The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  Not that her grandparents had specifically told her that she was banned, but that’s how she’d taken their requests that she never get within fifty feet of this house, mostly for Jackson’s sake. Ever since the day she was born, Jackson had been stuck with her and it only got worse when their mom died and their father dropped them off on their grandparents’ front step. With her grandparents already in their late seventies, it had been left up to her brother to watch over her and make sure that she didn’t do anything that would cause irreparable damage. Things only got worse when she started skipping grades left and right until one day she was sitting next to him in Algebra class, asking him to sharpen her Scooby-Doo pencil for her. So, she’d understood that he’d needed some time to himself and she’d been more than happy to give it to him, especially when it meant that she didn’t have to deal with Reed.

  Now that she’d made it into the inner sanctum, she couldn’t help but give in to her curiosity and have a look around since it appeared that her self-imposed babysitter was still busy upstairs. Knowing that she would probably never get another opportunity like this again, she pulled up her boxers when they threatened to fall off, opened the bathroom door and carefully stuck her head out, deciding that it was better to be safe than sorry. Once she was assured that he was really gone, because she wasn’t stupid after all, she walked down the beautifully maintained nineteenth century hallway, peeking into rooms along the way, exploring a few of them, helping herself to what appeared to be the Bradford family library, selecting a few books that caught her attention, carried them toward the door at the end of the hallway, and-

  Found herself staring at one of those old-fashioned stoves, the one with multiple warmers, bread drawers, six burners, and what appeared to be four ovens. She’d heard stories about this stove from her grandmother over the years, but she’d never truly believed that it would be this beautiful. For years, her grandmother had adored this stove from afar, dreaming of the day that she could take it for a spin, but unfortunately for her grandmother, she’d always been too polite to ask.

  Thankfully, Joey didn’t have that problem.

  Chapter 6

  Little Joey Lawson, he thought with a rueful shake of his head as he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes with a long-drawn-out sigh, wondering what the hell he was going to do with her.

  Well, that wasn’t entirely true, because he knew exactly what he wanted to do with her. He wanted to go downstairs and pull her back over his legs so that he could finally give her the spanking that he should have given her years ago, but since that wasn’t an option…

  He was going to have to figure out how to keep her out of trouble without losing his fucking mind. Then again, maybe he was worrying over nothing. For all he knew, she was just in town to take a look at the old place to see if it was worth keeping and as soon as she realized that it wasn’t, she’d tell Jackson to put it on the market, and this would probably be the last time that he saw her. Hell, if that’s all it took maybe he should put an offer on the old house and finally be rid of the little pain in the ass once and for all.

  It was actually an idea that he’d been toying with for a while now. When he was a kid, he’d learned the family business like the rest of the men in his family. He used to sit on his father’s workbench and watch his father work, amazed at all the things that he could make out of a pile of wood. He’d learned how to handle a hammer before he could ride a bike and by the time that he was ten he could make just about anything that his father showed him. By the time he was fourteen, he was spending half his summers with his Uncle Jared, learning how to build houses. He’d loved working with his hands, creating something out of nothing, and fixing up old houses. He’d been able to keep working for his family when he went to college.

  But then he got his first teaching job…

  After that the only time he had to work with his father was during the summer and school vacations and once he became vice principal even less. Three years ago, when he took over as principal at his old high school, he’d promised himself that he’d make more time to work with his family. It was the reason why he bought this house off his parents when they’d decided that they wanted to move closer to the rest of the family.

  But every time he thought about going out back and putting his great-great-great-great grandfather’s old workshop to good use he was too fucking exhausted to do anything more than pull out his old sketchpad and make a few sketches of pieces that didn’t really do anything for him. His brother had taken over the old shop a few years ago, continuing the family business. The only thing that drew Reed’s interest was the decrepit old house next door that his family had built almost two hundred years ago.

  His family had built quite a few of the houses around town, most of them were still standing as beautiful as ever, but a few of them like the one next door had been neglected over the years. His father had actually considered buying the old house and restoring it to its former glory, but then he’d met Mr. Lawson and realized just how much the old man loved the house. So, he’d stepped aside and left it up to Mr. Lawson to restore the old house.

  Mr. Lawson managed to replace the roof and fix the foundation by the time his daughter died, and his son-in-law decided to dump Jackson and Joey on his doorstep. After that…

  He’d barely had any time for the old house, which wasn’t all that surprising considering the hell the little demon downstairs raised. God, she’d been a nightmare, always getting into trouble and saying the wrong thing. But she’d always managed to get out of trouble thanks to that adorable fucking smile of hers and the fact that Jackson would have killed anyone that hurt her.

  Then again, most people simply settled for glaring at the little pain in the ass and walking away since they knew that he would have made their lives a living hell if they said or did anything to make the little brat cry. It was probably the reason why Mrs. Lawson asked him to look after her because she knew that he would never let anyone hurt her. She probably would have asked someone else to look after the little pain in the ass if she’d known what the little brat had planned for him when…when…

  “What the hell?” he said absently as he opened his eyes and shifted his attention to his closed office door where the most enticing aroma that he’d ever encountered drew his attention.

  Before he realized what he was doing, he was leaving his office and walking downstairs, groaning when the scent of freshly baked bread teased him. It had been so long since he’d smelled freshly baked bread, but it was a scent that he would never forget. It brought back memories of lazy afternoons spent at the Lawson’s when the only thing that he had to worry about was getting his homework done before he went outside and played. Wondering what that other enticing aroma was, Reed headed for the kitchen door only to reluctantly turn around and head for the front door, praying that whoever was ringing his doorbell wasn’t here to make his night worse.

  He should have prayed harder, he realized when he saw who was standing on his front step. It also made him realize that he’d forgotten to return that text, because if he had, the reason that he was going to kill his brother wouldn’t be standing on his front step, holding what smelled like another chicken and cream of mushroom soup casserole and giving him a smile that should have made his night. Instead, it was just a reminder that there was something seriously fucking wrong with him.

  “Hey, Reed,” Julie, his next-door neighbor, who also just happened to be a school teacher, a decent cook, tall, incredibly beautiful with just the right amount of curves, smart, kind and his type in every single way that mattered and he had no idea why he didn’t want her, and it was driving him out of his fucking mind.

  “Hey, Julie,” he said, holding the door open for her so that she could step inside while he ran his eyes over her, taking in the way her jeans hugged her ass just right before showcasing her long legs to perfection, and-

  Nothing.

  Absolutely fucking nothing.

  “What is that incredible smel
l?” she asked with a warm smile as she headed toward the kitchen, leaving him with no other choice but to follow her even as he couldn’t help but wonder what was wrong with him.

  It was actually something that was starting to worry him. When she’d moved in last year he’d thought that she might be the one, had actually hoped that she was so that he finally had something more to come home to at night instead of an empty house, a stack of paperwork that he never seemed to finish, and a brother who went out of his way to piss him off. He just wanted…

  More.

  When she came over and introduced herself after she moved in he’d decided to ask her out and see what happened. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. During the entire date he’d told himself that he was just tired, but by the end of the date, it was more than obvious that this wasn’t going anywhere. That should have been the end of it, but then Matt, the little prick that he was going to beat the shit out of, decided to tell her that bullshit tale about the men in his family marrying their neighbors. After that things became awkward…

  He wasn’t interested in her, never pretended that he was, and as far as he knew, she realized that, but that didn’t stop her from getting a hopeful look in her eye every time-

  “Oh, my god! That looks amazing!” Julie said, drawing his attention to the fact that they’d walked into the kitchen and that the old kitchen island was covered with food, but that wasn’t what had him biting back a groan.

  No, that would be the small woman sitting at the kitchen island wearing his old Bradford Furniture tee shirt and a pair of his boxers, reading a book and looking absolutely fucking adorable doing it. With all the mud washed off, he could see just how much she’d changed in the last twelve years. Her long brown hair, which he used to think of a mousy brown was lighter with a few dark stands mixed in and looked like silk, making him wonder how it would feel sliding between his fingers. Her blue eyes still held a hint of mischief while her lips were plumper, he absently noted as his gaze shifted south, moving over large breasts that filled out his old shirt better than he ever could, wide hips that were made for sex, short, lightly tanned legs ending with cute little toes before moving back up again, and noting the way she worried that plump bottom lip, making him wonder how it would feel to have those plump lips wrapped around the tip of his cock and-

  Made him realize that he was in serious fucking trouble here.

  Chapter 7

  “I’m Julie,” the tall pretty blonde said with a smile even as she sent a questioning look toward Reed, whom she’d like to point out hadn’t said a single word since he’d walked into the kitchen a few minutes ago.

  Not that she could blame him since she’d given him enough reasons to hate her over the years, but she was actually starting to become somewhat concerned by the fact that he hadn’t stopped glaring at her. By now he should have shifted that glare to all the food that she’d made given his family’s disturbing obsession with it, but he was still glaring at her. Normally that wouldn’t be a problem except that it was starting to make her nervous and when she was nervous she tended to do things that would later require an apology.

  “Joey,” she said, wondering if this was his girlfriend and the murderous glare was his subtle way of telling her to get the hell out.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Joey,” Julie said, mostly because she didn’t know her yet, as she threw Reed another questioning look. “This looks amazing, did you make this?” she asked, trying to shift the focus back on the food, which should have drawn Reed’s attention, but for some strange reason, the reminder that she’d cooked only seemed to piss him off more.

  Okay then…

  “I had to earn my keep,” Joey mumbled with a small sniffle because that’s what she did when she was nervous. She screwed with people for her own entertainment, which she knew was wrong, so very wrong, yet, she just couldn’t help herself.

  “Have you already eaten?” Julie asked, throwing another questioning look at Reed, whom she’d like to point out was still glaring.

  “Yes, Reed was kind enough to let me have this delicious glass of water,” she said, picking up her glass. “It’s ever so delicious,” she murmured as she took a sip. which resulted in Reed narrowing his eyes on her and she decided to take as progress.

  “I see,” Julie murmured as her lips twitched. “That does look delicious.”

  “It is,” Joey mumbled as she took another sip, “It really is.”

  “For Christ’s sakes,” Reed said, snapping out of his glare-obsessed state. He stormed past her, shooting her one last glare because apparently, he couldn’t be in the same room with her without glaring at her. He grabbed plates and silverware while she decided that it would probably be for the best if she returned her attention to the book that she’d helped herself to and left him alone.

  She’d just found the spot where she’d left off when she was plucked out of her chair and found herself sitting at the large kitchen table. She considered complaining about the manhandling, but decided against it, mostly because he hadn’t done anything to make her lose her spot again. So, while Reed and Julie made quick work of transferring all the food that she’d made to the table, she’d continued reading about the bubonic plague and quickly forgot about the world around her.

  *-*-*-*

  “How was your day, Reed?”

  “Good,” he said absently as he found himself watching the little demon and trying to figure out why he couldn’t take his eyes off her. If anyone should hold his attention, it was the incredibly beautiful woman giving him a weird look.

  “I heard what happened with Miss Dawson,” Julie said while he sat there wondering how he could go from wanting to throttle the little brat to wanting to-

  “Reed?” someone said.

  “Hmmm?” he murmured absently as he grabbed the basket of buttermilk biscuits and handed them to her with a mumbled, “Here,” as he helped himself to a warm biscuit and placed it on his plate all while he glared at the small woman screwing with his head.

  “Umm, thanks?” came the amused reply.

  “You’re welcome,” he said distractedly as he slathered butter from the small serving bowl in front of him onto a biscuit as he tried to figure out what it was about the little pain in the ass that drew him.

  As he watched her sitting there, reading a book about the fucking plague of all things, he couldn’t help but wonder if his brother was right. Maybe he needed to get laid. The fact that he couldn’t even remember the last time he had sex told him that his brother was right. Maybe he just needed to get out more, he thought as he took a bite and-

  “Oh, my god,” he managed to get out on a groan even as he was forced to grab hold of the table as the combination of fresh honey butter and homemade buttermilk biscuit registered and when it did, he-

  “Wow, that good?” Julie asked as she reached for the basket of biscuits only to pull her hand back a split second later with a frown. “Did…did you just growl?”

  Narrowing his eyes in warning, he reached for the rest of the biscuits only to shift his glare to the little demon when she got to it first and held it out to Julie and just out of his reach. “You can’t show fear,” Joey said, not bothering to look up from her book as she held the basket out to Julie, who simply licked her lips nervously and shook her head.

  With a sigh, she put the basket back down and-

  “Why is he growling?” Julie whispered, shooting him a nervous glance as Joey helped herself to a biscuit that should have rightfully been his and placed it on her plate.

  “He was dropped on his head as a baby,” Joey said, sighing heavily as she returned her attention to her book while he sat there, glaring at her as he grabbed the basket of rolls and brought them closer to his plate where they belonged.

  “That explains a lot,” Julie mumbled, shifting nervously in her chair.

  “It really does,” Joey solemnly agreed as she turned the page, leaving him sitting there, wondering if it was too late to give her that spanking, which u
nfortunately for his cock, he couldn’t stop thinking about.

  Never going to happen, he told the little bastard twitching with interest as he forced his attention to the food in front of him and couldn’t help but wonder where the little demon had learned to cook like this. It was easily the best meal that he’d ever had, and that was saying a lot considering that he grew up on her grandmother’s cooking. Mrs. Lawson had been an amazing cook. She’d learned to cook at her mother’s heels, working in diners, churches, schools, anywhere that her mother had been able to find work. When she was old enough, she took jobs alongside her mother to help support their family. When she was sixteen, she’d joined the war effort by cooking in military hospitals where she’d ended up meeting Mr. Lawson. After the war, she’d spent the rest of her life working in restaurants, taking care of children, and giving him something to look forward to every day after school.

  He’d never seen Joey spend much time in the kitchen, but then again, he really hadn’t been paying attention. When he was over there, he’d either hung out in Jackson’s room, watched the game with Mr. Lawson, or been too busy devouring whatever insanely delicious meal that Mrs. Lawson made to pay attention to what the little pain in the ass was doing. But now…

  Now, he was curious.

  “Did Grandma teach you how to cook?” he asked, helping himself to a large slice of meatloaf.

  “She convinced me that cooking was a safer alternative to conducting experiments involving anything that might result in the house blowing up,” she said with a solemn nod as she continued to read her book.