Hitman Next Door

Once it was all thoroughly melted, she poured it into their mugs and placed one in front of him.

He took a sip of the chocolate and she watched him close his eyes. “This is good.”

“Yay, I’m glad.”

“So tell me about your day. Your work.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t want to talk about that. I like to keep work at work.”

His brow rose.

“Do you want to talk about your job?” she asked.

“No, mine is top secret.”

She chuckled. “Right. So, I know this is our first Christmas since we’ve moved in. Do you not decorate for Christmas? Do you not celebrate it?”

“I do and I will. I didn’t know how long I was going to be here, you know?”

“Oh, do you move around a lot?”

“I go wherever work takes me.”

She frowned. “Then why come here? You’ve opened a shop here.”

“That’s what I do. I open up shops, spread the security word, and get people to work for me.”

She tilted her head to the side. “Are you like a rich entrepreneur? Are you here doing a documentary or something?”

“No, no, God, no. Nothing like that at all. I guess you could say I’m looking for a place to settle down, but my job doesn’t allow me to stick to one place.”

Lemon sipped at her drink. “You’re looking to put down roots?”

“Yeah.”

“Me too. You know, I did hear something strange about our houses today.”

“The curse?” he asked.

“What? You know about it?”

“Yeah, I heard of it. Apparently, whoever moves into these houses are destined to end up together.”

“Oh,” she said. She had heard that but not when she moved in. Only today, she’d been in the restroom, about to leave her stall when she heard a couple of colleagues gossiping about her. They talked about the houses, the previous occupants, and Lemon couldn’t help but wonder if she was destined to fall in love with Nate. Falling in lust was easy. That part had already been done. So easy. Love though, that was something else entirely. “It sounds crazy, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t believe in that stuff, Lemon. The previous couples were clearly friends who got close, and feelings developed.”

“And we’re not friends?” she asked.

He opened his mouth and closed it.

“You’re right. We’re neighbors.” She sipped at her hot chocolate, relishing the burn because at least the pain in her mouth took away from the pain in her chest. Of course, they weren’t friends.

That would be crazy.

Chapter Two

Nate had fucked up.

Three days later, Lemon was still avoiding him.

He’d fucked up when it came to his opinion of them as friends. After talking with her father, he tried to forget how badly he wanted her.

This wasn’t good. He wanted to fuck her so badly. Running a hand down his face, he stood at her door, waiting for her to answer.

He’d been waiting nearly a minute. Now that didn’t seem too long to wait, but this was Lemon. She never made him wait.

Glancing down at the time on his watch, he tensed up as the door opened.

The smile on Lemon’s face fell, and he hated that. He loved her smile. She was a beautiful woman, and this was all his fault.

“I want to apologize,” he said.

“Nate, you don’t need to do this.”

“We’re friends, okay? We are friends.” He couldn’t handle the silent treatment, not from Lemon.

What the fuck was this woman doing to him?

He was twenty years her senior.

This shouldn’t be happening to him.

She folded her arms. Her gaze went to the flowers in his arms, then up to his face. “Nate, I’m not angry.”

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

She ran fingers through her hair. He rarely got the chance to see all those locks flowing freely. Seeing them now, he wanted to run his fingers through the length, wrap it around his fist as he watched her take his cock.

Damn it.

He had to gain control.

This was fucking messed up.

Lemon was his boss’s kid. If Rocco ever found out that he was having sexy thoughts about his daughter, he’d be six feet under by the end of the day.

“No, I haven’t.”

“Lemon, we’ve lived next to each other for six months. I know you’re avoiding me.”

“Maybe I am, but it is for your own good.”

“Why?” he asked.

“You’re right. We’re not friends. I barely know you, and the whole curse thing is a load of nonsense. Believe me, I … er, the truth is, I have a date.”

Nate didn’t think he heard right. He couldn’t have heard correctly. “You have a date?”

“Yes, I have a date. I was at the bank, and this really sweet guy asked me. He’s in college, but he has come home for the holidays. He’s heading back next week, but before he did, he wanted to ask me out.”

“Who is he?”

She frowned. “Not that it is any of your business, but his name is John Krause. I like him, and we’re just neighbors.”