The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  Chuckling, he couldn’t help but agree. “That’s probably-”

  “So, you’re cousins?” the woman that he’d forgotten about asked and before he could answer, Joey cleared everything up.

  “We’re neighbors,” she said with a shrug as she took a sip of water while he sat there, watching as realization dawned on Julie’s face and when it did…

  His eyes narrowed on the woman trying to bite back a smile as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. “I see,” she said, sounding amused as he sat there, not liking where this was going.

  Not. One. Fucking. Bit.

  “So, you’re Jackson’s sister?” she guessed.

  Nodding, Joey turned another page.

  “Are you moving back?” Julie asked.

  “For a year. I’m on sabbatical so I figured that this would be the best time to fix up the old place while I figure out what I’m going to do,” Joey said, still not bothering to look up while he sat there, glaring at the woman who looked way too damn happy for his peace of mind.

  “So, I think I’m going to call it a night,” Julie managed to say as she struggled not to laugh as she pushed her chair back and stood up.

  “That’s really not necessary,” he said, in no mood to be left alone with the little brat, but she was already gone, making her way to the front door and leaving him sitting there, wondering how he was going to survive a year with the woman that was about to make his life a living hell.

  Chapter 8

  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, she thought as she adjusted the Tupperware bowl in her arms, careful not to drop the new stack of books that she’d helped herself to as she stood there, trying to come up with anything to keep her from having to knock on the closed door in front of her. She could sleep in Matt’s room, she thought, worrying her bottom lip as she glanced over her shoulder at the closed bedroom door behind her, trying to tell herself that it would only be for one night, but she knew that she would never be able to do it. Not after everything she’d seen, she thought, fighting back a shudder as she turned her attention to the only other option in the house.

  Reed’s room.

  She could try sleeping on the couch again, and she would happily do that if it weren’t for the fact that the couch was lumpy, small even for her, and after two minutes she’d lost feeling in both her arms. She’d also tried to sleep on the floor, in a chair, the tub, and searched the rest of the rooms hoping that one of them would turn out to be another guest room only to come up empty. So, that left asking the man that hated her if she could sleep in his room, which probably wasn’t going to go over well. There was always her grandparents’ house, but that wasn’t really much of an option at the moment.

  Knowing that there was no other choice, she raised her fist to knock on his door only to drop it away again, because she wasn’t sure that she should piss him off right now. Not after what happened at dinner. Not that she actually knew what happened at dinner, but since his girlfriend left early and he’d spent the entire time glaring at her, she was going to assume that something bad happened.

  Maybe she should just call a tow truck and see if they could unlock her car so that she could-

  “What the hell are you doing?” Reed asked as he threw open his bedroom door so that he could glare down at her.

  “Ummm,” she said, doing her best to avoid the murderous glare currently aimed at her only to end up staring at a well-defined chest, an incredible set of abs, and-

  Decided that focusing on his glare was probably better than staring down at what the soft grey cotton boxer shorts revealed, she forced her eyes up. Deciding that Julie was a very lucky woman, she faced the man that had stormed off after telling her that she could crash in Matt’s room. While she stood there, admittedly becoming somewhat concerned with the level of hostility being displayed in that glare, she decided that perhaps it was time for a heartfelt apology and hope for the best.

  “I’m sorry if I said something to upset your girlfriend,” she said, only to wonder if she’d made a tactical error when he continued to glare.

  She briefly considered apologizing once again for the unfortunate incident that had occurred when he’d made the mistake of tagging along with Jackson when he’d visited her at school ten years ago. But she quickly decided that it would probably be for the best if she didn’t bring that up on the off chance that he wasn’t mad about that since reminding him of that incident probably wouldn’t end well. She could go for a general apology, but she’d found that those usually ended with follow-up questions that she didn’t know how to answer. Not knowing what else to do to appease the large angry man in front of her, she decided to go the direct route and get to the reason why she was standing outside his room at one in the morning.

  “Can I sleep with you?” she asked, only to frown when he released a pained groan and rubbed his hands roughly down his face.

  “What’s wrong with Matt’s room?” he asked as he dropped his hands aside so that he could gesture toward the room in question.

  “It’s terrifying,” she said, really hoping that he didn’t make her go back in there because she honestly wasn’t sure that she would be able to handle it.

  Sighing heavily, he walked past her and opened Matt’s room. “It’s not that bad,” he said with a pitying shake of his head as he turned the lights on and-

  “Holy shit!” he said, slamming the door shut behind him and quickly put some space between him and the room that he might want to consider calling a hazmat team to take care of.

  “Yeah, so I tried sleeping on the couch, but-”

  “Just take my room,” he said, cutting her off as he headed toward the stairs. “I’ll take the couch.”

  “Thank you,” she said, wondering if he knew what he was getting himself into only to shrug it off.

  She walked into the dimly lit bedroom, and once she’d assured herself that it wasn’t anything like the disturbing mess across the hall, she headed toward the large bed and managed to put the stack of books on the nightstand without dropping the bowl of cookies that she’d made earlier. After she’d piled all the pillows onto one side, she went in search of a bathroom, which thankfully was only a few steps away.

  *-*-*-*

  “I’m buying a new couch,” Reed decided as he gave up on trying to get comfortable and sat up with a wince, trying to shake the sensation back into his hands before he reluctantly got up and headed back upstairs.

  As he headed toward his room, he briefly considered spending the rest of the night in his office, but he was too fucking exhausted to think straight at the moment. Praying that the little demon was already asleep, he walked into his room and headed for his bed only to sigh when he realized the bed was empty. After shooting the bathroom a quick glance to find the door closed, he stole his pillows back, climbed into bed and closed his eyes, praying that would be enough for her to take pity on him and-

  Knocked the wind out of him when she climbed on the bed and crawled over him, nearly turning him into a eunuch in the process.

  “Sorry!” she said as she finally made it to her side.

  “It’s fine,” he managed to get out, thankful that she’d missed everything important. “Just go to sleep.”

  “Okay,” she said, shifting to get comfortable while he closed his eyes and did his best to ignore her.

  But it was hard to ignore someone who wouldn’t stop wiggling. He opened his eyes to glare at her only to find her sitting next to him with a book in her lap. Sighing, he rolled over onto his side and-

  “Is that butterscotch and cinnamon?” he asked, wondering if his nose was playing tricks on him.

  “Uh huh,” she mumbled as he rolled over just as she took a bite out of a large cookie.

  Deciding that she owed him for the hell that she’d put him through, he reached over and plucked the cookie out of her hand. Without a word, she grabbed the bowl that he hadn’t noticed before off his nightstand and placed it between them. He took a bite out of the cookie that he’d stol
en and groaned. It was so fucking good, he thought as he grabbed the bowl, turned over onto his side and hugged it protectively against his body.

  There was a sigh and then, “You really need to learn how to share,” but she didn’t try to take any more.

  She also didn’t move again until long after he’d finished devouring every last delicious morsel, closed his eyes and gave into exhaustion. Sometime later he woke up to find her curled up against him, her leg thrown over his, her large breasts pushed up against his side, and her hand resting a few inches above one of the most painful erections of his life.

  Christ, she was killing him here, he thought as he was forced to reach down and shift his erection out of the way. Once that was done, he focused on rolling the woman curled up against him back onto her side where she belonged. As soon as he was back on his side, he closed his eyes and-

  Blinked them back open and told himself that he was just imagining things when he felt those large breasts press back up against his side and that small curvy leg thrown over his. Not really sure how to proceed at this point, he whispered, “Joey?”

  Nothing.

  “Joey?” he said a little louder.

  Nothing.

  Sighing, he moved to place her back onto her side only to stop when she released what sounded like a growl. Lips twitching, he went to move her again only to give up with a sigh when she released another growl, snuggled up against his side, and grumbled something in her sleep that had him accepting the fact that she wasn’t going anywhere.

  When she shifted again, causing her knee to gently brush the underside of his cock and sent a wave of pleasure to the tip, he had to remind himself that this was Jackson’s little sister and there were just some lines that you didn’t cross.

  Chapter 9

  She would not moan, she told herself as she grabbed hold of the pillow, because moaning was wrong, so very wrong. As she laid there, pretending to be asleep, she was forced to amend her earlier decision of not moaning to not moaning again since she was almost positive that she’d moaned when she’d woken up to find herself sprawled out on top of the man that she didn’t think was breathing.

  Growing somewhat concerned, she opened her eyes and moved to sit up when a pair of large hands grabbed her hips to stop her, but not before she managed to rub against the very large appendage that she’d been trying not to think about since she’d realized that it was pressed between her legs.

  “Don’t move,” Reed said, sounding strained as his hold tightened on her and she decided that another apology was probably in order here.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For?” he asked while she tried to think of the best way to extricate herself from this situation without making this awkward.

  Okay, even more awkward than it already was, she amended when she realized that either her shirt had ridden up or…

  Julie really was a very lucky woman, she thought with a wince at the reminder that the man that she was currently sprawled on top of had a girlfriend. Well, that and he hated her. That was enough to get her to move, but unfortunately, the man still holding onto her wasn’t quite ready to let her go yet.

  “I move around when I sleep,” she said, only to squeeze her eyes shut and mouth, “Oh, my god!” into the pillow when the appendage in question jerked against her stomach.

  “Funny enough, I figured that out for myself,” he said dryly.

  “I need to get up,” she told him.

  “I know.”

  “I don’t think I can get up without…umm, you know…” she said with a wince.

  “Trust me, I know,” he said, moving to shift her off him only to decide against it. “I’m going to roll you.”

  “I was afraid of that,” she managed to get out while she did her best not to think about what was about to happen.

  Without warning, he had her on her back and was off the bed in seconds and heading for the bathroom while she laid there, deciding that it would probably be for the best if she slept on the couch tonight. Decision made, she crawled off the bed, grabbed a book off the nightstand and went downstairs where she fully planned on pretending that this never happened.

  *-*-*-*

  “Shit!” Reed bit out as he stumbled into the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

  As he shoved his boxers down, he tried not to think about how good she’d felt in his arms or how much he’d loved it when she’d moaned in his ear. But it was a losing battle and by the time he stepped into the shower he had his hand wrapped around his cock. He was calling himself a fucking idiot for thinking about his best friend’s little sister even as his hand slid down his cock while he thought about just how good it felt to hold her, the way she’d moved against him in her sleep, and imagined how good it would have felt to pull her shorts down and run his fingers between her slit as he played with her clit, making her wet so that he could slide a finger deep inside her and fuck her with his hand while she moaned his name.

  He worked his hand down his cock as he imagined what it would feel like to press the tip of his cock against her wet slit, how soft her skin would feel sliding past the tip as he pushed between her plump lips and slid inside her, and how tightly those velvety walls would feel as he-

  “Fuck,” Reed said, dropping his hand away with a sigh as he reached up and turned the hot water off so that he was left standing there, grinding his teeth as the ice-cold water hit him while he reminded himself that she was off limits.

  “I really need to get laid,” he decided with a nod as he shut the shower off because that was really the only explanation that he could come up with for the way that he was reacting to her.

  He needed to make a point to get out, he decided as he quickly dried off and pulled on a pair of boxers even as he considered giving it another try with Julie only to immediately dismiss the idea since she’d betrayed him last night by leaving him with-

  He was running even before Joey’s scream registered in his mind and wondering how he’d fucked this up so quickly. Jackson was going to fucking kill him, he realized as he made it down the stairs and headed for the back of the house, praying that she…that she…

  “She dropped her towel,” his brother said hoarsely with a look of wonder as he stood in front of the bathroom door, hugging a large bath towel against his chest.

  “What the hell happened?” Reed asked as he joined his brother.

  Matt licked his lips, and with a look of pure joy, he gestured with the towel toward the closed bathroom door and repeated, “She dropped her towel.”

  “Reed?” came the softly spoken word from the safety of the bathroom.

  “Yes?”

  “I’m going to kill your brother,” she calmly explained through the door.

  Nodding, Matt said, “I’m ready to go,” and headed for the bathroom door, but before he managed to do something to get himself killed, Reed reached out and grabbed him by the back of his neck and dragged him away from the door.

  “Let’s go,” he said, dragging the little bastard toward the kitchen.

  “But her towel?” Matt said with a wistful sigh that had Reed rolling his eyes and shoving the little bastard into the kitchen.

  “She’ll find another one,” Reed said, giving his brother another shove to get him away from the door.

  There was a long dreamy sigh and then, “Dibs,” making Reed roll his eyes as he headed for the refrigerator.

  “She’s out of your league,” he said, opening the refrigerator doors and frowned when he spotted the small lunch cooler with its lid flipped open and a post-it-note with his name written across it taped to the front.

  Curious, he pulled the bag closer, noting that it was heavy and-

  “She made me lunch,” he said hollowly as he took in the meatloaf sandwiches stacked in one corner, the small bowl of chunky homemade applesauce left over from last night, two wrapped biscuits, a small bag of chips, a large stack of butterscotch cookies, and a napkin.

  No one had made him lunch since he
was a kid, he thought as he pulled the bag out and put it on the kitchen island so that he could run his fingers reverently over the sandwiches that probably weren’t going to last until lunch. He’d had a few girlfriends that had tried to play house over the years. They’d show up at his house wearing the sexiest outfit they could find and cooked him dinner, making sure that he knew just how much work had gone into doing it while giving him coy smiles that were meant to entice him into giving them something more. But they’d never done any of it simply because they’d wanted to do something nice for him. They’d never-

  “Ouch!” the little bastard said as he pulled his hand away.

  “Mine,” Reed said as he made quick work of throwing a few ice packs in the cooler and zipped it closed with a look of warning for his brother.

  “Well, technically that should be mine since I called dibs,” Matt pointed out with another wistful glance at the door.

  “You have nothing in common,” Reed pointed out as he shifted his attention to the clock above the stove, noting that he had twenty minutes before he had to leave and turned his attention to finding something for breakfast.

  “How do you know?” Matt asked, throwing the towel over his shoulder and sat down at the kitchen island.

  “Because she’s a college professor and you’re an asshole,” Reed explained as he tossed a box of blueberry Pop-Tarts to the little bastard that was going to get himself killed.

  “I’m willing to learn whatever she wants to teach me,” Matt said, nodding solemnly as he ripped open the thin foil seal and took a bite out of a cold Pop Tart with a heartfelt sigh.

  “You don’t even know who she is,” Reed pointed out, reluctantly grabbing a box of strawberry Pop-Tarts.

  “Doesn’t matter,” Matt said, shifting his attention back to the closed kitchen door.

  “It’s Joey,” Reed said, chuckling when Matt choked on his next bite as he threw a panicked look toward the closed kitchen door.

  “Joey Lawson?”

  “The one and only,” he said as he debated stopping to grab something to eat on the way to work only to immediately dismiss the idea since he had too much shit to do this morning.