“Um…” I answered.
He smiled lazily and leaned against the doorframe. Masculine thick arms folded across his chest as he tucked one leg across the other.
I thought the slow cocky smile was what tipped me over the edge, reminding me of my cup of tea that was currently getting cold on my coffee table and the uneaten breakfast I hadn’t touched because this man with the crooked grin couldn’t follow simple directions.
“You,” I said, pointing a finger toward him, “were supposed to let me handle the flower beds.”
He looked down at my accusatory finger and burst into laughter. “Is that what this is all about? A thank-you card would have sufficed. You didn’t have to march over here first thing in the morning.” His eyes moved quickly down my body as his smile intensified. “Although, I don’t mind the view.”
“Ugh!” I yelled. “You really are a lawyer, aren’t you?”
His smile faltered as his arms dropped to his sides. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“It means,” I said, angrily pushing my finger into his chest, “that you are overbearing and arrogant, and you think everything can be fixed with a little money.”
Grabbing my finger with his large hand, he stepped forward, getting close to me. I could smell the woodsy scent of his aftershave.
“Look, I know you think I trampled those flowers, and I’m sorry. I have no idea what happened, but I’m guessing it was the movers since they were the ones here the day of the move—not me. You were upset, so I fixed it. I really thought you would appreciate the help.”
“But I didn’t need you to help me. I was going to take care of it. It was my thing, and you are currently ruining it with chemicals and tacky mulch.”
“You’re kind of a pain in the ass,” he said slowly, his eyes blazing with fire.
“You’re exasperating.”
He stepped inside, his smug grin firmly back in place. “I hope you enjoy your flowers, sweetheart.”
“You’re not going to fix them?”
“Why, I believe I already did,” he answered in a sweet voice, his accent thicker and high-pitched. “You have a nice day.”
With that, he shut the door in my face.
Jackson
“That woman is a menace!” I shouted as soon as I saw her door slam closed from my perch behind the curtains.
“Whatcha doin’, Dad?”
I stood and turned to find Noah standing in the entryway of the living room, looking at me with a mix of curiosity and amusement.
“Nothing,” I muttered. “But that woman,” I said, pointing toward her house, “is insane. Do you know what she did?”
He shook his head and plopped down on the love seat. His hair fell in his eyes, and he brushed it away before adjusting his bright blue skater shirt and kicking off his shoes.
“Who? Liv? It’s kind of awesome that she turned out to be our neighbor, huh?”
“Yeah, really awesome.”
“So, why is she crazy? I thought she was really nice—and pretty,” he added shyly.
“The pretty ones are always the craziest,” I warned. “I called the best landscapers in the area and paid extra to have them come out at the last minute on a Saturday to fix her precious flower bed that the movers had messed up. And what did she do?”
“Uh—” he managed to say before I cut him off.
“She yelled at me. She told me I was overbearing and…and a lawyer!” I threw my hands up in the air in frustration before finally sitting down on the sofa across from my son.
“Well, you are a lawyer. She was right about that,” he chimed in.
“That’s not the point.”
“Okay.”
“We need to find a gardening store,” I announced suddenly. A wicked genius idea started to formulate in my head.
“Um…okay. Why?” He glanced out the window to catch a glimpse of the men still working outside.
“Because we are going to do a bit of gardening of our own today,” I answered. “Come on, let’s go.”
I may have received a few odd looks as we roamed the aisles of the gardening store, and I tried to keep the maniacal laughing to a minimum.
I said I tried.
When I told the staff member who had pulled the short straw and was sent over to help us what my plan was, he eagerly agreed to help us.
An hour later, we had enough supplies to fill up my entire truck bed.
Catching Liv’s stunned face as Noah and I began hauling bag after bag of bright red mulch out of the truck onto the grass of the backyard was worth every goddamn penny.
“What the hell is this?” she asked as she stepped off her patio and began walking toward the edge of the fence.
I thought seeing her in that flimsy robe had been a treat. Watching her walk up to me in a bikini had me nearly swallowing my tongue.
But this woman was the enemy now, and I had to keep my wits about me.
That meant keeping my thoughts to myself and my dick in my pants.