The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

Deciding that it would probably be in her best interest to stay where she was, she somehow managed to roll over onto her back, reached up and grabbed her blanket and the pillow that she’d been forced to discard earlier. Once she was settled in for the night, she grabbed the book that she’d helped herself to from Reed’s library, sighed, shifted a little to the right and then a little bit to the left until the hallway light streaming into the living room hit her book just right.

With a satisfied sigh, she found where she left off only to groan when her phone started to vibrate again. Determined to ignore it, she focused on her book only to find herself blinking a few seconds later when it was plucked out of her hands and she found herself staring at a pair of men’s well-polished black leather shoes. Really hoping that this wasn’t going to end badly, she looked up, taking in the dark dress pants, the dark blue shirt and black tie that looked familiar until she found herself looking up at the man that really didn’t look all that happy to see her.

Not that she could blame him.

Well, she could, but since she had absolutely no idea what she did to piss him off today, she settled for clearing her throat and going for a smile that she really hoped would appease the large man glaring down at her.

It didn’t.

Appease him that is, but it did manage to make that little muscle in his jaw clench. Deciding that it was time to look into other sleeping opportunities, she cleared her throat, shifted to get up only to sigh when the large bastard somehow managed to sit down on the couch above her without stepping on her and put his feet up on the coffee table.

“So, tell me something, Joey,” Reed drawled while she laid there, grumbling to herself as she turned over and began crawling out from beneath his legs.

“Yes?” she said, sighing heavily as she resigned herself to sleeping on her bedroom floor with that disturbing sleeping bag after all.

“Is there a reason why you’re not answering your phone?” he asked as the item in question continued to vibrate its way across the coffee table.

Nodding, she said, “Because my religion forbids me to.”

“I see,” he murmured, sounding thoughtful, “and what religion would that be?”

“The one that allows me to live,” she said only to sigh when her ass proved problematic.

“So, the fact that your brother just called me to chew me out was…”

“Unfortunate?” she said with a hopeful smile that he had no chance of seeing since she was still busy trying to wiggle her ass free.

“So is this,” Reed said, drawing her attention to find him reaching for-

“Oh, crap,” Joey mumbled helplessly, watching as he picked up her phone and gave her no other choice but to do the unthinkable.

Chapter 20

“What the hell just happened?” Reed asked as he sat there, trying to make sense of what just transpired while the woman that had crawled onto his lap and robbed him of the ability to think checked her email.

“What do you mean?” the woman who he would swear on his life had been close to tears only seconds before asked distractedly as she continued checking her email on her phone while he sat there wondering if he’d imagined the whole thing.

One minute, he was answering her phone and the next Joey was on his lap, phone in her hand, bottom lip trembling along with a well-placed sniffle here and there that had his best friend, an ex-marine and a man known for having zero tolerance for any bullshit, backtracking, apologizing and begging her not to cry.

And Joey…

Was completely fucking oblivious to the fact that she was straddling his lap in nothing more than a pair of black panties and an oversized tee shirt. She was also shifting to get comfortable and humming absently as he sat there, desperately trying to remember that this was his best friend’s sister. When she shifted a little too close to the part of him that didn’t care, he grabbed hold of her hips and held her still.

“The sniffles, lip trembling, and sad little mumbles that made up the bullshit that you just pulled,” Reed managed to get out instead of the groan of pleasure that was threatening to break free as his hands encountered smooth skin and the generous curve of her bottom that was starting to become his favorite thing about her.

“Oh, that,” Joey said absently with a little frown that had her eyebrows scrunching up adorably as she continued to read.

“Yes, that,” he murmured, wondering if he’d ever touched anything so soft before.

Shaking her head, she gave a little sigh and a shrug, “I’m not proud of it, but sometimes he doesn’t really leave me much of a choice.”

“Like when he’s threatening to beat the shit out of your boss and wring your neck for not calling him?” Reed said, running his gaze over those small beautiful tan thighs holding him just right.

“Exactly like that. At least this will buy me a few days before I have to figure out what I’m going to tell him,” Joey said, nodding in agreement as he looked up to find her lips twitching as she swiped to the left, absently caressing her skin with his thumbs, wondering how she’d managed to wrap Jackson around her little finger and terrified that he wouldn’t mind if she did the same thing to him.

“He’s worried about you,” he said, still wondering how Jackson had managed those first few years after their grandparents passed away without losing his fucking mind.

It had been a close call a few times there, but somehow Reed had managed to talk him out of going AWOL and doing something that would get his ass thrown in jail. The only thing that kept Jackson sane was the fact that they’d all kept tabs on her and on more than one occasion Reed had jumped in his truck and drove down there to make sure that she was okay.

“I’m fine,” Joey said with a cute little frown as she shifted to get more comfortable.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine why he worries,” Reed said dryly, unable to help but smile as she nodded in agreement.

“I have no idea,” she said, with a pitying shake of her head as she continued to-

“You’re reading a book, aren’t you?” he asked, narrowing his eyes on her.

“For the past ten minutes,” she said, nodding solemnly only to shut her phone off with a sigh, “I haven’t thanked you yet, have I?”

“For what?” he asked, reluctantly letting her go and telling himself that it was for the best.

“For not killing me and burying my body out back in an unmarked grave for starters,” Joey said as she continued sitting there, completely oblivious to just how badly he wanted to put his hands back on her and pull her closer.

“That did take a lot of restraint,” he murmured, noting the way her lips twitched as she absently shifted on his lap, bringing her a breath closer and forcing him to clench his hands into fists before he did something stupid.

“I know,” she said, nodding. “But you also gave me a place to stay, a job, and let’s not forget the offer to sleep in your room until my mattress is delivered.”

“That was really generous of me,” he murmured.

“It really was,” Joey murmured in agreement as she shifted, frowned, shifted again, moved to climb off his lap only to wince, clear her throat awkwardly and settled back on his lap with a small sigh as she began toying with his tie.

“Your legs are asleep, aren’t they?”

Nodding, she said, “Since the moment I sat down.”

“I see,” he murmured thoughtfully as he glanced down at her legs and-

“You wouldn’t?” she said, not really sounding all that sure as he sat there, unable to help but smile as he realized that he might just get his revenge after all.

“You remember that promise that I made you?” he drawled.

“Maybe we could talk about this?” she said, sounding hopeful as he slowly looked up to meet her beautiful blue eyes, not even bothering to bite back a smile as he reached down and-

“Oh, my god! You bastard!” she shrieked as he gently ran his fingertips over her legs.

“What’s wrong, Joe

y?” he asked, chuckling as he lightly ran his fingertips over her thighs, eliciting a startled gasp as the small woman that had made his life a living hell struggled to get off his lap, but unfortunately for her, her legs were still asleep and refused to cooperate.

“Stop! You’ll wake Matt up!” she somehow managed to choke out as he continued his tickling assault.

“He went out an hour ago. Looks like you’re on your own, Joey,” he said, breaking the news to her with a sad, pitying shake of his head as she tried to slap his hands away only to end up making things worse.