Bully Next Door

With his hands on his hips, he was a little taken back. “I … find it hard to believe.”

She closed the fridge after putting away all the fresh produce. “Why?”

“I was … I was a hot guy.”

“No, you weren’t. You were cruel and a jerk. Trust me, I didn’t lose sleep wondering if you ever noticed me. I wasn’t interested in you.”

He stared at her now and flashed back to their time in high school. Verity never fawned all over him. She never stopped when he passed by. In fact, she rarely ever looked at him, and he noticed it then, and remembered it now.

The crazy thing was … he did kind of notice her.

“Look, don’t think too much about everything, okay? Life is way too short to be worrying about that stuff. It’s in the past.”

“You’re right. It’s all in the past.” Only his past was standing right in front of him. “Are you still in touch with anyone from high school?”

“Nope. I was always the loner kind of girl. Never really had a friend that stuck.” She shrugged. “You?”

“Sean Logan.”

The smile on her face sent a hit of jealousy rushing through him.

“No kidding. Oh, my God, how is he?” Verity asked.

“Great. We er, we kind of run a business together.”

Verity gasped and spun around to look at him. “Wait a second, are you the future business partner he was always talking about?”

He didn’t like this. “You and Sean … hung out?”

“Sometimes. By hung out, we spent some time together in the library. We’d help each other out on projects and stuff.”

“Right.”

“He was always telling me that he had this special friend that when they were older, they planned to dominate the world or something like that. I thought he was joking.”

“No, that friend was me.”

“I wouldn’t have suspected you and Sean being friends.”

He cringed. “I was a dick in more ways than one.” He wasn’t going to tell her that he and Sean had an agreement never to talk in school, or to even acknowledge either’s presence.

“Well, when you see him or talk to him again, tell him I said hi.” She spread her hands out across the counter.

“Will do.”

“So, we now have a fully stocked kitchen. I think it’s only fair your lessons start now. What do you say?”

“I’m here for you to teach me.” He had to get over this shit in his brain. Just because Verity had liked Sean back then, it didn’t mean anything.

He was probably being an ass.

Jealousy wasn’t something he was used to, but seeing that smile on her face, and knowing his best friend caused it, kind of pissed him off. Not that he was going to blame Sean or be upset with him.

“Right, apron time.” She grabbed an apron, slid it over her head, and tied it up at the back.

He got to his feet, grabbing his own.

“Ugh, sorry. For some reason, this is being a pain today. Would you help me?” Verity asked, presenting her back.

The base of her shirt had ridden up, exposing a small patch of skin at her back. He wanted to touch her. To feel her smooth skin. He took the ties and secured them at her back, ignoring the urge to do exactly that.

“There. All done.”

What the hell was wrong with him?

****

Verity had always been a morning person.

She rarely stayed up late, but every single morning, without a single nudge, she woke up at six. Her mother told her often that she was a boisterous baby as well. After climbing out of bed, she took a quick shower and changed into a new set of clothes.

At the bottom of her bed lay Cutie, all snuggled up. Across the bed lay notebooks and recipes. Her laptop was closed as well.

Last night, she’d tried to find some kind of inspiration to help kickstart this cookbook, but nothing was happening. She didn’t want to do a basic cookbook, nor did she want to do anything boring. For her supporters, she wanted this book to be exciting.

Running fingers through her hair, she tied it back and took a chance to look at herself in the mirror. She looked okay.

The outfit was a pair of jeans and a shirt. She owned plenty of dresses, but she didn’t want to send any kind of message to Hector, or did she?

She shook her head.

Nope.

She wasn’t going there.

There was no need to.

Being close to Hector was an entirely new experience and not one she was used to. In high school, she hadn’t been attracted to him. He’d been awful. Always expecting feminine attention. He often just pissed her off with this assumption he was adored by many.

Now as an adult, he was … affecting her.

It was crazy. Last night, as she taught him to do something simple like grilled vegetables and dressing, he’d stood close, and she was sure she felt his breath on the back of her neck. It had sent a shiver down her spine, not something she was ashamed of either. She’d been aroused.