The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“God, you were a fucking nightmare,” he said, chuckling as he continued absently running his hands over her back.

“I really was,” she said with a devious little smile that had him cupping her face in his hands so that he could kiss her only to end up groaning when she suddenly sat up and-

“So, you were telling me a story about the pretties?” she said, practically bouncing with excitement as she shifted on his lap and pulled the blanket around her shoulders as she waited for him to tell the story that he’d promised his father that he’d only share with one woman.

“It’s a long story,” he warned her as he reached up and pushed a loose strand of her beautiful auburn hair behind her ear.

“As it happens, I have time,” Joey said with a hopeful smile that had him sitting up with a heavy sigh so that he could wrap his arms around her.

“You’re planning on hiding from your brother, aren’t you?” he asked, secretly pleased when she adjusted the blanket so that it was also wrapped around him and snuggled closer.

“For as long as humanly possible,” she said, nodding solemnly.

“And how exactly were you planning on doing that?” Reed couldn’t help but wonder because they both knew that Jackson wasn’t leaving until he got what he came here for.

“By sneaking out first thing in the morning and hoping for the best.”

“You realize that plan is flawed, right?” he pointed out, pulling her closer as he shifted so that she was sitting more comfortably on his lap.

“Yet, it’s all I have at the moment,” she said with a heartfelt sigh and a wiggle that made it difficult for him to focus. “My pretties?”

“Your pretties,” he said with a nod, and because he couldn’t help himself, he leaned in and kissed her. “My great-great-great-great-great grandfather Noah was born here in Bridgewater. Both his parents came from prominent families in England, but they’d decided to move here for a fresh start after they were married. They ended up having an insane number of children who all managed to get married and start families of their own. Everyone but Noah that is. He moved out, built a small house down by the pond where he helped fill orders for his father’s furniture business and that was it. He’d kept to himself, worked, and wasn’t interested in settling down with any of the women in town.”

“What happened?” she asked as she snuggled closer until her breasts were pressed against his chest and he couldn’t help but notice just how good she felt in his arms.

“There was an accident. A small boy was playing by the river and fell in. By the time anyone realized what happened he’d already been dragged halfway to the old sawmill. Every man within screaming distance came running and tried to grab him, but the current was too strong. Noah was at the mill picking up an order when he saw the boy being dragged toward the wheel. He didn’t think twice. He just jumped. He managed to grab the boy and shift him out of the way before the wheel dragged him under.”

“I don’t know how he managed to keep that boy safe, but he did. He held onto that boy and kept him away from the wheel even as it continued to crush him. One of the mill workers managed to shut the wheel down, otherwise Noah probably would have been crushed to death. It took them two hours to get him free and by the time they did, he’d already lost a lot of blood and broken most of the bones on the right side of his body. They didn’t think that he would live, but somehow he pulled through. It took him a year to heal and by the time that he did, his parents had decided that it was time to hold him to the promise that he’d made,” Reed said, absently noting that the men in his family had a bad habit of making promises and couldn’t help but wonder how badly this one was going to end. But even knowing that this wasn’t going to end well wasn’t enough to make him end this yet.

“What was the promise?” she asked, her eyebrows creasing adorably the same way they used to when she was a little girl and was fascinated by something.

When they were kids, he used to find himself watching her, waiting for that look in her eye and wonder if he would ever love anything that much. She’d made him realize that even though he’d enjoyed working with his hands and with his family that he didn’t love it. Not the way that the he should. The plan had always been for him to take over for his father after he graduated high school, but when the big day finally came and he found himself standing in his father’s workshop, looking down at the blueprint for a replica for one of the antique desks that one of his great-grandfathers had designed, he’d realized that he was making a mistake.

“If he wasn’t married by the time he turned twenty-five, then he would go visit his uncle in England with the hopes that he would find a suitable bride during his stay.”

“Did he?” she asked, laying her head on his shoulder.

“Did he find a suitable bride?” he asked, turning his head so that he could brush his lips against hers.

“Mmmhmmm,” she mumbled with a sleepy little smile.

Chuckling, he said, “Not even close. She was disguised in his uncle’s household as a man. His uncle had originally hired her as a tutor for his grandsons, but they’d proven more than she could handle so he gave her another task, looking after his obstinate nephew.”

“That sounds ominous,” she said with an adorable smile.

“That’s a story for another time,” Reed said, brushing his lips against hers simply because he couldn’t help himself.

“Tease,” she mumbled with a sad little pout that had him chuckling.

“I thought you wanted to hear about the pretties,” he teased.

“I do enjoy a good back story,” Joey said, nodding solemnly.

“I’ll try to remember that,” he promised her with another kiss.

“I would really appreciate that,” she said as her eyes slowly began to close as she snuggled closer. “Now, tell me about my pretties.”

Lips twitching, he obeyed. “After the long and deeply entertaining story that I will one day tell you, they made their way back home. Wanting to do something special for her, he built the house she’d always dreamed of.”

“And she dreamed of having a secret room?” she asked with a sleepy little smile.

“And a big family,” he said, wondering what the small woman falling asleep in his arms dreamed of.

Chapter 34

“Are you sure about this?” Matt asked as he grabbed a bag off the bench seat of his truck and tossed it in the back to make room for her.

“Absolutely,” Joey said absently as she glanced back toward the brightly lit window on the second floor where the man that disappeared a few hours ago was probably still working, hoping that he was-

“He’s not coming,” Matt said, shrugging as he grabbed another tool bag and tossed it in the back.

“Why not?” she asked, telling herself that it was probably for the best as she threw another hopeful glance toward that brightly lit window.

“All he does is work,” he said as he returned his attention to cleaning up the truck that she really wasn’t sure that she should get in.

At least, not without first making sure that her tetanus shot was up to date.

“He has a tough job,” she said, still wondering how he’d ended up taking over as principal at their old high school. If anything, she would have thought that he would have taken over his family’s business or joined the Marines with Jackson, but instead, he’d taken everyone by surprise when he’d decided to go to college.

“Which is why he needs to relax once in a while,” Matt said as he stepped aside and gestured for her to get in.

“Umm, yeah, no,” she said, shaking her head as she took in the disturbing mess that he’d shoved aside.

“What’s wrong?” he asked as he reached over and shoved what looked like a month’s worth of old McDonald’s food wrappers, dirty shirts, rags, and a collection of trash that was giving off the scent of rotten onions and other things that had her taking a step back and-

“Why don’t we take my truck?” the man who s

he hadn’t been able to sleep without said as he placed his hand against the small of her back and led her toward the large black pickup truck parked only a few feet away and-

“Not enough room,” Jackson, the man who she’d really been hoping to avoid, said, throwing Reed a curious glance as he joined them, throwing his old duffle bag over his shoulder as he gestured toward her car. “I’ll drive.”

“Why don’t we take separate cars?” Joey suggested, licking her lips nervously because she really didn’t think this was such a good idea anymore.

“Easier just to take one car,” Jackson said, already heading toward her car.

“But I cleaned and everything,” Matt grumbled as Reed led her over to her car where he popped the back, tossed his bag inside, and-

That was it.

There were no lingering touches, smoldering looks, or anything that gave away any indication that she meant anything to him, which was fine. More than fine, because that’s what she wanted. In fact, if she was going to be completely honest, and why wouldn’t she be? She’d have to say that she was actually relieved that she didn’t have to worry about him distracting her with those kisses and caresses that she liked so much. It made it easier to focus on other things.

Like this morning when she’d found herself curled up alone in her bed. Thanks to Reed, she’d been able to finish the lesson plans for the rest of the year, finally unpack her bags, Google kitty names and spent an hour trying to lure the aforementioned unnamed kitten from beneath her dresser, packed her camping gear, cooked enough food to last her through the weekend, and was ready to go by five this morning, which left her with plenty of time to take a long hot shower so that she could panic in peace. She would have preferred the safety of Reed’s arms instead, but clearly, that wasn’t an option, which was fine.

More than fine.

“What about work?” Matt asked as he reluctantly gave up hopes of taking his truck and began loading his stuff into the back of her car.

“Done,” Reed said, grabbing the large cooler that had taken her over twenty minutes and five attempts to drag outside and carried it around to the other side like it weighed nothing and slid it into the backseat.

More than fine, she tried to tell herself even as she couldn’t help but wonder if they’d notice if she took this opportunity to sneak off and hide like the coward that she was, because she really wasn’t sure that she would be able to make it through the next forty-eight hours without doing something that she was going to-

“We have a problem.”

“What problem?” Jackson asked as Joey followed Matt’s frown and nearly sighed with relief when she saw the problem.

“There’s not enough room,” Reed said, gesturing toward the space in the backseat that was just big enough for one person, which meant that she had the excuse that she needed to get out of this before it was too late.

“Joey can sit on my lap,” Matt offered with a heartfelt sigh.