Neanderthal Next Door: Enemies to Lovers, Mountain Man Next-Door, Halloween Romance

by K. C. Crowne

  I headed over to her place, tension boiling in my gut as I approached her front door. Once I was in front of it, I took a deep breath, and knocked. She opened seconds later. She seemed surprised at first, a smile spreading across her face as she realized it was me. Over her shoulder, Parker was seated on the couch, watching Charlie Brown’s The Great Pumpkin.

  “Hi, Mr. Anderson!” he called out, waving to me.

  “Hey, champ.” I turned my attention back to Mandy.

  “Well, hello,” she said, leaning against the door frame and crossing her arms under her breasts. “How can I help you?”

  God, it all felt so awkward. Was I really about to do what I’d come to do?

  “Lunch was…nice,” I mumbled.

  She laughed. “I should hope it was a little better than nice.”

  I allowed myself a small grin. “Much better than nice. Poutine was good, too.”

  Another laugh. “Well, good. We’ll have to get it again sometime, and eat it fresh instead of, you know…”

  “Instead of getting distracted,” I supplied.

  She nodded. “Anyway, what’s up?”

  “I, uh, wanted to see if you’d be interested in maybe getting some dinner. If you’re free.”

  She smiled at me, her arms crossed as she watched me, the sounds of Parker’s cartoon filling the air. “I’d like that.”

  “How’s Friday?”

  “Should work for me.”

  “I’ll come by here around six, take you into town. Sound good?”

  “Sounds great.”

  “See you then.” Our eyes lingered on one each other’s for several moments. Then I tore them away, turning to leave.

  “Good night, Hunter.” Her voice followed me down the path, and I waved over my shoulder to her.

  I was nervous and still hesitant that I was doing the right thing. But more than that, I was happy...for the first time in as long as I could remember.

  Mandy

  “You know you’re going to me telling me everything, right?”

  I stood in front of the mirror in my bedroom, finishing getting ready for the night. “You think I’m really going to tell you everything?” I gave her a smile as I, hair clip in my mouth, pulled my hair back in preparation to put it up.

  “That’s what best friends are for, right? I mean, Mandy, you hooked up with the town mystery!” she exclaimed. “This dude who no one knows. Hell, some people think he’s a damn serial killer hiding out in the woods. And you really expect me not to pry you for details?”

  “Well, I told you what happened. And he’s not a serial killer. I swear, people are so ridiculous. We slept together, and now we’re getting dinner.”

  She laughed. “Look at you, saying that like it’s the most normal thing in the world.”

  “What do you want, a play-by-play of what happened in the bedroom?”

  “That’d be a good place to start,” she said without missing a beat.

  I laughed, spotting my phone light up on the bed. It was a text from Hunter.

  Be there in five.

  It was totally brusque, just what I’d expect from him. And I kind of liked it.

  “OK,” I said, leaving the bedroom. “You’re cool with everything for Parker tonight?”

  Parker was on the couch, curled up with his library book. He glanced up and grinned at Lizzie as she listed their plans. “We’ve got spooky movies, we’ve got pizza money, and we’ve got ice cream. I think we’re solid. What about you, cutie pie?”

  Parker gave a thumbs-up from behind his book, Spookly the Square Pumpkin. “Can I come?” he asked. “I want to hang out with Mr. Anderson.”

  “Just like I told you before, this is a grown-up night.”

  He scrunched up his face and returned to his book.

  We heard a loud rumbling outside, and I watched through the window over the kitchen sink as Hunter pulled up. He parked and stepped out, and my eyes widened at the sight of him.

  “Wow,” Lizzie murmured, peeking. “Man sure cleans up nice.”

  I had no problems with his flannel-and-boots look, but man, did Hunter look sharp. He wore a pair of dark jeans, some black dress boots, and a light-grey button-up with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. His hair was slicked back, his beard trimmed. It was the perfect combination of rugged and handsome.

  I took a deep breath. “Alright,” I murmured. “Time to do this.”

  Lizzie gave me a smile and grabbed my arm. “Have fun. And don’t get up to too much trouble.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  I grabbed my purse, giving Parker a smooch on the forehead before I took off.

  When the front door shut behind me, Hunter was standing by his truck, those ice-blue eyes on me. All I could do was stare. And the feeling was mutual. He stepped toward me, shaking his head.

  “Holy hell, do you look amazing.”

  I blushed, then felt embarrassed that I was blushing. My outfit was nothing special – a pair of wide-leg pants and a sweater, a light, leather jacket on over them both.

  “Thanks,” I said, touching his chest briefly. “And this is a new look.”

  He chuckled. “Had to take them out of the back of my closet. Never thought I’d wear them again.”

  Hunter opened the door for me. As I climbed in, I spotted Lizzie peering at me through the window, an expression of surprise flashing on her face as she realized I’d seen her staring. She grinned before popping her head out of sight.

  “You never thought you’d wear them again? Why’s that?”

  As Hunter shut his door and started the engine, I noticed the scent of something else in the air – cologne.

  “Is that…are you wearing cologne?”

  “Just some Stetson,” he said as he backed up. “Nothing crazy. Hell, I don’t even know if people wear stuff like that anymore.”

  Without thinking, I reached over and put my hand on his leg. His muscle was solid through his jeans, the sensation reminding me of our time together the other day, how fucking good he’d looked standing in front of me wearing nothing but his boxer-briefs.

  It was enough to send a hot pulse of arousal through my body.

  “Anyway,” he said as he steered us toward his place. “When I moved here, I didn’t really imagine doing anything like this again.”

  “Like, go on a date?”

  “Something like that. Anything where I’d have to put on anything nice for someone else.”

  I tried to imagine him not only kind of dressed up, but fully dressed up – in a suit with a shave and all the rest. It was hard to picture.

  “I’m glad to be the occasion for you looking so good.” I reached over and took his hand.

  He squeezed it. “Same to you.”

  I let my hand rest in his for a moment, savoring his warmth and touch. With a clearing of my throat, I spoke. Hunter took his hand back, putting it on the wheel.

  “So,” I said. “What’s the occasion?”

  “Well, I thought about how nice it was when you made me dinner the other night, so I figured I’d return the favor. I’m not much of a chef, but I put a little something together.”

  “Oh, did you now? What is it?”

  He smirked as he pulled in front of his cabin and came to a stop. “You’ll have to wait and see.”

  I loved it, loved how he was planning on surprising me.

  “Come on,” he said, helping me out of his truck. “I have to grab a few things inside and we can get moving.”

  “Get moving?” I asked, confused. “I thought we were eating here.”

  “Hope you’re not averse to a little walk.”

  Before I could respond, he opened the door and let me inside. The place was…different. Instead of the random clutter, the unopened moving boxes, the garbage here and there, it was clean. Sure, it was still sparse, with barely anything that suggested someone lived there, but it was on its way to being a home.

  And on the counter was a basket, a blanket over the top. He grabbed it
and returned to the door. “Come on – we have a sunset to catch.”

  Basket in hand, he led me out of the cabin and toward a side path that went into the woods. The clouds were thick up above, gray as usual, and fall crispness was in the air.

  “We’re really going into the woods?” I asked as he helped me traverse the trail.

  “Sure. Don’t tell me you’ve never actually gone exploring on the property where you live.”

  “I mean, sure.” I stepped over a branch, orange and red leaves crunching beneath my feet. “When I was a kid. But not since moving back.”

  “And what about Parker?”

  “I don’t really let him wander off. The last thing I want is him getting lost.”

  “Part of being a parent – got to let your kids explore, see what’s out there for themselves.” He paused, as if checking himself. “But I’m no dad. Not really my place to talk.”

  We continued walking, the leaf-covered path taking us higher and deeper into the woods. Hunter moved with power and a surprising agility, his big body deftly ducking under branches and avoiding divots in the dirt. My arm weaved around his, and he helped me stay balanced. I relished the chance to be close to him.

  “There,” he said, pointing up ahead. “Almost there.”

  “Good, because my legs are screaming right now.”

  He glanced back at me, a sly smile on his lips. “Sounds like we might have to make hikes a regular thing.”

  “We’ll see,” I said, grinning right back.

  We broke through the tree line, and I stopped, gasping at what I saw. The view was spectacular. The clearing ahead was a cliffside, the vista rolling hills of pines, the leaves of the oaks wild fall colors all the way off into the distance. We faced west as the sun set, the swirling pinks and blues and purples of the light filling the sky.

  “Wow,” I said, stepping close. “This is…amazing.”

  “You grew up here, didn’t you?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you haven’t seen this place.”

  “I honestly don’t remember ever paying attention to the sunsets when I was younger.”

  “Thought a picnic might be nice,” he said. “Made a little something for us.”

  I reluctantly removed my eyes from the magical views as Hunter opened the basket, taking out a tartan blanket and spreading it on the ground. Once that was done, he removed a bottle of red wine and two mugs, along with a few packages of food.

  “Just some sandwiches,” he said. “Like I told you, I’m not much of a cook.”

  “I’m not worried about gourmet food,” I said, sitting down on the blanket next to him. “This is perfect.”

  “Good,” he said, pouring the wine into the mugs and handing one to me. We said nothing, sitting together and watching the sun dip below the trees in the distance.

  “I never thought I’d do this again,” he said quietly, almost as if to himself. Hunter shook his head, as if still in disbelief at being out on a date.

  “I’m glad you are,” I said, taking his hand. “Really glad.”

  Hunter opened the food, revealing a couple of tasty-looking sandwiches on hoagie bread, along with some potato salad and a few bags of chips. I opened one of the sandwiches and took a bite.

  “It’s great,” I said. “Thanks.”

  Hunter responded with a smile of his own before turning his attention back to the sunset. Something was on his mind. I set down my food on one of the paper plates and put my hand on his shoulder

  “What’s up?”

  “It’s…I don’t know. I’m still processing this, what we’re doing.”

  “We’re spending time together,” I said simply. “Having fun. Doesn’t have to be more complicated than that.”

  “You and I both know it’s not as simple as us hanging out. Once you do what we did…that’s a bell you can’t unring.”

  “I know. But we’re not rushing into anything. We can do this at our own pace – whatever ends up happening.”

  More silence fell, and all I wanted to know was what was going on his head. He cleared his throat to speak, and I had a feeling I was about to find out.

  “I was married once,” he confessed. “Feels like a million years ago. Married her when I came back from the service. Whirlwind kinda thing – young kid shit.”

  I said nothing as he spoke, trying to picture what a bright-eyed, early-twenty-something Hunter was like.

  “I thought we were going to be together forever. We moved to LA and started a life. I joined the force, starting off as a beat cop, big dreams of making my way up to detective.”

  “What happened?”

  “Life happened. Shit happened – shit I never thought would happen. She got pregnant, and I was about as happy as I’d ever been in my life. I was with her through it all, and we planned on moving out to the suburbs with out little family.”

  He grit his teeth, his jaw clenching so hard I could see it work even through his beard.

  “Turns out it was all bullshit. She’d been cheating on me with my partner, if you can believe that. I confronted her, told her I knew everything. She denied it at first. Then she dropped the bombshell; the kid wasn’t mine, either.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “She’d been planning on letting me raise the child thinking it was mine. And I didn’t give a shit about paternity or any of that – I loved her like crazy. It was the lying, the sneaking around my back, the betrayal with my damn partner. The guy who was supposed to have my back if we were ever in the shit.” He cleared his throat and went on. “I was done. After that, I didn’t give a fuck about love anymore. And…” He stopped, as if getting ready to say something else but thinking better of it.

  There was more. No doubt in my mind, there was more. The scar on his belly appeared in my mind, and I knew without a doubt he was telling me only half the story. But that didn’t matter. I didn’t sense he was lying. More that he was only telling me what he felt capable of telling me at that moment.

  And that was enough.

  He turned to me. “I don’t know what to do with you, Mandy. I was ready to give up on people. Then you came into my life – you and your boy.”

  It was easy to see that every word out of his mouth was difficult for him to say. But each one cut me to the core, sent pulses of warmth outward from my heart.

  “I don’t know what’s going to happen between us. Hell, I don’t know what I want to happen between us. But what I do know is there’s something about you, something that makes me feel like I’ve woken up from a deep sleep with you there waiting for me. And I—”

  I shot forward, sealing his lips shut with a kiss. As much as I could’ve listened to him talk like that all night, I needed his touch even more.

  He opened his mouth, and I did the same. His tongue traced the outline of mine, his taste overwhelming me. Hunter took hold of my hips and pressed his body flush against mine. The kiss went on, our lips lingering on one another’s for several long minutes.

  He grinned when he pulled back, a warmth to his features I’d never seen before. “Yeah. That’s better than talking.”

  He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and held me close. We said nothing as we watched the sun vanish beneath the distant horizon. Soon it was dark. We picked at our food, enjoying our wine and the scenery and each other.

  “I should get you back,” he said. “Don’t want you racking up too many hours with the babysitter.”

  “She’s cool with it. Hell, she’d be happy if I spent the night. But…yeah. I should be with Parker.”

  We packed our things and headed down the trail to his place. Once there, Hunter drove me the short distance to my cabin.

  “This was nice,” he said. “Wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

  “Yeah. Same here.”

  I leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, smiling as I stepped out with a wave.

  Whatever was going to happen with Hunter and me, I was ready.

  Hunter

  The night was young, the air was
chilly, and the nearly full moon was high in the sky, wispy silver clouds drifting in front of it. A perfect fall night. And I was spending it with Mandy and Parker. We were at a pre-Halloween outdoor party. There was a bonfire, hayrides, and dozens of people dressed in thick fall sweaters, puffing steamy breath into the evening air.

  My hands were wrapped around a paper cup of whiskey cider as I watched Mandy and the other families mingle, a band playing low-key acoustic music nearby. I was there with them and knew I should’ve been mingling too. But as much as I enjoyed being there with them, damned if that crowd didn’t put me on edge.

  “Hey!” I glanced up to see Lizzie, Mandy’s friend, coming toward me with a big, sunny smile on her face.

  “Hey.” I shifted in my seat after I spoke, not sure what else to say.

  Before I had a chance to say anything, she slid into the open spot at the table across from me. “I’d ask if you were having fun, but you look like you’d rather be anywhere else but here.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her but said nothing.

  “Oh, I don’t mean it like that,” she said, leaning forward, still smiling.

  “Then how’d you mean it?”

  “In the sense that I know social events like this aren’t really your thing. But you’re here anyway, and that’s good.”

  “You know they’re not really my thing? And you know this how?”

  Her eyes flashed. “Don’t worry – Mandy isn’t the blabbermouth type. That’s my thing. And sure, I’ve been pressing her for details because I want to make sure she’s in good hands.”

  “Hmm.” I sipped my cider, still not sure what to make of the nosy friend in front of me. “Hope you didn’t come over here to interrogate me. It won’t work.”

  She shook her head. “Just wanted to see the man in person. But I will say, if you’re looking to, um, soften your reputation, sitting here on the edge of the party isn’t really doing you any favors.”

  Part of me wanted to say something rude, something that would get her to buzz off and leave me alone. But over her shoulder I saw Parker and Mandy, and remembered I was trying something new.