Page 40
Thing was, when Rafe Hare glared at me, all I could think about was how pretty his big green eyes were. Maybe I was a little sick in the head.
A flush crept up his neck as he looked away, grabbing a handful of napkins to wipe up the spill. “Can I help you?”
“Nope, just came to talk to Holt about something.” I leaned a shoulder on the doorframe and crossed my arms, effectively trapping him in the tiny room with my bulk so he had to talk to me for at least a minute. “How’s it going?”
“Fine,” he muttered, dumping his spoon in the sink and picking up his mug. He took a meaningful step forward, clenching his jaw. “Do you mind?”
“Nope,” I repeated cheerfully, not budging. “So did you see that I fixed your fence?” I asked, even though I knew he and his friend had been watching me while I did it.
Hence my little wet T-shirt stunt.
“Yes,” Rafe said stiffly.
“Oh, okay.” I shrugged, my mouth twitching with amusement. “You just haven’t been over to thank me, so I wasn’t sure you’d noticed.”
His nostrils flared. “I mean, do I really have to thank you? You’re the reason it was broken in the first place. For six months.” After a pause, he added, “And now that patch of grass is fucked.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, suppressing a chuckle. It hadn’t taken long for him to find something new to grumble about.
Cute little kitten.
“The patch of grass that was under the broken fence panel,” he said. “It’s all anaemic and half-dead from lack of sunlight.”
“Ah.” I nodded, scratching the side of my neck. “Yeah. Lack of sunlight will do that to grass.”
I liked sparring with him like this. My belly was tightening with excitement, the last of my ire over Frank and Beans dissolving as I waited for him to snark back at me. It was fun. He was fun.
Cheeks flushing, he took a step closer to glare up at me. “So are you going to fix my yard?”
A grin slowly spread across my face. “Sure. I’ll fix your yard.”
Why did that sound kind of dirty?
Rafe’s eyes darted down to my mouth for the briefest of moments. “When?”
“Whenever you want,” I rasped.
His throat bobbed. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and my cock twitched when I saw a flash of metal.
“Just don’t take another six months to do it,” he said, his voice a little huskier than before.
“Promise I won’t.” I smirked. “I can come over later to get started, if you want. Didn’t have any plans tonight except… oh, I don’t know, just relaxing and having a little ‘me time’ on the couch…”
Something flared in his eyes and colour bloomed in his cheeks. He swallowed again, once, twice, then croaked, “Well, I guess… It’s going to be a busy week, so I… I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your… relaxation time.”
My smile widened. “You sure?”
“Yep,” he said quickly, his face a bright purplish grey now.
“That sure is nice of you.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. “I should get back to work,” he said, despite making no effort to move past me.
“Sure thing.” I eased back and gestured for him to pass me.
He hesitated, then took a stilted step forward. I watched as he shuffled past me into the hall.
“Shame we can’t hang out on our back decks anymore, neighbour,” I commented, still watching as he walked away. “But I’m real bad at remembering to close my blinds, so if you ever see me through the windows, you make sure to give me a wave. Or something.”
