Girl Next Door: The Complete Series Read online

  “I don’t know if he’s gay or not. Want me to ask him?”

  Even with sunglasses covering his eyes, Michael’s glare penetrated. “Don’t you dare. Just feel him out and let me know later.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. Michael always cracked me up. If he were straight, he would have been perfect for me. Oh, well, that’s the way of the world. I was still smiling at Michael, when a shadow came over my chair. I tipped my head back and saw Aidan standing over me. I was thankful I was wearing my aviators with mirrored lenses, so he couldn’t see me staring openly at his body. I also lamented that he was wearing dark Oakleys, which made it impossible for me to read his expression.

  Still, I forced myself to keep smiling and greeted him.

  “Hi, Aidan. I’m so glad you could make it.” I gestured toward Michael. “This is my friend, Michael.”

  Michael jumped up and shook Aidan’s hand enthusiastically. “Great to meet you.”

  Aidan nodded and released Michael’s hand. “You, too.”

  Oh-kay. I looked between the two men, one on each side of my lounger. Whatever. “Aidan, did Cat introduce you around?”

  His head angled back toward me and he gave it a small shake. I smiled brightly, determined to be a good hostess and not a fawning idiot. I stood. “I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

  I nodded at Michael, who headed back to Wyatt, probably to spread the word that my new neighbor was insanely gorgeous. I rolled my eyes behind my glasses. I loved my boys, but they could drive me absolutely nuts. Aidan and I walked over to Amy and her new man.

  I introduced him and saw Amy regarding him with the same open-mouthed stare as Cat and Michael had given him upon introduction. Her flavor-of-the-month seemed less than happy about this. I had a feeling he wouldn’t last long. We wandered over to the grill next, where Michael and Wyatt stopped whispering as soon as they saw us closing in. Michael introduced Wyatt as his “boy toy” and Aidan grinned for the first time since he arrived and shook Wyatt’s hand.

  After the introductions were complete, the party settled and it was a blast. Rock music played on my radio at a loud but not obnoxious volume and we drank and snacked. I found myself relaxing and being my usual exuberant self. I told jokes, stories, and laughed often and loud. Aidan was not as talkative as Cat, Michael, Amy, and I, but he wasn’t aloof either. He listened, laughed a couple of times, and had a dry sense of humor.

  The party moved indoors at dusk. Amy and her new man left, but the rest of us sat in the kitchen playing cards and talking. By nine, the day of swimming, sun, food, and alcohol had taken its toll. Mike and Wyatt headed home, too.

  This left Cat, Aidan, and I sitting at the kitchen table, still chatting a little, but obviously winding down for the night. Cat was staying the night with me again since she had drunk her share of margaritas, plus part of mine and Michael’s. Cat, the traitor, stood up. “It was great to see you today, Aidan. I’m glad you made it to the party.” She paused and glanced at me. “I’m gonna go upstairs, clean up, and go to bed. I think I got too much sun today.”

  I widened my eyes at her, silently promising retribution for her thinly veiled effort to leave me alone with Aidan. She smirked at me, and when she knew Aidan wasn’t looking, stuck out her tongue as she left the room. I rolled my eyes at her. I turned back to Aidan to find him studying me intently. The kitchen table suddenly seemed to shrink. I told myself to remain calm and act cool. He was my neighbor, we’d had fun today, and that would be it.

  I tried for a small smile. “Glad you could make it today. You’re welcome to come any time we have a shindig.” There, I was friendly but not overly so.

  Aidan gave me his half-smile. “Shindig?”

  I waved my hand. “Party, gathering, hoe-down, whatever.”

  His half-smile became a full grin and he stood. “Walk me to the door.”

  Say what? Okay, so I was right. I was totally not his type. He wasn’t going to flirt, hit on me, or even just hang. Now that everyone else was gone, he was bailing. He probably wanted Cat’s number. I gritted my teeth and decided I would not, absolutely not, give him a fake number, though I really, really wanted to. I did not question why I felt this way, as I was still in denial about the crush I had definitely developed on my new neighbor that afternoon.

  We walked to the front door. Aidan opened it, stepped out on the porch, and grabbed my hand to pull me out with him. The front door shut behind us, leaving us on my dim front porch, with Aidan standing close to me. As in, he was way in my space, so much that my breasts touched his front every time I took a breath. Frozen, I stared up at him. In the shadows of my porch, all I could see was the angle of his jaw and his eyes glittering down at me. Suddenly, I felt his big, hot hand on the small of my back, and I jumped. He chuckled. Then, I shivered, goosebumps racing up my arms. Slowly, he used his hand to pull me closer to his front, until I was practically plastered to him. I wasn’t sure if it was the pressure of his hand that made this happen or the fact that my legs became jelly and my head was suddenly light.

  I licked my lips and, I swear, he must have been able to see in the dark, because I heard him take a quick breath. Then, he kissed me. It did not feel like a first kiss. It didn’t even feel like a second or third kiss. There was no hesitation or building of heat. One second, I was looking up at his shadowed face and the next his tongue was in my mouth, and his arm was clamped around my waist, lifting me up to his mouth. This was how a man kissed a woman he was fucking, not a woman he had just met. Just like his hand shake, I felt the touch of his lips everywhere, only a hundred times more intense.

  When Aidan lifted his head, and I returned to reality, I realized I had tried to climb him like a tree. He had both hands on my ass, supporting most of my weight, while I had both legs tight around his hips. My hands were cupped around the back of his head, gripping him tightly. He used his hands on my ass to pull me in tighter to his groin and I whimpered a little. Holy shit, he was really hard and I was really turned on. He shifted me again, and my clit rubbed against him. My hips twitched involuntarily.

  He stared at me for a moment then whispered, “Fuck.” It was not a happy word.

  The foggy, lust-filled thoughts in my mind disappeared instantly, and I unwrapped myself from his body and pushed at his shoulders. Aidan lowered me to my feet, but kept his hands tight on my ass. I tried to push again, but he was definitely Wall o’ Muscle and he was determined I was going to stay where I was.

  I opened my mouth to ask him what in the hell he thought he was doing, when the front door flew open. Cat saw us in a clinch.

  “Oh, shit, sorry, sorry. I was just looking for Nat. I was never here.”

  With that she slammed the door and left us in the shadows again. Shit, damn, hell, and every other curse word known to man. I was fucked, and, if the dick poking me in the belly was any indication, it was going to be literally and figuratively. I looked back up at Aidan.

  “That was a mistake. We’re neighbors. If we start something, one, or both of us, is gonna be miserable and probably pissed when it ends. I love my house and do not want to move, which means you would have to move.”

  Aidan shook his head. “Why would I have to move if we started and then ended?”

  My eyes narrowed. “Because.”

  “Babe, we’ve been living next door to each other a month and I’ve only seen you twice. Once because we were both mowing our yards, and the other because your dickhead ex was keeping me up. If one of us gets sick of the other, I doubt we’d run into each other often.”

  He had a point. Still, that was not the end of it. “I just broke up with a guy a few weeks ago. The last thing I need to do is start a relationship with somebody else.”

  “Who said anything about a relationship?”

  Oh, now I was pissed. He just kissed me like he was planning on ripping my clothes off, but jumping back from the R-word. How? How in the hell did these guys find me? I must send out some kind of beacon, like a lighthouse. If you are a dickh
ead, asshat, or douchebag, see Natalie York.

  This time, when I shoved at his shoulders, he let me go. “Exactly my point.” I fumed. “I get not every guy wants a relationship, and I respect men who are honest about it from the get-go. However, I’m gonna be honest with you. I’m thirty years old. I’m not exactly looking to settle down, but I want more than a fuck buddy. I’m independent and I like to party. I know fucking someone doesn’t automatically mean hearts, flowers, and forever, but it does mean something. At least to me. If you want a booty call, you’d better look elsewhere.”

  Aidan was silent. Why me? Within the course of six hours I had developed a huge crush on my neighbor, kissed him like I wanted to devour him, and then thrown the R-word at him. I could write a best-seller on how to not get a guy in a week or less. I straightened my spine. Whatever. It was better to know now that he was an asshole instead of a few days, or weeks, when he decided he wanted a new toy to play with.

  I took another step back. “I see we understand each other.” My hand touched the doorknob. Aidan was close behind me and laid his hand on mine, stopping me from going into the house.

  I twisted my neck and looked up over my shoulder at him. It was dark and I couldn’t see his face well at all. Dammit, I just wanted to go inside, have a few shots of tequila, and figure out how to become a lesbian. I was through with men. The last few I bothered with were so not worth it.

  “Come to my house tomorrow night.”

  Say what? I gaped at him for a second, my mouth moving, but nothing coming out. “Did you not hear what I just said?” I asked. Okay, I did good. I wasn’t yelling.

  “Yeah. I did. You just told me that you appreciate a man who’s honest and you want to be more than a booty call. I can deal with that. Since you were straight with me, I’m gonna be straight with you. I wanted to fuck you since that night your dickhead ex woke me up and I dragged my ass over here to tell him to shut the fuck up. I also think you’re funny as hell and too much of a smartass for your own good. I’m not interested in something long-term or serious, but we could both have some laughs and, if that kiss is any clue, some very hot sex until you or I are ready to move on.”

  With that, Aidan released my hand and stepped back. “If you decide that situation is something you can handle, us spending time together in bed and some just hanging out, come over tomorrow night at six. If not, you stay home tomorrow night and we leave it at that.”

  He turned and walked down my front steps, across my yard, and out of sight. I stood there, one hand on the door, for a while, before I went back inside. Cat came out of the guest room as soon as I hit the top step of the staircase.

  I just held a hand up to her, palm out. “I can’t talk about it right now. I’m pissed, confused, and kinda turned on. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.”

  Cat must have seen all this was true, and that wheedling, whining, and browbeating would not get me talking tonight. She nodded. “I’ll see you in the morning. Night, Natty.”

  I went to my bedroom door and opened it. “Night, Catwoman. I’ll see you in a few hours.” With that, I shut my door and proceeded to spend a sleepless night remembering that day in vivid detail. Not just the bone-melting kiss on my porch, but the jokes, laughter, and fun of the party and Aidan’s smile. Shit, I was in so much trouble.

  The next morning, Cat and I got up late. Over lunch, yes, we’d slept that late, she grilled me. I didn’t tell her everything, because even thinking about it freaked me out. I shared about the kiss and I told her Aidan wanted to see me again. I did not share my conversation with Aidan after the kiss or his proposal.

  Cat was all for me having a fuck buddy, but what Aidan described to me last night was more than that. It was also less than full-on dating-slash-girlfriend status. Cat was definitely not fond of grey areas. Neither was I, but, after that kiss, I felt it was hopeless to resist. Hell, I didn’t want to resist.

  After Cat left, I spent a lazy afternoon on my back porch and thought about how I would handle Aidan. I had never felt like I did last night on my porch, especially from a single kiss. If sex with Aidan was as hot as that kiss promised, forget resisting. I would haul ass straight to his mattress. I wanted to have sex that hot at least once in my life. With my track record with men, I doubted I’d get happily-ever-after, anyway. At least I’d have the memory for the rest of my life.

  So, I spent the afternoon on my back deck, drinking a diet soda, painting my toenails, and thinking. As I soaked up the warm sun, I knew I could accept the terms Aidan laid out, but I had a few conditions of my own. My decision was made, and I wouldn’t dwell. Once I decided something, I stuck to it. My father sometimes referred to it as blind stubbornness, but I preferred to think of it as tenacity and perseverance. Unfortunately, this trait got me into trouble as often as it worked in my favor, but that was me, and that was it.

  I spent the next hour and a half showering, shaving, and primping. Though I wanted to go all out, I didn’t want to send a message from the beginning that I was overeager. Yes, I wanted to look hot, but, if this quasi-relationship had an expiration date, I wasn’t going to waste the big guns on someone who probably wouldn’t be around in a few months.

  At ten to six, I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror. I was wearing a cute pair of white shorts and another camisole with a built-in bra, this one a bright teal. I’d dried my streaked blond hair and left it straight, so it brushed my shoulder blades. Barely there make-up, silver hoops and a silver anklet on my right ankle were it. My hot pink toes were freshly painted and looked great with my tan.

  My belly quivered as I slid on a pair of white flip flops. I was definitely nervous. If Aidan agreed to my terms, it was very likely he and I would be getting naked tonight. This thought had me alternating from terrified to extremely turned on. Not a good condition if I wanted to lay out my ground rules in a calm and concise manner.

  I took a deep breath, and headed downstairs and out the front door. My nerves calmed slightly and I walked across my yard, Aidan’s yard, and up his front steps. I rang the doorbell and took one more deep breath. Aidan opened the door and my hormones whimpered. He was dressed in faded jeans, a white T-shirt, and bare feet. He gave me what I was beginning to realize was his standard smile, the half-grin.

  “Glad to see you, Nat.” He opened the door wider and stepped to the side. “Come in.”

  He was still very close when I walked through the door and my body brushed his. I felt like I’d been zapped with an electric shock. He smelled fantastic and his body felt at least twenty degrees warmer than mine.

  “Want a beer,” he asked, “or wine?”

  “I’d like red wine, if you have it.”

  He looked amused. “Sure, follow me.”

  He turned and headed past the stairs that led to the second story. His entryway went back to an open living area. The kitchen, dining room, and den were basically all one room. His furniture was dark grey leather and gorgeous oak wood. While the room was utilitarian, there were still a few homey touches; some framed photos on the mantel, a couple of prints hanging on the walls. He had blinds and curtains, both of which were opened.

  The room was warm, comfortable, and definitely not a man cave. Aidan walked to the kitchen counter and snagged an opened bottle of wine. From the cabinets, he pulled down a wineglass.

  “So, you just happened to have a bottle of red open and breathing?” I asked.

  He smirked. “As a matter of fact, I saw your wine collection last night and thought you might prefer wine to beer.”

  I tilted my head and accepted the glass from him. So he had really expected me to show up tonight. “You’re very sure of yourself, aren’t you?”

  I sipped the wine. It was dry but mellow. Yum. He gave me the full version of his smile this time, one that turned his eyes to pure gold. Speaking of yum, that smile was better than the wine. Still, he didn’t respond. I guessed he thought the smile was answer enough, so I shrugged.

  “Thanks.” There I was
polite.

  Aidan’s smile remained. He set down his beer, came around the counter, and took my wine out of my hand. He set it on the counter.

  Oh, crap. Okay, I just needed to lay it out there before this went any further. His kisses were so hot they seriously melted my brain. Aidan leaned his back against the counter and grabbed my hips, pulling me closer. I put both palms on his chest and was momentarily distracted by the feel of hard muscle and heat. I pulled myself together. My head tilted back so I could look into his face.

  “I just want to clarify something. I have a couple of stipulations of my own, if we continue…” What in the hell would you call a more-than-a-fuck-buddy-but-not-a-boyfriend? “This way.”

  It was kind of lame, but I didn’t know what else to say.

  Aidan just cocked a brow, waiting. Okay, so it was still my turn.

  “For as long as we are together…like this, it’s exclusive.” I paused to see if he would argue or say something.

  “And what else?” he asked.

  I blinked. “Actually, I think that covers my only concern.”

  Aidan laughed and it made my head spin. God, he was gorgeous. Still chuckling, he leaned down and kissed me lightly.

  “I can handle that.”

  The tension I hadn’t realized I was carrying eased out of my muscles. Okay, so at least, for the time he and I were together we wouldn’t see anyone else. Well, at least if he did, I could actually kick his ass without seeming like a jealous, bitter hag. He agreed to the terms, he should abide by them.

  Aidan was studying me intently again. “What exactly are you thinking about now?”

  Again, I blinked. Okay, I was a shit liar anyway, so I might as well be honest. “Um, kicking your ass if you break the terms of the agreement?” It sounded more like a question than a statement, but it got my point across.

  His hands tightened on my hips. “Seriously? That’s what you were thinkin’?”

  My eyes narrowed at his tone. “Yeah. I only have one condition in this, and if you can’t stick to it, you deserve an ass kicking.”