My Enemy Next Door

“I looked over your work a few minutes ago.” I leaned back in my chair. “You haven’t done shit but drawn doodles in the margins. Surely you’ve become a better lawyer than that after all this time.”

“I keep my notes in a personal binder.”

“Can you make some copies of them for me, then?”

“Not since you’re first chair.” She shrugged. Then she looked around my office. “Especially not with a brand-new office that you don’t deserve.”

“I’ve won eighty cases and brought in fifty-million in settlements since we last saw each other,” I said. “What have you done?”

“Lasted in this conversation longer than I ever thought possible.” She rolled her eyes. “Oh, and forty case wins and twenty million in settlements, in far less time.”

“So, you’ve done your research on me?”

“I looked up ‘insufferable bastard’ in the dictionary, and your entire biography appeared.”

I smiled. “Look, Kelsie.”

“Chassie.” She crossed her arms. “Kelsie died.”

“Okay, Chassie.” I tapped my fingers against the desk, mentally undressing her. “I’m not even sure if I’m going to work or live in this city yet. I have a temporary apartment and a temporary work contract.”

She raised her eyebrow.

“If you’re committed to being hostile to me, just because we had a few not-so-good-encounters in the past, then I may need to reconsider staying here.”

“Please do,” she said. “And please stop trying to be the bigger person. It doesn’t look good on you.”

“I’d like us to have a conversation about some things when you get a chance,” I said. “I think we need to clear the air.”

“Okay. Let’s start the conversation with you admitting that you purposely sabotaged me because you were jealous that I was doing better than you. You can also admit that you cheated off my paper for our final exam in Pre-Torts I.”

“You cheated off me in Criminal Pathology.”

“I was sneezing.”

“With a pen in your hand?” I noticed her nipples hardening through her dress. “Tell you what, though. Show me the proof that I cheated on that final exam, or it didn’t happen.”

“I have a gut feeling that you’re guilty.”

“Then you already know that lines like that never hold up in court,” I said. “Would you like to have a seat and talk to me like an adult?”

She sucked in a slow breath, looking as if she was on the verge of clearing the air, but she then turned around and walked away.

I waited until I could no longer hear the sound of her heels clicking against the marble floor.

Then I signed the contract with a “Yes” and hand-delivered it to Human Resources.

We have unfinished business …

Tyler

Present Day

Manhattan, New York

* * *

Later that night

“Oh my god … OHHHH GODDDD!”

Loud, guttural moans sounded through my new apartment walls while I was in the middle of eating spaghetti.

They were coming from the woman who lived next door, and she and her guy had been going at it for hours.

When I’d picked up the keys to this place earlier today, the building manager had raved about how “peaceful and quiet” living here would be, but my first night here was already proving that to be a lie.

Sighing, I turned up the television’s volume and opened my case file.

“I’m about to come—oh, Ohhh!” Her moans could still be heard over the highest setting. “Oh, god, please! Oh…”

Silence.

Hopefully, that last orgasm will be enough for tonight.

I picked up my phone and scrolled down to Chassie’s number.

Me: Hey. This is Tyler. New number. Can you send me the notes you supposedly completed? It would save me a lot of time this weekend & help me get better prepared for Monday.

Chassie/Kelsie: Hey. It’s highly inappropriate to text a colleague at this time of night. (We aren’t friends.)

Me: I’m asking you to send the files nicely, Chassie. (I’m aware. Good to know that you’re still a night owl.)

Me: Send me your damn notes.

She never responded.

I started to call her, but the woman started moaning again.

This time, in a British accent.

What the hell?

The woman’s voice showed no signs of stopping anytime soon, so I decided the case files could wait a little while longer.

I put on my headphones and went out for a run around Lower Manhattan to clear my mind.

When I returned, I stepped into the shower and stayed under the streams until I couldn’t take it anymore. Until I’d washed away the final naughty thought about bending Chassie over my desk.

I pulled back my covers and grabbed a file from my nightstand. Now that my neighbor was finally done with her fucking, maybe—just maybe, I could get some reading done.

I put on my reading glasses and turned the page.

“Ohhhh yes!” Her voice sounded ten minutes later. “Ohhhh, please more!”

Jesus Christ.

Chassie

Present Day

Manhattan, New York

Dirty Like This.

Men Like Him.

Sexy Pilot.

The Twisted Affair.

I stared at the stack of new audio manuscripts that weren’t due for another month, trying not to take a sneak peek.