Delectable (Neighbor from Hell 9)

“I’m not going,” she said firmly as she slowly backed up towards the headboard, not stupid enough to turn her back on her demented friend twice in one night.

“I thought you were looking forward to the fair,” Eric said, oblivious to Sara’s plans, which gave her hope.

“I’m tired,” she repeated, wondering why they were having such a difficult time understanding this.

“Really?” Sara asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, your sudden desire to skip the fair has nothing to do with a certain neighbor that makes you blush?”

“I’m not interested in him,” she said, deciding to get straight to the point. “I don’t have time for a-”

“Oh, my fucking god,” Eric mumbled in disgust, cutting her off as Sara said, “This again? Really?”

“What?” she asked, shoving a pillow behind her as she shifted closer to Eric so that the woman scowling at her could join them as they sat against the headboard.

“What? Are you freaking serious?” Sara asked, shaking her head in disgust as she reached over her and snatched the remote out of Eric’s hand.

“I don’t have time for a fling,” she said, shrugging and wondering what their problem was.

She was too busy with Mikey, her job, putting together her cookbook and about a dozen other things to worry about some guy. It just wasn’t in the cards for her right now and that was fine with-

“When’s the last time that you went out on a date?” Sara asked with a pointed look while she shifted to face her as she waited for an answer.

“I don’t know. A couple of months?” she said with a shrug, wondering where she was going with this.

“Try a couple of years,” Eric said with a snort of disgust as he reached over her and snatched the remote back.

“I’m thinking five,” Sara said and this time it was Kasey’s turn to snort in disgust.

“It has not been five years.”

“She’s right,” Eric said, putting the game back on.

“Thank you.”

“It’s been six and she only went on that date, because we guilt tripped her into going,” Eric said matter-of-factly as he settled more comfortably against the headboard.

“It has not been six years!” she said with a scoff and a shake of her head, because someone was lying his little ass off, which was sad.

“When’s the last time that you kissed a man?” Sara asked, cocking a brow in triumph as Kasey suddenly decided that she’d had enough for one night and climbed off the bed. She walked over to the bureau and toyed with one of Mikey’s baby pictures.

“It was Thomas James,” Eric announced.

“I don’t want to talk about this,” she said, all her good humor gone.

“You cried for a week after he kissed you,” Sara said softly as though her tone would soften the blow of the reminder of the first and last time she’d betrayed Michael.

It didn’t.

She hadn’t wanted to go on that date, but she’d let them convince her that it would help her move on. She’d known Thomas since they were kids. He was kind, funny, and one of the few boys who hadn’t called her a slut in high school. The date had actually been nice. They’d grabbed a bite to eat, caught a movie, talked, and laughed. She’d actually enjoyed herself for the first time in a long time, but all that changed when he’d kissed her.

She hadn’t expected it, which was foolish considering that they’d been on a date. One minute, they’d been laughing and the next…

She’d been struggling to catch her breath, sobbing uncontrollably, and he’d been screaming for Sara, who’d been inside her house, babysitting Mikey with Eric and waiting to see how the date had gone. She didn’t remember much after Eric came out and wrapped his arms around her or what they’d said to Thomas, but she remembered the pain that followed.

God, it had felt like she’d lost Michael all over again.

It was something that she never wanted to experience again, which is why she hadn’t gone on another date since. She could tell them whatever bullshit story she wanted, but in the end, it was quite simple.

“I’m not ready yet,” she said softly with a small shrug, waiting for an argument, but instead she felt Sara’s arms wrap around her.

“Then you’re not ready,” she said with a shrug and a squeeze.

“What about Reese?” Kasey asked, worrying her bottom lip.

“Will understand,” Sara promised her.

“But-”

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s looking for anything anyway. I think he just came down here to relax and kill some time. I don’t think that he’s looking for anything more than someone to hang out with and pass the time,” Sara said, giving her another reassuring squeeze.

“Are you sure?” she asked, after a slight pause.

“I’m sure.”

Chapter 17

“She’ll kill you!” came the hissed warning as Reese stood on the front step for the second time that day and raised his hand to knock on the door only to have it ripped open as Sara snapped, “I don’t care!”

She barely spared him a glance as she latched onto his arm and pulled him back down the stairs. He shifted his attention from Eric, who was standing in the doorway looking lost, to the small woman dragging him towards the beach.

“Is there a reason why you’re dragging me?” he asked, feeling his lips twitch with amusement even as he was forced to bite back a yawn.

God, he was fucking exhausted.

Not surprising since he was running on fumes lately. He couldn’t remember the last time that he’d slept more than a few hours at a time and it was starting to catch up with him. He should call it a night and take advantage of the fact that his cousins were taking their kids out to the fair and get some sleep while he had the chance, but he’d been looking forward to teasing another blush out of Kasey to do the smart thing and call it a night.

“We have to talk,” was all she said, as she continued to drag him and since he was too fucking tired to argue, he allowed it.

It also didn’t hurt that she shot him a look of warning that told him exactly what she’d do to his balls if he tried to argue. More than happy to keep his balls where they were, he followed her down the path, onto the sandy beach and then down to where the tide was slowly rolling in, wondering if she was going to try to bullshit him into putting a new roof on Kasey’s house…

Although, it could use one, he mused, glancing back at the house in question only to have the small woman with an agenda suddenly drag him to the right only to release him just as suddenly so that they were taking a casual stroll down the beach.

“What are your intentions towards Kasey?” she asked, taking him off guard.

Instead of answering the question that he was still wondering himself, he asked, “Is there a reason why you’re asking?”

Nodding, she glanced up at him as they walked past a few people enjoying the last rays of a beautiful summer day. “What do you know about Kasey?”

“Besides the fact that she enjoys tormenting stranger

s and shouldn’t be allowed within fifty feet of a hardware store?” he asked before answering, “Not much.”

“Oh, Officer Bradford,” she said with a heavy sigh and a disapproving shake of her head, “I can’t believe that you’re going to lie to me after everything that we’ve been through.”