The Promise (Neighbor from Hell 10)

“Joey,” she said, wondering if this was his girlfriend and the murderous glare was his subtle way of telling her to get the hell out.

“It’s nice to meet you, Joey,” Julie said, mostly because she didn’t know her yet, as she threw Reed another questioning look. “This looks amazing, did you make this?” she asked, trying to shift the focus back on the food, which should have drawn Reed’s attention, but for some strange reason, the reminder that she’d cooked only seemed to piss him off more.

Okay then…

“I had to earn my keep,” Joey mumbled with a small sniffle because that’s what she did when she was nervous. She screwed with people for her own entertainment, which she knew was wrong, so very wrong, yet, she just couldn’t help herself.

“Have you already eaten?” Julie asked, throwing another questioning look at Reed, whom she’d like to point out was still glaring.

“Yes, Reed was kind enough to let me have this delicious glass of water,” she said, picking up her glass. “It’s ever so delicious,” she murmured as she took a sip. which resulted in Reed narrowing his eyes on her and she decided to take as progress.

“I see,” Julie murmured as her lips twitched. “That does look delicious.”

“It is,” Joey mumbled as she took another sip, “It really is.”

“For Christ’s sakes,” Reed said, snapping out of his glare-obsessed state. He stormed past her, shooting her one last glare because apparently, he couldn’t be in the same room with her without glaring at her. He grabbed plates and silverware while she decided that it would probably be for the best if she returned her attention to the book that she’d helped herself to and left him alone.

She’d just found the spot where she’d left off when she was plucked out of her chair and found herself sitting at the large kitchen table. She considered complaining about the manhandling, but decided against it, mostly because he hadn’t done anything to make her lose her spot again. So, while Reed and Julie made quick work of transferring all the food that she’d made to the table, she’d continued reading about the bubonic plague and quickly forgot about the world around her.

*-*-*-*

“How was your day, Reed?”

“Good,” he said absently as he found himself watching the little demon and trying to figure out why he couldn’t take his eyes off her. If anyone should hold his attention, it was the incredibly beautiful woman giving him a weird look.

“I heard what happened with Miss Dawson,” Julie said while he sat there wondering how he could go from wanting to throttle the little brat to wanting to-

“Reed?” someone said.

“Hmmm?” he murmured absently as he grabbed the basket of buttermilk biscuits and handed them to her with a mumbled, “Here,” as he helped himself to a warm biscuit and placed it on his plate all while he glared at the small woman screwing with his head.

“Umm, thanks?” came the amused reply.

“You’re welcome,” he said distractedly as he slathered butter from the small serving bowl in front of him onto a biscuit as he tried to figure out what it was about the little pain in the ass that drew him.

As he watched her sitting there, reading a book about the fucking plague of all things, he couldn’t help but wonder if his brother was right. Maybe he needed to get laid. The fact that he couldn’t even remember the last time he had sex told him that his brother was right. Maybe he just needed to get out more, he thought as he took a bite and-

“Oh, my god,” he managed to get out on a groan even as he was forced to grab hold of the table as the combination of fresh honey butter and homemade buttermilk biscuit registered and when it did, he-

“Wow, that good?” Julie asked as she reached for the basket of biscuits only to pull her hand back a split second later with a frown. “Did…did you just growl?”

Narrowing his eyes in warning, he reached for the rest of the biscuits only to shift his glare to the little demon when she got to it first and held it out to Julie and just out of his reach. “You can’t show fear,” Joey said, not bothering to look up from her book as she held the basket out to Julie, who simply licked her lips nervously and shook her head.

With a sigh, she put the basket back down and-

“Why is he growling?” Julie whispered, shooting him a nervous glance as Joey helped herself to a biscuit that should have rightfully been his and placed it on her plate.

“He was dropped on his head as a baby,” Joey said, sighing heavily as she returned her attention to her book while he sat there, glaring at her as he grabbed the basket of rolls and brought them closer to his plate where they belonged.

“That explains a lot,” Julie mumbled, shifting nervously in her chair.

“It really does,” Joey solemnly agreed as she turned the page, leaving him sitting there, wondering if it was too late to give her that spanking, which u

nfortunately for his cock, he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Never going to happen, he told the little bastard twitching with interest as he forced his attention to the food in front of him and couldn’t help but wonder where the little demon had learned to cook like this. It was easily the best meal that he’d ever had, and that was saying a lot considering that he grew up on her grandmother’s cooking. Mrs. Lawson had been an amazing cook. She’d learned to cook at her mother’s heels, working in diners, churches, schools, anywhere that her mother had been able to find work. When she was old enough, she took jobs alongside her mother to help support their family. When she was sixteen, she’d joined the war effort by cooking in military hospitals where she’d ended up meeting Mr. Lawson. After the war, she’d spent the rest of her life working in restaurants, taking care of children, and giving him something to look forward to every day after school.

He’d never seen Joey spend much time in the kitchen, but then again, he really hadn’t been paying attention. When he was over there, he’d either hung out in Jackson’s room, watched the game with Mr. Lawson, or been too busy devouring whatever insanely delicious meal that Mrs. Lawson made to pay attention to what the little pain in the ass was doing. But now…

Now, he was curious.

“Did Grandma teach you how to cook?” he asked, helping himself to a large slice of meatloaf.

“She convinced me that cooking was a safer alternative to conducting experiments involving anything that might result in the house blowing up,” she said with a solemn nod as she continued to read her book.