Playing for Keeps (Neighbor from Hell #1)(22)

“Just for tonight,” she clarified.

He nodded quickly. “Just for tonight. Now, let’s go, I’m cranky.”

“I hadn’t noticed,” she said dryly, but she did as she was asked. She was too exhausted to do anything else at the moment.

It didn’t take long for the beating of Jason’s heart to lull her into a deep and peaceful sleep.

The alarm went off waking Haley from a deep comfortable sleep. Instead of feeling jumpy and attacking the alarm clock after only getting five hours of sleep she felt oddly well rested.

Jason yawned as he sat up and shut off the alarm. He rubbed his eyes and turned around to lift up the screen.

“I’ll see you at work,” he mumbled.

“Okay,” she said, getting to her feet. “This was a onetime deal,” she said more to remind herself than him. She could quickly become dependent on the comfort and warmth he offered and that wasn’t a good idea with a guy like Jason.

He gave her one of his lopsided smiles. “Of course. It was just a onetime deal.”

Chapter 9

Monday Night

10:35 P.M.

Haley rolled onto her side, facing the wall and wondering if she should just suck up her pride and go ask Jason to come sleep with her. Did that make her a sleep slut? At this point she was willing to beg for it. Just as she feared she was addicted to Jason’s body. Thank god they never had sex. She’d hate to think how bad the addiction would be then.

She felt the bed dip behind her before a strong arm curled around her waist, pulling her back into a strong warm body. Jason’s inviting scent enveloped her as strongly as his body did. Her bottom was cupped by his pelvis. He was hard again, but like usual he didn’t make any move on her. It was just his body’s reaction to being pressed against a female just like hers was because she was being held by a strong man. Neither cared enough to comment or act on it. In a matter of minutes they were fast asleep.

Tuesday Night

11.30 P.M.

“That was a great game and a really great dinner,” Jill, Brad’s wife, said.

Brad stole another brownie off the plate and groaned while he nodded his head in agreement. He reached for another brownie only to find the plate gone and Jason glaring at him.

“Brownie thieving bastard,” he muttered as he stalked off to Haley’s kitchen counter.

The three of them watched with humor as Jason placed the brownies in a large zip lock bag that he no doubt planned on taking with him to work in the morning. Halfway through transferring the brownies he turned to glare at Brad and mouthed the words, “Thieving bastard,” before returning to the task at hand.

“Anyway,” Haley said, drawing Brad and Jill's attention away from Jason's rather disturbing affection for her baked goods. “It was nice to have you guys over.”

“Yeah, you guys are coming over next week, right?” Jill asked as she frowned at her husband who held up the last bite of brownie, but didn’t eat it. His eyes were fixed on Jason.

Both woman watched as Jason turned around. Brad made a huge show of putting the brownie in his mouth. He closed his eyes as if it was the best thing he’d ever eaten and moaned.

“That was a damn good brownie,” Brad finally said.

“You betraying bastard!” Jason gasped.

“I’ll bring you an entire pan full of brownies next week, Brad,” Haley said, knowing it would take the glare away from Brad.

“Traitor,” Jason mumbled as he lovingly stroked the bag of brownies.

“It’s so not right that he isn’t fat,” Jill said. Haley had to nod in agreement. The man put away three helpings of lasagna tonight, a salad, and a ton of garlic bread not to mention about a dozen brownies and cookies. With her one helping of lasagna and two brownies she was probably going to gain five pounds. Sometimes life simply wasn’t fair.

They said their good nights and walked Brad and Jill out the door. She shut the kitchen light off knowing Jason would shut off the living room light. Still neither spoke of the sleeping arrangements and she didn’t know how to bring it up. So instead she quietly said good night, rolled her eyes as Jason mumbled “I love you” to his brownies and headed off to her bathroom.

After a quick shower she pulled on a small tee shirt and panties. Yawning, she walked into her room and wasn’t surprised to find Jason on his stomach, wearing nothing but boxers, in the middle of her bed. She flicked off the lights and crawled in bed. She laid her face on his shoulder while her hand rested on his other shoulder and her leg entwined with his. In a matter of seconds she felt Jason relax and drift off to sleep.

Wednesday Night

10:45 P.M.

Jason felt bone tired as he pulled into his driveway. He waited until Haley pulled into her driveway before getting out. It had been a very long day and judging by the adorable little whimper Haley made as she climbed out of her car she was feeling it as well.

“I am so tired,” she mumbled.

He yawned loudly. “That was a parent-teacher meeting for the records,” he said.

“Too much drama. Who knew parents of spoiled rich kids who were failing could become so damn dramatic? I had one woman sobbing hysterically because her son got a B instead of an A.”

He chuckled. “I was offered a b**w j*b to make a D into an A.”

Haley’s face squished up prettily. “You had a woman offer you a b**w j*b during parent-teacher night?”