The Troublemaker Next Door

by Marie Harte

  Vanessa waved her away. “Yeah, yeah. Now I’m going to get some rest because I have to go in to work tomorrow. Without me, that project is dead in the water. God, the curse of the competent.” She sighed and twisted her straight hair into a bun. “Don’t forget. We need info. So get that kid over here and work him.”

  Abby watched her walk away and let out a deep breath. Vanessa had her heart in the right place, but manipulating a five-year-old for answers didn’t seem kosher to Abby. Walking back down the hall, she turned off the television and entered the office. She sat in front of her computer, too tired to do any work, and turned to her bookshelves.

  Ten titles, all written by Abigail D. Chatterly. My hard work is paying off. Finally. Yet the excitement she normally felt when looking at her accomplishments refused to come. The barbecue this afternoon had been fun, and a bit of a letdown. The McCauleys were wonderful people. Everyone, from little Colin to his grandfather James, had been more than sweet. If she could discount the strange looks Brody had given her, she’d have said the day had been a success.

  It still weirded her out that she looked so much like Mike’s dead wife, Lea. But if it didn’t bother him, she didn’t know why his friend would be so troubled. Give him a break, Abby. He’s the only one who never saw you before. Probably just a shock to his system. But of all the men who’d been at the party, he was the one she wanted most to notice her. She’d heard him and his buddies on and off for weeks, unable to place a face to his name.

  But holy Hannah, Brody Singer had awakened the woman inside her, and now that stupid woman refused to go back to sleep.

  Disgruntled, she tried to banish the tall, golden Brody from her mind. Like Vanessa, she’d seen the chemistry between Flynn and Maddie brewing all day. She’d also seen Flynn’s reaction to meeting Maddie last week, when the poor man had stared so hard she feared his eyes would pop out of their sockets.

  And why shouldn’t he? Unlike Abby, Maddie had height, a figure most women envied—hell, she did—and red hair, amber eyes, model good looks, and a pleasant personality. Mostly. Then again, most men didn’t care about pleasant. They wanted hot, sexy, passionate—all characteristics Maddie possessed.

  The best thing that could have happened to her, besides losing that stifling job with snotty people, was breaking up with Ben. “Boring Ben,” as Abby had secretly nicknamed him. Maddie seemed to attach herself to guys who didn’t challenge her. Abby had a feeling Maddie feared becoming her mother, loving the wrong man and facing the consequences.

  Abby felt for her. She did. Her own family loved her. With the exception of one annoying older sister, they supported her and had helped her through school so she didn’t have to take major loans. She’d never wanted for much. And when she’d met Kevin, she’d thought she’d found heaven on earth.

  Not wanting to travel down that dark road again, she forced the memory aside and turned on the computer. Her heroes and heroines lived their own happily-ever-afters. If she had anything to do with it, Maddie would as well. Abby just needed time to figure out if Flynn would be a hero or a villain, a main love interest or a secondary character. Because unlike Maddie’s other boyfriends, Flynn didn’t seem the type to accept Maddie’s distance. He had too much going for him to succumb to an emotionally withdrawn lover, not with a family like his.

  The McCauleys were loud. Protective. Loyal. Loving. She’d seen it in his parents and brothers, in the way they all cared for Colin and treated their guests with respect and affection. Abby couldn’t have written Maddie a better hero. Now to make sure Flynn wasn’t a scoundrel in disguise.

  ***

  Maddie continued to badger herself not to pick up the phone on Sunday. Hadn’t she told Flynn they were casual? She’d see him when she saw him. Mike lived right next door. It was inevitable they’d bump into each other soon enough. And she’d had enough sex last night to last her several months.

  It’s the quality of the orgasms. Not the quantity, Maddie. Though three in one night had broken every record in the Madison Gardner Hall of Fame. She’d never taken the concept of multiple orgasms seriously. But after experiencing Flynn, she knew anything was possible. He’d turned her inside out with his hands, his tongue, his giant cock. She’d never been one concerned about size, but the way he’d used it and how he’d felt inside her… Flynn definitely knew how to please a woman.

  And therein lay the problem. He must have had a lot of experience to know how to bring someone he barely knew to orgasm so quickly. Despite her long stretch of celibacy, Flynn had played her body like his own personal instrument. Just thinking about him revved her engines again. To her bemusement, she didn’t like the thought of him with another woman. Jealousy, strong and sure, curled in her breast, and she wanted to slap herself for being so cliché.

  Christ, I barely know him. It’s not like I claimed him as mine or anything. And his past is just that, his past. So why had she felt such relief when he’d agreed to no other people in their personal lives while they dallied with each other?

  She called herself an idiot and buckled down to iron out the details of her pitch to Linda Donnigan. Yesterday had been a blessing in disguise. Not only was Flynn’s Aunt Linda a realtor, she was a businesswoman who didn’t mince words and who had Robin’s and Kim’s respect. A brief message to her friends had convinced Maddie a meeting with Linda would not only benefit her but might benefit them as well.

  With their excited support behind her, she needed to be totally sure of herself. Selling the product would be easy so long as she believed in it; she had to believe in herself.

  She never would have guessed that might be a problem, but Fred Hampton’s machinations nagged at her confidence. What if she hadn’t been hired based on her ability, but because he’d planned to sleep with her one day? What if her designs and ideas had never been very good, but he’d helped her limp along because he had ulterior motives?

  The negative thinking continued to abrade her nerves, until she wanted to throw the whole project out the window.

  A knock at her bedroom door interrupted her pity party. “What?” she yelled.

  Vanessa opened the door. “Here you go, Your Highness.” She tossed Maddie her cell phone.

  “Oh. Where was it?”

  “On the counter, Captain Clueless. Wait, what’s that, you ask? No, my day has not gone well. Jed Rawlins is a horse’s ass and stupid. He wasted my morning with questions he should already have known the answers to. When I told him that, he had the audacity to ask about you. As if I’d set up my own flesh and blood with someone like him.”

  Vanessa tied her hair up in a ponytail, her agitation apparent in the brisk motion of her hands. “I’m going out for a run before the rain comes down. Don’t thank me for the phone or anything.” She slammed the door shut and stomped down the stairs.

  Chuckling, Maddie looked at the phone and scrolled through her unread messages. “And she calls me ‘Your Highness.’ Too funny.” Maddie really felt for the people who had to work with her cousin. The woman had a high intelligence and a low threshold for foolish questions and stupid people. Hell, she barely tolerated Maddie, and they were cousins.

  Robin had sent her a few notes. One message from a friend from Hampton’s Designs expressed regret that she’d left without saying good-bye. Maddie made a note to call her back. She wasn’t a bad person, probably one of the best young designers still there. Another text—a reminder from Vanessa to purchase paper towels, which she’d sent yesterday while at the barbecue.

  Vanessa needed a serious set-down. Texting a grocery list while at a party signaled a woman on the edge of a meltdown. Muttering under her breath about her cousin, Maddie stopped at a text sent today from a number she didn’t recognize.

  Just wanted you to know I’m NOT thinking about you. At all. Casually Yours, F.

  The smile on her face grew. Casually Yours. As specified, they wouldn’t cuddle or hug. Though, come to think of it, they’d done plenty of that last night. She’d insisted he didn’t ne
ed to see her inside when he’d dropped her off after their rendezvous. She’d also nixed the idea of flowers or datelike behavior, in case he took it upon himself to display any. But a text between friends couldn’t be construed as anything but platonic. Ordinary.

  Noting the three-hour lapse between when he’d sent it and now, she figured it safe to text back. It was probably a good thing she’d misplaced her phone. Otherwise she would have pounced on it the moment it rang and fought with herself not to immediately text back. She typed into her tiny keyboard, Not thinking about you either. But take good care of that tongue. Casually back at you, M.

  She returned to work, her woes forgotten as she threw herself into the notion that Flynn’s aunt wouldn’t know what hit her come Tuesday. Maddie’s baby, Gardner’s, would do what the other companies couldn’t. Not only would she sweep the local real estate agents off their feet, but her new venture would win back the confidence Maddie had lost, and in the process, make her departure from Hampton’s Designs no more than a bad memory.

  ***

  Flynn heard his phone chime and dove for it before Brody returned from the bathroom. They sat at Brody’s place drinking beer and watching a game. The clouds overhead had looked ominous so they’d passed on an outdoor ball game with friends. Though he dealt with rain on a daily basis, living in Seattle, he hated being wet.

  At least Brody had a decent place—if one disregarded the mess in most of the rooms save this one. He lived in a house that had been converted into a duplex just three blocks from Green Lake. Seth, the old man who owned the building, lived right next door. He kept to himself. On the odd days Flynn had seen him at the park sitting on a bench, he’d had a story to tell.

  Seth planned on living in his house until he died. Brody did most of the upkeep and had a portion of his rent deducted for it. But even if he hadn’t earned a reduction, his friend still would have helped the old man. Truth to tell, the crotchety bastard kind of reminded Flynn of his own father. And since Brody idolized James McCauley, it made sense he’d taken to Seth.

  Flynn glanced at the bathroom, then at the phone, back at the bathroom, then thought screw it. He looked at the message then saved it. Tucking the phone back into his pocket, he settled back on the couch to enjoy the rest of the game.

  Brody appeared and plunked down beside him, keeping the requisite three feet of man-space between them. “What the hell are you smiling at, dumbass? We’re down by three and can’t buy a hit.” He swore when the next pitch came in. “Strike? What are they swinging at?”

  Flynn shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

  “What happened?” Brody muted the television and turned to face him. “Tell me.”

  “What? I’m watching the game. We’re down, as usual. But we’ll come back.”

  “No. You’re never this happy. You’ve been humming all day. What’s up with you?” Brody’s eyes narrowed. “You got laid, didn’t you?”

  Flynn choked on his beer. Was he that easy to read? “Why does my good mood have to be tied to sex? Couldn’t I be happy because I’m watching the game with my bud and drinking a beer?” He turned the label and nodded. “One that isn’t one of Cam’s girlie drinks?”

  “No, no. Don’t screw with me. I know you.” Brody tilted his head. “You did the redhead. Hot damn.”

  It annoyed Flynn that Brody passed Maddie off as just the redhead. The woman had a name. “First of all, Maddie Gardner is not just ‘the redhead.’ Dickhead. Second, I didn’t do anyone. I drove Maddie and Abby home last night. Watched a movie, went to bed.” So why am I so happy? “If I’m in a good mood, it’s because one of the cousins is thinking of interning with us.”

  Brody blinked. “No shit? Which one? Theo, Landon, or Gavin? No way it’s Hope. And seriously, what’s with your aunt naming them like that? It’s like she wanted them to get pummeled growing up.”

  Flynn grinned. Aunt Linda’s sons were good kids, but Brody had a point. They’d spent a lot of their not-so-distant past defending the Donnigan brothers, who didn’t know when to keep their big mouths shut. “Theo. He just graduated and has been dragging his feet about college. The others are still overseas doing God knows what for Corps and country.”

  “Damn jarheads. Hope they’re staying safe.” Brody frowned.

  “You know, I still say you should have joined the Corps.” Like Flynn’s father and cousins had.

  Brody snorted. “I’m not into taking orders from anyone. And before you say it, yeah, I listen to your dad, but only because he has such a big mouth.”

  “True.” Flynn chuckled. “Me, I knew what I wanted to do the minute my dad let me go with him during the summers on those construction sites. Remember? I’ll never forget Roger Dellford preaching about plumbing being an art form while he smoked that huge cigar. Remember how he’d bring us a beer when Dad wasn’t looking? Man, I loved that guy.”

  Brody clinked the neck of his beer against Flynn’s. “Me too. And I’ll add my thanks to Daring Dellford for his insight, his stogies, and his brew. We’ve cleared a shitload this year. If we could add on another team, we’d be golden.”

  “Maybe when Gavin comes home, I can convince him to work with Theo. Keep it all in the family.”

  Brody nodded. “Sounds good. Now back to our earlier discussion.”

  Like a dog with a goddamn bone. “Huh?”

  “Dude, lie to your brothers, your mother, your nephew. But don’t lie to me. I know you.”

  Shit. He didn’t want to break Maddie’s confidence, but this was Brody. He might be a pain in the ass at times, as well as a liar and a card cheat, but he was Flynn’s best friend, blood brother, and pretend twin. Had been since kindergarten.

  He sighed. “You can’t tell anyone.”

  Brody’s eyes gleamed. “I fucking knew it.”

  “Swear. I’m not kidding.” He punched Brody in the arm.

  “Ow. Okay, I swear. I won’t say a thing to the family. You know I won’t.”

  Gratified to see the truth, Flynn wondered how much to say. “I took the girls home last night.”

  “You did both of them?”

  “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Oh, right.” Did Brody look relieved?

  “And then I took Maddie out to get some stupid supplies to clean her house.” At Brody’s look of disbelief, he nodded. “Seriously. Vanessa’s got this thing about cleanliness. She’s a little scary.”

  “Sounds like it. So, Maddie?”

  “We went back to my place. And we, ah, we kind of fooled around.”

  “Dude, you fucked her. I know that look.”

  “Shut up.” He flushed. Damn it, he felt like a schoolgirl at her first sleepover, spilling secrets he shouldn’t be sharing. “We’re keeping it casual. She’s not gonna say anything to her friends. And if Mike finds out, it’ll just show him he was right not to tell us—yeah, you and me—about them moving in in the first place.”

  “Hmm. Good point. Okay. I’ll try to keep all teasing to a minimum. Just between you and me.”

  “We’re past the fourth grade, numbnuts. Grow up.”

  “Maddie of the long red hair and killer bod.” Brody sighed. “I bet that was some piece of ass, huh?”

  “Fuck off. She’s not a piece of ass.” Flynn restrained himself from punching Brody right in the face. “She’s a nice person. We connected, but we’re just friends. Don’t push me on this.”

  Brody held up his hands in surrender.

  Flynn didn’t trust the sly look in his eyes. “I’m not kidding.”

  “Hey, point taken. Understood. You and your girlfriend—”

  “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s too busy starting her new business for relationships. And we have this new team we’re building. I don’t have time either.”

  “Bullshit,” Brody scoffed. “You’re not looking because you keep coming up short. Not everyone is like your parents. Those two have some kind of lovefest going on I still don’t get. But you might find a woman if you’d lower your standards.
How many women in this day and age are actually stay-at-home moms who worship at their husband’s feet?”

  “Are we talking about Beth McCauley?” Flynn drained the rest of his beer. “That woman raised us, yeah. But have you ever seen her worship Dad?”

  Brody frowned. “Ah, no. But we both know that’s what you’re looking for, why your slutty girlfriends never measure up.”

  “First of all, they’re not slutty.”

  “Half of them are fuck-buddies. Go ahead. Deny it.”

  He wanted to, but he couldn’t. The odd thing was that he didn’t consider Maddie one of them. “Let’s discuss you and your hang-ups.”

  Brody turned and looked for the remote. “This isn’t about me.”

  “Sure it is. If you were busy with your own slutty girlfriend, you’d stop hounding me.”

  Brody laughed. “Who says I’m not busy?”

  “The fact that it’s Sunday and you’re sitting here with me. That the most you have to do on a Saturday is drool over Abby Dunn.”

  Brody’s face darkened. “I did not.”

  Bingo. Now to exploit the weakness. He hated to go there, but Brody needed a wake-up call. “You think I didn’t know about your thing for Lea?”

  Brody blanched. “It wasn’t like that.”

  Flynn softened his voice. “I know. We all loved her like a sister, but you saw something more. Christ, Brody, she looked exactly like the picture of that centerfold you used to keep under your bed. The one you found in seventh grade. Remember?”

  Brody’s cheeks had gone from white to dark red in an instant. “This is not what we were talking about.”

  “Sure it is. I’m friendly with Maddie, and you have a thing for her best friend, Abby. Don’t ignore it.”

  “You want me to forget this conversation? Fine.” He glanced around. “Where the fuck is the remote?”

  “Brody, relax. Abby is really nice, but she’s not Lea. Once you get past the appearance, you’ll see there’s someone else in there. Even Mike said so. He’s not into her.”