Page 33 of Falling for You

So much information is hitting me at once here that I have to take a second before responding. Most importantly, “She gave you my address?”

He blushes under the motion-detected porch light. “Kind of?”

“What does that mean?”

“She told me you’d headed home but I was at the grocery store when she called. You actually passed me when I was getting into my car. I’d planned to call you and see if I could cash in on that rain check.”

I hold up a hand, take a step back. “Wait, wait, wait. Youfollowedme?”

“Funny story,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. “I live right there.” He nods his head to the other side of my street and I bunch my eyebrows, even more confused than earlier.

“You’re my neighbor?”

He hands me the pizza then points across the street. “Sort of. Nottherethere, but that’s my house on the other side of their back yard,” he explains.

Running his hand over the back of his neck, he drops his head. “I’m coming across as a complete stalker, aren’t I?”

“Um just a little bit.”

He laughs at my honesty. “Yeah, this is kind of new to me. Let me explain better, will you do that?”

“Do what?” I’m still not following anything he’s saying. He called my work after getting his hair cut this morning to check up on me. Jana, myex-friend, told him I was busy, then called him to let him know I’d left and he justhappenedto see me drive past him thenhappensto live a few blocks away?

“Explain. I know, I know. I sound crazy.Insane, really. But honestly, it was all very innocent. Except for the hair cut this morning — that was planned. The extra shower wasn’t, but that’s on you, not me.” His grin makes my knees weak. Gah. He’s so cute. Extra cute. And he might know it but he’s also adorable about it.

“Yeah, that was a very unfortunate turn of events,” I murmur.

“It wasn’t a big deal, but really, I won’t let you forget about it.”

Leaning my shoulder on the door jamb, I do my best to look annoyed.

“Can we get to the part about how you stalked me after work and just so happened to intercept my pizza guy?”

“Oh, yeah, that! I was about to text you when I saw you drive past, I remembered your car from the night at Balance. Jana told me you hadn’t eaten yet,” Miss Informative, isn’t she? “so I figured I’d stop in with snacks,” he tells me lifting the bags. “Then I saw you pull into this house and thought wow, is that where she lives? It’s weird we live so close, yeah? And then I saw a pizza guy pull in and figured… well, now that I explain it all it sounds like you need to make that phone call to go ahead and get the restraining order on me started.”

A giggle bubbles out of my chest and I push off the door jamb. “Come on, stalker, I’m starving and this pizza smells delicious.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure.” I spin on my heels, look over my shoulder in time to see him turn around to make sure the door is securely closed.He has a really nice ass.

“What’d you bring?” I gesture for him to put the food on the coffee table in my living room because let’s face it, pizza isn’t meant to be eaten at the table. In fact, normally I’m scarfing it down on my bed like a complete swine.

“Like I said, snacks. Doritos, Spicy Nacho and regular Nacho. Some salsa and tortilla chips. Some chocolate. Rice Krispies treats. A few other things that are terrible for us but delicious.”

“Sounds like a bag full of fun to me.”

“Yup. I’m admittedly a junk food-a-holic.”

I want to say it doesn’t show, but I’m too embarrassed to admit out loud how much I’ve openly ogled the man. Not that it would surprise him much, considering my fumbling around the shampoo bowl this morning.

“Let me just…” I point to the kitchen, “grab some plates. Want a drink? I don’t have anything but soda and water. Kind of boring.”

“Not boring. I’ll take a soda, if you don’t mind.”

“Not one bit. Be right back.”

Rushing to the kitchen, I take a few deep breaths and stick my head into the fridge to cool myself off. Grab a couple cokes from the shelf and some paper plates and a roll of paper towels.

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