open in search of today’s paper, I’m mostly lucid, and all of the way grinning.
“Aaaagh!” A beautiful brunette woman screams in the doorway to 4A, so her dog, the size of a grown-ass man, raises his hackles and pulls his lips back to reveal sharp, I’m-gonna-rip-your-fuckin’-throat-out teeth.
When I remain frozen in place, he stalks forward slowly, menacingly, until my smile drops away and my bowels liquify.
“Uh…” I take a step back. “Lady? Call him back.”
“No.” She broadens her shoulders, drops them back, and lifts her chin. “No, I’m not going to do that.”
“Er, why the fuck not? Lady!” I’m not ashamed to admit I squeal like a little girl when those teeth snap closer. “Yo! Tell him to quit it.”
“You were loud all night,” she declares. “I don’t know where you come from, Mr. Morris, but bashing furniture around your apartment, and laughing with your friends at two in the damn morning is not acceptable.”
“You…” I risk a glance away from the dog, and lock onto a pair of light brown eyes hidden beneath a baseball cap. Long brown hair dangles in kinked waves and bounces a few inches below her shoulders.
“Did I keep you awake?” I jab a thumb over my shoulder, and take another step back when the dog snaps his teeth. “Errr… I was moving in. I’m sorry. I’ll be quieter tonight.”
“I should hope so,” she replies in her snooty tone. “Today, I have to work on too little sleep, and that’s purely your fault. Perhaps you should learn to be more considerate of others from now on. Galileo.”
One simple fucking word, one simple breath, and she makes the mountainous dog stand down.
“Let’s go,” she commands him.
“How’d you know my name?” I follow her with my eyes as she and Galileo trot down the stairs. “Hey! How’d you know? And where’d you get that dog?”
“None of your business. Times two.” She stops at the next landing and turns back to me. Her eyes scan along my body – not in an ‘oh, he’s shirtless and sexy’ way, but as though she’s cataloging the different ways she can shove explosives inside my body. After a long study, her eyes come back to mine. “Please be considerate of your neighbors from now on. If not, you’ll force me to move. And I really don’t wanna.”
“You’d move because of me?” I frown. “Really? Most folks would make life hell for the annoying one and force them out.”
She shrugs. “I want as little interaction with you as possible. Which means I would be the one to move. Please don’t be noisy past eight at night. Please don’t knock on my door asking for sugar. Please just leave me be, and I promise, I’ll do the same for you.”
My coffee machine sputters to a stop behind me. Transitioning from loud gurgles as the water washes through the ground beans, to a sizzling stop that means it’s time for me to come back to life.
“What about a coffee mug?” I flash a wide grin, because she’s wearing tight jeans, and those alone are enough to push aside the dream I had of the blonde.
Her brows furrow. “What about a coffee mug?”
“Can I borrow one? I can’t find mine.”
“No. You can’t borrow anything of mine. Including my time. Have a nice life, Mr. Morris. Galileo, come.”
“You!”
Bent under the hood of a luxury car I will never be able to afford, I stand tall when Kane Bishop’s deep voice tugs me from my quiet contemplation.
My brain is fuzzy, my thoughts one-track as I work on an engine, and try to stifle my constant yawning.
Three hours of sleep is not enough, and I’m supposed to be racing tonight. But maybe that wouldn’t be smart.
I glance to my right, to Mac as he works on a truck, and his dog – is it a coincidence that Deck looks a hell of a lot like Galileo? – sleeps by his feet. I expect Kane to be here for Mac, they’re buddies after all, so when a rough hand grabs my shoulder and tugs me around, I come eye-to-eye with murderous black eyes.
“Er…” I look around in confusion. “Bishop? I didn’t realize we had beef.”
“We don’t,” he says in his low timbre. “And we won’t, so long as you’re considerate of your new neighbor.”
“What?” My heart races to a pounding beat. “The fuck? I’m noisy one time, and I’ve got Checkmate coming down on my ass? What the hell kind of mess have I moved into?”