How to Not Fall for the Guy Next Door: A Sweet and Humorous Romance

by Easton, Meg

  He set down the box of beef and broccoli he was holding. “What do you say that for our second date, we do something every bit as memorable?”

  She swallowed the bite she was eating a little too quickly and nearly choked. “Second date?”

  “Obviously, today was the first date.”

  She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

  “I very distinctly remember me, looking all manly as I pulled lumber out of the bed of my truck, and you asking me out on a date to the park. In fact, I also remember begging being involved.”

  “Well, then,” Addi paused to take a sip of her soda, “I think it’s only fair for there to be begging involved when it comes to the asking of a second date.”

  He held up one finger with one hand and grabbed his soda with his other hand. He took a long drink, then cleared his throat and got down on both knees on the carpet between the couch and the coffee table and brought his hands together. “Addison Sparks, I would like to beg you to go on a date with me. Preferably one that doesn’t involve the police or possible kidnapping charges.”

  “And no parks, frogs, snails, snakes, or insects?”

  “We’ll even take tadpoles out of the running. What do you say?”

  Addison bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling, like she was trying to decide. All he could focus on was her lips. Then she met his eyes and said, “If it can be a spontaneous date. Not planned in advance.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Interesting request. Deal.”

  He stood and held out his hand to shake on it, and when she put her hand in his to shake, she instead tugged, pulling herself off the couch and to a standing position just inches in front of him. She was close enough that he could feel her breath on his neck. He wasn’t sure he was breathing at all.

  As the sun was setting, throwing brilliant colors behind the woods just out from the giant bay windows in front of them, she held his eyes and he studied hers. He got the distinct impression that a decision was being made. He desperately hoped that whatever it was, it would keep her standing this close to him. She reached out and placed a hand on his chest, right over his heart, and his pulse raced, electricity buzzing through him at her touch.

  Then she slowly, nervously, carefully, like she was testing whatever decision she had made, slid her hand up to his shoulder, her fingertips barely skimming the skin at the edge of his collar, sending chills up the back of his neck. He kept his eyes on hers, trying to guess exactly what she was thinking, but when her eyes flicked to his lips, he couldn’t help his gaze falling to hers.

  Her eyes locked on his once again, and then she rose up on her toes and pressed her lips into his. It surprised him. But at the same time, it felt inevitable—like everything since that first moment in the grocery store had been leading up to this. Maybe from the first moment when she was nine and he was eleven and he saw her through the gate between his grandparents’ backyard and her aunt’s inn’s grounds.

  He wrapped his arms around her, placing one on the small of her back and the other in the middle of her upper back, reveling in how it felt to hold her as her lips moved against his. After Zoe called off their wedding, he hadn’t imagined ever being interested in a relationship again. But everything with Addi just felt right. She brought her other arm up, wrapping both of them around his neck, holding him just as close as he was holding her. His heart raced, beating a rapid cadence against his chest, his fingers tingling, his head light.

  When she broke the kiss to take a few deep breaths of air, he took a long, slow breath to ground his senses, and then placed three gentle kisses in a trail from her temple down to the spot just under her earlobe, enjoying the short quick breath she exhaled.

  “Wow,” he said. “I am really glad that Bex didn’t insist on having dinner with us.”

  14

  Addison

  Addison had helped a lot of people organize their clothes closets. Some were big walk-in closets, some had taken over closets in other rooms in the house, and someone had even turned a spare bedroom into a closet. With every one, she usually found one item that each person hoarded. She had helped people who had massive collections of shoes, sweaters, shirts, dresses, pants, humorous t-shirts, scarves, and even someone with a huge collections of every kind of socks imaginable.

  But this woman hoarded bras. Bras. Bras were Addison’s least favorite item of clothing to shop for—even worse than jeans. Why would someone pick that item of clothing to overbuy on? Apparently this thirty-one-year-old advertising exec never bought a shirt without buying a bra to match. She said it made her feel secretly well organized. Like it gave her super powers.

  As Addison was putting bra after bra on four hanging organizers that each held a dozen, her mind was able to think of nothing all morning except the kiss last night. For five hours straight, she’d seen how he reacted to what was often a stressful situation. And every time he helped calm things when they got out of control, paused to help one of the kids, came up with a fun game for them, calmed her when things were crazy, or comforted her when things were hard, she fell a little more for him, forgetting any reservations she had about dating someone new.

  And then, at dinner, she fell even harder. She had worried it might’ve been because of how exhausted she was and the fact that she had fallen pretty hard into that couch, but even in the light of a new day, she felt all of the butterflies constantly in her stomach and the tingles that would race up her spine at every thought of him.

  She hadn’t exactly had the best experience when it came to guys feeling the same way about her that she felt about him, and last night, she’d been afraid. All through dinner, she kept hoping that he would give a very obvious sign that he was feeling even a bit of what she was feeling. She didn’t think she would get it, but then he asked her out.

  And then she gathered up every single bit of courage she could find and convinced herself that she was brave enough to be the one to go in for their first kiss.

  It wasn’t that she never kissed guys. It was that she had probably kissed quite a bit fewer than anyone else who lived at the inn. Probably fewer than most twenty-six-year-olds everywhere. But she knew enough to know what to expect.

  And that expectation was exactly why she was so blown away by kissing Ian. She hadn’t even imagined that kissing could be that incredible. Just remembering how his hands had felt on her back, his breath on her cheek, the faint smell of wood he still had from working in the shop that morning, the softness of his lips against hers, those kisses by her ear, all while she was pressed against his chest, was causing goose bumps to cover her arms.

  “Addison.”

  The voice of Jessie, her client, was insistent enough that Addison realized she had gotten a little too far into her own head. She looked up at the woman, whose cleaning and organizing outfit of choice was a baggy pair of sweats and a t-shirt that said “The Office” on it. It was a very different look than the pantsuit and heels she’d worn at their first meeting. Jessie had her hand on a tote that was sitting on the bed, but Addison couldn’t guess what the woman had been trying to talk to her about.

  “Yes?”

  “You are somewhere else today, aren’t you?” A smile spread slowly across the woman’s face and then it turned into a gasp. “It’s because of a guy, isn’t it? All morning, you’ve had I’m currently daydreaming about someone face.”

  Based on how hot her ears suddenly were, Addison was sure that face was now covered in a deep pink blush.

  Jessie sat down cross-legged on the closet floor next to Addison. “Tell me about him.”

  Addison finished hanging up the bra she was holding and let out a long, slow breath before turning to Jessie. “He’s a guy I kissed last night. Which was probably a big mistake, because he’s my next door neighbor.”

  “I guess that depends. On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate the kiss?”

  Addison looked down at the floor of the closet, smiling. “Ten. A ten so solid and far up there that I hadn’t even kno
wn ten was that high before.”

  Jessie squealed like they were teenagers. “Then it’s not a mistake, regardless of how it ends.”

  “Maybe. All I know is I’ve got to get my mind off him. Like right now. What’s that tote you’ve got on the bed?”

  Jessie stood up and grabbed the tote from the bed and then sat back down, placing it between them. “I was wondering if you have any ideas for how to organize my swimsuits. I went through them last night, and narrowed it down to thirty.”

  Addison’s eyebrows shot up. “Swimsuits are the only thing I can think of that’s worse to shop for than bras. How are they what you collect? Do you have a trophy somewhere in here awarded for leveling up shopping skill to the top? Maybe a medal, a ninja belt?”

  Jessie laughed a tinkling little laugh, and Addison took the moment to force herself back into her actual job until this organization project was finished, and away from that amazing kiss.

  Untitled

  She had finished Jessie’s closet organization by noon, and as she headed back to Quicksand, her brain was so jumbled from the mess of thoughts constantly swirling inside that she decided she really needed to talk things out. Not with her roommates, though, because she already knew what they would say. She needed her sister. So she pulled over to the side of the road and sent her a quick text.

  Hey, Sis! I really want to talk to you about Ian.

  Chloe’s response came quickly.

  And I really want to listen to you talk about Ian.

  I also kind of really want you to meet him first. How would you feel if I invited him to join in on our birthday call?

  Oh my gosh. This is huge. YES PLEASE.

  And then tomorrow, I better get a phone call where you talk about him.

  You sound too excited. DON’T EMBARRASS ME CHLOE.

  I wouldn’t dream of it.

  And Chloe, guess what?

  You’re smitten?

  Not the point. The point is, there’s a good chance Ian will say yes.

  Even though I just thought of it, and will be giving him almost no notice.

  Just like he said yes to babysitting with me yesterday, with no notice.

  And even though it’s not Tuesday or Saturday!

  This is dream come true material for you right now, isn’t it?

  It’s not that I need a guy to be spontaneous all the time. Or even most of the time. I just need to know that he can be.

  I can’t wait to meet him!

  Chloe, I need to hear that you won’t embarrass me.

  Aww! Dustin is lighting a birthday brownie for me. Gotta go! See you in 30 minutes!

  Addison wasn’t sure if Dustin really was bringing her a brownie, or if that was just Chloe’s way of getting out of making the promise. And that didn’t help her nerves when it came to texting Ian. Sure they’d kissed, but she still didn’t really know how he felt about her. So she straightened her shoulders, slid the mirror on the visor open and said out loud, “You can be brave. You were brave last night, and look what it got you.” And of course, just thinking about it again made her smile.

  Before she knew it, she was in a text message to him, typing Do you have a lunch break today? If so, are you free? I am having a video chat with my sister at 1:00, and I’d love to have you meet her.

  She sent the text, and then realized she probably should’ve included an apology. And, the unsure feelings rearing their heads again, she figured she should also give him an easy way out of it. So she added, I know it’s the midday on a weekday and you’re at work—she’s nine hours ahead so we had to plan it while she’s awake. But there will be other times when you can meet her.

  She pulled the gearshift into drive, deciding that she was too nervous to wait around for an answer that might very well be no. But he responded before she could even take her foot off the brake.

  I will be there with bells on.

  Her heart flew somewhere around the vicinity of the top of her car the entire ride home. She hoped she’d have a couple of minutes to get into her house, set up her laptop, maybe run a brush through her hair and put on some lip gloss, but as soon as she pulled into a parking spot, Ian walked over from his house. He must’ve either been working in his shed or come home from a job for lunch.

  Gosh, she loved that stride. So calm and confident without being cocky. The wind was even blowing just the slightest amount—enough to ruffle the slight wave in his hair. All she needed was a video camera and the ability to watch it in slow motion, and she’d have her eyes glued to the screen for hours.

  She shook herself as she realized that was exactly what she’d done—she’d frozen mid-step, staring at him. She was trying to think what she should’ve been doing other than mimicking a statue, but then he said, “Hi,” as he neared and her brain stopped working.

  “Hi,” she said back, and took in those kind eyes that were smiling at her and tried not to imagine what it would be like if he walked right up to her, put his arms on her back, and dropped her into a dip, kissing her right in the driveway.

  No drop kiss, but he did step up close to her and tuck a curl behind her ear, and then run his fingertips down her neck, across her shoulder, and down her arm to her fingertips, sending thrills throughout her body and really not helping her ability to form words. She didn’t want to lose the ability to walk without falling, too, so she avoided looking into his eyes. In fact, turning and walking toward the door sounded like the safest course of action. So she did, pulling her keys out of her purse.

  “I know you wanted our second date to be spontaneous, but I thought I was going to be the one doing the asking this time.”

  She glanced at him. “This isn’t a date.”

  “I don’t know. You asked me over to meet your family. That sounds pretty date-ish.”

  She pointed at him with her keys before putting them into the lock. “Not my family—just my sister. It’s so when we talk about you, she’ll have a better picture in her mind.”

  He looked like he was trying to hold back a smile, but wasn’t very successful at it. “Then I fully support this non-date.”

  She opened the door to a lobby that was filled full of balloons and a big sign that read Happy birthday, Addison! She ran her hands over her face.

  “It’s your birthday?”

  She turned toward the beautiful man next to her. “Um, yeah.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  She walked to the check-in counter, where there was a cupcake waiting with a candle in it, and a piece of paper that said Happy 27th! in fancy handwriting—probably Peyton’s doing—and Remember that we’re having a roommate dinner at 7:00 to celebrate! below it.

  “I don’t know—it’s awkward. How do you even bring that up? After our kiss last night, was I just supposed to say, ‘Oh, by the way, my birthday is tomorrow’?” She grabbed her laptop off the counter and started walking up the stairs, Ian at her side.

  “That might not have been the most elegant way to bring it up, but it would’ve been effective.”

  “Oh, but see, my roommates were both elegant and effective. So it was best just leaving it in their very capable hands.”

  He raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

  She had thought of setting up her laptop in the family room, but she didn’t want any of her roommates walking in during the call. That was the thing about living in an inn full of creative women who ran their own one-person businesses—the hours were strange, sometimes ridiculously long, and it wouldn’t be entirely unusual for any or all of them to walk in at one p.m. on a Thursday.

  If it was just her and Chloe on the call, she would’ve just set up in her room, but with Ian coming, that felt much too intimate. So she led him to the store room instead. It was a bedroom that could be used for another roommate, but instead, it held all of her storage supplies for clients she’d be meeting with in the next two weeks on one side, some of Timini’s sewing equipment on the other, and a bed pushed up against the wall that she and Tim
ini both used more like a couch or a flat spot when they were working in here.

  Once her laptop was booted, she went into the video chat and got it situated on a container she was going to use for wrapping paper storage for a client. Chloe’s call rang in about three seconds later, and when her face came on the screen, she was nothing but exuberant smiles. Addison introduced Chloe and Ian, and Chloe’s husband Dustin poked his head in to say hello before leaving them to their call.

  “Happy birthday, Addison!”

  “Happy birthday, Chloe!”

  “Wait,” Ian said. “It’s both your birthdays?”

  “You didn’t tell him?”

  Addison turned to Ian. “This was just my inelegant way of telling you.” His hand was next to hers, and she had to ignore the fact that their shoulders were brushing together or she wouldn’t be able to think. “Except for the year Chloe was born and was in the hospital for my second birthday, we’ve spent every one of our shared birthdays together. This year it’s just digital instead of in person.”

  “So you’re two years apart in age, yet both of your birthdays are on the exact same day?”

  They both nodded.

  “Wow. Your parents must’ve...”

  Addison laughed when his comment trailed off. “I know what you’re thinking—I got there too when I was a kid. The very day I found out how babies were made, I Googled exactly how many days it took from conception to birth, did the math, and discovered what I was one hundred percent convinced was the day of the year we were both conceived.”

  “And from that year forward,” Chloe said, “you couldn’t convince Addi to stay home that night for anything.”

  “Come on. Do we have to tell him this story? It’s embarrassing.”

  “Yes, because you didn’t tell him it was my birthday. So for the first couple of years, Addison would call our grandparents to see if we could sleep over. When we got a little older, we planned things with friends until curfew. I, of course, being the little sister, didn’t understand what was going on.”