See you tomorrow, and great work today. You’re an excellent addition to the staff.”
My grin is probably borderline insane, but I can’t contain my happiness at his praise. “Thank you, Travis. That means a lot to me.”
I spend the next hour finishing up with the sweeping. This was my last room I had to sanitize before I could leave. The second shift assistant and vet tech start soon, and they stay through the night, until the next shift takes over. They have a great system going, what with this being a twenty-four-hour clinic and all. I haven’t had to work a full night yet, but I’m sure it’s coming soon. I think they’re still giving me time to get used to how things work here.
When I pull into my driveway at a quarter to six, I can’t help but glance next door at my neighbor’s house. Against my will, my heart lurches at the sight of his open garage door, and the light spilling out. Max’s black and white furred body is lying on his doggy bed, and of course, the man in question, Roman, is there. Once again, he’s working on the car. The hood is up, shielding him from view, but I can see his legs. The light inside the garage is bright. Way brighter than mine. I’m sure he’s handy enough to change his own lighting, unlike me. I haven’t had the guts to venture into the garage yet. The last I checked, it was filled with spiders, and I swear, I even heard something scurry by the garage door.
My car is just fine sitting in the driveway, thank you very much.
Inhaling a deep, stabilizing breath, preparing for whatever Roman I’ll be getting today, I hook the strap of my purse over my shoulder and slam the car door shut. Max perks up, glancing my way, and much to my surprise, he hops out of the bed and saunters toward me. Unable to help myself, a grin tips the corners of my lips, and I find myself crossing our lawns toward the garage. Max jumps at me, his heavy paws pushing against my legs and almost knocking me over. I bend, patting his head, giving him a good scratch behind his ears.
Even though it practically kills me to do this, to be the one to extend the olive branch between us, I don’t want to start our neighbor relationship like this. Maybe, if I find out what ticked him off in the first place, we can get past all the nastiness that has transpired since then and move on. I don’t expect us to become the best of friends, but honestly, I don’t know how much more of his scathing glares I can endure.
“Hi, buddy. How’re you doin’?”
“Mad Max, sit,” Roman commands.
A laugh climbs up my throat at the name. “Mad Max is such a…” I trail off, when I glance up and finally take in my neighbor.
My mouth drops open, and my eyes grow twice their normal size.
He’s shirtless, his skin slick with sweat. There are smudges of black on his hands and forearms, and a red dingy rag is tucked in the pocket of his low-slung jeans. My throat goes dry, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. I swear I even forget how to breathe.
Roman’s body is insane. There are abs, definite abs there, and way too many for me to count without being too obvious. And his chest, Christ, his chest is just…perfection. His pecs are smooth and tanned, and I can see every droplet of sweat beaded over the script tattoo on his right one. Slowly, I trace my eyes down to the dark trail of hair and the protruding veins that lead into his jeans, hanging low on his hips. For the life of me, I can’t tear my eyes away from that deep V of muscle. I can’t tear my eyes away from him. I notice it’s been too long. I’ve been too silent. I’m gawking and ogling like I’ve never seen a man like him before, and shit, I need to pull myself together.
I force myself to fix my gaze on his face, and in doing so, I do another slow perusal of his body. His Adam’s apple juts out against his olive skin. His beautiful brown hair curls around his ears and the nape of his neck. He must’ve shaved recently because the scruff I noticed, the day he came over to yell at me