Lust Thy Neighbor (3 page)

Declan lost his anger in an amazingly fast rush. There were times when he forgot just how sensitive his brother could be. Under Jacob’s prickly exterior and moodiness existed a kid who was finding his own way into the world and Declan felt like shit for adding to his brother’s insecurities.

"Jacob," he began softly, "money's not a big deal, okay? I make enough to keep the both of us and to buy you new school clothes. It's all right, kid. And I didn't mean what I said about doing things on my timing. You understand that, right?”

Jacob gave a half shrug . Mom never let me buy the other brands so I'm used to those cheap ones." He looked down at his scuffed tennis shoes when he said that.

Declan suddenly realized that this was the first time they had really gone shopping for clothes together. Since Jacob had moved in with him, he'd been wearing his wardrobe that he had back in California, occasionally ordering new pieces online with Declan's credit card. However, in the last couple months, he had unexpectedly hit a growth spurt and none of his clothes fit his lanky frame anymore. Their parents had been in their later years when Jacob was growing up and their dad had struggled a bit to finance the family when he should have been thinking towards retirement. Declan realized that Jacob would have been used to their parent's frugal ways and money would be a concern.

“You can get whatever you want and need for school, okay? If it were a financial problem, I'd tell you, okay?"

Jacob sniffled and hung his head in embarrassment. "Okay."

“Come on, kid. Let's get out of here. People are probably wondering why we’re yelling at each other." He pulled Jacob into a fast one-armed hug and let him go before he could protest. "Let's get some pizza."

"Yeah. I'm starving."

He snorted. "You're always hungry."

Jacob smirked and shrugged. "I'm a growing boy."

*

T
hey were getting out of Declan’s truck, their arms weighed down with shopping bags, when he noticed his neighbor's tiny black dog trotting across the yard, barking at them.

Before he could maneuver out the way, the ball of fur attached himself to Declan's shoe, his sharp little teeth sinking into the leather. "Hey!"

"Bear, come back!"

He got a glimpse of his neighbor running down her driveway, fully clothed this time in a fitted yellow tank top and jeans that hugged her ass and hips and looked just as sexy as the bathrobe she wore that morning. When he felt the dog's teeth pierce into his skin, Declan yelped. "Ouch! What the fuck?"

Jacob had come around the side of the truck and couldn't control his laughter. He was doubled over; his shopping bags dropped carelessly on the asphalt, as he laughed like a drunken idiot. His brother shot him a dark glare.

"Stop laughing and help me get him off." He shook his foot back and forth but the dog was firmly connected to his flesh.

"Bear, stop!" Pissed-Off-Neighbor-Woman shouted as she sprinted into his yard. The sway of her hips and bounce of her breasts almost made the threat of rabies and the resulting medical treatment worth it.

"Yeah, Bear, stop." Declan bent down to grip the scruff of the dog's neck and he lifted, finally dislodging the sharp teeth. Bear growled at him.

"I’m so sorry." She stopped right in front of them, out of breath and grimacing.

"You. Again."

She glowered, her bright blue eyes burning into him. "You didn't have to get him off of you like that. You might’ve hurt him."

“Tell that to my bleeding foot." He held the yorkie out to her. "Here, take him before I decide to press charges.”

Using a baby voice to assure the dog that the ‘mean neighbor man’ wouldn't
really
press charges, she cradled the yorkie to her chest and nuzzled his head. Lucky dog. When Declan cleared his throat, she looked up and he was surprised to see an apologetic look on her face.

“Look, I'm sorry about that. Strangers tend to stress him out.”

"I'm not a stranger anymore. Besides, this is my yard." Declan extended his hand to pet the dog but drew it sharply back when it snapped its tiny jaws at him. "Feisty little terror, isn’t he?"

She tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and offered him a lopsided smile. Christ, she really was beautiful. "Honestly, he's probably still angry at you for waking him up this morning. Bear appreciates his beauty sleep."

He laughed and moved a little closer to her, noting that she leaned into him. "And by that do you mean you're still angry at me for waking you up?"

"You guessed it." Her smile relaxed. And for the second time in one day, Declan's body stood up to attention at the sight of this woman who was definitely not a morning person. She stuck out her hand toward him. "I guess we didn’t get off on the right foot. I'm Violet Kelly."

"Declan Pierce." He took her hand and wrapped his much larger fingers around hers, noticing that her palm was soft and feminine, her hand so small that it was completely engulfed by his. "Your new neighbor."

“Obviously.” She looked around him and her eyes crinkled at the corners when she made eye contact with his younger brother. "Hey! I'm Violet."

Declan looked back just in time to see his brother offer her a stiff nod. "That's Jacob, my brother."

Jake waved then glanced down at his shoes. "I'm going to get these inside," he mumbled before shuffling off, his ears turning red when Violet yelled that she’d be seeing him around.

"I had actually meant to introduce myself today," she told Declan, turning back toward him. She tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear and shrugged. “That was until you woke me up.”

"Don’t worry. I think you made quite an impression in your underwear this morning."

He watched in amusement as a blush spread across her entire face and down her neck, disappearing into the fabric of her bright tank top. "Right, well, I don't usually wake up early on the weekends."

"Yeah, I figured that out when you tore me a new one for working earlier."

She cringed then bit her lip, the entire expression a dangerous mixture of sexy and innocent. "Sorry about that. Just try not to use any power tools before nine if you can help it."

“I make no promises, sweetheart.”

Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on her hips and then squinted up at him. "Do your best then, okay?" She licked her full lips, and for a second, it looked like she was going to say something else—something teasing—but before he could latch on to it, she said, "I better get going. It was nice to meet you, Declan."

"See you around." He watched her walk back to her house, his dark gaze lingering on her swaying backside, a big ass grin lighting his face. He shook his head and turned away from the sight of her before his thoughts deteriorated further into the gutter.

He picked up one of the bags stuffed with tee shirts and went into the house. He found Jacob in the kitchen heating up a can of soup on the stove. When he dropped the bag of clothes on the kitchen island, his brother looked up and gave him the biggest grin he'd ever seen on Jacob’s face. "Bro ... she’s
hot
."

Declan managed a laugh. He had to admit, his brother had excellent taste in women. "Way too old for you, kid."

V
iolet peeked out from behind her curtains and squealed in excitement when a sleek, Carolina blue Mercedes sports car eased into her driveway. She flung open the door and almost collided with the emerging driver before she said screw it and threw herself into Beck’s muscular arms. "I've missed you!"

"Me too, love. Me too." He held on tight, hugging and swinging her around until she felt like she was going to throw up and she had to tap out.

"If you don’t put me down, I’m going to hurl all over the front of your perfect shirt."

Setting her on the ground, he took a couple steps back, grinned and slid his aviator sunglasses off his straight nose. "Good god, you look sexy! Single suits you."

Opting to ignore the single comment, she leaned forward to lovingly stroke the fabric of his check-patterned shirt. "Wow, is that Burberry?"

"If you wanted to cop a feel, all you had to do is ask."

“Pshhh!” She smacked his forearm, not surprised to feel his muscles flex beneath her fingers. Beck worked out religiously and his hard, fit body was proof of his dedication. "You wish I was coming on to you.”

"Every day of my life, love." He bent down and planted a quick kiss to her upturned mouth. A wicked smile split his tan face when he slid his hands around her body to playfully grab her ass, giving it a quick squeeze. "Putting on a few pounds in all the right places, Miss Kelly?"

"Shut it." She laughed though, genuinely happy to see her friend. Since moving from Philadelphia, her only disappointment had been living so far away from her mother and Beck. They didn't get to see each other as often as she would like.

"I've got to tell you about this blonde who was hitting on me at the gas station. She was giving me this look with her—ohh! Hello." Beck released her and Violet saw that his green eyes were focused over her shoulder.

She turned around to see Bear in the arms of her neighbor's younger brother. "Hey, Jacob." She took a few steps in his direction, biting the inside of her lip. “Don't tell me he's starting trouble with your brother again.”

"Not exactly." He spoke softly, his voice cracking as a sign of his young age. "But he was in our yard. Declan won't be too happy when he finds out that this little guy just shit all over the new sod in the back."

Violet grimaced. After her meltdown over the saw and then Bear’s attack yesterday, she had a feeling she was already on Declan Pierce’s bad neighbor list. "Sorry about that. I better go and clean it up."

The teenager closed the space between them and handed a wriggling Bear over. "Here. I gave him a bite of my ham croissant. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. Bear eats just about anything."

"Just like his owner." Beck piped up and gave her rear an affectionate rub, earning a punch in the arm from his best friend. "Since Miss Kelly's being rude today, I'll introduce myself. I'm Beckett Caldwell."

Jacob gave him a slight nod, his gaze dropping curiously to Beck’s hand as he removed it from her butt. "Hey."

"Beck, this is Jacob, my new neighbor's brother." She juggled Bear in her arms, feeling him lick her chin. "Are you visiting Declan for the weekend or something?"

She saw Jacob flush and she furrowed her brows in confusion. If she wasn't mistaken, he looked embarrassed and upset at the same time. "No, I live with Declan."

"Oh."

"Yeah, so, I'll leave the gate open for you to clean up the dog poop." Without another word, Jacob turned and left.

"Nice kid." Beckett scooped the dog out of her arms and scratched behind his ears. “Very moody.”

"I must've said something wrong. Can you take Bear back into the house? I'll be there right after I clean up their yard."

*

D
eclan felt a few beads of sweat roll down his back as he examined his handiwork from the kitchen window. Who would've thought that Declan Pierce would ever spend a Sunday morning laying sod? Speaking of which, who would have believed that he would ever own his own backyard? He could barely wrap his brain around the idea of making monthly mortgage payments instead of paying astronomical rent on a tiny one-bedroom space in Brooklyn.

The front door slammed and he looked up. "Jacob?"

A moment went by before there was a muffled answer. "What?"

"Just checking." He heard his brother approaching the kitchen as he searched in the fridge and withdrew a cold bottle of beer. He tipped his head back and gulped down half before coming up for breath. "Hungry?"

Jacob lifted his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess."

He returned to the fridge and rummaged around for the package of ribeye he had picked up at the grocery store that morning. "I can grill some steak for us. How about you wash up some potatoes and wrap them in foil. I'll fire up the grill."

"Whatever." Jacob started to go into the pantry by the garage to get the potatoes when he stopped at the sound of Declan's voice.

"Why the hell is the neighbor in our backyard?" His eyes just about bugged out at the sight of Violet's lush backside hot on display. He had been having some heated fantasies after catching a glimpse of that same ass yesterday when she was stalking away in her short, nearly see-through robe. And now, she was currently bent over just a few feet away.

"Don't freak out, but her dog took a shit on the grass. So I brought him back to her and told her about the mess."

Declan frowned. "Don't say shit."

"You say it."

"And when you're in your thirties, you can too."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "You're so lame. Anyway, she's cleaning up the
poop
.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he snorted before he dropped his voice and said, “I caught her making out with some guy in her driveway so I guess she’s in a hurry to get it done so she can get back to groping him."

Declan's brain skipped around while trying to follow his brother’s fragmented thought pattern. "Say what?"

"What?"

"What guy?"

His brother lifted his hands in front of him and shook his head. “How the hell should I know? Some good-looking rich dude. Fancy car and expensive clothes.” Pausing, he inclined his head curiously, giving his older brother a suspicious look. “Why? You interested in her?"

"Nope. Don't have the time for that."

"Whatever." Jacob disappeared, probably for the potatoes, and Declan continued to watch Violet's bent over form.

Without thinking too much into it, he left the kitchen and strode out the back door, back into the sunshine. "Custodian duty, huh?" He leaned against one of the porch posts that he'd be painting sometime next week.

She stood up, her gloved hand halfway into a plastic baggie holding her dog’s gift to his sod. "Yeah, sorry about that. Bear must like this new grass or something."

He tipped his beer to his mouth, polishing it off. "Thank the mutt for the gesture, but I think I'll stick to store bought fertilizer instead."