Ready or Not (The Ready Series Book 4)(11)

Again.

“What the hell are you guys doing?” I shouted, rushing over to stop them.

Four sets of startled eyes settled on mine. No words came as they looked me up and down, obviously trying to figure out why a crazy half-naked lady was standing in front of them.

My hip jutted out, and I folded my arms across my chest in annoyance. Mia would call it my bitch stance.

I looked down, noticing the bags of chemicals and horrific mulch that was dyed an unnatural bright red color.

Horrible.

One of the men, the oldest-looking one, took a step forward, his hands going up, as he tried to explain what they were doing.

I got very little other than they were hired to do a job, but when he pointed to the house behind him, I knew exactly who to blame.

This was Jackson’s doing.

I quickly apologized, smiled, and walked off toward the front door of my new neighbor.

If he was going to interrupt my perfect morning, I would return the favor.

After several loud knocks on his brass knocker, I heard his voice moving closer.

“Hold on a minute!”

He sounded annoyed.

Good. That made two of us.

When the door opened, I was ready for battle. I was not, however, ready for Jackson to be half naked. The speech I’d written, edited, and perfected in my head as I stomped over and waited for him to appear suddenly disappeared from my brain as visions of sculpted abs and perfectly defined pecs danced in my head.

Dressed in a pair of loose-fitted linen pajama bottoms that were low enough to be nearly illegal, I found myself almost leaning forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of what might follow that gorgeous V that disappeared into the waistband of his dark blue pants.

My gaze meandered up his body, and I realized he was returning the favor as his eyes wandered over my thin robe and the abundance of bare skin peeking out.

“Can I help you, Liv?” he asked in a slow Southern drawl that seemed a whole lot sexier with him standing there, shirtless.

“Um…” I answered.

He smiled lazily and leaned against the doorframe. Masculine thick arms folded across his chest as he tucked one leg across the other.

I thought the slow cocky smile was what tipped me over the edge, reminding me of my cup of tea that was currently getting cold on my coffee table and the uneaten breakfast I hadn’t touched because this man with the crooked grin couldn’t follow simple directions.

“You,” I said, pointing a finger toward him, “were supposed to let me handle the flower beds.”

He looked down at my accusatory finger and burst into laughter. “Is that what this is all about? A thank-you card would have sufficed. You didn’t have to march over here first thing in the morning.” His eyes moved quickly down my body as his smile intensified. “Although, I don’t mind the view.”

“Ugh!” I yelled. “You really are a lawyer, aren’t you?”

His smile faltered as his arms dropped to his sides. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” I said, angrily pushing my finger into his chest, “that you are overbearing and arrogant, and you think everything can be fixed with a little money.”

Grabbing my finger with his large hand, he stepped forward, getting close to me. I could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave.

“Look, I know you think I trampled those flowers, and I’m sorry. I have no idea what happened, but I’m guessing it was the movers since they were the ones here the day of the move—not me. You were upset, so I fixed it. I really thought you would appreciate the help.”

“But I didn’t need you to help me. I was going to take care of it. It was my thing, and you are currently ruining it with chemicals and tacky mulch.”

“You’re kind of a pain in the ass,” he said slowly, his eyes blazing with fire.

“You’re exasperating.”

He stepped inside, his smug grin firmly back in place. “I hope you enjoy your flowers, sweetheart.”

“You’re not going to fix them?”

“Why, I believe I already did,” he answered in a sweet voice, his accent thicker and high-pitched. “You have a nice day.”

With that, he shut the door in my face.

Jackson

“That woman is a menace!” I shouted as soon as I saw her door slam closed from my perch behind the curtains.

“Whatcha doin’, Dad?”

I stood and turned to find Noah standing in the entryway of the living room, looking at me with a mix of curiosity and amusement.

“Nothing,” I muttered. “But that woman,” I said, pointing toward her house, “is insane. Do you know what she did?”

He shook his head and plopped down on the love seat. His hair fell in his eyes, and he brushed it away before adjusting his bright blue skater shirt and kicking off his shoes.

“Who? Liv? It’s kind of awesome that she turned out to be our neighbor, huh?”

“Yeah, really awesome.”

“So, why is she crazy? I thought she was really nice—and pretty,” he added shyly.

“The pretty ones are always the craziest,” I warned. “I called the best landscapers in the area and paid extra to have them come out at the last minute on a Saturday to fix her precious flower bed that the movers had messed up. And what did she do?”