Lovely Neighbor (Lovely 1)

“No, I just wanted you to have a lot of choices.”

“I’m really just in it for the fortune cookies,” she laughs, but I grab a bag and hold it up.

“Good thing I got extra.”

“How many is that?”

“Twenty?” I shrug, and she puts her hand on her mouth as she keeps laughing. “I think it’s probably a fair number with all the food I got.”

A silence follows as she smiles at me, and I like it. It’s comfortable and although I was anxious all day for this moment to be here, I’m once again in her presence and feeling damn good about it.

“I’ll grab some dishes,” I say as I go into the kitchen and get the silverware and plates.

I watch her out of the corner of my eye as she opens a few of the Chinese food containers. She smells them before she places them on the table and I can decipher which ones she likes based on her expression at the scent. It’s cute watching her put the ones she wants on the left and the ones she doesn’t on the right. It’s also cute as hell seeing her in my dining room looking comfortable as fuck.

She’s got on a white V-neck shirt that’s snug against her body and cut-off jean shorts. She’s also barefoot, which makes it look like she belongs here and for whatever reason that makes me hard. Her tits strain against the thin white material that hugs her chest when she leans over and for a second I get a long look down the front of it. Fuck, her tits are hot, and I have to force myself to turn around and take a breath. The image of her dirty-blond hair draped to one side of them is burned in my brain and I’m going to be thinking about that later tonight when I’m alone.

“Later,” I whisper to myself before I go back into the dining room. “What would you like to drink? I’ve got beer, wine, and water.”

“Wine, please.” She takes the dishes from me and sets the table.

She puts me sitting across from her and I wonder why I ever got a table so big. I grab our drinks and bring them back into the dining room but move my plate next to her so we’re both at the corner.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t know where you liked to sit.”

“This just makes it easier to share,” I say and move my chair a little closer to her too. “Which one are you going for first?”

“My favorite is sesame chicken, but this one smells really good and I don’t know what it is.”

I look at the box and poke around a little with my chopstick. “Yeah, I don’t either. I think I just told them to get me one of everything.”

“That explains all the boxes.” She smiles as she takes a container of rice and spoons some out on her plate.

“So, I just want to get the awkwardness out of the way first.” Her eyes widen and she puts her food down and waits with a serious expression. “What kind of shampoo do you use because I need it.”

A smile tugs at her lips as she picks up her chopsticks. “It’s Midnight Garden. Grams got it for me for Christmas last year and I loved it so much I kept getting it.” She laughs as she shakes her head. “Why are you asking me that?”

“The scent of it on my sheets drove me crazy.”

She blushes as she looks down at her food and tucks her chin. “Is that a good crazy or a bad one?”

“Depends.” I take a drink of water and stare at her while she glances up at me.

“Are those my hair ties on your wrist?” She points to the orange and baby blue elastics and I look down at where I’ve rolled my sleeves up.

“Yes,” I answer and don’t offer them back to her.

She flips her hair over to her other shoulder. “I’ve been looking for them. My hair is driving me crazy.”

“I think it’s beautiful. But you’re not getting them back.”

She thins out her lips to try and hide her smile while her green eyes scrutinize me. “And why not?”

“Well, they’re in my house so technically they’re my property.”

“I’m in your house too.”

“I know.”

The two words hang between us for a second before she shrugs. “Fine. I’ll consider it payment for letting me stay here.”

God, she’s fucking cute when she’s teasing me. Why do I like flirting with her so much? I never spend more than a few moments with a woman before I’m ready to run. But thoughts of how I can get Erin to stay are churning.

“Oh, it’s gonna cost you more than two hair ties.”

“I’ve already agreed to dinner.” She waves her hands around as she takes another bite.