Neighbors with Benefits (Anderson Brothers, #2)

“Speaking of which, would you mind waiting outside while I change? The bathroom is too small.”


It certainly was. In order to close the door, she’d have to step into the shower to give it enough room to swing closed. “I do mind. This will have to do.” He turned his back, careful to not hit his head again. “If someone saw me waiting outside, it would ruin the grand illusion we’ve so carefully crafted.”

Closing his eyes, he imagined her actions as he listened to the sounds of fabric slipping over her body and zippers sliding opened and closed. Sweet torture, but torture nonetheless.

“Ready,” she said finally.

As he opened the door for her, she grabbed her scarf from the bed and wound it around her neck with a flourish.

She looked amazing in the jeans and tight tank top with the fitted leather jacket. That denim over her well-toned ass might even prove adequate compensation for tolerating the horrible yellow and green scarf all afternoon.





Chapter Thirteen


“Hope you two had a good …rest,” Sue said before breaking out into a giggle on the porch swing. Mark, sitting next to her was clearly holding back a laugh.

Well, this is awkward. Mia shot a look at Jason, seated in a wicker chair, who immediately found his feet interesting. Obviously, he’d spilled the beans about their bedroom shenanigans. Maybe bouncing on the bed to make it squeak had been overboard.

“We did, thank you,” Michael said, wrapping his arms around her from behind, then nuzzling her hair as if they’d just been making love and she hadn’t rejected him…again.

Which begged the question, why did she keep rejecting him? He was perfect. Maybe that was it: he was too perfect—well, except for the overly controlled bit. This puzzled her, too. For someone who reined in his emotions, needed absolute order, and left nothing to chance, he didn’t seem to mind her flakiness. It had driven Jason nuts. Maybe it did bother him and he was just overlooking it in order to get laid. No. He could and had—as evidenced by the photos online and her time as his neighbor—gotten that from women much better suited and harder to get than she.

He splayed his hands across her abdomen and pulled her against him—nothing anyone else would think twice about, but she certainly did when the bulge in his pants nudged her backside and all that heat from earlier resurfaced, kicking up her heart rate and stinging her cheeks with a blush she hoped no one saw.

“So, you and I need to go pick up our dresses, Mia,” Sue said. “I have a seamstress appointment for us at noon. If something is screwed up, she can fix it before the wedding tomorrow. I also want to hit a really cute shop I saw yesterday that sells jewelry. Kelli, I’d love for you to join us, or you can go to the craft brewery with the guys.”

“Come with us, Kel,” Jason said. Mia knew him well enough to hear the tension in his voice. Trouble in paradise, maybe?

Kelli rose from her chair on the far end of the porch. “Nah. I’m going to go hang with the girls. Beer’s not my thing.” From her arms crossed over her chest to her refusal to meet him eye to eye, it looked like Jason wasn’t her thing either. She brushed some strands of bright red hair from her face and gave Mia a slight smile, which made her instantly warm to the woman she’d hated for months.

“Okay. We’ll see you guys at one or so.” Sue took Mia’s hand and led her down the stairs of the porch with Kelli close behind. “I totally need the scoop on your fiancé,” she whispered when they hit the sidewalk.

Oh, great. It was the divide and conquer tactic.

Glancing over her shoulder, she locked eyes with Michael, still in the same spot on the porch, sporting a grin and an obvious erection, and her heart kicked up a notch. He wanted her. Scattered, impulsive Mia had drawn the attention of a giant. She just needed to be sure she didn’t go down with the whole beanstalk. She was in way over her head—and something in her loved it.



Michael turned the menu over and scanned the selections on the back. He really wasn’t in the mood for this, but short of being rude or giving up the ruse, he didn’t have a choice. Being split up from Mia was not something he’d anticipated and he didn’t like it. He found himself wanting to spend every moment with her, a completely new experience for him. Usually, he couldn’t get rid of people fast enough…like these two guys. But there he was, pining for a woman. Ridiculous.

“Welcome to Hair of the Dog.” The bartender was a man about his age wearing wire-rimmed glasses and a T-shirt with a dog sporting a keg around its neck. “As you can see from the menu, we only carry our own hand-crafted beers and ales made primarily from locally grown ingredients. Do you have any questions?”

He had questions. Plenty of them, but nothing to do with beer.

“I do,” Jason said before launching into a litany of questions regarding locally grown hops.

What the actual fuck am I doing here?

Marissa Clarke's books