The Promise (Neighbor from Hell #10)(37)

“Really,” he said, moving closer so that he could glare down at the little brat.

“Should we talk about the playground?” she asked, moving closer so that she could glare up at him.

“Let’s,” he said, more than willing to finally have it out with her.

“Because of you, none of the other kids would play with me,” Joey bit out.

“That had nothing to do with me and everything to do with the fact that you were an annoying pain in the ass,” he said, moving even closer so that he could glare down at the little brat that had turned his childhood into a fucking nightmare.

“Really? Cause I’m pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that you told everyone that I had cooties,” she said, making his lips twitch despite the fact that he was still on edge.

If she hadn’t climbed off his lap when she had…

He had to bite back a groan just thinking about all things they could be doing on the couch right now…the things he wanted to do to her. He shouldn’t be thinking about how soft her skin was or wonder how it would have felt to slide his hands inside her panties and cupped her bare ass, or about the incredibly sexy moan she’d made when she’d shifted against his cock. He sure as hell shouldn’t be wondering if she’d moan his name when he fucked her. Standing here wondering just how soft her pussy was or how fucking tight she was, was fucking pointless because he would never find out.

But the longer that he was near her, the less he cared that he wasn’t supposed to want her. Instead of leaving like any sane man would have, he found himself moving even closer.

“Because you did,” he said, just to get a reaction out of her.

When her eyes narrowed on him and she took a step closer, he decided to do the same until they were nearly chest to stomach and she was forced to tilt her head back in order to glare up at him. He wasn’t surprised when she muttered a curse a second later and rushed over to the sink, carefully climbed back up, winced, shifted, winced again, and crossed her arms back over her chest and narrowed her eyes back on him.

“They were hives from a science experiment that went wrong and you damn well know it,” she bit out.

Nodding, he moved closer so that they were almost eye-to-eye and said, “I also told them that you had lice.”

She gasped, “You bastard!”

“You had it coming,” he said, moving closer and before she could open her mouth to argue, he added, “You burnt my eyebrows off with that experiment.”

“No one told you to come into my room,” she said evenly even as she spread her legs so that he could step closer.

“The green smoke that was pouring out of your window said otherwise,” he said, placing his hands against the counter so that he could lean in closer and glare at the little brat that was lucky to be alive.

“I had it handled.”

“Just like the spelling bee?” he said, mostly to piss her off.

“That was an unfortunate accident that couldn’t be avoided,” Joey said, moving to shift closer only to wince and promptly return to glaring.

“And ninth grade orientation?” he asked as he grabbed hold of the towel and moved her closer so that she could properly glare at him only to force himself to bite back a groan when her breasts pressed against his chest.

“Was a simple misunderstanding that got out of hand,” she said, her breath catching as he used his hold on the towel one last time and brought her closer.

“So is this,” he said as he watched her lips part on a soft moan and he realized that he was about to break his promise.





Chapter 22

“Reed?” she said, licking her lips nervously as the man that was making it difficult to think glared at her.

“Do you know what I did for the past ten years, Joey?” he asked, which she normally would have taken as a good sign, but since he’d asked that question through clenched teeth and followed that up by placing his hands on the counter on either side of her hips so that he could lean down until they were eye-to-eye and she was left regretting so many things.

She opened her mouth to venture a guess only to quickly rethink that decision and settle for a simple shake of her head, which seemed to appease the large angry man. Nodding in approval, he reached up and gently pushed a strand of her hair back as he leaned in closer so that his mouth was next to her ear.

“For the past ten years, Joey, I haven’t thought about you,” he whispered seductively, making her swallow nervously.

“I haven’t wondered about you, asked about you, or thought about you, and do you know why?” he asked as she felt his hand close over her hip.

She shook her head only to close her eyes on a shaky breath when she felt his lips brush against her ear. “Because for the first twelve years you made my life a living hell. I worried about you every single fucking day and it only got worse when you left. But when you decided to let me know just how much you hated me, I stopped worrying. I stopped caring. But now…” he said softly, letting his words trail off so that he could brush his lips down the side of her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake and making her breath catch.

“Do you know what I think about now?” Reed asked in a seductive whisper that made it difficult to think as he kissed her chin.

“N-no,” she managed to get out only to groan when she felt his hand slide over her hip and settled over her bottom.