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Throwing her hand up, Kyra waves and hurriedly runs back across the street. Once again, she flies into the house and shuts the door behind her.
“Holy fuck! That man is pure sex. My clit damn near exploded just being near him.” I laugh at her dramatics. She certainly has a way with words. It’s what I love the most about my best friend.
Kason skips back into the kitchen to get a drink from the refrigerator. Kyra quickly snatches two cookies off the pan. One goes into her mouth and the other into his little hand. “Quick! Run, kid.” He giggles and takes off through the house.
“You’re such a bad influence.”
Still chewing a mouthful of her cookie, she mumbles her reply, “I know.”
I’ve just taken the last of the food off the grill when I hear Kyra’s excited voice coming around the back of the house. “I’m so glad you decided to come.” Great. Which loser did she invite over this time? I swear the girl goes through men like diarrhea. The gate to the backyard opens, and I glance up to see just who her mystery date is.
Holy fuck! Why didn’t she tell me she invited the new neighbor?
The minute my eyes lock with his, I feel like the air has been expelled from my chest. With his jet-black hair, piercing dark eyes, and hot body, there’s no doubt he draws attention wherever he goes. Dear Lord! I’d been more than right about him being good looking. A sly smile slowly spreads across his face as he catches me gawking at him. Mortified, I drop my eyes, but then see that Kyra has her arm linked in between his. Suddenly, for some unexplained reason, I feel an unfamiliar ping of jealousy. What the hell? I never get this way over anyone. Angered by my reaction, I jerk my hand to close the lid. I’m so distracted that I miss the handle and touch the hot metal instead.
“Ow! Shit!” I scream, dropping the spatula. Not again! As luck would have it, it's the same damn hand I’d burned just an hour ago. When I look up, everyone is staring at me. My face flushes with embarrassment as I make my way to the door.
“Are you okay?” Kyra calls out, and I wave her off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just clumsy. Go ahead and grab the food so you guys can eat. I’ll be right back.”
Once again, I run my hand underneath the cool water of the kitchen sink. As I examine the burn on my hand, there’s no doubt it will leave a mark. Letting out an exasperated breath, I turn the water off. Just as I reach for the towel, I feel the air in the room shift. Paranoid, I quickly turn around only to find the sexy neighbor staring right at me. My eyes divert to the old rickety door behind him, and I try to figure out how he’d managed to come in without me hearing him.
“Need any help?” He offers pushing off the wall behind him. Instantly, I feel my heart pounding in my chest.
“No, thanks. I got it. You should go on back out with Kyra and eat before the food gets cold.” I reply, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in doing that. Tilting his head to the side, his eyes divert to my hand, still wrapped in the towel. His dark eyes shift upwards, locking with mine. The intensity in his stare makes me feel uneasy, but electrified at the same time.
Why is my body acting this way?
Startled by the way my body is reacting, I gradually begin inching myself backward until my ass bumps into the kitchen counter. Swallowing hard, I try to disguise my nervousness as he continues walking towards me. He stops just inches away, still so close that I can smell his freshly showered skin. Everything about him is intoxicating, but there is something about his chocolate colored eyes that captivate me the most. They are consuming and powerful, two things that should turn me off, but they only turn me on more.
Without saying a word, he reaches out and takes my hand into his, causing a rush of powerful energy to pass between us. The feeling is so profound that I have to close my eyes to contain myself. When I finally brave a glance at him, I discover he’s obviously felt it as well. Dropping his eyes, he puts his focus back on my injury, carefully removing the dishtowel on my hand. Concern grows in his face as he tilts my hand from left to right, examining the bright red burn.
“You need to be more careful.” If his words were meant to be kind, it certainly didn’t come across that way. They were direct and cold in nature, angering me instantly.
“I’m fine.” I try to pull my hand away, but he takes a tight hold of my wrist.
“It’s going to scar. You need to put something on it.”
“I don’t care about scars.” I snap. It’s true. Parts of my body will always carry them. One more certainly won’t be anything to cry about.
“You should care.” He replies, pissing me off even more. Immediately, I jerk my hand away from him and begin unleashing my fury.
“Look, I don’t know who you think you are, but you certainly don’t need to-,”
“Payne James.” He extends his hand out for me to shake, baffling me with his boldness. Stunned, I stare at it for a minute, unsure of whether or not to touch him again. The long silence only makes things even more awkward between us.
“Honey Andrews,” I reply, hesitantly lifting my good hand to shake hands with him.
This time, I hold my breath in preparation as the electrifying energy returns and passes between us. It’s so overwhelming that it feels like all the air has been sucked out of the room.
He looks sexy as fuck, wearing a crisp, form fitting, black button-up shirt, and dark denim jeans. I stare at the buttons, while fighting the urge to reach over and rip the shirt right off him. Everything about him is fierce, from his eyes to his confident stance. His perfectly sculpted body screams hot, wild sex. You can practically smell the alpha personality seeping from every pore of his delectable skin. Normally that’s an instant turn off for me, but for some reason my body is reacting to him in ways it simply shouldn’t.
“Mommy?” Kason’s voice startles me. Looking down, I hadn’t even realized that I’m still holding Payne’s hand. Abruptly, I release it and run my hand through my hair, trying to compose myself.
“I’m coming, sweetie.” I smile, and he steps back out of the kitchen, leaving us alone. “I better get back.” He nods but doesn’t move. Instead, he steps closer to me, putting both hands on the counter and caging me between his arms.
Oh, God. What’s he doing?
“It was nice to meet you, Honey Andrews.” I can smell a hint of mint coming from his hot fresh breath. My attention centers on his full lips and how the corners curve into a grin. He drops his hands and turns to leave. I try to follow behind him, but my weak knees won’t let me walk. Bracing myself against the countertop, I blink hard, trying to recover from whatever that just was. I don’t know what the hell had just happened, but it certainly can’t happen again.
I’d kept quiet during dinner, using every excuse possible to go back into the kitchen after something. I couldn’t even look at him, let alone eat around him. Making matters worse, Kason had immediately clung to him, asking him if he knew how to play baseball. Their discussion had led to the game of catch currently going on in our back yard.
“Good job, buddy! Okay, try it again.” Payne coaches Kason on throwing a ball.
Tossing the used cups and plates into the large garbage can, I try to pretend I’m not watching their interaction.
Kyra collapses in a chair beside me and shoves a bottle of Corona in front of my face.
“You look like you could use this right about now.”
I sit in the patio chair and frown as I take it from her hand. This is the first time I’ve been able to talk to her alone.
“Why in the hell did you invite him?” I whisper.
“Duh! I did it for you.”
“Me? How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not interested in seeing anyone.”
“You’re not interested in that? Oh, come on! Even the fucking light pole over there is interested in that. Besides, I can’t believe men don’t try to pick you up every night at the bar.”
“They do, but I always say no.”
She lets out a loud sigh. “Somehow I don’t think that delicious man
over there hears that word a lot.”
“Seriously, Kyra, you could’ve warned me he was coming.”
“Well, of course, I could’ve, but what’s the fun in that?” She smirks and takes another drink. “So what happened with you two in the kitchen?” She wiggles her eyebrows at me.
“Nothing happened.” I lie. “He just asked if I needed any help.”
“And?” She scoots up in her seat, hanging on my next word.
“And I said, ‘no’.”
She slaps her hand on her forehead in frustration. “Ugh! I can’t believe you. I practically served you sizzling hot sex-on-a-stick and you turn it down?”
“Whatever.” I turn up my beer. Hopefully, she’ll get the point and shut up.
“Well at least someone looks like their having a good time.” She points to where they are and then turns up her beer.
My eyes follow the direction of her finger. My son’s attention is intensely focused on the ball in Payne’s hand. He tosses it, and Kason dives to catch it.
“There you go!” He cheers as a wide smile grows across his handsome face.
“Mommy! Did you see?” Kason excitedly shouts at me.
“I sure did. Way to go.”
Payne’s eyes lock to mine. The intense way he stares at me makes me weak at the knees. Flustered, I blink away and look back to my son.
“Why don’t you tell Mr. James, thank you, and go on inside. It’s bath time.”
“Can I play a little longer? Please, Mommy?”
Payne drops down beside Kason but keeps his eyes on me.
“Listen to your mom, Sport. I’ve got to be going, anyway. You keep practicing and we’ll toss the ball around again soon, okay?”
“Promise?”
Payne’s eyes momentarily leave mine and focus on my son’s face.
“I promise. Now, run on along.”
Kyra waves him on in, leaving me outside alone with Payne. I glance back over Payne’s shoulder and see her wiggling her eyebrows. I return a death glare to her.
“He’s really a great kid,” Payne boasts.
“Thank you for spending time with him. I know he enjoyed it.” I manage to get out the words without looking at him.
“You don’t have very good eye contact, do you?” I blink hard and look at him, unable to hide the confusion in my expression.
“Ah, there they are.” He steps forward and brushes my hair away from my face. “Those eyes are too beautiful to hide.”
Jesus! I feel like my body is on fire. I can’t even respond to him.
“Thank you for having me over, Honey.” He reaches down and takes my injured hand into his, slowly bringing it up to his lips. “I’ll see you around.”
Fucking hell!
I feel as though the wind has been sucked out of my lungs. Unable to move, I watch him leave through the gate of my backyard. Grabbing hold of the cold beer beside me, I lift it to my face and press it to my forehead, in a desperate effort to cool down. It’s unnerving what this guy does to me. When I look towards the kitchen door, Kyra is grinning from ear to ear. Who would’ve guessed it? The nosey bitch had been spying on us the entire time. I roll my eyes and return to cleaning up the backyard, anything to try to get my mind off him.
Chapter Thirteen
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
PAYNE
I press hard to make the last stretch of my five-mile run. With each push of my feet against the wet sand, I leave a bit more of my anger behind with it. I’m so damned pissed at how I’ve let things affect me. Running is the only thing that clears my head. However, with as many thoughts as I am struggling to figure out, I can run forever and never rid them from my mind.
Why the hell did I have to touch her?
Ever since I’d left her house yesterday, she’s been all I could think about, dream about. There is no denying the attraction I have to her. I’d felt it and I know damn sure she’d felt it as well. I want to do things to her, very bad things. If it felt that good just touching her, I can only imagine how it would feel to be inside of her, fucking her until she begged me to let her come. I can still smell her perfume; still feel the silky strands of her hair in my fingers. It’s why I had to get out of the house for a while to get my head straight.
I’d known accepting her friend’s invitation to dinner would be a risky endeavor. Any soldier knows that sometimes, in order to win the war, you have to fight on the front lines. Crossing the street had definitely been entering dangerous territory, but I had to see it all for myself. I went over there thinking I was prepared, but she’d knocked me on my ass. I hadn’t expected to be shown a weakness I didn’t know I had…Her.
When her son had asked me to play ball with him, I thought it would be a great opportunity to scope out everyone, but instead I found myself enjoying the time I spent with him. From watching his mom’s reaction, I can tell she is uneasy about letting people near him. Seeing her extreme, protective mode makes me even more certain that something is definitely wrong about this situation. By now, I’d thought I’d have the answers that I wanted, but instead I’ve only got more questions.
When I spot the pier up ahead, I know I’m almost to the finish line. Glancing down at my watch, I see that I’m slightly behind on my personal best run time. Amped up, I dig down deep inside to find the last of the energy to beat it. Faster and faster, my legs move until my muscles feel like they are going to rip from the bone. The air in my chest seems to be slowly sucked out, but I keep my focus on the wooden platform up ahead. By the time I reach my destination, I’m gasping for air. Leaning over, I place my hands on my thighs and heave for my next breath. As my lungs slowly fill back up with air, they feel as if they are on fire.
Exhausted from the run, I drop to my knees and fall into the warm sand beneath me. Korn’s,“Alone I Break” still blares loudly through my ear buds. I close my eyes and lie onto my back, trying to slow down my breathing. Without warning, a dark figure moves over my body, blocking the sun from hitting my face. My military instincts immediately kick in, putting me on guard and ready to take down whoever it is that’s trying to sneak up on me. Once I open my eyes, I’m instantly relieved at the sight of the little boy standing above me.
Of all people, how is he here?
“Are you okay?” I read his lips. Smiling, I pull out the buds from my ears.
“Hey buddy,” I reply. I’m just about to ask him what he’s doing here when I hear a familiar voice frantically calling for him. The opportunity to make my move seems to be right before my eyes and I have every intention to take it.
HONEY
“Come on, Mommy,” Kason exclaims as he excitedly runs past me. Even though I have to work tonight, I agreed we could spend a little bit of the day on the beach.
“Wait for me, baby,” I call out to him as I slip off my sandals in the sand. When I look back up, he’s nowhere in sight. He always waits for me on the sand dune. My heart practically stops as fear overtakes me.
“Kason?” I drop my things and hurriedly climb the mound of sand in a state of panic. Relief washes over me when I spot the top of his little head, but then my stomach drops once I see that he’s standing over some guy lying down in the sand. What the hell? He knows better than to talk to strangers! Agitated by his carelessness, I take off, running to where he is.
“Kason Andrews! You know better than to run off like that!” I take his hand to pull him away, but then I hear a voice I’d tried all too hard to forget.
“Honey, stop.” My body freezes to his command.
How the fuck does he have the power over me like this?
Taking a deep breath, I bravely begin turning around to face him. Payne quickly stands and brushes the sand off his perfect, godlike body, rendering me speechless. The tight, long sleeve Under Armour shirt he’s wearing deliciously accents his immaculately toned chest and abs.
Oh. My. God!
I take a deep breath and shove back my nerves, trying to prepare my apology.
“I’m sorry i
f he was bothering you.” I offer before squatting down to face my son. I slowly brush his hair back away and place my hands on his cheeks.
“Sweetheart, you can’t just run off from me like that. You really scared Mommy.” He looks as if I’ve upset him, so I pull him into a hug. Payne closely observes our interaction, but I try my damnedest to ignore him.
“I’m sorry, Mommy, but I saw him fall. I thought he was hurt.”
Payne kneels in front of him and rustles his hair.
“I’m fine, buddy. I was just resting. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“See, sweetie? He’s fine. Now, let’s leave, Mr. James alone so he can rest, okay?” I’m doing my best to get the heck away, but my son’s determined to make this hard for me.
