How to Love Your Neighbour(24)

“Because I think you’ll slow me down.” She grinned.

“I could probably do it faster than you.” His brows rose in challenge.

Why the hell did that piss her off and intrigue her at the same time? Maybe something was wrong with her libido. It’s called not-getting-any-atitis. It’s making your vision skewed. No. Nothing wrong with your vision. No one could say this man isn’t gorgeous. She was only human.

“Wanna bet?”

His grin widened. A kick straight in the stomach. That smile. It erased all the fatigue and frustration she’d carried all day.

“Unless you’re scared to lose?”

Grace stepped forward. “To you? No.”

He eyed her in a way she hadn’t seen before. A way that made her skin heat. A way she liked way too much.

“What’s going through that brain of yours, Grace?” he asked, his voice low. Had she really met this man only just over a week ago? The way he said her name felt like a caress.

“Wondering what I should ask for when I win the bet,” she lied.

He chuckled. “If you win.”

“Sure. Sure. That’s what I meant.”

She continued to watch him, pretending she wasn’t dying to know what he was thinking.

“I say we do the neighborly thing and help each other out while still making it a challenge.” He folded his arms across his chest, leaned a shoulder against the wall. She did her best not to stare at how it made his toned biceps appear bigger. She really needed to get a grip on her libido. Or his biceps, which would solve both problems.

“I’m listening.”

“We do one house at a time. Yours then mine. We each take a wall, see who can get it done quicker. Bets out of the way. Then we help each other finish.”

Wow. Her brain had totally gone somewhere else with that. Which made her stomach do a swirly thing. She should lean against the wall, too. All nonchalant and totally not impacted by the way his gaze was locked on her own.

Slowly, deliberately, she folded her arms across her chest, right under her boobs, tucking her hands in the crooks of her arms. Then she, oh so slowly, hopefully sexily, let her body relax against the wall. The effect would have been so much better if she’d made sure there was actually a wall to lean on. When she fell into the empty space, she nearly toppled over her own feet.

Noah’s bark of laughter was quickly replaced by concern as she righted herself. Her arms unfolded on reflex to break an impending fall. If there was anything to be thankful for, it was that she didn’t actually fall flat on her face or her ass.

“You okay there, neighbor?” He stepped forward as she rolled her shoulders, wishing she could have an instant do-over. His hands came to her shoulders, squeezing gently.

“Fine.” Shake it off. “Totally fine. Guess I thought there was a wall there.”

His lips twitched. Damn him. “If only you’d pulled the same move a few days ago.”

She refused to give in to the urge to duck her head. “The bet.” Redirection was the best distraction from her own clumsiness.

Noah dropped his hands. Grace kept her hands at her sides, standing tall. No leaning whatsoever.

“Okay. We measure the walls, make sure they’re the same size. One coat each, though we’ll probably have to do seconds. Winner gets to name their prize.”

Her gaze narrowed. “No way. Clearly defined boundaries. I win, you stop trying to buy my house. You win, you can keep asking but I’ll still say no.”

“You need to work on your negotiating, Gracie.” His eyes heated when he said her name, which confused the hell out of her. She almost started to correct him, despite liking the delicious swirl in her belly that resulted from his tone, when he held up a hand. “Sorry. Grace.”

“You win, I’ll stop asking. I win, you help me choose some office furniture.”

“Why would you want my help?” That almost seemed like a double reward for her, win or lose.

He shrugged. “It’s not an important room. I’ll answer emails and read contracts in my office.”

Did he know he had a knack for turning a good thing into an irritating one? Whatever. You still win either way.

“Fine. Deal.” She held out her hand.

“Deal.”

Several clichés popped into Grace’s head on the way back to her place to change and get ready. The most prevalent one was about keeping her enemies close. That’s all she was doing.





11


There was no reason to be nervous about some guy coming over to help her paint a room. Maybe if it was a guy she could see herself with, a guy who didn’t have more moods than she had fabric swatches, she’d understand her less than steady hands. Smoothing out the tarp to protect the floor, she looked around for her phone. How could she misplace something that she used so often? She spotted it on the coffee table.

Rosie had at least texted, which only slightly made up for bailing.

Rosie

Oh. My. God. It’s hard to say which of them are hotter.

Girl. How are you going to live next door to him without drooling?

Josh asked for my number. We’re going out tomorrow.

Where are you?

Text me back, damn you. I want details. All the details.



She deleted the text she saw from Tammy without reading it. She’d reply to Rosie later. Right now, she needed to chill the hell out, because if she wasn’t careful, she’d end up developing a crush on her grumpy neighbor and he might have plans but Grace had plenty of her own. He wasn’t getting in the way.