The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“Did you want me to kill you?” Jackson drawled as he took a step toward Matt and-

“She can sit with me,” Reed finally said as he shoved his brother toward the front seat and before she could make another suggestion, she found herself sitting on Reed’s lap and trying to figure out how she was going to make it through this weekend alive.

*-*-*-*

“What’s going on with my sister?” Jackson finally asked the question that Reed was wondering several hours later as they watched Joey make her way across the busy Walmart parking lot.

“I have no idea,” he said, but he planned on finding out just as soon as the damn erection that she’d left him with went down.

Two hours of holding her had been bad enough, but then the little bastard that was following her inside the store mentioned that they were probably going to need a few things. That’s when he caught the calculating look in her eye and the wiggling and soft sighs began. By the time they’d pulled into the parking lot she’d had him hard as a rock and ready to wring her neck when she gave him one last wiggle and took off, leaving him with no other choice but to let her go.

But god help her when he caught her because he was going to spank her-

“Any idea why she suddenly wants to go camping?” Jackson asked as he absently tapped his thumb against the steering wheel.

“None whatsoever,” Reed said, knowing that he should have that talk with Jackson that he’d been putting off since last night, but at the moment all he could think about was following Joey into that store.

“Where did you disappear off to last night?” Jackson asked as he continued tapping his thumb against the steering wheel.

“Work,” he said, narrowing his eyes as he watched Matt catch up with Joey.

Nodding, Jackson continued tapping his thumb while they watched Joey and Matt disappear inside the store. “You know that you don’t have to do this, right?”

“She’s never been camping before,” he bit out, slowly exhaling as he reached for the door handle.

“That’s not what I meant,” Jackson said as a small beep drew Reed’s attention to his phone.

“I promised to look after her,” Reed said with an annoyed sigh as he reluctantly pulled his phone out of his pocket and-

Was forced to bite back a groan when he saw the incredibly inappropriate text message waiting for him that had his grip tightening on the door handle and his damn cock hardening again.

“No one would have blamed you if you’d turned her away,” Jackson said absently before adding, “Especially after what happened.”

“It’s fine,” he bit out between clenched teeth as he struggled not to think about the text that she’d-

Fucking hell, she sent another one.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” he said, taking a steadying breath as he clenched and unclenched his hand and-

Damn near whimpered when he saw the next text message waiting for him.

“Let me know how much you want for rent,” Jackson said, sighing as he glanced back at him and-

“Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Reed said, shoving his phone back in his pocket so that he could rub his trembling hands down his face as he resigned himself to spanking her ass. “I’m not charging her rent. She does all the cooking,” he managed to get out, deciding that he probably shouldn’t mention the real reason why he wasn’t charging her rent.

“At least let me pay the water bill since it’s gotta be high,” Jackson said with a sigh as he returned his attention to the store.

“The water bill’s low,” Reed said, wondering if Jackson would forgive him if he throttled his sister only to wonder why Jackson was looking at him strangely.

“There’s been no change in your water bill?” Jackson asked as he shot a curious glance back toward the store.

“Not much of one. Why?”

“No reason,” Jackson murmured right around the time that Reed decided that he’d waited long enough.

*-*-*-*

“That should do it,” Joey said with a sigh as she sent one last text to buy herself a little more time before she had to face the man that was-

Standing right behind her.

Really hoping that she was wrong, she slowly looked over her shoulder and-

“I’m sorry,” she said, feeling that it was probably for the best if she started her five-step apology process immediately, especially since the large man glaring down at her looked as though he’d made his peace with getting to know the correctional system on a more personal level.

“Is that all?” the man that really didn’t look happy to see her said as he placed both hands on the carriage, effectively trapping her.

“I’m really sorry,” she stressed with a solemn nod only to stop nodding when his eyes narrowed on her and a muscle in his jaw twitched in warning.

“We should probably join the others,” she murmured absently as she snuck a glance past him with the hopes of finding-

“It’s just you and me, sweetheart,” Ree

d said, leaning in closer so that she was forced to tilt her head back so that she could keep an eye on that tick that was really starting to concern her.

“Oh,” she said, licking her lips nervously before asking, “Should I mention that this store has excellent security?”

Chuckling, he leaned down until his mouth brushed her ear and whispered, “They’ll never make it here in time to stop me from spanking your ass.”

“I see,” she murmured only to sigh with a shrug and admit, “I’m actually good with that.”

There was a pained groan as Reed pulled back so that he could press a kiss against her forehead. “You’re really going to be the death of me,” he said with a sigh as he pulled back and she couldn’t help but wonder about that spanking because she was more than willing to see if the family bathroom was available.

“Start talking,” he said with a resigned sigh as he released his hold on the carriage so that he could grab a bag of chips and toss it in the carriage.

“About spankings?” she asked with a hopeful smile that had his eyes narrowing on her.

“About why your brother wanted to know if my water bill was high.”

“Because he’s very concerned about water conservation?”

“Or…”

Sighing heavily, she let her shoulders sag and found herself mumbling, “I have panic attacks.”

“What does that have to do with my water bill?” he asked, frowning down at her.

“Because that’s how I deal with them,” she admitted as she turned around and pushed the carriage down the aisle.

“I’m not following,” he said, throwing another bag of chips in the carriage.

“It’s not a big deal,” she said, heading to the next aisle.

“Then you shouldn’t have a problem telling me about it,” he said as he glanced down at her carriage and-

“What the hell is that?”

“Crickets and aluminum foil,” she said, noting that tick was now completely gone, which she decided to take as progress.

“What are they for?” he asked, picking up the small plastic container filled with a dozen plump crickets.