The Promise (Neighbor from Hell #10)(50)

“I think Principal Bradford would want us to call him,” came from her left, making her sigh as she turned her head to find her stalker sitting next to her, looking thoughtful as she sipped from a bottle of water with “Eastman” written in black marker across the label.

“Is that Mr. Eastman’s water?” Joey asked.

“Yes,” Jen said, holding up a brown paper bag with a much larger “Eastman” written across it, “and I believe this is his lunch.”

“Of course, it is,” Joey mumbled.

“You really don’t look so good,” Jen said, sounding thoughtful as she helped herself to a sandwich from the bag.

“Shouldn’t you be in class?” Joey asked, sighing heavily as she reached over and plucked the sandwich out of Jen’s hand along with the bag and tossed it on her desk.

“Probably,” Jen said, shrugging it off while Joey sat there counting the minutes until she could go home and be miserable alone.

---

He should have spanked her ass when he had the chance, he decided as he laid there, glaring at the ceiling, because five minutes ago he’d decided that glaring at his bedroom door made him pathetic. Then again, the same could be said for the fact that he was in bed at nine o’clock on a Friday night hoping that the woman who’d ignored him all day came walking through his door. God, he was fucking pathetic, he thought even as he shifted his glare back to his bathroom door.

This morning when he woke up alone, he hadn’t been happy about it, but he’d shrugged it off deciding that it was probably for the best. He changed his mind after he went downstairs and found her sitting alone at the table curled up with another book in her lap, looking so fucking adorable that he hadn’t been able to resist giving her a good morning kiss. Before he could give into that impulse, Matt was walking into the kitchen, bitching about all the noise he’d made last night and Joey was walking out the door, barely acknowledging his existence. That didn’t change when he saw her during the morning meeting.

While he’d been going over new early dismissal procedures and reminding teachers that they still needed chaperones for several upcoming field trips and the spring dance, Joey sat at the back table, absently nodding at something that John was saying to her. By the time the morning meeting was over, one thing had become painfully clear. He was going to spank her ass. She’d ignored him for the rest of the day, didn’t have lunch with him, and barely glancing at him when he walked past her in the hallway and left for the day.

By the time he came home she’d already made dinner, selected a new assortment of books from his library, and shut herself in her room. Deciding that he’d had enough for one day, he went upstairs to his office for the night. That’s where he spent the past three hours staring at his watch and counting down the minutes until he could call it a night. About an hour ago, he gave up pretending that he wasn’t thinking about her and went to bed with the hopes that she would be there waiting for him.

She wasn’t.

Vowing to spank her ass if she didn’t come see him, he waited…and waited until finally he’d decided that he’d waited long enough. Shoving the covers aside, he climbed out of bed, headed to the bathroom where he found her curled up on the floor and-Was she hugging a towel?

Yes, yes, she was.

“What the hell are you doing?” he couldn’t help but wonder as he reached down and pulled the kitten off his leg and set him aside.

There was a slight pause and then, “Running to the store.”

“I see,” he murmured as he took in the small woman curled up on his bathroom floor. “And that involves lying on the bathroom floor?”

“It’s how I mentally prepare myself for a trip to Walmart,” Joey explained as the kitten settled down on the floor next to her and closed his eyes.

“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.