The Girl Next Door - Emma Hart Page 0,42

of mine, then sorted out all the food. He put the pizza into one box and secured all the others before stacking them up neatly in the corner.

Wow.

That was kind of hot.

I liked neatness in a guy.

In anyone, really.

It was a trait I kind of lacked, for the most part. I wasn’t against a sock on the floor or a bra over the nightstand. It added character. You know, made the place look lived in.

The way a comfy blanket or wonky cushion would.

Whatever.

“Did you bring a spoon for me?”

“Why would I bring you a spoon?” I asked around a mouthful of ice cream. “This is my ice cream.”

He sighed and leaned back into the cushions. “You just can’t get the staff these days.”

Leaning over, I slapped his forearm with my spoon.

“Ouch. That kind of hurt.”

“Well, that was the point.”

He laughed, dropping his head back. “I bought you dinner and ice cream and you won’t share. I see how it is.”

I closed my lips around the spoon and nodded.

Kai rolled his head to look at me. “Is it working?”

Frowning, I replied, “Is what working?”

“You told me free food is the way to your heart. Is it working?”

My cheeks burned and I looked down into the carton of ice cream.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said smugly.

“Oh, shut up,” I muttered. “You already wormed your way into my uterus. My heart is pretty inconsequential at this point.”

Kai shuffled along the sofa until he was right against me. He took the carton and the spoon from me, then grabbed my ankles so that my legs were resting over his lap. He stretched out his arm on the back of the sofa and leaned into me, using this other to cup my chin.

He brushed his thumb along my lower lip, and his gaze caught mine, holding mine in place. My breath hitched as he leaned in, and I knew he was going to kiss me.

I was still surprised when he did.

His lips were warm, a stark contrast to the chill of my own thanks to my ice cream. It made the kiss feel even more intense even though it was just the barest of touches.

God, that felt like an understatement.

I felt it everywhere, right down to my bones, and his skin pebbled beneath my touch as I wrapped my fingers around his bicep to lean up into the kiss.

It was magic.

For a moment, one magical, wonderful moment, I forgot everything that was going on and just enjoyed being kissed by him.

And honestly, I could have let him kiss me all night. I could have stayed here, on the sofa, wrapped up in him, just letting his lips roam over mine without a care in the world.

But we didn’t.

After a moment, he pulled away and adjusted himself on the sofa so we were curled up together.

And we watched two hours of True Blood, only stopping when I started to fall asleep and he told me to go to bed with another soft kiss.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN – KAI

“Happy birthday tooooo yooouuuuu!”

“Fuck off.” I rolled over and put the pillow over my head. Not that it blocked out Anna’s awful singing, but it muffled it somewhat.

Not enough…

“Wake up! It’s your birthday!”

“Anna, you’re thirty, not three. Go away.” I kicked my leg out from under the covers.

She grabbed them.

“I’m naked,” I warned her, right as the covers were yanked off my body, exposing me to the cool air of my bedroom.

“Oh, Jesus, Kai!”

The sheets fell to the floor in whoosh, and I chuckled at the sound of my bedroom door slamming. In my defense, I’d warned her. Probably not in enough time, I admit, but she should have known better than to pull the covers off me.

She’d been staying here for nearly three weeks. It wasn’t exactly the first time my sister had accidentally seen my balls in recent days.

Note to self: lock the bathroom door before showering.

Now that I was cold and awake and my balls were probably the size of marbles, I rolled over with a groan and sat up.

This was not the start to my birthday I had in mind. In fact, all I had in mind was going to work, getting dinner, checking in on Ivy, and going to bed. I’d gotten bored of my birthday a long time before now, and all I had to celebrate at twenty-nine was the fact I only had one year left until I was officially thirty.

Something about thirty sounded a hell of a lot older than twenty-nine.

Not