“You always so nosy?” He glowered, eyes locked on the firm pebbles beneath my pink tank.
“Huh, I see.” I crossed my arms over my chest, blocking his gaze. Hope he got a good view of what he would never get to touch. Or lick. Or suck. Christ! I was turning myself on.
“See what?”
“That you’re nothing like your Nana Bea. She is sweet, and you’re”—I jutted my chin out defiantly—"a jerk.” Look at me, playing hard to get. I needed to do something. The attraction I felt toward Nik was more intense than my love of cannolis.
Momentarily I thought I felt a seismic connection. Like the earth rumbled beneath my feet, the sun brightened, and my heart expanded.
Nik smirked, pursing his kissable lips together. It nearly made me weep; they were so full and tempting.
“Don’t let me keep you.” He jerked his chin toward my house.
Rude bastard! Maybe I had felt a rumble like a mini earthquake and not a mutual attraction.
“You can count on that.” I brushed past him, our arms lightly touching. I swayed my hips, giving him a show when I felt his eyes on me. I hoped he enjoyed the view because it would be his last.
“Hey! What does that mean?”
“That I’d never let a rude, cocky bastard such as yourself keep me.” I raised my hand, giving him the bird and marched across the street.
Once inside my house, I went straight to my bedroom before Granny saw me. I needed a moment to myself—a moment to stew and rant over my new neighbor, Nik Tevez, assuming his last name was the same as Nana Bea’s.
Why did he have to be so goddamn gorgeous? Sexy?
And an asshole?
“Rita?” Granny called.
“Coming…” I exhaled a frustrated breath and went out to the living room. “Yeah?”
Granny looked up from her rocking chair and stopped knitting. “Did you invite Nik to dinner?”
Why would I do that? “No. He’s very busy moving in, Granny.”
She clucked her tongue. “He needs to eat. Go invite him.” She resumed knitting. It was pointless to argue with her. She wouldn’t care anyway about the way Nik treated me. She sure as hell didn’t need to know I flipped him off and called him a bastard not five minutes ago.
I swallowed my pride and made my way back across the street.
Nik shook his head when he saw me. “What?”
“Still the charmer. Granny wanted to invite you over for dinner.”
His black eyes narrowed as if trying to read me.
“What? She did.”
He put his hands on his hips and turned his face up toward the sky, letting out a breath. “Can’t.”
“That’s what I hoped you’d say.” I whirled around and started to cross the street.
“Wait!”
I stopped, keeping my back to him. “What?”
“What’re you having?”
This was a tricky question. I didn’t want Nik to join us for dinner, so I had to be smart and quick with my answer. Now, what would a guy like him hate?