Hot New Neighbor (Alphalicious Billionaires 11)

“You want to tell me what’s been going on lately?”

“Other than starting renovations on the place to keep myself sane, not much.” I gulp back a few sips of beer. It’s ice-cold and makes my teeth hurt. Nothing ever tasted better. I do think about Lu-Anne’s crazy midnight visit the night before, and I decide against my better judgment to tell Rob about it. I know he’ll get a kick out of it, and just sitting here for hours without a thing to say is pathetically boring. “Actually, I have this neighbor. I thought she was alright, but she showed up in the middle of the night, beating down my door like she was inches away from being murdered.”

“Seriously?” Rob’s brows shoot up. “Why?”

“She said there was a spider in her bed. She wanted me to kill it.”

Rob nearly spits out the beer he just chugged back. “Lord,” he laughs as he swipes the back of his hand across his lips. “A spider?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, maybe she’s deathly afraid of spiders.”

“Obviously.”

Rob eyes me for a second. His eyes light up knowingly. “So, she was hot. That’s the part you’re not telling me.”

“She’s okay.” I gulp down some more beer just so I don’t have to keep talking about it, but Rob knows me better than that. He won’t ask me again, but he’s reading into that statement a truck ton more than I want him to.

“She’s more than okay.” He sets his beer down hard. “That’s good. A little distraction out there isn’t a bad thing.”

“That’s the last thing on my mind.”

“Why not make friends with her? Get to know her? That spider is probably the only excitement you have seen so far or are going to see if you don’t put yourself out there. Which I’m going to guess you didn’t do.”

“No, I didn’t go over there and look for my crazy neighbor’s crazy spider. It was the middle of the night. She said it was in her bed.”

“Hooo,” Rob whistles. “That seems like an invitation to get to know her to me.”

“She looked spooked. I think there really was a spider, though I thought maybe there was something else. I accidentally checked her out since she was wearing skimpy pajamas. I couldn’t help it, and she got pretty pissed, so that canceled out the notion.”

“You should apologize for not killing it. Buy her a spider trap or something.”

“I’m not sure those exist.”

“Bug spray?”

“Maybe. No. Wait. No. Definitely not. I’m only there until this shitstorm with the media blows over, and I can get my life back. Getting involved with someone would not be helpful.”

“No?” Rob downs the rest of his beer and sets his glass at the edge of the table, a not so subtle hint to the server that he’d like a refill.

“No.” I let my eyes wander the place. Every other table is full. The pub is small, but there are probably twenty other tables and a bar area. The place is filled up with the usual pub décor. Flatscreen TVs and sports memorabilia. “Did you turn down a menu already?”

“No. The server guy never brought one.”

“Take it easy. It looks like everyone else called in sick. He’s just trying to keep up.”

Rob’s face relaxes. He’s a good guy. He’s always been a nice guy. He’s the kind of guy who would seriously give you his last remaining dollar if he knew you needed it, even if he needed it more. I never had any siblings, but Rob is definitely my brother from another mother if you want to get downright cheesy.

“It’s been a year since Julia broke your heart,” Rob says softly, not letting the hot neighbor thing go for a second. He’ll take pity on our server but not on me. “Maybe you should get back in the saddle. Or have someone get back in yours. However that goes.”

“I don’t want to talk about that.” I drain the rest of my beer, which is just a few swallows. Now I wish I had a refill, so I’d have something to do with my hands and a distraction from Rob’s overly direct questions. “I’m wearing a fake beard. I think I have bigger problems. I don’t want to make anything worse than it already is.”

Rob scoffs at that. He arranges his hands into stacked fists on the tabletop. He does that often, but I’m not sure why. I’ve never seen anyone else do it that I can ever remember. “The entire world would give just about anything to have your problems.”

I must look pretty ornery because Rob sighs. He gives me a sympathetic look, and just then, our server comes around with two fresh beers we didn’t even have to ask for and sets them down. He looks frazzled but manages a polite smile before whisking away our empty glasses.