The Promise (Neighbor from Hell #10)(63)

“Joey,” he said, only to sigh when she gave up trying to wiggle her way to freedom and tried to grab hold of the flimsy tent.

“No! I’m never—wait! Please, don’t do this!” Joey gasped when he easily managed to break her hold and throw her over his shoulder.

“You’re going,” he bit out, shifting her over his shoulder as he shot a glare at the bastard responsible.

“What? How was I supposed to know that she was afraid of snakes? It’s not like I planned on dropping it on her,” Matt said, shaking his head sadly with a sigh.

“I will end you, you little—Reed!” she bit out coldly only to scream his name when he made the mistake of trying to put her down on her feet.

“Would you feel better if I carried you?” Reed asked the small woman that had wrapped herself around him.

“Yes, yes I would,” she mumbled against his neck even as she tightened her legs around his waist on the off-chance that he decided to try to put her down again.

“Fine,” he said, making sure to sound putout as he wrapped one arm around her so that he could lean over and grab her bag, knowing that she would want it.

“Thank you,” she mumbled, rewarding him with a kiss against his neck that the little bastard helping himself to another granola bar wouldn’t be able to see.

“You’re welcome,” Reed said, tempted to kiss her, but the large man waiting by the lake watching their every move, had him throwing her bag over his shoulder and doing his best to ignore just how good she felt in his arms. Hoping that Jackson hadn’t noticed that kiss, he carefully carried her down the small slope and joined Jackson on the dock.

“What happened?” Jackson asked, moving to take her out of his arms only to drop his arms away with a sigh when she shook her head.

“Your sister is afraid of snakes,” Matt said with a shrug as he walked past them and hopped down into the large rowboat that Jackson had managed to rent for them this morning.

“I hate him,” she mumbled with a little sniffle.

“I know you do,” Reed said, giving her a comforting squeeze before he moved to put her down only to sigh when she shook her head and tightened her hold around him.

“You love me,” Matt said, grabbing one of the fishing poles that Jackson had managed to find and sat down on the small bench near the front of the boat.

“I really hate him,” Joey assured him as she raised her head long enough to look down at the small boat and shook her head. “Not going to happen.”

“You said that you wanted to go camping,” Reed reminded her as he tossed her bag to Jackson.

“And it’s a memory that I will cherish forever, but now I’m ready to go home,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“But you’ve never been fishing,” he pointed out.

“And I’m okay with that at the moment,” she said, worrying her bottom lip as she glanced down at the boat and shook her head. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“It’s safe, Joey. I rowed it over here without any problems,” Jackson assured her once again reaching for her only to drop his hands away with a sigh and followed that up with, “It’s safe.”

“There’s rust,” she pointed out.

“Just a little bit,” Reed said as he watched as she took in every dent, scratch, and rusted bolt.

“I really don’t think that I can do this,” she whispered.

“What if I promised that nothing bad was going to happen?” he asked, somehow resisting the urge to lean in and kiss that worried frown away.

“I’d like that in writing,” she said, swallowing nervously.

“What will it take to get you on that boat?” he asked because he didn’t want her leaving here with one more regret.

“An act of God,” she said, shaking her head.

Leaning in closer, he whispered, “What if I promised to tell you that backstory?”

“About my pretties?” she asked, worrying her bottom lip as she thought it over.

“And I’ll let the little furry bastard sleep with us,” he said, tempted to turn his head and kiss her throat. It was only the reminder that she didn’t want her brother knowing about them that kept him from doing it, but he was tempted…really fucking tempted.

“He does anyway,” she said, making his lips twitch.

“Well, I guess if you don’t want to go fishing then we could go for a hike and you could finally have that talk with your brother,” he said, noting the way that she suddenly went still.

Then, with a, “Very well,” Joey gestured for him to proceed.

“Everything okay?” Jackson asked, reaching down to hold the boat still as Reed stepped in and sat down on the back bench with Joey on his lap.

“Everything’s fine,” Joey said with a reassuring smile even as she frantically climbed off his lap so that she could sit down on the bottom of the boat between his legs, grab a life vest, yank it on, grab her bag, pull out a brown paper bag, and finally settle back with her Kindle in her lap.

Chuckling, Jackson untied the boat and stepped in, sitting next to Matt, who Reed realized was glaring down at Joey. Frowning, he followed that glare to find Joey absently taking a bite out of what appeared to be a roast beef sandwich.

“You said there was no more food,” Matt said accusingly.