed. It was a good laugh. Like his smile. “None taken. Puppies are definitely cuter but I have a few skills they don’t.”
Her forehead creased. Morty barked out a laugh. “Attaboy! Some things are worth bragging about.”
Shane ’s cheeks went a pale shade of pink. “Not what I meant. Can we please have a complete restart?” He stepped forward. “I’m Shane Dade. John’s son. I’m in construction and renovation.” He pointed to his truck, which clearly read DADE FOR YOU. “Morty’s asked me to take care of your back porch, knocking out a wall, and any minor repairs that need to be done.”
Grace looked at Morty, her grin widening. He waved his hand at her. “Don’t make a big deal out of it. I plan on being over here and don’t want to fall through that death trap back porch.”
“Uh-huh. How very self-serving of you.”
He nodded, smiling at her. “That’s right. A man’s gotta do what’s best for himself.”
She stepped forward, despite his look of worry, and wrapped her arms around him. “I won’t try to talk you out of it since you won’t listen, so instead, I’ll just say thank you.”
He patted her back. “Good girl. Thank me properly by making me some coffee now while Shane unloads his truck and regains his composure.”
“Hey. I’m composed.”
Morty shook his head. “Kids these days have no game. Telling her you’re her gift. Sheesh.”
Grace put a hand to her mouth to cover a laugh. Morty’s tone was so disappointed that even Shane laughed.
“I’ll try to do better, Morty.”
“Don’t want to end up alone, you’ll need to.”
Before Grace could head indoors, Morty stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Glad you aren’t being too stubborn to agree.”
She smiled, her heart full of love. “I’m growing as a person.”
* * *
While Morty chatted Shane’s ear off as he worked, Grace dug holes along the fence that separated her yard from Noah’s. It seemed like a good place to plant the flowers, which would bloom gorgeously. She measured the space between each hole, taking her time because she wanted to enjoy the project. It might have been overkill as far as apologies went, but she never would have spent this much money on flowers.
Between that and Morty footing the bill for the deck repair and the wall removal, she was nearly giddy with ideas. When she’d played around with designs this morning, she’d had the wall dividing the kitchen and living room in place because she thought it’d be a long time before she could make that change.
She was feeling so good about her yard, about her decision to keep things platonic and neutral with Noah, about Morty doing something so sweet. Basically, she was walking on plenty of sunshine when she went into the house, grabbed some drinks, and brought them out to the guys.
Across the fence, she saw two guys working on the palms. They had a truck parked outside the back gate. Another guy was strolling up the side of Noah’s yard, paying particular attention to the fence.
“About time. I’m dying of thirst out here,” Morty said, grabbing a can of soda from her hand.
She gave him a wry smile. “You keep saying your feet work just fine. You know where the fridge is.” She passed the other soda to Shane.
He smiled, used his forearm to wipe his forehead. It was going to be a hot one today.
“Thanks. Appreciate it.” He popped the top, drank half the can down.
Grace looked at Morty. “See? That’s how manners work.”
The old guy just snorted out a laugh and leaned back in the lawn chair.
Her gaze wandered to the guy strolling her fence line. Curiosity wrinkled her brow, making her miss what Shane said.
Doing her best to refocus, she asked, “Pardon?”
Shane looked over at the guy who’d pulled her attention, then back at Grace. “I was just saying, this is a great place you’ve got here. I won’t be doing the wall today. I’ll bring a couple guys back with me for that but the bones look good.”
She grinned, oddly pleased that he said so. “I’m really happy with it.” She couldn’t believe she’d thought of selling for even a minute. Unlike Noah, money didn’t make her world go round. Guilt nagged at her as soon as she finished the thought. There was more to him than that. She’d seen it. She’d felt it.
Her cheeks heated and she broke eye contact with Shane.
Grace pointed. “What do you think that guy is doing?” Maybe he was checking the fence for any damage where Noah had the hedges removed.
Shane looked again. “Looks like he’s surveying the property lines.”
Something way too close to panic gripped her gut. Why would he do that? Morty sat up, looked over at the guy, who was consulting his clipboard.
“Hey there. What’s that you’re doing?” Morty yelled.
The guys all looked over. Grace wanted to hide. “Morty.”
He shrugged. “What? You wanted to know.”
The guy adjusted his baseball cap. “Just surveying the land,” he called back.
The tree cutters went back to work, and ball-cap guy went back to his clipboard.
“Can he do that?” Grace asked.
Shane looked down at her. “It’s his land. He can do what he wants.”
“What if part of my land is his?”
“Then you’d have to move the fence line. I’m sure that won’t happen.”
She shook off the nervous tingles in her stomach. Funny how one man could produce such a wide array of feelings within a twenty-four-hour span.
Smiling overly bright, she focused on the deck. Shane had repaired the rotted boards, fixed the railing. “This looks awesome. I’m so excited. I’m going to get a couple of Adirondack chairs for out here.”
“Those chairs swallow you whole,” Morty complained.
Grace’s nerves wouldn’t settle down. When Noah came out of his house, locked his gaze on her, it didn’t help. It was possible she was an almost-thirty-year-old with a teenager’s reactive reflexes. Damn. So much for her resolve. It was just a kiss, she’d told herself repeatedly.
When Morty and Shane started talking about chairs, Grace casually leaned against the edge of the porch so she could watch Noah walk toward his front yard.
A car pulled into his driveway. She recognized Josh when he got out of the car but not the woman he helped out. Interesting. Rosie and Josh had been inseparable for days.
Josh gestured to Noah, who shook hands with the woman, glanced Grace’s way once more, then led them toward the house.
“You okay?” Shane asked. He finished off his soda.
“Fine. Um, I’m going to go finish the planting.”
Shane leaned over the rail. “Looks awesome. You picked some beauties.”
With a tight smile, she nodded and headed off the porch, trying t
o hear what Noah and his guests were discussing.
Fine. She couldn’t help herself. She approached the guy at the fence line. “Hey.”
He looked up, smiled at her. “How’s it going?”
“Fine. I’m just wondering, is it standard for you to be surveying a yard after people have moved in?”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Noah watching.
“Not without a request, no.”
She knew it. That son of a bitch. “Hmm. Is that so. How are the property lines looking?” She spoke through clenched teeth.
The guy looked at Noah, back at Grace. “I should probably write up my report for the customer before I say anything.”
God damn it. If she had to pay to have the fence moved over, she was going to throw the slats at him.
“For argument’s sake, what if your findings show part of my property is Mr. Jansen’s?” She wasn’t sure why she’d gone all professional, but it seemed like a necessary buffer.
The man shifted from one foot to the other. “It would depend on the residents but in most cases, adjustments would need to be made.”
“And if that happened, who would be responsible for paying the costs?”
The guy was clearly uncomfortable. Noah disappeared into his house. Grace locked her gaze on the city worker. “Would it be me?”
“Again, it would depend but most likely, it would be the person encroaching on the other’s property.”
Encroaching? Noah Jansen had been encroaching on her thoughts, space, life since the day she’d all but stumbled into him. Never mind fences. He was crossing lines and it needed to stop.
Going around the fence, she climbed up his steps, and walked right into his house without knocking. She called his name, heading up the stairs to where she heard voices.
She took the stairs two at a time, which her thighs would regret later, finding Noah and his company in his master bedroom.
They stopped, midconversation, and stared at her, standing in the doorway, her chest heaving.
“Hey, Grace. Everything okay?” There was a mixture of genuine concern and nerves in his voice. He walked over to her, and she couldn’t hold back her sarcasm. It was the only shield she had for the duality of feelings he evoked.
“Okay? Gee. I don’t know. Let me think. I thought things were okay between us but turns out I may need to move the stupid fence after all. You paid for a surveyor? Of all the petty, childish things. You need to learn to take no for an answer, Noah Jansen. In this life, you do not get everything you want no matter how much money you have.”
Noah put a hand on her shoulder but she shook it off, stepping back. “Grace.”
“Shit,” Josh muttered behind them.
“Oh my,” the woman said.
“Grace. I requested it weeks ago. I forgot they were coming and I had a”—he looked back at the woman—“a thing today. Please don’t worry about whatever the report says. I didn’t mean for this to upset you.”
She shook her head, tears cracking her voice. “Of course you didn’t. You don’t think about consequences or backlash for anyone else. You just think, ‘What do I want and how do I get it.’ Then you bulldoze your way over anything and anyone to do just that.”
“Grace. That’s not fair.”
Tears burned her eyes. “That’s not fair? That’s what’s not fair in all of this?”
She had to curl her fingers into her palms to steady herself. “You have no idea what fair even means. You think because you’ve painted a couple of boards, learned how to use a roller, you’re Mr. Fixer-Upper. You’re not. You’re just another rich suit who’ll do whatever it takes to get what you want. You’ll probably get bored of this place and move on. Then none of this will matter to you. But it matters to me.”
Noah’s face went through an array of emotions: surprise, regret, anger, and hurt. Good. It was good to know he had some human feelings.
“Grace, please. Forget the report. I’ll fix this,” he whispered.
She leaned in. “What will you use? Your money or your charm?” She hated herself the minute the words left her mouth.
Noah reared back. “You’re upset. I get that. But like I told you before, Grace, you don’t know me. I don’t have your story to tell but I have one of my own. Unless you know what it is, don’t make assumptions about me. I’ll figure out the survey thing, but, for now, you should leave.”
Tears blurred her vision as she turned on her heel to go. As she went down the stairs, she heard the murmurs of conversation but not what was being said. She couldn’t do this. She’d let Noah Jansen into the tiny cracks in her heart. He’d seeped in like molasses, sticking to all the empty places with the way he made her laugh, smile, and imagine.
How was she supposed to live next door to him, see him every day with the double-edged sword of wanting him and wanting to throttle him? Hopefully, her words would come true: he’d get bored, move on, and she’d pretend he never existed.
18
Noah left the bedroom, following after Grace, but Josh stopped him on the stairs.
“Think it through, man. Don’t just storm over trying to fix things.”
“I forgot about the land survey.” He ran both hands through his hair. Damn it. He’d done what he would in any other situation, only this one was different. He’d hurt her again.
“We have Emily here. Let’s focus on that,” Josh said in a quiet voice, glancing back to the bedroom.
Emily Swanson. A former interior designer turned writer for Home and Heart, a world-renowned magazine featuring home renos, how-to features, and a selection of covetable houses. Several famous people’s homes had graced the pages, and Josh had used a connection to get Noah’s remodel in an upcoming issue.
“I didn’t mean to upset her,” Noah said, more to himself than to Josh.
His assistant crossed his arms over his chest, tipped his chin up and his gaze down. Surveying Noah. “Focus.”
Emily joined them, a strange smile tilting her painted red lips. Shit. Please don’t say I’ve blown it. This magazine spread would be a loud and glossily clear message to his father that he’d arrived. That he’d be just fine on his own two feet. That he was paving his own path with success.
“Emily, I’m so sorry,” Noah said, turning on his deal-closing smile.
“Please. Don’t apologize. Is everything all right?” She walked to the curved railing, put her manicured hands on it.
“Just a neighborly dispute. I’ll sort it out later. Come on. I want to show you what I plan for the guest rooms,” Noah said, heading back up the stairs and leading them down the carpeted hallway.
Emily stayed rooted to her spot, so Noah turned, gave her his full attention, his body vibrating with the tension of wanting this to go well and wanting to chase after Grace.
“That woman is your neighbor?” Emily asked.
Yup. His pissed-off neighbor who just outed him for his home-reno inabilities. “She is.”
“She’s fiery. Great energy.”
Josh laughed. “Noah seems to bring it out in her. Frequently.”
Noah’s stomach pitched at the little “hmm” sound that came from Emily. He sent a quick glare to Josh, who shrugged, his smile wide.
“I want something different for this feature. Something unique. Something that will bounce off the page.” Was she just talking to herself? She was looking around his upstairs like she could see things he couldn’t. “It’s an incredible space. I like the old Hollywood vibe.”
That was a good sign. “Yes, I agree. It’s got so much potential and I plan on being part of each room.”
“You have a designer?”
“In the works.” Damn, he needed to make a choice. Why was he waffling?
“How about an assistant?”
Josh cleared his throat. “Right here.”
Emily crossed her arms over her chest, looked back and forth between them. “The chemistry between you and the girl next door is captivating.”
Shit. Could
they just focus on his house?
“Oddly enough, Grace is finishing up her degree in design,” Josh said.
Noah’s jaw dropped. What the hell was he doing?
Emily’s expression turned nothing short of gleeful. She actually clapped her hands as if Josh had just put on a show.
“This is too good.”
Noah stepped forward. “Grace is a neighbor and as you saw, she’s currently mad at me. We have a shaky relationship at best. She hasn’t finished her degree and I plan on making this house a livable masterpiece.”
“I’m going to level with you, Noah. We both have wants here. I want to be able to use this spread as my stepping-stone to editor in chief. I need something in keeping with the magazine’s reputation but also a hook that will appeal to an audience that likes to be instantly gratified.”
He did not like where this was going. He was done being a show pony. It was one of many reasons he’d walked away from his father.
“What are you suggesting?”
Her smile widened. “Let’s finish the tour.”
He wanted to believe he was in charge, but in this instance he knew she was calling the shots. They walked through the upstairs, chatting about carpeting versus laminate, the new landscape of wallpapering, and how to make it feel cozy but roomy. The entire time, his mind jumped back and forth between Emily’s thoughts and Grace’s hurt. This screwup was more than flowers. Something warm and unfamiliar had spread through his chest when he saw her planting those flowers in her yard. Without even trying to, this woman was weaving her way into the fabric of his life, and he was scared to pull at the threads. To see where they led.
“Oh, I love this!” Emily clapped her hands, walked straight to the window seat, and sat down on it. He’d had Kyle add it after Grace mentioned it. She’d been right. It looked perfect.
Emily beamed from the spot. “It’s gorgeous. It’s exactly the vibe you said you were going for. It’ll photograph beautifully.”
Noah’s attention took a sharp turn. “You think so?” Please think so. He needed this. Nothing felt like it was going the way it was supposed to. This would make him feel like he was back on top.
How to Love Your Neighbor Page 12
