Page 2 of Working For Her Attention

SAMUEL ‘SAM’ MIRANDA

My lips twitched at the sound that echoed through the cottage walls as the curtains danced, swaying back and forth.

She might not be stealthy with the way she’d been watching me these last few weeks, but my sexy neighbor was fucking adorable.

To be fair, she hadn’t been expecting me. I knocked on the door, and a cute little squeak sounded again along with some muffled words I couldn’t really make out. My sweet little bunny wanted to run away, and honestly, at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to pretend she wasn’t home despite us making eye contact. And goddamn, that split second of having those bright blue eyes on me was like staring at the sun.

Bright and beautiful. Almost otherworldly. Like a damn angel roaming around with us mere mortals. Get that shit out of your head, Sam, the reasonable, boring son of a bitch that lived inside of me muttered in my head. You’re just going to introduce yourself to your neighbor.

That was it.

Nothing more.

You don’t date, and you sure as hell don’t shit where you eat. Hitting on your new neighbor would be a disaster.

It wasn’t like I was the kind of man to settle down. Maybe once upon a time, that had been a dream, but two years ago, after turning thirty-eight, I had given up on that. And I was okay with it. I’d helped my mom raise my sisters after my dad had passed away, and in a couple of years, I was almost positive my little sisters would couple off and give me more than enough nieces and nephews to spoil one day.

I knocked again before slipping my hands into the front pockets of my gym shorts. Her eyes flashed in my mind’s eye, and I licked my lips. Bright blue, round eyes with a story I wanted to know. The reminder of the glimpses of her curvy body or the smile I’d seen as she spoke to Lila from down the street flashed in my head and made something inside of me warm up with a feeling I wasn’t used to.

Maybe Kane was right about me getting back out in the dating world? After my last relationship, I hadn’t really tried again. The idea of dating was tiring. The whole learning about someone, seeing if you’re compatible, and hoping they’re not just saying things you want to hear was fucking exhausting.

Especially when I was a man who liked certain things.

Certain control.

I cleared my throat and shook away the thoughts of the dark shit I was into. This was not the time to get fucking hard, especially while wearing gym clothes. My compression shorts would only hold back so much. Plus, in a small town like the one I lived in, there weren’t many who were into the same things I was into. The last time I’d brought that up with a partner, they hadn’t looked at me the same after.

Maybe not dating. Dating was too much and had too many strings. But a hookup? A one-night stand or a fling? A scratch to take care of the itch. Something to make me a little less touch-deprived.

The problem was that Forge Creek was a small town and it wasn’t like we had a bunch of tourists coming and going. Hooking up with someone local would be horrible. Rumors and everyone in your business? No thanks. I’d been born and raised in Forge Creek. I’d been there and done that when I was younger. That wasn’t for me.

Maybe my sisters had the right idea when it came to dating? Running off to big cities like Denver or Aspen once every month or so, where you could hide and blend in the throngs of people and no one would be the wiser? Though I didn’t really want to think about my little sisters hooking up with some faceless person. I sighed and was just about to head back to my truck, when the doorknob turned.

The brightly painted yellow door opened, and the world suddenly stopped flat on its ass. I’d known my new neighbor was pretty. I’d stolen enough glimpses of her since she hit my curb with her U-Haul truck when she moved in to get the gist that she was attractive. But that paled in comparison to standing face to face with her.

Silky smooth, thick blonde hair that’d been tossed up into a high ponytail. Wide bright blue eyes, a blue I hadn’t known even existed outside of tropical island waters. Peaches-and-cream skin that looked so smooth, so soft, it made my hands ache to touch. A round face with a light smattering of tiny, itty-bitty freckles that were perfectly sprinkled over the bridge of her nose and the apples of her pink-tinged cheeks. Pouty, full lips with the most perfect bow on top that made me yearn to pull it between my lips and pull it until she moaned against my mouth. My eyes skated down her body, taking in her womanly curves before meeting her eyes again.

“Hi,” she whispered softly. I swallowed. Hard.

Because suddenly, it felt like I’d fucking gone cliff diving so deep into the ocean I wasn’t sure what way was up. She cleared her throat, and a pretty, blonde brow rose higher. Jesus, you’re making an ass out of yourself! I reminded myself. Say something!

“Ha-hi. Hello,” I choked out, quickly clearing my too-scratchy throat. “Umm…” I rubbed the back of my neck and didn’t miss the way her eyes darted to my forearms and biceps. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Sam, Sam Miranda. I live right across the street.”

“Right.” She pressed her lips together. I couldn’t tell if it was because she wanted to smile or because she thought I was a moron.

Probably the latter, idiot. I wasn’t going to overthink why I wanted to be able to read all her tells. Liar, the lovesick fool inside of me muttered.

“I probably should have come by sooner. I think we kept missing one another.” Shit, did that sound creepy? Would she know I’d been keeping an eye out when she went on her runs or was gardening in the front yard?

“Yeah, sorry about that.” She bit her lip, and if I wasn’t mistaken, she started to blush. Interesting. “I should have come over, too. I’m Avery.” She extended her hand, and when I took it without thinking, much like I wasn’t prepared to see her face to face for the first time, that first touch was electric. Like lightning striking inside of a bottle, all I felt was heat and sparks rushing through every inch of my body, almost burning me alive in the best way possible.

“Avery.” I knew her name, of course, but fuck me, hearing it from her mouth made everything in my body tighten.

“Reynolds,” she added, and my lips tipped slightly upward.

“Avery Reynolds, nice to meet you.” I hardly recognized the scratchy depth in my voice as I stroked the top of the hand I still hadn’t let go of, with the pad of my thumb. Her warm, smooth skin made me want to fall to my knees and beg to let me explore her like a good little girl. Don’t go there, a little voice, that sane, reliable side of me, muttered.

“Nice to meet you, too, Sam, umm…” Her eyes dropped to our hands, silently noticing we were still touching, but I’d be damned if I was ready to let go.