Off Limits Neighbor

Even though I was horrified walking in yesterday, there’s less that needs fixing inside than I expected. That’s good. There are a couple of big things, but mainly superficial.

There are five houses in this cul-de-sac, so I head over to the one that’s furthest on the end, but not before the cat that nearly caused my death speeds out of the door ahead of me. Wild thing. He would be cute if he weren’t trying to kill me and strip me in front of Reynard.

Then again, maybe that would be a good thing. It would help me get rid of the ache that’s between my legs and the low-level frustration that’s still running under my skin.

The second house is about the same as mine, not great, but not something I’m too worried about fixing. The third house…is a different story. I swear there must have been some animals living in here for all the damage. How the hell did this happen?

Walls are broken, pipes are burst. I’m going to be glued to YouTube tutorials trying to figure out how to fix this stuff if I can’t scrape the money from Dad’s budget for a contractor.

The list for this house is about as long as my arm, and all I want to do is stop and have a drink. But there are still two houses to go. Lucky me.

“Howdy, neighbor.” I hear the deep voice as I step outside.

Reynard is standing on the sidewalk, looking at me. He’s dressed in low-slung jeans and a t-shirt that’s so tight I can see the muscles underneath it. Holy shit.

When we were younger, Rey was the hottest thing in this small town, and everybody knew it. But he’s filled out since then, bigger and harder. There’s an edge to him that didn’t used to be there, and I was too flustered yesterday to really, fully absorb the differences.

Yesterday he was a fantasy come to life. Today he’s a man that’s very real and so fucking hot that I can’t breathe. Not to mention that my body is still humming with unresolved tension and arousal, and it’s very aware of Rey.

“Hello.”

“How’s it going?”

I shift the clipboard to one side, balancing it on my hip. “Slowly,” I admit.

“Is it bad?”

I shrug. “That one was, but I haven’t gotten to the last two yet.”

“Which?”

Nodding to the two houses across the circle as I meet him on the sidewalk. “Those.”

“Mind if I tag along?”

I look at him. “Really? Why?”

Rey smirks and slips his hands into his pockets. “I’m off work for the day, so I figured I’d come over and see if you needed help.”

“Out of the kindness of your heart?” I raise an eyebrow.

“Something like that,” he says. “Maybe I just feel bad for you and want to see how gloriously in over your head you are.”

I glare at him. “If that’s how it’s going to be, you can fuck off.”

Rey just grins and follows me as I strike out across the asphalt. “Who knows,” he says, “maybe you’ll like the company.”

He can’t see me when I roll my eyes. I’m trying to tell myself that I’m annoyed by him and that I don’t want him here. Because it’s easier to do this kind of work alone. But the truth is that there is a storm of butterflies in my stomach that feels like a hurricane, and I’m so desperate to have him close that it’s dangerous.

I’m here for a very specific reason, and then I’m going back to Austin. No matter how much I want him to follow me into this house, pin me to the wall, and kiss the hell out of me, I can’t afford that. I can’t be distracted by him and that ridiculous face and body.

It doesn’t matter that his eyes are piercing and his jaw looks like it could do all the sawing I’m going to need to do for these houses.

Fuck.

I step into the next house and realize that I’ve only been thinking about Rey and his abs and his jawline; not even thinking about the task in front of me. God, this is going to be a nightmare.

A sexy nightmare.

He steps into the small entryway behind me, and it feels like he fills the space. “This doesn’t look too bad.”

“Maybe it’s not,” I say, and I’m aware that I don’t sound normal. I sound like I’m parched and dying. Because in a way, I am. My body is craving him like nothing I’ve ever felt, and I’m gravitating toward him like a magnet.

Jesus, Klara. Get yourself together.

Rey looks down at me, and the air between us is taut, just like it was yesterday. He looks at me like he could consume me, and his eyes drift down my body to my leggings. Is he remembering yesterday when he got an eyeful of everything south of the border?