Lovely Neighbor (Lovely 1)

“Has my brother given you the grand tour of the place?” she asks, and Erin shakes her head. “Come on, I’ll show you my office. It’s way nicer than this dump.”

Erin looks around my office and laughs as we follow Renee out into the hallway.

“We’ve got the whole floor up here and the one below it for human resources and marketing. Devin mentioned to me you’ve got a degree in graphic design. If you’re in need of a job we’ve got an opening.”

“Actually—”

“Renee,” I warn, cutting Erin off.

Renee shrugs as she keeps walking and Erin looks at me. It’s not that I don’t want Erin to work, and her working here might be amazing. I just don’t want her to feel like we’re giving her a handout. Erin is so smart and could have any job she wanted. We’d be lucky to hire her, but the selfish part of me likes knowing she’s home waiting for me while I’m working. Does that make me an asshole? What if those fantasies include giving her everything she’s ever wanted?

“Down this way we’ve got our junior attorneys’ offices. We allow college students to do their required hours here and shadow cases. We take on a lot of high-profile clients, so it’s a good experience for them.” Renee stops and shows off a few of the offices, and I squeeze Erin’s hand.

“It’s so big up here.” Erin looks down another hallway that leads to the tech department.

“We’ve got a lot of square footage.” Renee pretends to whisper as we walk past the room with all the computers in it. “This is where we keep IT and our breakroom if you ever need any refreshments.”

Renee jokes as we pass by the doors, and I see several people working. For a moment Erin falters in her steps and I glance over at her.

“You okay?” I look down at the floor to see if she tripped over something, but there’s nothing there.

“Y-yeah.” She looks past me and to the open door behind us. “I thought I saw something.”

A second later, Garry, the head of IT, comes out of the room and waves at us as he goes into the breakroom.

Erin blinks a few times and looks away.

“You look like you saw a ghost.” I pull her close, but she smiles and tries again to shake it off.

“I’m fine, I think I’m just tired.” She leans in and places her hand on my chest. “Someone woke me up at the crack of dawn.”

“I can’t imagine who would do such a thing.”

“Eww,” Renee says as she grabs Erin by the hand and takes her down the hallway to her office. “Now this is a view.” Renee holds out her arms and spins when we walk into her office, and Erin laughs as she looks at me.

“How?” she asks, and I shake my head.

“I lost the coin toss.”

“Always bet on tails,” Renee says and holds her hand up for a high five. I ignore it, but Erin slaps her hand and as much as my sister is trying to torment me, I love seeing the two of them becoming friends.

“I’m taking Erin to Italy.”

Renee gasps and then beams at Erin. “You are going to have the best time. Let me give you the name of my gondola guy.”

“Later,” I say, pulling Erin close to me and kissing the top of her head. “We’ve got to go.”

“Fine, but I want details.” She puts her hand to her ear like a telephone and whispers “call me” to Erin.

“I guess I should be going home and getting packed,” she says as we go back into my office.

“You’ve got a little time, right?” I close my office door and lock it behind us.

Erin looks around me and then into my eyes. “Yeah, I’ve got a few minutes to spare.”

“Good. Lose the panties.”

Her eyes widen as I take my jacket off and slowly drape it on the chair beside me.

“Right here?” She looks around and I shrug as I unbutton my sleeves and start to roll them up.

“Take them off, Erin.”

She nervously fidgets with her fingers before she finally reaches under her dress and I see the pink cotton come down her legs.

“Give them to me.” I hold out my hand with my palm up, then take a step toward her and wait.

She blushes and tucks her chin as she picks them up and brings them over to me. My hand closes around the warm material and I bring them to my nose. They smell so fucking sweet and her mouth hangs open as she watches me. I do it once again and then tuck them in my pocket before I back her up against the sofa along the far side of my office.

“Devin,” she whispers when I make her sit down and I kneel in front of her.