So, yeah. I'm going over there, and if he's not interested, I'll pick up on it, and that'll be that.
Yeah. I can do this.
I flip my hair over my shoulder and open my front door. I hear Trixie's little paws pitter-pattering over to me, and I turn around and give her a stern, "Stay."She lets out a little whimper, but I shake my head at her. "No, you stay this time. You already had your turn. It's my turn now."
Her little tail drops as she sits on her hind paws, glaring at me. I'm sure she'll puff up and be mad at me for a while, but she'll get over it. She always does. Still, it amazes me how much of an attitude my girl has. She can hold a grudge like a human.
I can't worry about that right now, though.
My house is cute and cozy, a pretty bungalow that's perfect for my puppy and me. Stone’s house is a contemporary build, much larger than mine, and all hard, clean lines. It’s also a lot more valuable, meaning Stone must be loaded to afford this property.
Not that my brother and I aren't well off. We're not insanely rich, but what our parents sacrificed in time with us, they tried to make up for with the sizeable trust funds they set up in our names. We came into them when we turned eighteen, and while I'd rather have had my parents around growing up, I'm more financially stable than most teens my age, thanks to their financial foresight. My parents usually do FaceTime once a year on my birthday to wish me a happy birthday, so it's not like Ineversee them.
I step outside, and Stone's eyes are immediately on me. I feel his gaze across the small expanse separating my house from his, and a tremble teases my spine.He stands and smiles at me as I cross the barrier to him.I give him an awkward wave and apologize again for my brother interrupting our conversation earlier.
"My brother always calls me at the most inconvenient times,"I say wryly, shaking my head.
"That's okay." A smile pulls at the corner of his lips.
Good lord, the man's smile is doing odd things to my body. I’m all shaky and buzzy, but in a good way."I came over to welcome you to the neighborhood officially." I tuck my hair behind my ear nervously and look up at him. Jesus, the man has to be at least six foot four, and I'm all of five foot nothing. He's so big, he could crush me with his bare fist. A little shiver of excitement races through me at that thought.
There's something seriously wrong with me if the idea of being crushed by him is sexy.
"And what a beautiful welcome." My breath catches as his eyes trail from the top of my head to the tip of my toes.
Oh my god.
Is Stone flirting withme? I blush with pleasure, suddenly realizing I'm in over my head. Where do I go from here? Am I supposed to flirt back? I don't know how to flirt. What am I supposed to do?
I shift on my feet and smile up at him. "Yeah, so I just wanted to come over and tell you if you ever need some sugar or something, I'm right next door."
His eyes twinkle as he steps off his porch. He closes the remaining space between us until he's standing so close to me that I can feel the heat emanating from his body like the rays of the sun shining down on our heads.
"You offering me some sugar, sweetheart?" The way he calls mesweethearthas my legs turning to jelly, and I clasp my hands in front of me to keep them from shaking.
"Well, you know, acupof sugar or whatever people say when someone new moves in next door." I let out a nervous giggle before I hear myself apologizing again. "I'm sorry. I'm horrible at this." I consider bolting, embarrassed beyond measure.
"No, you're not." He reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. The brush of his big fingers over my ear has my breath hitching, especially when he trails his knuckles along my cheek.
"If I knew this was the welcome I was going to get, I'd have moved in sooner," he says, his voice deep and husky.
I blush at his words and the heated look in his eyes. He looks like he's going to say more, but my dreaded phone rings again.
I let out a groan of frustration. "I'm so sorry."
I pull the phone out of the back pocket of my shorts. It's my brother—again.
Stone is still watching me with that heated look. I tell him regretfully, "I'm sorry, but I have to take this because if I don't, he'll send a SWAT team out looking for me."
Stone's eyebrow raises, and his mouth quirks like he thinks I’m joking, but I'm not. My brother is insane about making sure I'm okay.
"Your brother keeps a tight rein on you," he notes with amusement.
"Ha, you have no idea," I sigh.
He chuckles. "Well, I don't blame him. If I had a sister half as pretty as you, I'd be overbearingly overprotective as well."
My face flushes even brighter. I'm sure Stone meant it as a compliment…but did he just equate me to being his sister? I'm confused now and don't know what to think.