Of course I know who he is, but his tone makes it sound like if I say yes, I’ll be admitting to something illicit. Heat starts to travel over my chest and up my neck.
Then I realize his company name is right on his truck. I jerk my head in its direction. “I can read.”
The smirk doesn’t budge. “I’m not renovating anything. I’m moving in.”
“You sure you got the address right?”
“One Landhorne Lane.”
Whelp. That’s the confirmation I was dreading. So this is really happening, which means I have to set him straight right away.
I place my fists on my hips. “Here’s the deal. I’ve already got one troublesome idiot living across from me who blasts his damn stereo from seven a.m. each morning. I will not put up with any nonsense from you too.”
He looks at the houses behind me. “Number two or number four?”
“I’ll let you discover that for yourself tomorrow morning.”
His eyes ping back to me.
“If you’re really moving in, you have a choice to make,” I tell him. “Are you going to be a good neighbor or a bad one? Choose carefully.”
“What if I choose wrong?”
“I will make life very unpleasant for you.” I sound confident, even though I have no idea what I could do to make things difficult for him. I’ll figure it out.
Amusement skates over his features. “And if I choose right?”
“Then I’ll walk back inside my house and never bother you again.”
He takes a step toward me, as if he wants to get a closer look at me. From here, I see the fine lines on his forehead. They seem to confirm he’s at least a few years older than me. Maybe in his thirties? There’s no boy left in him. He's all man.
“I don’t know.” His voice drops lower. “I’m kind of enjoying being bothered by you.”
Shock crackles through me. “Are you seriously flirting with me right now?”
The way it takes him just a bit too long to answer tells me he wasn’t expecting to be called out. “No.”
My God. He really thought that would work.Flirt with her, and she’ll shut right up.
He’s used to everyone falling all over themselves in his presence, isn’t he? He thinks that megawatt smile is going to be enough for me to let him off the hook.
No such luck, pal.
“Good.Don’t.Now listen up. I know you don’t know me, but I—”
“I’ve seen you around. You work at Frostbite. Good to know you’re just as hostile off duty as you are at work.”
Excuse me?“I’m not hostile,” I snap.
He makes a light scoff and takes another step forward. “Oh sure, you’re just a ball of sunshine.”
Do we really need to be standing this close? We’re practically chest to chest. From here, the fact that he’s about two heads taller than me is impossible to ignore.
The oxygen inside my lungs thins.
I know what he’s doing. He’s changing his strategy, moving from flirting to intimidation tactics.
Even with the wind swirling around us, his focused stare right into my eyes makes my cheeks prickle with heat. It would be great if I could back away a few feet, but that would be admitting defeat. And no way am I doing that.
