Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 256(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
“Stop,” he says casually.
Eyes wide, I turn my head to stare at him. “Get your hand off my thigh.”
He glances down at his watch. “Eleven minutes.”
“Excuse me?”
He releases my thigh and looks over at me. “You’ve been uncomfortable from the moment I put my hand on your leg, but it took you eleven minutes to tell me point-blank to move it.”
“It’ll take me two more to call a cab and go wait for it alone if you keep critiquing my behavior.”
Hayden grins. “I like you. I’m not trying to be an asshole. I’m trying to help.”
“I don’t need your help.”
“Actually, you do. Remember when you burst into my office asking for it? You’re uncomfortable making other people uncomfortable, so you’ll sit in your discomfort to spare them, even if you don’t know or particularly like them. Don’t do that. If someone isn’t considerate of your comfort, don’t be considerate of theirs. Next time your neighbor approaches, tell him immediately to go away. Tell him he’s not welcome on your property, and if he doesn’t leave, you’ll call the police. If he ignores your direct warning and puts his hands on you, knee him as hard as you can right between the legs. Then follow through—call the police. There’s no guarantee your efforts will be enough to protect you, but I can guarantee that inaction will embolden him to take things even further. This neighbor of yours isn’t a good guy. Everything else aside, a good guy would never make insinuations about your teenage daughter. You need to make your boundaries with him very clear, and the moment he crosses them, you do something about it.”
Just the thought of it makes me nervous. “I’ve never been great at confrontation.”
“We all have different strengths,” he says. “I understand this is harder for you, but that’s why he’s targeting you. He caught on to that, too. He’s not the type to pick on someone his own size. He picks on someone smaller so he knows he’ll win. He’s a wimp. I’ve never met the man, and he disgusts me, but some people are like that, and they have to be put in their place.”
“I think part of the problem is I’m pretty tolerant, so maybe my boundaries aren’t the same as everyone else’s. My boundary wasn’t crossed when he first started being a jerk, but he kept coming until he crossed my boundary, and then it was too late. He was too confident he could walk all over me.”
Hayden nods. “He’s an asshole. We’ll deal with it and get rid of him. Don’t worry too much about it. Just giving you some tips.”
I nod, tucking my hair behind my ears, but I’m not sure he’s right. Yeah, he addressed the issue tonight with Lisa, and I’m sure she will have something to say about it when Brent gets home, but that doesn’t mean my problem is solved. Even if Brent is exactly the kind of worm Hayden thinks he is, the threat of Hayden is all that protects me right now.
We’re neighbors. Brent will realize pretty quickly that Hayden isn’t coming around anymore, and it would only take a sweeping gaze to see that no additional cameras have been installed.
Hayden’s bluff may have bought me a reprieve, but where will I be when he disappears from my life again?
Right back where I was when I stormed into his office, but having also provoked Brent by telling his wife.
Chapter Six
Hayden
The pitcher of sangria was definitely the right call.
I knew Gemma needed to loosen up. First dates make a lot of people uncomfortable, and she’s probably one of them. Most people worry about putting their best foot forward and impressing whomever they’re out with.
Me, I’ve never worried about it. Like me as I am, or fuck off and I’ll find someone who does. But Gemma and I are nothing alike, as far as I can tell. Complete and utter opposites in every imaginable way.
I want to know if that difference extends to the bedroom.
As she has consumed more sangria, she has warmed right up. She sways to the music as if she doesn’t have a passing thought to give to what anyone else thinks. She smiles easily and often, so I know she’s having a good time. As the pitcher empties, she begins to lean on me more, her lowered inhibitions making room for her desires—and the attraction to me she won’t stop fighting.
I place my hand on her thigh again, but this time, she doesn’t stiffen or tell me to move it. This time, she doesn’t want me to.
She leans her head on my shoulder and lets her eyes drift closed. “I’m sleepy.”
Absently, I kiss her temple as I slide my hand up her thigh.
She sighs softly.
“Do you want to go?” I ask.
“No,” she murmurs, but she probably thinks I mean to end the date.