Free My Neighbor's Will by Lacey Silks Page B

one could forget the geek in high school
who should have been a jock or the little boy who’d kissed me under
the shining moon.
    “Eric?”
    “If I’d known,
I would have never...” His gaze fell to my naked legs, and I
realized I must look like a temptress, opening the door for him
barely dressed.
    “I have a
bikini on,” I felt the sudden need to explain, and then remembered
how my nipples pushed the soft cotton of this shirt outward. I
crossed my arms at my font.
    “I didn’t want
my new neighbor to think I’m some sort of a pervert.” His
apologetic eyes glistened with honesty as he pulled out his hand.
“Nice to see you again.”
    I met him with
a handshake, startled at the coincidence. The warmth of his skin
soothed my anxiety. The touch said more than his words; an
invitation to a truce and a new beginning.
    “I didn’t know
you moved in already,” I answered, half dazed.
    “Night-time.
Some of my shipments got delayed at customs.”
    “I baked you
muffins,” I blurted.
    “That’s nice.”
He looked confused, waiting.
    “Oh, and ate
them,” I remembered. “Not all of them, I took the rest to work. You
weren’t here, so I couldn’t let them go to waste.” Gosh, I must
have sounded stupid. I baked you muffins? Who says that
after devouring a welcoming gift?
    “Okay. Again,
I’m sorry for the incident. Perhaps I can bake your muffin... I
mean, bake a muffin for you to make it up to you?” Eric’s cheeks
flushed vulnerably. A hint of pinkish shade on the bronzed skin
made him even cuter, and the embarrassment of the boy I remembered
shone on his face.
    My insides
giggled with pleasure, knowing I had the same effect on Eric as he
did on me. Was he interested in my muffin? Did I want him to be? My
new neighbor was much hotter than the models I worked with, and I
already knew him, sort of. What exactly had he said he did? He
hadn’t said.
    “You know how
to bake?” I asked, intrigued.
    “For you, I’ll
try.” He winked, leaning against the doorframe. A braver spark
flashed in his eyes, one I hadn’t expected from the shy boy I
remembered. The few years I hadn’t seen him did Eric justice.
    “If you’ll
excuse me, I need to get back to work. I’ll see you around?” he
asked.
    “Yeah, see you
around.” I followed his naked back with my gaze as he left toward
his house. The wide shoulders made me want to rub sunscreen on his
back. In fact, I wouldn’t mind spreading any kind of cream over
that body. He turned around once and waved. I mimicked the gesture,
then closed the door.
    With my back
pressed against the glass insert, I noticed my racing pulse and
took a few extra inhalations to slow my breathing. Memories of a
similar rush I’d experienced in the woods after our first kiss had
my head spinning. Holy crap, he was hot!
    I ran into my
bedroom and pulled on a pair of jean shorts. The hallway felt miles
long as I paced between the kitchen and the front door, trying to
find an excuse to see Eric again. I hadn’t looked at a man with
such possessive thoughts in a long time. The low shorts he wore
flashed through my mind, and I wondered how quickly I could take
them off.
    Fifteen minutes
later, I was brave enough to step outside, but he wasn’t there. All
the blinds in his house had been shut. As much as I needed to tend
to my chores, a primal need to see Eric again urged me to stay
outside. I opened the garage and turned on the hose. The water
sprayed on the black paint of my Jeep, washing the dirt off my car.
I soaped a sponge and scrubbed away leftover scum until my Jeep
looked as if it were immersed in clouds of cotton balls. The suds
flowed to the asphalt in white streams as I rinsed. In less than an
hour, the Jeep was spotless.
    “Hi!”
    Gripping the
hose in my hands, I jumped up and turned, soaking Eric – and the
plate full of muffins he held in his hands.
    “I’m so sorry!”
I rushed into the garage to turn off the water.
    He stood in the
middle of the driveway, still