Free So. Long.: Bad Boy Next Door by Kelley Harvey Page B

ice
cream.
    I turn away before he catches me watching him. “Ice cream
sandwich, please.”
    The woman hands me my treat and I pass her the money.
    Adam steps in close behind me, his chest hard against my
back. I inch to the left, but he follows.
    “I’d have been happy to buy you an ice cream.” His breath
brushes past my ear, sending tingles down my arms and into deeper parts as
well.
    I dodge his big hands as they reach for my waist. “Thanks
anyway.”
    Adam pays the woman for his lemon chill cup and the boy’s
treat.
    We stroll across the street toward his front porch.
    He pops open his container and digs in with the tiny plastic
spoon. “I was going to make you breakfast yesterday, but you left in a hurry.”
    “Yeah. I needed to get home and feed Chloe. I hadn’t planned
on staying the night.”
    I carefully unwrap my ice cream, focusing on it rather than
looking at Adam, who I’m pretty sure is studying me. Is he comparing me to all
those other women he’s had?
    He nudges my arm with his elbow. “I’m glad you did.”
    Is he?
    The ice cream truck starts up its obnoxious music, and the
engine roars to life.
    Be nice. Keep things friendly—gotta live next door to him,
after all.
    I say, “You were good with those kids. I wanted to rip them
a new one.”
    He gives a one shoulder shrug. “I have a couple of kiddos in
my life, so I know a few things. Kids are a pain in the ass though.”
    “Oh? You don’t like kids?” Of course, he doesn’t.
    “They’re okay, I guess. I just don’t want any.” He flips his
full spoon upside down and drags the lemon concoction off onto his tongue.
    Oh, that tongue and the things it can do. It brought such
pleasure.
    And it’s done the same for so many others. And will do for countless more, I’m sure.
    Gotta keep that in mind. I need a one-woman guy, not a
womanizer.
    Mine is just another pussy— conveniently located right next door.
    Something brushes against me. He’s running the backs of his
fingers across my forearm.
    I jerk away from his touch. “What?”
    “I said, do you like rug rats ?”
    I fake a smile. “Yeah. I like kids. Good thing, too, since
I’ve got one.”
    I take a bite of my sandwich and chew slowly, waiting for
him to react.
    His eyes widen, but he recovers quickly. “I didn’t know. I
haven’t seen one around. You keep it chained in the basement?”
    “Ha. Ha. You’re fucking hilarious. She’s at her dad’s
parents’ house for the month. They took her during his scheduled summer
visitation.”
    Make room folks, he’s probably going to bolt.
    Adam grins and pulls me to him. “Well, I guess we should
make good use of your time off from mommyhood. Want me to try to help you to
get your words back one more time?”
    I push his arms away and step backward. “That’s not
happening again.”
    Adam tugs at his earlobe, his expression perplexed. “But—I—I
thought we—you know—hit it off.”
    I shrug. “No. You refused to actually hit it , but you
still got what you wanted.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “It means you’re exactly like every other man I’ve
had the displeasure of dealing with.”
    His lips press into a slash buried in fur.
    He points to himself. “Me? A dis pleasure?”
    I cross my arms, lifting one brow.
    His voice rises. “Oh no, don’t even—you were definitely pleasured—several times. In fact, you came so fucking hard you almost drowned
me in cream.”
    Heat radiates up my neck and over my face, settling in my
ears as I sputter, trying to make the words conform to my will. “Y—you—you used
me and then bragged—”
    “ What ?” He holds up his hands and he yells, “ I used you ?”
    “Like I said, just like all men. Untrustworthy. Braggarts.
Cads.”
    “All men? I am not like all men. There are very few men like
me, I’ll have you know.”
    I roll my eyes. “Puh- lease . That’s what you all want
to think. Trust me, it ain’t true. All men are the same. Their game might