The Promise (Neighbor from Hell, #10)(50)

By the time he came home she’d already made dinner, selected a new assortment of books from his library, and shut herself in her room. Deciding that he’d had enough for one day, he went upstairs to his office for the night. That’s where he spent the past three hours staring at his watch and counting down the minutes until he could call it a night. About an hour ago, he gave up pretending that he wasn’t thinking about her and went to bed with the hopes that she would be there waiting for him.

She wasn’t.

Vowing to spank her ass if she didn’t come see him, he waited…and waited until finally he’d decided that he’d waited long enough. Shoving the covers aside, he climbed out of bed, headed to the bathroom where he found her curled up on the floor and-Was she hugging a towel?

Yes, yes, she was.

“What the hell are you doing?” he couldn’t help but wonder as he reached down and pulled the kitten off his leg and set him aside.

There was a slight pause and then, “Running to the store.”

“I see,” he murmured as he took in the small woman curled up on his bathroom floor. “And that involves lying on the bathroom floor?”

“It’s how I mentally prepare myself for a trip to Walmart,” Joey explained as the furry little bastard settled down on the floor next to her and closed his eyes.

“What do you need at Walmart?” he asked, noting the yellow piece of paper in her hand as he sat down on the floor next to her.

“Nothing,” she mumbled quickly.

“So, you’re just going to Walmart for the hell of it?” he asked as he leaned down and kissed her forehead, noting that she didn’t feel warm.

“It’s my idea of a good time,” she said as he noted how pale she looked and wondered if she’d caught that stomach bug that’s been going around school.

“That does sound like a good time,” he murmured in agreement.

“It really is,” she said, looking adorably miserable as he took the slip of paper from her hand.

“I know you have your heart set on a trip to Walmart,” he began only to feel his lips twitch when she murmured with a little sniffle, “I really do.”

“Why don’t I run to Walmart and get everything you need and pick up Chinese food on the way home and then we can spend the rest of the night curled up in bed watching historical documentaries,” he suggested as he looked down at the list and realized that he was about to do something that he never would have done for another woman.

“I do love a good historical documentary,” she said even as she curled more tightly into herself.

“I know you do, baby,” he said, leaning down so that he could kiss her cheek even as he had to wonder what the difference between “Ultra” and “Super Plus” was.

“I’ll be right back,” he promised her as he stood up and headed for the door, grabbing his clothes and cellphone along the way.

“Okay,” she mumbled sadly from the bathroom as he told himself that he was only doing this because he’d promised to look after her.

There was no other reason, he told himself as he pulled his shirt on and headed downstairs. She was his best friend’s little sister and it was his job to take care of her, he reminded himself as he pulled out the list she’d made and decided to add Dr. Pepper since he knew how much she liked it. That of course, led him to add ice cream to the list and-

“Where are you going?” Matt asked, walking into the foyer as he devoured a party sized bag of Doritos.

“The store,” Reed said, trying to figure out where he was going to find all this shit.

“What do you need?” Matt asked, popping a chip in his mouth.

“Joey needs a few things,” he said, grabbing his wallet and keys off the side table.

“Then I should be the one to get them since I called dibs and all,” Matt said, sounding smug as he plucked the note out of his hand and-Cleared his throat as he handed the list back to Reed with a mumbled, “I’ll just be going back to work then.”

---

“Are you ever going to look at me again?”

“No,” she said, even as she snuggled closer to him and couldn’t help but notice that his chest made the perfect pillow for watching historical documentaries.

“Is this the reason why you avoided me all day?” he asked as he continued to run his fingertips up and down her arm.

“We do not speak of it,” she whispered, making him chuckle.

“Does that mean that you don’t want your flowers?”

“Touch my flowers and I’ll kill you,” she said, because she really would.

“I take it that you like them,” he said, chuckling even as she couldn’t help but notice that he sounded quite pleased.

“I love them,” Joey admitted with a heartfelt sigh as she glanced at the beautiful white roses that he’d placed on the nightstand next to the pile of books that she’d planned on reading this week.

“Good,” he murmured, giving her a gentle squeeze as they fell into a comfortable silence and watched the Fall of Rome.

Right when she was about to suggest the documentary on the dark ages next, he said the words that she’d been dreading all night. “I think we should call it a night.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” she said, although she personally felt that it was a bad idea since that meant that it was time for her to go back to her room. She’d slept with him every night for the past few weeks and really wasn’t looking forward to sleeping by herself tonight, but she didn’t have much of a choice. This was only supposed to be about sex and since they couldn’t have sex for a few days…