Free Neighbor Dearest by Penelope Ward Page A

late to start a new movie. It’s fine.”
    “Well, I’m not keeping it on if you’re not into it.” He grabbed the remote and pressed stop.
    It was suddenly quiet.
    “Can I ask you something, Damien?”
    “The answer is always yes, so stop prefacing everything with that question.”
    “What was it exactly that you invented that allowed you to buy this building?”
    “It was a type of headphone technology. Myself and a co-worker sold the patent for ten million.”
    Say what?
    “That is so amazing.”
    “After taxes and divvying it up, it wasn’t that much money. I used my half to buy this building at auction and fix it up.”
    “So, you invested all of it here.”
    “Yup. And it pays off.”
    “You were very smart to do that and not waste it.”
    “I love that I can keep a few good people employed. That’s honestly the best part.”
    “Murray had nothing but good things to say about you as a boss.”
    “My job is easy. What you do at that youth center on a daily basis, shaping kids’ views of life and the world, opening their eyes to new things…that’s way harder than anything I’ve ever done.”
    “It’s funny. There’s this teenage girl who’s been coming to me for relationship advice… me of all people.”
    “Just tell her all the answers can be found in the unicorn,” he said, rolling his eyes facetiously.
    That caused me to erupt in laughter. “I should have you go in and set her straight. Although, she might not care about Kai anymore once she became lost in your blue eyes as you were yelling at her to get over it.”
    I immediately regretted the eyes comment. He simply smiled at me, looking like he didn’t know how to respond.
    “Do I yell?” he asked.
    “Only sometimes.”
    We stayed making comfortable conversation on the couch for a while until he finally said, “Alright…so we’ve ruled out another movie?”
    “Right. No movie. I think I’m gonna turn in.”
    He lifted himself off of the couch. “That’s my cue, then.”
    Damien bent down, ejecting the DVD from the player.
    I walked him to the door. “Thank you for everything.”
    He lingered before he said, “Your eyes ain’t so bad, either.”
    I smiled and felt flush from the compliment.
    He continued, “Your douchebag ex was right about one thing.”
    “What?”
    “You do blush every single damn time someone compliments you.” He paused. “Every single time.”
    I was sure I was blushing even more when I said, “Goodnight.”
    “Goodnight.”

CHAPTER NINE
     
    PANDORA’S BOX
     
     
    Rubbing my eyes, I said, “Seriously? They are extra loud today.”
    Damien’s phone voice was way too bright and cheery for so early in the morning. “Why don’t you come have breakfast with us? If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”
    “So, the only way I can get The Double Ds to stop barking is to come over there? Seriously, there has to be a better solution.”
    “What could be better than breakfast with us? They miss you.”
    “I seriously doubt that.”
    Over the past several weeks, Damien and I had started to figure out that for some reason, the dogs stopped barking whenever I came over to complain in the morning. As soon as I’d return to my apartment, the barking would start up again. It was almost like they were messing with me.
    “Come on, I’ll make you some coffee and eggs. If you want toast, you’ll have to bring the toaster oven.”
    “I’ll toast some slices and bring them,” I said, throwing some clothes on with a smile on my face.
    “We’ll skip the bacon.” He laughed.
    “Um…yeah. No bacon, please.”
    Damien had left his door cracked open and was emptying a frying pan full of scrambled eggs onto two plates when I let myself in.
    Carrying a dish of toast, I said, “Look, they’re not even burned.”
    “You must’ve not been reading and toasting.”
    Dudley and Drewfus were circling around me, but as expected, they’d stopped barking with me here.
    Hoping for some scraps, the animals