Perfection (Neighbor from Hell #2)(56)

"I thought we'd watch a movie with our dinner," he said, leading her down the stairs, into the hallway and into his apartment. He didn't bother shutting the door behind him since he knew it would only make Toby cry. The dog wouldn't accept anything less than the run of the entire house.

"Have a seat and I'll be right back," he said, placing the bag on the low coffee table. After making sure she did as he asked he ran upstairs and grabbed a pillow and one of the large quilts his grandmother had made him over the years and headed back downstairs to find Zoe starting to doze off.

"Oh no you don't," he said, tossing the pillow and quilt at the opposite end of the couch. "You need to eat, Zoe."

"God, you're bossy," she mumbled, but he didn't miss the look of anticipation on her face or the way she licked her lips. Poor thing, he thought. He really couldn't imagine living on nothing but green veggies and sticks, but somehow she'd done it, not healthily, but she'd done it.

Maybe he should have picked up a couple of steaks with the works, he thought and then quickly dismissed the idea. Zoe would have balked at breaking her diet like that. Once she realized she could eat regular food, but with healthy choices she'd be fine.

"Here you go," he said, grabbing her sandwich and drink and setting it in front of her. "I grabbed you a turkey, no cheese, extra veggies and fat free mayo on wheat. It's healthy food and it won't leave you starving, Zoe," he explained, hoping she wouldn't give him much of a fight, because at this point he was willing to pin her to the ground and force feed her.

She'd lost too much weight to be healthy and worst of all she was making all of his favorite curves smaller. He loved those f**king curves and he'd be damned if she denied him. Plus, she really was making him nervous.

Not that he really cared or anything.

Okay, so he cared a little bit. She was his friend and they were sleeping together after all. It was only natural that he be concerned when she was putting her health and more importantly their arrangement at risk. He needed to work her out of his system and he wouldn't be able to do that if she was constantly sick.

At least that's what he told himself.

Truth was he really didn't like seeing her suffer. She'd been really good to him and he loved their time together. She was the highlight of his day and as much as that frightened him he couldn't ignore it. He'd help get her where she needed to be, finish this arrangement after he found his future wife and keep tabs on her afterwards to make sure she was okay. Maybe he'd put her in one of his nicer apartment houses and let her live there free. It was the least he could do for her and it would make it so much easier to make sure that she was okay.

"What if I get fat again?" she muttered so softly that he almost missed it.

He just barely stopped himself from snapping at her. "Zoe, you really need to eat. This isn't healthy and if you make better choices and continue to exercise you should be fine."

She tore her eyes away from her sandwich and gave him a sad little sheepish smile. "I always gain back the weight plus a little extra when I break a diet," she admitted, her little chin wobbling.

Sighing heavily, he reached out and took her hand into his. "You're not breaking your diet, Zoe. You're just switching it around. Plus, I'm around and if I see you eating something unhealthy I'll just steal it from you," he said with a shrug.

Her lips twitched even as her eyes shinned with unspent tears. "That's really nice of you."

"I know," he sighed, picking up her sandwich and placing it on her lap. "I'm so damn giving."

He heard what suspiciously sound like a snort of laughter, but decided to ignore it as he devoured his four sandwiches. It didn't take Zoe long to tear through her sub and when she shot his last sandwich a wistful look he sighed and pulled out the small side salad he'd bought just in case Zoe busted his balls over the sub. She took it with a smile, leaving him to finish off his sandwich and pick out a movie.

"So, what else happened today?" he asked as he sat back down and threw his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him.

She shrugged, snuggling up against him. "Not much else. I had a problem getting my car started, fell, bruised my bottom, got to go home early and Jared yelled at me for starving myself," she announced around another yawn.

"Seriously?" he asked, not really all that surprised. If anyone would notice what Zoe wasn't feeding herself it would be a Bradford and since he knew his uncle cared for Zoe he wasn't at all surprised that the man had taken it upon himself to have a word with her instead of pushing the duty onto someone else. No wonder she left the trailer crying. When his uncle cared about someone who was doing something stupid he really let them know it and he should know since he had firsthand experience dealing with his uncle's "concerns."

When he'd dropped out of school at sixteen and got into a screaming match with his mother over that and his demand that she sign the release form so that he could join the army, Jared had been the one to handle him. As he yelled at his mother his uncle quietly walked into the room, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the kitchen wall while he patiently waited for the argument to end. The moment his mother told him his choices were to get his ass back in school or move out he told her to have a nice life and headed for his room to pack up his shit.