The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  Definitely for the best, he thought as he grabbed a file off the stack and started reading something about…something. Definitely for the best, he decided absently a few seconds later when he found himself watching her. She was adorable, but then again, she’d always been adorable. But now, she was also kind, sweet, and incredibly sexy, he thought, remembering the way she’d moved on him in the truck, the way she’d kissed him and the sweet little moans that she’d made when he’d-

  “Goodnight,” Joey mumbled as she got up from the couch, stumbled, righted herself and continued walking toward the stairs all while looking down at her iPad.

  “Goodnight,” Matt said absently as he stuffed another handful of popcorn into his mouth while Reed sat there, watching Joey’s every step until she disappeared around the corner.

  It took everything in him not to follow her upstairs. It was only the reminder that they were trying to keep what was going on between them a secret that kept him in that chair. Besides, he had enough to deal with work, he reminded himself as he stared back down at the file in his hands only to find himself thinking about her, soft, naked, warm, and waiting for him upstairs in his bed.

  “Where are you going?” Matt asked him, frowning as he helped himself to Joey’s abandoned can of Dr. Pepper.

  “Bed,” Reed said, tossing the file back on the pile as he got up and headed for the stairs.

  Frowning, Matt pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked the time. “It’s only ten.”

  “It’s late.”

  “Since when is ten o’clock late?” Matt called after him.

  Since he’d been waiting three hours to get Joey back in his bed, he thought that ten o’clock was really fucking late. After what happened in the closet, and god, he couldn’t stop thinking about the closet, he’d been counting down the minutes until he could go upstairs and touch her again. He’d planned on waiting until he couldn’t see straight and was too fucking exhausted to do anything more than make it back to his room and pass out like he did every night, but the thought of Joey waiting for him in his bed had him ready to call it an early night.

  *-*-*-*

  “There,” she said with a satisfied sigh as she placed the last pillow on her bed. Finally, she thought only to frown down at the large, incredibly comfortable bed decked out with clean sheets and a faux down comforter that had been delivered a few hours ago and realized something important.

  “This just isn’t going to do,” she said with a sad shake of her head as she grabbed the small stack of books that she’d helped herself to and headed back toward the bathroom door.

  After carefully sneaking inside so that the adorable kitten that she hadn’t figured out a good name for couldn’t escape, she spent the next five minutes snuggling the sweet little baby that she was definitely keeping before she carefully made her way to Reed’s room. She closed the door behind her only to find his bed empty. For a moment she stood there, not really sure what she should do. Since they weren’t exactly dating maybe she should go back to her room and wait until later, she wondered only to decide that she definitely needed some answers.

  Decision made, she turned around and carefully made her way back into the bathroom where she spent another five minutes cuddling her precious little baby boy before she went back to her room. She grabbed her iPad off the bed only to end up following that up with a twenty-minute search through her bags and the boxes that she should probably unpack at some point, for her charger since the three hours she’d spent researching her camping needs had drained her battery. Once she found her charger after a second search of her computer bag she plugged her iPad in, curled up on her bed, and quickly realized that this whole thing was a lot more complicated than she’d originally thought.

  “What are you doing?” the man that she was only supposed to acknowledge for sex according to this website and the previous five that she’d read, asked as he sat down on the bed next to her.

  “Nothing,” she said quickly, which had him shifting so that he could see what she was looking at only to end up sighing.

  “Please tell me that you’re not really looking up the rules for friends with benefits,” Reed said as she scrolled down the page and couldn’t help but shake her head with a sigh, because they were already screwing this up.

  “I like to be informed,” she said, wondering how they were supposed to follow rules five through eight while she was living here. Then again, rule number four might be an issue since she really wasn’t interested in exploring her BDSM side. Except for the spankings. She was definitely interested in the spankings.

  “I see,” he said with a thoughtful murmur as he plucked the iPad out of her hands and tossed it aside.

  “Wait! I wasn’t done reading the section on booty calls!” she said only to sigh in defeat when he pulled her onto his lap.

  “We’re not doing that,” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

  “Oh,” she said, knowing that she was pouting, but she couldn’t help it. She kind of liked the idea of sending him a text anytime that she wanted him to-

  “You’re killing me, Joey,” he said on a groan as he leaned in and kissed her.

  “I get that a lot,” she admitted with a small sigh that had his lips twitching against hers.

  “I’m sure you do,” he said softly as he brushed his lips teasingly against hers.

  “I really do,” she said, reaching up to pull his tie loose.

  “We’re not friends with benefits, Joey,” he said, grabbing the hem of the tee shirt that she’d changed into earlier and pulled it off her.

  “Then what exactly are we doing?” she asked as she shifted her attention to his shirt.

  “Making as many bad choices as humanly possible,” he said, making her lips twitch as she pulled his shirt free.

  “I do that a lot,” she said as she snaked her hands beneath his shirt so that she could run her hands over his stomach simply because she couldn’t help herself.

  “You’re a bad influence,” he murmured as he toed off his shoes and pulled off his shirt, tossing it aside.

  “I really am,” she readily agreed as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer.

  “You’re driving me crazy, Joey,” he said with an incredibly sexy growl that had her breath catching as he slid his hands down the back of her pants and cupped her bottom.

  “I tend to do that to people,” she admitted only to gasp when he used his hold to pick her up and carry her toward the bathroom.

  “You’re good at it,” he said as he managed to carry her into the bathroom without stepping on her sweet little kitten.

  “I do try my best,” she said, as Reed set her down near the shower.

  “So, you were planning on treating me like your bitch, huh?” he asked as he reached past her and turned the water on.

  “I really was,” she said, nodding solemnly as she reached for his belt.

  With that devastating smile of his, he gently cupped her face in his hands as he leaned down and kissed her as she pulled his belt loose. “Will you be gentle?” he asked teasingly as he slid one hand down her body.

  Her breath caught when he slowly ran his hand between her breasts. “Probably not.”

  “At least you’re honest,” he whispered seductively as he continued to kiss her while he traced his fingertips down her stomach

  “I find that it’s best to be honest where my bitches are concerned,” she said, making him chuckle only to make him groan when she slid her hand over the large bulge between his legs. When he tore the rest of her clothes off her, she considered inquiring about those spankings only to decide to play it by ear when he picked her up and carried her into the shower.

  *-*-*-*

  “We have to get up,” Reed said, licking his lips hungrily as his hands fisted in the sheets and a groan was ripped from his throat as he watched his cock slide through Joey’s fist only to disappear again when he pulled back.

  “We really should,” Joey said, her breath catch
ing as his cock slid back between her wet slit, brushing against her clit only to moan when he pushed back, moving back over her clit and sliding back through her fist, again. It felt so fucking good, he thought, groaning as she tightened her hold around him.

  “We can’t stay in bed all day,” he said, mostly to himself in an attempt to find the willpower to leave her as he leaned down to kiss the woman that he’d spent the past couple of days losing himself in.

  “We really can’t,” she murmured in agreement, reaching up with her free hand to thread her fingers through his hair as the reason why they couldn’t spend all day in bed opened his bedroom door and-

  Reed found himself shoved onto his back, the comforter thrown over his lap, painfully aroused, and alone. Before he could figure out where Joey went, Matt was sitting next to him on the bed with a large box of Captain Crunch and a gallon of chocolate milk. Struggling to catch his breath, Reed glanced around the room for her, his gaze hesitating on the built-in bookshelf across the room before he dismissed the idea and moved his attention to the open bathroom door and-

  “So, I was thinking,” the little bastard said around a handful of cereal.

  “That I should have killed you in your sleep when I had the chance?” Reed bit out with a glare as he adjusted the comforter over his lap.

  Matt looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking his head. “No, I’m actually good with that,” he said, pausing long enough to shove another handful of cereal into his mouth before he washed it down with half the chocolate milk, “I was thinking that we should probably show Joey around town or something.”

  “She grew up here,” Reed pointed out, somewhat distracted as he resumed his search for the woman in question, wondering where she was.

  “A lot has changed since she left,” Matt said, shifting to get more comfortable only to frown when he saw Reed glancing around the room. “What are you looking for?”

  “Nothing,” he said, unable to help but frown when he heard what sounded suspiciously like, “Stupid boobs,” mumbled beneath him.

  “We could take her to the mall?” Matt suggested with a shrug as he shoved more cereal in his mouth.

  “I don’t really think the mall’s going to do it for her,” he said, wondering how she managed to get under the bed that fast, especially with the board that cut across the-

  “Ow, my poor boob,” came the sad little mumble that had Reed glancing to his left to find Matt lost in thought as he shoved his hand back in the cereal box.

  “It’s just a thought,” Matt said around a mouthful of cereal before asking, “Are you planning on getting up today or are you planning on avoiding Joey while she’s here?”

  “I’m not avoiding her,” he said, wondering how she’d managed to get under there so fast. Then again, she had years of practice, he thought.

  “Really? Then what would you call hiding in your room all weekend?”

  “I’m not hiding.”

  “You really are.”

  “Get out,” he said, shoving the little bastard off his bed when he took too long.

  “Mean bastard,” Matt said, sighing heavily as he grabbed the gallon of chocolate milk and headed back toward the bedroom door that needed a new lock.

  Shoving the comforter off, Reed threw his legs over the side of the bed and-

  “That’s definitely going to leave a mark,” the reason that he was debating spending the rest of the weekend in bed said as she managed to pull herself free from beneath the bed, causing her large breasts to bounce enticingly and-

  He decided that spending the rest of the weekend in bed sounded like a great idea.

  Chapter 29

  “Are you okay, Dr. Lawson?”

  “I’m fine, Kevin,” Joey said, although something, mostly the fact that she was resting her forehead against her desk because she felt like she was dying, told her that might not be true.

  “Do you want me to go get the nurse?” a quiet voice from her right asked.

  Rolling her head to the side, she looked at the teenage boy sitting next to her and couldn’t help but ask, “Did you finish building my castle?” because she felt that two weeks was more than enough time to build her kingdom.

  “You keep adding things,” Shawn said with a heavy sigh as he shifted his attention back down to the iPad where he would hopefully build that second moat that she’d requested, because the first one just wasn’t doing it for her.

  “Since you brought it up, I’m going to be needing another tower overlooking that second moat,” she mumbled.

  “How were you planning on getting over the second moat?” Shawn asked, making her frown.

  “Did we not discuss the second drawbridge?”

  “No, no, we did not,” he said, sighing heavily as he returned his attention back to building her kingdom.

  “I’ll need alligators as well,” she told him, with a little sniffle as she reluctantly sat up and faced the class that apparently had nothing better to do than stare at her.

  “You’re done with your essays already?” she asked, hoping that would be enough to distract them from the fact that she was most likely dying.

  “Why doesn’t he have to do it?” Derick asked, gesturing to Shawn.

  “Because I play favorites?” she asked, even as she resigned herself to making a trip to the store after school.

  “I already finished writing it,” Shawn said, gesturing to the essay that he’d finished early so that he could get back to work on her kingdom.

  “Well, that and I play favorites,” Joey mumbled pathetically, nodding only to decide that it was time to lay her head back on the desk when her world started to spin again.

  “Are you sure that you don’t want me to go get the nurse?”

  “I’m sure,” she mumbled, although to be fair, she really wasn’t really sure of a hell of a lot at the moment.

  Right now, the only thing she wanted was for Reed to put his arms around her and make everything better, but that wasn’t an option. Not with Reed. It didn’t matter how amazing the past month had been, because it wasn’t going to last. This thing between them was just a distraction, something they both needed, but that was it. It was what she wanted and as long as she remembered that this wasn’t going anywhere, she would never have to worry about getting her heart broken.

  “I think Principal Bradford would want us to call him,” came from her left, making her sigh as she turned her head to find her stalker sitting next to her, looking thoughtful as she sipped from a bottle of water with “Eastman” written in black marker across the label.

  “Is that Mr. Eastman’s water?” Joey asked.

  “Yes,” Jen said, holding up a brown paper bag with a much larger “Eastman” written across it, “and I believe this is his lunch.”

  “Of course, it is,” Joey mumbled.

  “You really don’t look so good,” Jen said, sounding thoughtful as she helped herself to a sandwich from the bag.

  “Shouldn’t you be in class?” Joey asked, sighing heavily as she reached over and plucked the sandwich out of Jen’s hand along with the bag and tossed it on her desk.

  “Probably,” Jen said, shrugging it off while Joey sat there counting the minutes until she could go home and be miserable alone.

  *-*-*-*

  He should have spanked her ass when he had the chance, he decided as he laid there, glaring at the ceiling, because five minutes ago he’d decided that glaring at his bedroom door made him pathetic. Then again, the same could be said for the fact that he was in bed at nine o’clock on a Friday night hoping that the woman who’d ignored him all day came walking through his door. God, he was fucking pathetic, he thought even as he shifted his glare back to his bathroom door.

  This morning when he woke up alone, he hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d shrugged it off deciding that it was probably for the best. He changed his mind after he went downstairs and found her sitting alone at the table curled up with another book in her lap, looking so fucking adorable th
at he hadn’t been able to resist giving her a good morning kiss. Before he could give into that impulse, Matt was walking into the kitchen, bitching about all the noise he’d made last night and Joey was walking out the door, barely acknowledging his existence. That didn’t change when he saw her during the morning meeting.

  While he’d been going over new early dismissal procedures and reminding teachers that they still needed chaperones for several upcoming field trips and the spring dance, Joey sat at the back table, absently nodding at something that John was saying to her. By the time the morning meeting was over, one thing had become painfully clear. He was going to spank her ass. She’d ignored him for the rest of the day, didn’t have lunch with him, and barely glancing at him when he walked past her in the hallway and left for the day.

  By the time he came home she’d already made dinner, selected a new assortment of books from his library, and shut herself in her room. Deciding that he’d had enough for one day, he went upstairs to his office for the night. That’s where he spent the past three hours staring at his watch and counting down the minutes until he could call it a night. About an hour ago, he gave up pretending that he wasn’t thinking about her and went to bed with the hopes that she would be there waiting for him.

  She wasn’t.

  Vowing to spank her ass if she didn’t come see him, he waited…and waited until finally he’d decided that he’d waited long enough. Shoving the covers aside, he climbed out of bed, headed to the bathroom where he found her curled up on the floor and-

  Was she hugging a towel?

  Yes, yes, she was.

  “What the hell are you doing?” he couldn’t help but wonder as he reached down and pulled the kitten off his leg and set him aside.

  There was a slight pause and then, “Running to the store.”

  “I see,” he murmured as he took in the small woman curled up on his bathroom floor. “And that involves lying on the bathroom floor?”

  “It’s how I mentally prepare myself for a trip to Walmart,” Joey explained as the furry little bastard settled down on the floor next to her and closed his eyes.