The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“Really hoping that you’re willing to overlook the fact that you hate me so that I don’t have to sleep on the couch,” Joey said, shooting him a hopeful smile as she deposited the stack of books on the nightstand before she yanked her pajama pants back up, somehow managed to trip the short distance to the bed, grumbled something, yanked her pants back up again, climbed onto his bed, sat back, grabbed a book and another brownie before she settled in for the night.

“I don’t hate you,” Reed said, closing the door behind him.

“Okay, then you have a severe aversion to my existence, but I’m still hoping that you don’t make me sleep on the couch,” she said, nodding solemnly even as she continued shooting him that hopeful smile that left him powerless to say no to her.

“I thought you were going to sleep in your room.”

“I considered taking Matt up on his very generous offer to use the questionably stained, lumpy old sleeping bag that smells like cheese and sleep in my own room, but in the end, I felt that it would be for the best if I slept somewhere else,” the small woman that he should be avoiding said as she reached over and stole his pillow while he stood there, telling himself that he should just go sleep somewhere else, but…

“Are you going to take the job?” Reed asked as he walked over to the bed, stole his pillow back along with the Tupperware bowl full of brownies and settled back on the bed next to her.

“Are you going to tell Jackson that I’m here?” Joey countered as he helped himself to a large brownie.

“No,” he said because he wasn’t a fucking tattletale.

Then again, since he knew how well Jackson watched over his sister, he doubted that it would take long before his best friend showed up at his door so that he could throttle the little pain in the ass trying to take another brownie. Shooting her a glare, he pulled the bowl away and put it out of her reach.

“Then I suppose I’ll take the job,” Joey said with a long-drawn-out sigh that had his lips twitching before she gave him a curious look and asked, “Why?”

“Why what?” he asked, finishing off his brownie and grabbed another one.

“Why are you giving me a job?” she asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“To keep you out of trouble,” Reed said, finishing off the brownie before he reluctantly put the cover back on the bowl and set it on the nightstand.

“Fair enough,” she said, absently nodding as she reluctantly closed her book and placed it on the nightstand before climbing off the bed and-

“Damn it,” Joey grumbled when she tripped over her pants, somehow landed on her ass, sighed heavily and pulled herself right back up and headed toward the closed bathroom door. A minute later there was another, “Damn it,” the sound of her stumbling and another grumbled, “Stupid pants,” while he laid there, closing his eyes on a tired sigh, wondering what he’d gotten himself into.

When she opened the door a minute later, he didn’t bother to open his eyes as he said, “Leave the cat in the bathroom,” which was immediately met with another grumble as she reluctantly turned around and returned the furry little bastard back to the bathroom. A minute later, he heard the bathroom door click open again and opened his eyes to make sure…to make sure…

“Are you sure he’ll be okay?” Joey asked, throwing him a curious look over her shoulder before she went back to peeking into the bathroom to make sure the kitten that she’d decided was hers was okay while he sat there, licking his lips as he watched the large black tee shirt as it pulled up even higher when she leaned over, giving him a tantalizing glimpse of white cotton panties and the soft curve of her generous ass.

“He’ll be fine,” Reed said hollowly as he ran his gaze down her short, lightly tanned legs only to shake his head in disgust when he realized that he was checking out his best friend’s sister, because he had more important things to think about right now like how he was going to survive another night with her in his arms.

Chapter 17

“So, I’m curious,” John, the man that had been introduced to her a few minutes ago as the head of the History Department, said as he pulled out a chair at the small library table where she was currently killing time with a book on Jack the Ripper that she’d helped herself to and nibbling on the breakfast she’d picked up on the way here.

“About?” she asked, not bothering to look up as she picked up her extra-large glass of apple juice and took a sip.

“A few things,” he murmured as he placed his coffee on the table and sat back in his chair. “Like, what is a published professor with two Ph.D.s from one of the top universities in the world doing working in my department as a substitute teacher.”

“I have some free time while I’m on sabbatical, so I decided to help out,” she said, deciding not to point out that she’d been desperate for something to do and that the man that she was ninety-nine percent sure was going to kill her had given her the job just to keep her out of trouble.

“I see,” he said while she sat there, contemplating looking up from her book to see if Reed was still glaring at her only to decide that it would probably be for the best if she avoided making eye contact with him for the time being.

“And is there a reason why Reed won’t stop glaring at you?” John asked while he absently drummed his fingers against the table.

“Usually,” she said, stupidly risking a glance up only to decide that it would probably be for the best if she focused back on her book.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him glare before,” John murmured thoughtfully.

“I bring out the best in people,” Joey said, still wondering what she did to piss him off this time.

Last night he’d seemed fine and then this morning…

This morning he was glaring at everything she did.

Absolutely. Everything.

From the moment she woke up curled up in his arms, and oh, god, did the man know how to cuddle, he’d been glaring at her. When she’d murmured, “Good morning,” he’d glared even harder, which had resulted in her quickly apologizing for whatever may have transpired during the night, hoping that would be enough.

It wasn’t.

After she’d reluctantly crawled out of bed, and she’d been surprised by just how badly she’d wanted to stay in his arms, she’d headed for the bathroom only to rethink that plan and head toward the downstairs bathroom when he continued sitting there, glowering. From there, he’d glared at her when he walked into the kitchen, when she’d offered to make him pancakes, when she’d asked how much the rent was so that she could write him a check, when she’d asked him what he wanted for dinner, and kept glaring at her until she’d finally taken the hint and decided that it would probably be for the best if she grabbed something to eat on the way to work.

Unfortunately, Reed had the same idea. When he’d spotted her in line, he’d glared and kept on glaring until she had her order and left only to end up-

“Except he’s glaring at me n

ow,” John said, sounding amused.

Frowning, Joey picked up her blueberry danish and took a bite as she looked up and noted, that yes, Reed was now glaring at John. When Reed shifted that murderous glare back on her, she bit back a sigh and resigned herself to taking Matt up on his offer to use his old sleeping bag. For a moment, she considered trying to sleep on the couch again, but in the end, she felt that it would probably be for the best if she slept behind a locked door tonight.

“Good luck,” John said, chuckling as he grabbed his coffee and left just as Reed headed in their direction.

Thankfully, she had somewhere else to be.

With that in mind, she shoved the rest of her blueberry pastry in her bag, grabbed her backpack and her drink, and made a hasty retreat, deciding that this would be the perfect time to check out her new classroom. Unfortunately for her, that was the same time that Reed decided to call the morning meeting to an end. Before she managed to reach the double doors, he was by her side and-

Glaring at her as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. With a muttered curse and one last glare, he bit out, “I’ll be right back,” before he answered his phone and headed in the opposite direction, leaving her to find her classroom on her own.

*-*-*-*

“So, I can’t help but wonder why you’re running a background check on my sister,” Jackson drawled as soon as Reed answered his phone.

“And I can’t help but wonder why it took you so long to call,” Reed said, watching as the first wave of students made their way inside.

Chuckling, Jackson said, “I didn’t find out until last night.”

“You’re losing your touch,” Reed said absently, watching as Shawn started walking toward the front door only to pause and watch as his mother drove off before he moved off to the side and found a spot away from everyone and everything and sat down.

“I know,” he said, sighing heavily before asking, “How’s she doing?”