“What do you need at Walmart?” he asked, noting the yellow piece of paper in her hand as he sat down on the floor next to her.
“Nothing,” she mumbled quickly.
“So, you’re just going to Walmart for the hell of it?” he asked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead, noting that she didn’t feel warm.
“It’s my idea of a good time,” she said as he noted how pale she looked and wondered if she’d caught that stomach bug that’s been going around school.
“That does sound like a good time,” he murmured in agreement.
“It really is,” she said, looking adorably miserable as he took the slip of paper from her hand.
“I know you have your heart set on a trip to Walmart,” he began only to feel his lips twitch when she murmured with a little sniffle, “I really do.”
“Why don’t I run to Walmart and get everything you need and pick up Chinese food on the way home and then we can spend the rest of the night curled up in bed watching historical documentaries,” he suggested as he looked down at the list and realized that he was about to do something that he never would have done for another woman.
“I do love a good historical documentary,” she said even as she curled more tightly into herself.
“I know you do, baby,” he said, leaning down so that he could kiss her cheek even as he had to wonder what the difference between “Ultra” and “Super Plus” was.
“I’ll be right back,” he promised her as he stood up and headed for the door, grabbing his clothes and cellphone along the way.
“Okay,” she mumbled sadly from the bathroom as he told himself that he was only doing this because he’d promised to look after her.
There was no other reason, he told himself as he pulled his shirt on and headed downstairs. She was his best friend’s little sister and it was his job to take care of her, he reminded himself as he pulled out the list she’d made and decided to add Dr. Pepper since he knew how much she liked it. That of course, led him to add ice cream to the list and-
“Where are you going?” Matt asked, walking into the foyer as he devoured a party sized bag of Doritos.
“The store,” Reed said, trying to figure out where he was going to find all this shit.
“What do you need?” Matt asked, popping a chip in his mouth.
“Joey needs a few things,” he said, grabbing his wallet and keys off the side table.
“Then I should be the one to get them since I called dibs and all,” Matt said, sounding smug as he plucked the note out of his hand and-
Cleared his throat as he handed the list back to Reed with a mumbled, “I’ll just be going back to work then.”
*-*-*-*
“Are you ever going to look at me again?”
“No,” she said, even as she snuggled closer to him and couldn’t help but notice that his chest made the perfect pillow for watching historical documentaries.
“Is this the reason why you avoided me all day?” he asked as he continued to run his fingertips up and down her arm.
“We do not speak of it,” she whispered, making him chuckle.
“Does that mean that you don’t want your flowers?”
“Touch my flowers and I’ll kill you,” she said, because she really would.
“I take it that you like them,” he said, chuckling even as she couldn’t help but notice that he sounded quite pleased.
“I love them,” Joey admitted with a heartfelt sigh as she glanced at the beautiful white roses that he’d placed on the nightstand next to the pile of books that she’d planned on reading this week.
“Good,” he murmured, giving her a gentle squeeze as they fell into a comfortable silence and watched the Fall of Rome.
Right when she was about to suggest the documentary on the dark ages next, he said the words that she’d been dreading all night. “I think we should call it a night.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” she said, although she personally felt that it was a bad idea since that meant that it was time for her to go back to her room. She’d slept with him every night for the past few weeks and really wasn’t looking forward to sleeping by herself tonight, but she didn’t have much of a choice. This was only supposed to be about sex and since they couldn’t have sex for a few days…
“Goodnight,” she said, sending him a hopeful look only to find him already checking his email for any last-minute emergencies before calling it a night.
“Goodnight, Joey,” he murmured absently as she reluctantly crawled off the bed and headed for the bathroom.
When he didn’t say anything, she bit back a disappointed sigh and resigned herself to sleeping alone. Not really in a rush to find out how uncomfortable her bed was without him, she took her time getting everything ready, selecting a tampon from the huge selection that he’d bought for her, brushed her teeth, and took a shower all while sending hopeful looks at the bathroom door only to reluctantly accept the fact that he wasn’t coming.
That was fine, she told herself as she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. For a moment, she stood there, worrying her bottom lip as she glanced at his closed bathroom door until she inwardly berated herself for being an idiot and got dressed in one of Reed’s old tee shirts and a pair of panties. Doing her best not to think about the man in the other room, she opened her bathroom door, stepped out of the way as her baby kitten came racing inside and-
“You’re killing me here, Joey,” he said, sighing heavily as she found herself thrown over his shoulder and heading back to his room where he glared at her until she curled back up in his arms.
Chapter 30
“Do you even care that I’m not talking to you?”
“Not even a little bit,” Reed said while he watched Joey from the incredibly uncomfortable couch in the living room as the soft material of her jeans pulled tightly across the generous ass that he’d made plans for this weekend as she leaned over and began sorting through the boxes filling his foyer.
“You know, at some point you’re going to have to stop glaring at her,” Matt said with a pitying sigh as he leaned forward in his chair, tilted his head slightly to the right so that he could get a better look at-
“Don’t make me kill you,” Reed said while he ignored his brother as the little bastard rubbed the back of his head with a muttered, “Mean bastard.”
“You’re taking this a little too seriously,” Matt grumbled with a pout as he reluctantly returned his attention back to the magazine that he’d been pretending to read while Reed sat there ignoring the pile of work in front of him as he watched Joey search through the boxes that had been delivered earlier.
“What exactly am I taking too seriously?” Reed asked as he sat there, watching the woman that he couldn’t wait to get alone again as she picked up one of the smaller boxes that he’d been wondering about and headed upstairs.
“Besides everything?” Matt said, sighing heavily as he leaned back in his chair. “How about your promise?”
“What about it?” he asked as he reluctantly shifted his attention back to the financial reports that he was hoping to get through tonight so that he had the weekend free to spend with Joey.
“At some point, you’re going to have to give up your obsession with glaring at her,” Matt said with a sad shake of his head.
“I’m not obsessed,” Reed said although he had a bad feeling that he was.
“You really are,” Matt said, sighing heavily.
“I’m really not,” he said, rubbing his hands down his face as he tried to figure out how he was going to swing twenty new computers for the library with less than five hundred dollars in the budget.
“Really? Then how would you explain the murderous glares that you’re always shooting her?”
“She’s only been here for a month,” he pointed out, deciding that it would probably be for the best if he didn’t share the reason that he couldn’t keep his eyes off Joey.
He couldn’t seem to get enough of
her.
Every night for the past month he’d fallen asleep with her in his arms and started most mornings by making her moan his name. During the day, when he wasn’t with her, he found himself thinking about her and when he was near her all he could think about was touching her again. But it wasn’t just the incredible sex that drew him. He liked her, which still amazed him. But then again, maybe that was because he was finally able to spend time with her without worrying if she was about to blow something up. She was smart, funny as hell, kind, and-
“She probably hates you,” Matt said, sounding bored as he added, “Not that you could really blame her.”
“She doesn’t hate me,” Reed said, only to glare at the little bastard when he snorted in disbelief.
“You made her life a living hell,” Matt said, turning another page.
“I looked out for her,” he bit out, wondering why he was having this conversation again.
“Is that what you call it?” Matt asked, chuckling.
“What the hell would you know about it? You were seven when she left,” he said, starting to feel a headache coming on.
“Eight,” Matt said, shrugging it off. “But I remember enough to know that you were probably the reason why she left in the first place.”
“And you’re basing that on what exactly?” Reed asked, grabbing next quarter’s budget to see if there was any wiggle room to make this work only to toss the folder back on the coffee table with a sigh when he saw the mess that was waiting for him next quarter.
“Many things,” Matt said, tossing his magazine aside and sat back in the mismatched leather chair that looked a hell of a lot more comfortable than the small couch that he was sitting on.
“That’s really helpful,” he said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face as he wondered what the little bastard was talking about, because he’d always looked out for Joey, making sure that she was safe and-
“You used to make her cry all the time,” Matt said, shrugging it off as he grabbed the remote and turned the game on while Reed sat there frowning because if there was one thing that he knew about Joey, it was that she never cried.
She’d never cried when the other kids made fun of her, when the teachers yelled at her, or when she broke her arm trying to put a telescope on the roof. She didn’t even cry when the asshole showed up on her eighth birthday to tell her that he was moving and couldn’t take her with him, which was why he knew that Matt was wrong.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“She used to cry in her room a lot. Not that you could blame her,” Matt said, sighing heavily as he tossed the remote aside and settled back in his chair.
“How do you know that?” Reed asked, feeling his stomach drop at the thought of Joey crying because of something he did.
“I used to hide in her room so that I could scare her,” Matt said, shrugging it off with a yawn.
“Why do you think it was my fault?” he asked, thinking back to when they were kids and unable to help but wonder if Matt was right.
“Are you kidding me? Who else could it be? You used to go out of your way to make her miserable. She couldn’t do anything or go anywhere without you on her ass.”
“I was looking out for her,” he bit out evenly with a glare at the little bastard when he laughed.
“And I’m sure that she appreciated it,” Matt said dryly.
“It was for her own good,” Reed bit out evenly.
“I’m sure it was,” Matt mumbled absently.
“It was.”
“Is that what you tell yourself so that you can sleep at night?” Matt asked, blinking innocently.
“Joey was a handful when she was little,” he bit out even as he had to wonder why he was defending himself to the little bastard.
“And I’m sure she deserved whatever it was that you did to make her cry,” the little bastard that he was going to kill said with a heartfelt sigh that had his eyes narrowing on the little prick.
“I didn’t make her cry.”
“No, no, I’m sure it was just a coincidence that she was up in her room crying whenever you were around,” Matt said with a pitying shake of his head.
“I’m going upstairs,” Reed said as he grabbed the stack of folders waiting for him and stood up.
“So that you can make her cry again?” Matt asked, blinking innocently.
“I didn’t make her cry,” he said, starting to feel like a broken record.
“Really? Then why did your name keep coming up when she told her grandparents that she wanted to leave?” Matt asked with a pointed look that had him wondering the same damn thing.
“I think there’s something you forgot to tell me,” came the softly spoken words from the foyer that had him sighing heavily because he should have known this would happen.
Chapter 31
“This just isn’t going to do,” Joey said, unable to help but sigh as she sprayed Matt’s old sleeping bag one last time with Febreze before she gave up and tossed the half-empty bottle aside before crossing it off her list.
That, of course, led her to wonder if it was too late to get another sleeping bag. Probably, she mused with a sigh, which meant that she was going to have to settle for the two sleeping bags, sleeping pad, camping pillow, and the extra blankets that had been delivered earlier because she was a big fan of warmth. A very big fan, she thought as she walked over to her bed and picked up her iPad so that she could compare the list that she’d created last night to the suggested list on this camping website only to realize that she wasn’t alone.
Really hoping that she was imagining things, she looked up to find her brother, who she hadn’t spoken to in a month, handsome as ever with his honey blonde hair cut short and the turquoise eyes that matched their father’s locked on her as he lounged back on her bed with his large arms crossed over his chest and that look in his eye that told her that this wasn’t a social visit. Just once, she wished that he looked happy to see her instead of looking like he was seriously considering putting her over his knee and-
Now might be the best time for her to check on her kitten and while she was in there, perhaps she should test the lock to make sure that it worked?
“I’ll just pick the lock,” Jackson said, correctly guessing her next move as he leaned forward and plucked the iPad out of her hands. “So, are you ready to talk about what happened?”
“Not really,” she said, noting that Reed was standing by the bathroom door and was already back to glaring at her.
Great.
“Then would you mind telling me why you’re looking at camping websites?” he asked, scrolling down the page.
“Because I’m going camping,” she said, more than happy to talk about camping, because talking about camping meant that they weren’t talking about things that she’d rather not think about at the moment like the man currently glaring at her.
“You’re going camping?” Jackson asked slowly, looking up from her iPad with a frown.
“Who’s going camping?” Matt asked, devouring a large bowl of chocolate ice cream as he walked into her room.
“I am,” she said because she’d realized something important.
She was done waiting.
She was done waiting for the right time to finally do all those things that she’d always wanted to do. She’d put her life on hold, making one excuse after another when the simple truth of the matter was that she was afraid. For the first time in her life she didn’t know what she was supposed to do and that terrified her, because she always had a plan. She always knew what she wanted and how she was going to make it happen, but now…
Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted other than for Reed to stop glaring at her, because he was actually starting to make her nervous. Not that she had anything to be nervous about, because she didn’t. They were two consenting adults who weren’t hurting anyone. They weren’t, she told herself, not quite able to look her brother in the eye at the moment.
“When?” Matt
asked around a mouthful of ice cream as he hopped up onto the bed and sat down next to Jackson, who mumbled, “I need a fucking drink,” as he looked back down at her iPad.
“Tomorrow. I figured this would be the best time since it was a three-day weekend,” she said, even as she couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been in her best interest to keep that information to herself, especially when she couldn’t help but notice that Reed had narrowed his eyes on her sometime in the last thirty seconds.
“Who’s going to take care of your cat?” Matt asked, glancing down at the iPad.
“Julie said she’d take him for the weekend.”
“You’ve never been camping before,” Jackson pointed out, sighing heavily as he reached over and helped himself to her list.
“Which is why I’m going,” she said, licking her lips nervously as she struggled not to panic, but it was becoming increasingly more difficult with every passing second.
“I see,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful as he read her list. “And you were planning on going alone?”
“Yes,” she said, doing her best not to squirm under the glare of the man that she’d briefly considered asking to go with her. But perhaps, it was for the best if she went alone, she told herself even as she couldn’t help but wonder if he was planning on stopping anytime soon.
“I’ll take care of everything,” Matt said with a nod, shoving a large spoonful of ice cream into his mouth as he climbed off the bed and headed for the door, pausing long enough to pick up his discarded sleeping bag along the way and headed for the door while she stood there, wringing her hands together nervously as she did her best to ignore the man glaring at her even as she resigned herself to the lecture that she knew was-
“Sounds like a plan,” her brother said, taking her by surprise as he tossed her list aside, climbed off the bed, and left without another word.
Maybe she was worrying over nothing? she hoped, licking her lips nervously. For all she knew this weekend would end up being like old times and they’d forget about her, she told herself only to frown when she felt a large arm wrap around her and pull her back until she could feel Reed’s lips brush against her ear as he destroyed all her hopes that they’d forget about her with four whispered words.
The Promise (Neighbor from Hell Book 10) Page 16