The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10)

by R. L. Mathewson

  “Why’s she here?” Matt asked as he threw him a curious look.

  “She’s on sabbatical,” Reed said, still wondering about that, because something told him, mostly the fact that she came back here after she’d sworn that she would never set foot in this town again, that there was something more to this story than she was telling him.

  “So, she’s staying here?”

  “For now,” Reed said, sighing heavily as he tossed the empty box in the trash.

  “She can share my room,” Matt said, making sure to sound put out.

  “Speaking of your room…” Reed drawled just as Joey walked into the kitchen.

  When Matt opened his mouth, most likely to say something that was going to get him bitch slapped, she held up her hand to stop him. “I’m only going to say this once. We don’t talk about what happened this morning, mention it, or even think about it,” she said, stopping to slowly exhale before she said, “and in return for your cooperation, I will make my grandmother’s famous chocolate chip cookies for you once a week until I leave.”

  At the mention of her grandmother’s cookies, Matt went still. “With the extra chocolate chips?”

  “Yes,” she said with a sigh and a nod.

  “Every week?” his brother asked, clearly debating if it was worth it.

  “Unless you piss me off and I’m forced to kill you in your sleep.”

  Matt pursed his lips as he thought it over. “Am I allowed to ask any follow-up questions?”

  “No.”

  “What about that tattoo on your-”

  “I will chemically castrate you,” she said.

  With a nod and a shrug, Matt said, “That sounds fair,” while Reed stood there, wondering about that tattoo and hating that the little bastard saw it first.

  Chapter 10

  “This is hopeless,” Joey mumbled as she stood at the edge of her driveway, taking it all in.

  “There, there,” the annoying little bastard that she couldn’t seem to shake said with a condescending pat on her head. “It will be okay,” Matt said, following that up with an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, which made it easier for her to reach over and-

  “Shit!” he yelped, immediately letting her go so that he could rub his side and she could return to staring at the depressing sight before her.

  It was actually worse than she’d thought.

  So much so, that she was actually starting to have seconds thoughts about coming here. Then again, she’d been having those since last night when she’d realized that the man that she’d publicly humiliated after she’d decided to drink her first beer to see what all the fuss was about, still lived next-door. The incident in his bed this morning hadn’t helped, and neither had the incident where Matt startled her, which unfortunately had led to her screaming, stumbling, and losing her towel.

  But this…

  This had her rethinking her entire plan and seriously considering telling Jackson to go ahead and put the house on the market. The only problem with that plan was that she had nowhere else to go. After Anderson congratulated her on her sabbatical, it had been decided that it would probably be for the best if she stayed somewhere else. Since she’d lived in faculty housing, giving up her apartment hadn’t been an issue. The only problem had been deciding where she was going to live for the next year.

  She’d briefly considered staying with her brother, but since he mostly lived out of a suitcase and had a habit of treating her like she was ten she’d decided that it would probably be for the best if she came up with another plan. It also didn’t hurt that he didn’t know that she’d been put on sabbatical since that wouldn’t end well for her. She’d debated traveling for a while, seeing the world, and finally doing all those things that she’d never had a chance to do, but she really didn’t want to do them alone. More importantly, there was no one that she wanted to go with her. That had left her with only one option, come back home and pick up where her grandfather left off. There was only one problem with that.

  She had no idea what she was supposed to do now.

  “It’s really not that bad,” Matt said with a lazy gesture toward the house that was going to take a miracle to fix, especially on her budget.

  “It’s worse,” she said, taking in the messy front yard filled with holes, rocks and matted weeds that had been destroyed over the winter, the remains of the small fence that her grandfather had planned on replacing, the dirt driveway that disappeared into the lawn, and the briars…everywhere.

  That was bad enough, but the house…the house was just…

  “Is there any chance that the damage is mostly cosmetic?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip and really hoping that he would lie to her, but one look at the old house with missing window panes, broken shutters, missing shingles and so many more things that she would really like to pretend weren’t broken told her that this wasn’t going to be the simple renovation that she’d been hoping for. Well, that and the man standing next to her destroying all her hopes and dreams.

  “No, not a chance in hell,” he said, punctuating his words with another pat on her head as she stood there, wondering how she was going to do this.

  “How bad do you think it’s going to be?” she forced herself to ask as she absently swatted his hand away.

  “Considering that this house hasn’t had an upgrade beyond the basics that your grandfather did…” he said, letting his words trail off with a sigh before saying, “I think it’s going to take a lot of work, but at least it won’t be a complete gut job.”

  “That’s good, right?” she asked weakly as she rubbed her hands down her face.

  “Normally, but since your grandfather registered the house as a historic home it’s going to be a nightmare getting permits, finding someone who has the skills to restore it, and knows what they’re doing without completely screwing you over,” he said with a shrug as she slowly exhaled and considered her options.

  “And if I decided to put it on the market the way it is?” she asked, realizing that she might not have a choice.

  “You’d have to find the right buyer, someone who wants a historic home and is willing to sink a shit load of money into this place to restore it. If your grandfather hadn’t registered it, you probably wouldn’t have a problem selling it. The land alone is worth a lot, but with that registration…” he said, letting his words trail off with a shrug.

  “I’m screwed,” she finished for him, finally realizing why Jackson had washed his hands of the old place years ago.

  “And if I managed to find someone to buy it?” she forced herself to ask.

  “You probably wouldn’t even get half of what your grandfather paid for the old place,” he said, before adding, “But I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I can do this,” he said with another shrug.

  “Really?” she asked with a hopeful smile that was quickly destroyed by the little brat that used to hide in her house and wait for hours just so that he could jump out and scare the crap out of her.

  “For a price,” he said with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

  “What?” she asked, narrowing her eyes on the incredibly handsome man grinning down at her.

  “Tell me about the tattoo,” Matt said as she slowly nodded, realizing what she had to do.

  *-*-*-*

  “Tell me that you’re not back in my office,” Reed said, telling himself that this wasn’t happening.

  “I would. I really would,” Jen said with a heartfelt sigh, “but didn’t you tell me that it was wrong to lie?”

  Rubbing his hands down his face, he asked, “What did you do now?”

  “Well, allegedly, because I don’t believe there’s any real proof, but Mr. Jackson believes that someone may have been involved in some sort of email scandal last night,” she said with a shrug as she popped another piece of candy in her mouth.

  “What did you do?” he asked with a sigh as he dropped his hand
s away and sat back in his chair as he waited for the bullshit to start.

  “Why do you think I did anything?” she asked, blinking innocently.

  “Jen…”

  “Allegedly,” she said, making air quotes that had him rolling his eyes, “Mr. Hermann left his laptop open while he went outside to make a phone call and I guess the temptation was just too much for some poor misguided soul to resist.”

  “And what did this poor misguided soul do exactly?” he asked as a chirp drew his attention to his phone just as a text message popped up.

  Do you think she was serious about the chemical castration thing? Because I might be willing to risk it.

  “Are you familiar with the term ‘Rick Rolled’?” Jen asked as she helped herself to another piece of candy.

  “Yes,” Reed said, biting back a sigh when the next text message popped up.

  Do you think Jackson would be okay if I asked Joey out? Because I think I might be in love.

  “Well, some evil genius took it a step further and ‘Biebed’ everyone in the PTA,” she said, right around the time that he decided to kill his brother.

  “You sent a video of Justin Bieber hidden in a link to everyone on the PTA?” he asked, sighing as he reached over and typed her name into the computer and pulled up her file, again.

  “Some evil genius did,” she said, nodding solemnly as he took a look at her classes, noting that she was failing every single one of them, held the school record for tardies and unexcused absences, and was well on her way to becoming the biggest pain in the ass that he’d ever known, and he was including the woman that he’d decided to stay away from in that.

  “Some evil genius, huh?” he absently asked as he forced himself to focus on figuring out what he was going to do with the girl determined to get herself kicked out of school.

  “That’s the only explanation that makes sense,” she said with a heavy sigh and a sad shake of her head.

  “Or, the repeat offender who was supposed to be writing a paper saw an opportunity to torment someone, took it, got caught, and is now trying to talk her way out of another week of detention,” he drawled, drumming his fingers against the desk as he somehow resisted the urge to grab his phone and tell his brother to keep his fucking hands off her.

  “That’s a possibility,” she allowed with a nod.

  “You know what else is a possibility?” he asked.

  “That you’ll let me off with a warning?” she asked with a hopeful smile.

  “I was thinking more along the lines of calling your uncle,” he said, noting the look of pure panic on her face as he glanced down at his phone just in time to see the next text message.

  She’s decided to sell the house. Already called Uncle Jared. He wants the house. Coming next month to put in an offer.

  Staying at Jake’s tonight. Made a tactical error. She’s fine, but you might want to come home soon!

  Chapter 11

  “I said I was sorry!” Joey said with a sigh as she sat there, really hoping that he believed her this time only to let her shoulders sag in defeat a moment later when it became painfully obvious that the sound of a door slamming shut that she’d heard moments earlier had been Matt fleeing for his life.

  Not that she could blame him, she thought with a heavy sigh as she shifted to get more comfortable, wondering if she went too far when she’d threatened his balls only to shrug it off, because he’d definitely had it coming. He’s lucky that she’d held back, she decided with a firm nod even as she threw a hopeful look toward the locked closet door when she heard movement coming from the hallway.

  Maybe he’d forgiven her for putting him in that headlock? she hoped at least as she sat up, licking her lips and ready to tell the little bastard whatever it took to regain her freedom. Then, once she apologized, she would make him regret patting her on the head and calling her “Fun Size.” She was not short, damn it! She was-

  Really regretting her decision not to accept the affectionate pet name with a smile when she heard the heavy, painfully familiar, long drawn-out sigh accompanied by the sounds of whatever Matt had lodged beneath the doorknob to lock her in here as it was pulled away. Really hoping that Reed wasn’t here to finish the job, she pushed back as far as the small closet would allow, hugged her knees against her chest, and did her best not to wince when the closet door was pulled open and she found herself looking up into the semi-amused face of the incredibly handsome man that she had a history of pissing off.

  “What did you do this time, Joey?” Reed drawled as he sat down on the chair that had been used to lock her in here, effectively blocking her only means of escape.

  “Taught your brother a healthy respect for short people,” she said, nodding solemnly.

  “What’s the verdict?” he asked, reaching up to pull his tie loose and drawing attention to the fact that he’d definitely grown into an incredibly sexy man over the years.

  “Your brother is lucky to be alive,” she said without missing a beat.

  Chuckling, Reed shook his head ruefully. “I meant about the house.”

  “Oh, that,” she said, feeling her shoulders once again sag at the reminder of her latest failure.

  “Yes, that.”

  She wanted to fix the house up the way that her grandfather would have wanted, but there was no way that she was going to be able to do that on her budget. Even with her savings, the college fund that her mother had started for her that she hadn’t needed, and the small inheritance that her grandparents had left her there was no way that she was going to be able to come close to being able to afford this. She considered asking Jackson for help, but she doubted that he could afford this any more than she could. Even if he could, she already knew that he would say no.

  She briefly considered taking a loan out against the house only to immediately dismiss the idea since her grandparents wouldn’t have wanted her going into debt over this. She thought about making a deal with Matt, paying him what she could now with the promise that she would pay him everything she owed him plus interest when they sold the house later, but…

  There was no guarantee that they would be able to sell it.

  But fixing up the house was no longer an option. At least not for her, she thought with another heartfelt sigh, really wishing that she didn’t have to do this, but she didn’t have a choice. Not if she wanted to do this for her grandfather. So, that left her with two choices, put the house on the market and hope for the best or sell the house back to the family that built it.

  At least this way she knew that the house would be restored the way that her grandfather would have wanted it. The only problem was going to be finding a way to get Jackson on board with this plan without her brother finding out that she was on sabbatical.

  “Matt said that your uncle would be interested in buying the old place,” she said even as she couldn’t help but wonder if she’d be able to squeeze under that chair.

  “Uncle Jared would definitely be interested in buying it, and if he doesn’t, I know that my cousin Rory would buy it in a heartbeat. She loves restoring old houses,” Reed said, nodding as Joey sat there telling herself that this was for the best.

  It was either sell the house or watch it continue to fall apart.

  “He’ll make you a fair offer,” he said while she absently nodded as the realization that she had absolutely nothing to do for the next year hit her as Reed continued talking about something to do with the house and renovations, but she wasn’t really listening, mostly because she was doing her best not to panic.

  She had nothing, absolutely nothing to do for the next three hundred and sixty-four days, she realized with something close to panic because bad things happened when she had too much free time on her hands. Really bad, life-altering things that she would really rather not think about.

  She honestly couldn’t think of anything worse than-

  “I’m going to call your brother.”

  *-*-*-*

  “What exactly are you doing
?” he couldn’t help but ask as he looked down and took in the generous ass wiggling from side to side as the small woman that he’d never been able to figure out did her best to…

  Well, he wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing, he thought absently while he continued watching that beautiful ass as she tried to wiggle the rest of the way beneath his chair, but unfortunately for her, those incredibly generous hips that had driven him out of his fucking mind last night were stopping her.

  “You can’t call him,” she said, sighing heavily from where she lay beneath the chair as she stopped wiggling.

  “Who?” Reed murmured, really wishing that she’d start wiggling again.

  “Jackson,” Joey said on a defeated sigh as she shifted to pull back only to mutter, “Stupid boobs.”

  “Why don’t you want me to call him?” he asked as he reluctantly stood up and stepped back, carefully picking up the chair and setting it aside to free the small woman sprawled out on the floor.

  “Thank you,” she said as she stood up and dusted herself off as something occurred to him.

  “He doesn’t know you’re here, does he?” he asked, watching as she licked her lips, opened her mouth, slowly exhaled while shooting a glance toward the front door before her shoulders sagged and she looked back at him.

  “I felt it would be more prudent to keep this from him until I was on my death bed,” she explained, nodding solemnly.

  “Why wouldn’t you want him to know you’re here?” he asked, eying her curiously and noting the way that her lips moved soundlessly as she tried to come up with an answer only to mumble, “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “What wouldn’t I understand?” he asked, regretting his decision not to call Jackson last night, because something was definitely going on here and when Jackson found out that he didn’t give him a head’s up he was going to fucking kill him.

  “Forget it,” she said quietly as she forced a smile. “Thank you for letting me stay last night,” she said, and with that, she headed for the front door.