Deciding that it would be in everyone’s best interest to get this over with, he turned his attention to the reason that he was here, pasted that smile that he’d perfected for his clients on his face, and-
Found himself drawn to the small woman standing in the middle of the street, wearing baggie flannel pajamas and the oversized pink bunny slippers that he’d bought her for Christmas when they were fifteen and felt the smile slip from his face. It had been five years since he last saw her, but he would recognize her anywhere, he thought as the simmering rage that he’d once thought was gone surfaced and he found himself shoving Bryce aside and deciding that it was time to end this once and for all.
*-*-*-*
“You promised that you wouldn’t do this again,” Kristen said, shaking her head in disgust as she folded her arms over her chest and pointedly looked away, refusing to give him a chance to do this to her again.
She should have known better, she told herself only to shake her head in disgust, because she had known better than to trust him. But one look at those brown eyes and she’d melted. She was pathetic.
Correction.
She was beyond pathetic, because not only had she fallen for this again, but now she was stuck standing out here in her pajamas acting like a crazy woman and it was all because of the lying jerk that she’d let sleep in her bed last night. When he’d showed up at her door a month ago, she should have ignored him, but he’d been persistent, and she’d been helpless to do anything but let him in. If only she’d known then what she knew now, she thought, sighing heavily only to throw her hands up in disgust when he gave her that look that always broke her.
“No,” Kristen said firmly because it wasn’t happening.
“You promised,” she said evenly as she struggled not to look at him again because she knew that if she did that it would break her.
“You always do this,” she said, tapping her pink bunny slipper on the street, more determined than ever to put an end to this, because she wasn’t doing this again.
She didn’t care if he pouted or kissed her, she wasn’t getting up at the crack of dawn for him again. From now on, he was on his own, she told herself even as she felt herself soften and-
“I’m not doing it,” she told herself when she felt herself weaken because it just wasn’t going to happen.
It wasn’t.
It really wasn’t.
It-
“Fine! But this is the last time!” she said, as she turned around and found the dog that she should have named Satan lying on his back with his paws up in the air and giving her that pathetic look that shouldn’t have this much power over her.
But it did.
Maybe she should look into those assertive classes again, she thought as she leaned over and tried to pick him up only to decide that it would probably be for the best if she stopped feeding him table scraps.
“You need to get up,” Kristen said, shaking her head with a heavy sigh as she stood up and gestured back toward the house that was barely twenty feet away.
When he only wagged his tail, she narrowed her eyes on him and pointed toward the house. “You told me that you wanted to go for a walk so if you don’t get off your furry butt and get inside then I swear on everything that is holy that we will go for that goddamn walk!”
When his only answer was another tag of his tail and a whimper, she crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head. “No.”
A whimper.
“Damn it!” she said, sighing as she reached back down to pick him up and-
“Oh, god, no,” she managed to get out when she saw the man that she never wanted to see again glaring down at her. Before she could figure out how he’d found her, he was kneeling down next to her and whispering in her ear, “Playtime’s over.”
Chapter 40
“You’re dead to me,” Uncle Jared bit out with a glare aimed at Trevor that was matched by everyone else at the table as he grabbed the platter piled high with pancakes and took a stack. Everyone except for Joey that is since she was curled up in a chair lost in another book, completely oblivious to everything going around her.
Again, Reed thought, feeling his lips twitch as he studied the small woman that he had no idea what he was going to do about. He didn’t want her to leave, but at the moment the only thing that he had to offer her was a low paying job with questionable benefits, and something told him that wasn’t going to be enough. His only hope was that she decided to finish her sabbatical here, but once her grandparents’ house sold there was really nothing holding her here.
He already had the school board’s approval to let her finish out the rest of the year while he searched for a permanent replacement for Miss Dawson, but once summer came, she wouldn’t have anything to do for the last nine months of her sabbatical. Knowing Joey, she’d go crazy with nothing to do, which meant that he was going to have to figure something out and fast because he wasn’t ready to lose her yet.
“How much is it going to cost to fix the house?” Reed asked, glancing at Reese.
“With that historical designation restricting what we can do, it looks like it’s going to cost around three hundred grand,” Reese said, making Trevor groan with a muttered, “Shit!” because he was out.
“How much if you deduct labor from the equation?” he asked, watching Joey, who hadn’t said anything since Jackson told her that he had to get going over an hour ago. She’d wished him a safe trip, gave him a hug and a warm smile that turned sad, making him wonder about a few things.
“That was without labor,” Reese said, taking away his last hope because there was no way that she was going to be able to afford that even with his help.
“I can do it,” Matt said with a glance at Joey’s untouched plate and-
“Ow!”
“This family is really violent,” Mikey said with a sad shake of her head as she helped herself to a piece of bacon off Sebastian’s plate, who was busy reading a book that he’d helped himself to from one of the many stacks that Joey left around the house.
“What’s the property worth?” Sean asked, helping himself to the bowl of home fries as he glanced at Conner.
“Five acres and access to a private lake, it’s valued at four hundred thousand,” Conner said, which meant that they weren’t going to make much flipping the house once they were done. But that didn’t matter, not to them. They weren’t here to make a profit. They were here because they all wanted a chance to get their hands on one of their great-grandfather Noah’s houses and put it to rights.
“I’ll give you two hundred for the property,” Uncle Jared said, sighing heavily as he helped himself to the bowl of scrambled eggs.
“Two-fifty,” Rory said as she took a sip of her hot cocoa.
“Two-seventy-five,” Uncle Jared said with a glare.
“Two-ninety,” Connor said.
“Two-”
“I’ll give you four hundred thousand,” Garrett, who’d disappeared two hours ago, said evenly as he took the empty seat next to Joey and rubbed his hands roughly down his face, “and I’m moving in today.”
*-*-*-*
“This can’t be happening,” Joey said, worrying her bottom lip as she frantically searched through her backpack only to toss it aside when she didn’t find it there either.
“What are you looking for?” Julie asked from her spot on the stairs where the kitten that Joey really should figure out a name for at some point, attacked her shoelaces.
“My Eeyore keychain,” she said, checking her pockets, again, only to come up empty.
“Did you check your car?”
“Five times,” she said, sighing heavily as she pulled her cellphone out of her back pocket, hoping that Jackson found it only to shove it back in her pocket when she saw that he hadn’t responded yet.
“Any chance that you left it back at the campsite?” Julie asked as she reached down to scratch the kitten behind his ear.
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Joey said, feel
ing her shoulders slump.
“You can probably order one online,” Julie suggested with a hopeful smile.
“I can’t,” she said, grabbing her bag and started the search all over again.
“Want some help?” Julie asked, giving the kitten one last scratch as she stood up.
“That’s okay. Jackson probably has it,” Joey said as she forced herself to drop her bag, knowing that it was pointless.
“You’re probably right,” Julie said as Joey glanced around the foyer, hoping against hope that she’d spot the small keychain lying around somewhere.
“Probably,” she mumbled sadly as she stood there, trying to figure out what she was going to do.
“How was the camping trip?”
“It was fine,” she said, glancing towards the stairs and wondering if she could have dropped it when she brought her bags upstairs.
“Anything interesting happen?” Julie asked as she returned her attention to the kitten.
“We all tried to kill Matt,” Joey said, pulling out her phone and-
No response.
“I’m honestly surprised that no one has succeeded yet,” Julie murmured.
“I think I’m going to call it a night. Thank you for taking care of him,” she said, forcing a smile.
“Anytime,” Julie said with an easy smile as she headed for the door while Joey glanced around the foyer one last time before heading upstairs for the night.
Along the way, she investigated every corner, shadow, and crevice with no luck. By the time she made it upstairs, she’d accepted the fact that it was probably long gone. She never should have put it with her car keys, she thought as she stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. She should have kept it beneath her pillow, but she liked having it with her and now it was gone, she thought with dread as she headed to the bathroom.
“It was just a stupid keychain,” she tried to tell herself as she pulled her clothes off and stepped into the shower, but she knew better.
It was-
“Everything okay?” Reed asked as he wrapped his arms around her and pressed a kiss against her neck, instantly making everything better.
“Everything’s fine,” she managed as she reached over and turned the hot water on.
“I saw Julie on the way over here. She said you lost your keychain,” he said, resting his chin on top of her head.
“It will probably turn up tomorrow,” she said, placing her hands over his as she closed her eyes and dropped her head back against his chest.
“Probably,” he murmured. “If we can’t find it, I’ll buy you a new one.”
“It’s just a keychain,” she said, wondering how long it would be before she believed it herself.
“You’ve had it since you were little,” he said, making her smile.
“Jackson got it for me the first time you went to Disneyworld,” she said, turning her head so that she could kiss his chin.
“He dragged me to ten different stores looking for that damn thing,” he said, chuckling as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.
“Were you able to talk any sense into your cousin?” she asked, turning around in his arms so that she could wrap her arms around him.
“No, but we did manage to get the heat working and the water turned on,” he said, gently caressing her back.
“Any idea why he couldn’t stop glaring at the house across the street?” she asked, pressing a kiss against his chest as she closed her eyes and decided to forget about everything else.
“No, but I have a feeling that it had something to do with him quitting his job and suddenly deciding to move to the other side of the state,” Reed said on a groan as he ran his hands down her back and over her bottom.
“He quit his job?” Joey asked, trying to stay focused but it was becoming increasingly difficult with the way he was touching her.
“Mmmhmm, he probably would have made partner in another year,” he said, kissing his way down to her neck.
“All of a sudden?” she asked, frowning only to moan when he found that spot on her neck that drove her crazy.
“Mmmhmm,” he murmured as he reached up and cupped her breast.
“Why?”
“He wouldn’t say,” Reed said, giving her breast one last squeeze before he reached down and picked her up.
“And you didn’t ask,” she guessed as she wrapped her legs around him.
“No,” he said, moving towards the wall as he kissed her
“Why not?” she asked, threading her fingers through his hair as she kissed the man that made everything better.
“Because all I cared about was getting back to you.”
Chapter 41
Tuesday
“The alarm’s going off.”
“I know,” the small woman sprawled out on top of him mumbled before releasing another one of those sad little sighs that had his lips twitching.
“We need to go to work,” he said as he continued to slowly run his fingertips up and down her spine.
“I know,” she mumbled sadly.
“Are you planning on getting up this morning?” he asked, reaching over to push the hair out of her face so that he could see that cute little pout that he loved so much.
“I’m getting up right now,” she mumbled even as she continued laying there, looking adorably pathetic.
“I can see that,” he murmured, more than fine with laying here with her in his arms, but when several minutes went by, and she still hadn’t moved he decided that it was time to do the one thing that he hadn’t done in five years.
He was going to call in sick.
Keeping one arm around her, he grabbed his phone off the nightstand and sent a text to Mrs. MacArthur and Erin, his vice principal, and let them know that he wouldn’t be coming in today. He also let them know that Dr. Lawson sent him an email telling him that she was taking a sick day as well. When he was done, he tossed his phone aside and resumed tracing her spine with his fingertips.
“We have to get up,” she mumbled on a groan, sounding so damn miserable that he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“No, we don’t,” he said, kissing her forehead.
Frowning, she looked up at him. “We don’t?”
“I called in sick so that you could stay home and be miserable.”
“Really?” she asked, blinking up at him.
“Mmmhmm,” he murmured as he closed his eyes and-
“What exactly does one do during a sick day?” she asked, looking adorably confused.
“Well,” Reed said, brushing her hair back over her ear, “normally you’d spend the day sipping ginger ale and watching bad daytime television, but since we’re not actually sick, we can do whatever we want.”
“I see,” she murmured, looking thoughtful as she considered his words.
“When’s the last time you took a sick day?” he asked, watching as the furry little bastard that had attacked his feet all night jumped back onto the bed and curled up on the pillow Joey only used when she was reading and narrowed his eyes on Reed.
“I’ve never taken a sick day,” she said, making him frown as she reached over to pet the little bastard that he affectionately called, “Asshole” whenever she wasn’t around.
“Seriously?”
Nodding, she said, “Perfect attendance.”
“That’s the saddest thing I’ve ever heard,” he said, smiling when she mumbled, “I know.”
“Okay, then what do you want to do today?” he asked as he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose.
“Could we sleep in?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip.
“Yes.”
“Have a late breakfast in bed?”
“I think that could be arranged,” he said, chuckling.
“And perhaps if there’s time, we could have sex?” she asked, looking so damn hopeful that all he could do was groan as he rolled her over onto her back and settled between her legs.
*-*-*-*
Wednesd
ay
“The alarm’s going off.”
“I know,” she said, making sure to add a sniffle followed by a slight cough because she didn’t want to overdo it.
“Is everything okay?” the man that she’d spent an amazing day in bed with yesterday asked as he pulled her more tightly against him.
“Yes,” sniffle, cough, sniffle, “everything’s fine.”
“Are you sure?” he asked as he kissed her shoulder.
Cough.
“Positive.”
Sniffle, sniffle.
“Are you coming down with something, baby?” he asked as brushed her hair aside so that he could kiss the side of her neck.
Sniffle.
Cough.
“I might be,” Joey said, following that up with another sniffle.
“Do you want to call in sick?” Reed asked as he slid his hand down to her hip.
Sniffle. “I might have to,” she said, with a small cough that threatened to turn into a moan when he used his hold on her hip to pull her back and-
“We really might,” he said as he slid inside her and she closed her eyes on a sigh, and after a slight pause and a sniffle, because she didn’t want him thinking that she was faking it or anything.
*-*-*-*
Thursday
“I’m sorry to call you so early, Mr. Bradford, but I have Dr. Lawson on the other line, and I’m afraid she’s still not feeling very well,” Mrs. MacArthur said, making Reed turn around and head upstairs when a faint “Meow” caught his attention.
“I see,” he murmured as he turned back around and headed towards the kitchen.
“I wasn’t sure what the policy was for Dr. Lawson, but since you normally like to be notified when staff is out for more than two days, I thought that it would be for the best if I called.”
“That’s fine,” he said, coming to a stop in front of the hallway closet when he heard what sounded suspiciously like, “Shhhhhh.”
“You know what,” Reed said as he opened the closet door and found Joey, looking guilty as hell, kneeling on the floor with her cellphone in one hand and the furry little bastard in the other, “I meant to call you sooner, but I’m afraid that I’m not going to be able to come in today.”
The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10) Page 21
