My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family #1) - Piper Rayne Page 0,52
blush.
“Hey, Adam.” She leaves the bathroom first.
I follow. “I was fixing the toilet. Something’s up with it. Keeps running.”
Adam seemed okay minutes ago, but he’s got that depressed expression again as he takes in the apartment. “Looks nice up here.”
Presley’s hand runs down his arm as she passes him and she picks up half the bagel I made for her, biting into it. What have I missed? I’m used to being jealous of Jed from time to time, but I’ve never had to be jealous of my youngest brother.
“What did you need?” I ask Adam, grabbing a yogurt on the tray.
“I thought you could drive me today since I’m at the store.”
I had plans of driving Presley and maybe pulling over outside the city limits for a quick make-out session. At the very least, I had high hopes it wasn’t Adam’s day to help at the store and I could sneak over and we’d christen The Story Shop. But I suppose that’s not happening now.
“Sure.”
“Don’t sound too excited.” He pats me on the back. “Just grab me when you two are ready.”
He jogs down the stairs and I watch him go. How is he not in the anger stage of his grieving yet?
“You can drop me off at the rental car place. It’s about time I get a car,” Presley says.
“I can take you back and forth.”
Her shoulders falter. “No, you can’t, and I’m not staying here long-term either.”
She’s so damn stubborn.
“Fine, I’ll take you after work. And we can hit up the grocery store too.” I finish my yogurt and throw it away.
“You really are pushy, you know that?”
“And you’re hot.” I corner her and place my hands on her hips, thankful we came to this arrangement that gives me permission to touch her. Although I’m quickly becoming addicted to having her lips on me and my hands on her.
She gives me a chaste kiss. “Come on, we should go.”
She abandons the rest of the food. I grab my bagel, tossing everything else in the trash. I follow her down the stairs of the apartment, wishing we were climbing the stairs instead because I’m about to spend my entire workday with a raging hard-on.
It’s lunchtime before I get a break from phone calls and handling the end-of-the-month paperwork. Jed is out on site visits to some of the places that carry our beer. I’m happy for the alone time since he hates paperwork and just complains the entire time. Easier for me to do it myself.
A replay of Nikki’s segment from earlier today comes on the radio and I groan. Part of me wants to turn it off, but the other half of me wants to make sure she’s not talking about me. Or Presley.
“You know what I hate about living in the same town as my siblings?” she says to her co-host, Chip. Chip’s in his fifties but seems more interested than he should be in the gossip she spews out. She doesn’t even wait for him to answer. “I hate hearing about their sexual escapades. It makes me imagine them.” She makes a gagging sound into the mic.
“What hot news do you have for us today?” Chip asks.
“My stepbrother, Cade Greene, has been seen multiple times with Sunrise Bay’s newest resident, Presley Knight. Knowing Cade the way I do, I’d say he’s smitten. Especially when it was reported they were at the bay last night and a little birdie from one town over in Lake Starlight told me that Miss Knight had to check out of Glacier Point Resort due to a water leak. I’m sure none of us are surprised that my brother, Cade, rescued her and she’s now staying above the garage at his house.”
“Didn’t you stay there for a while?” Chip asks.
I should write him a thank you note for changing the subject.
“I did, and let me tell you, no woman would want to stay there, so I have my own theory that Goldilocks is sleeping in someone else’s bed.”
“Which bear’s bed do you think she’s in?” I have no idea how Nikki’s partner-in-crime plays along as though they have a script. Hell, maybe they do. I don’t know.
“Not the Ranger Bear or the Sheriff Bear. We all know the Charismatic Bear is wondering why he hasn’t scored with her, but I’m willing to bet the Gentleman Bear is the one getting Goldilocks’s honey.”
Chip laughs and I roll my eyes. She’s insane, but I can’t deny her ratings are big because of this shit.