Page 5 of Under My Skin

“It’s two in the afternoon, Karen,” I say as nicely as I possibly can while cringing at her annoying pet name for me.

“We’re both adults, Cam. We can drink in the afternoon if we want to.” She puts her hands on her hips and huffs like she’s a child not getting their way. “Neither one of us is working. We have no immediate obligations. Live a little.”

I’m stunned. Too stunned to speak. I just stare at her for a good ten seconds.

Is she being serious?

My mind finally stops short-circuiting, so I decide to give it to her straight because I seriously don’t have the time for this.

“Karen, I can’t grab a drink with you. I have to get something from Red’s and head back home. Plus, let me remind you that I have two daughters, so I do, in fact, have obligations. And just because I’m retired from the NFL doesn’t mean I don’t have responsibilities. So, forgive me if I can’tlive a little.”

I go to step around her, but she stops me again. “Don’t be mad. It was silly of me to think you aren’t a busy man.” She steps even closer and touches my arm now. “Maybe you can get a babysitter and take me out this weekend. We can get acquainted with each other again after all these years.”

I gently remove her hand—tipped with fire-engine-red fingernails that are at least an inch long—from my forearm and step away.

“Karen, it’s kind of you to ask, but I’m just not interested. I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. Plus, I don’t have a babysitter.” I add the last part, hoping it drives my case home and she gets the hint that I’m just not into her.

It’s not that Karen isn’t hot. She is. She’s got a rocking body, with a total pinup, hourglass shape. Big boobs, trim waist, and big ass. But that’s about all she has going for her. She hasn’t changed at all since high school, and she’s still a mean girl. There was a reason why it never got serious between us. I saw her for the real person she was and had no interest in getting caught in the inevitable drama of her life.

“Well, who’s babysitting your kids right now?”

Fuck me.

Can I get a swear jar for my head or something?

“My neighbor is watching them. I had to run out real quick to get a new fitting for my bathroom pipe since it burst. I’m actually in a hurry, so I need to get going.”

“Your neighbor? Little Lizzie?” She laughs. “She still has a crush on you, huh? God, that girl is so pathetic. I can’t figure out why the whole town is so in love with her.”

Maybe because she’s not like you, I think but I don’t say it out loud. Karen is relentless and cruel and clearly doesn’t take a fucking hint.

“Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but Lizzie is doing me a solid right now, and I need to get back home so she can get back to whatever she was doing. I’ll see you around.”

I turn around and finally walk through the door, successfully escaping her. But not without hearing her parting words, which send a shiver down my spine. And not the good kind.

“Oh, you will definitely see me around, Cam.”

And again, fuck me.

The last thing I need is to be in the sights of Karen and her stupid, petty games.

3

LIZZIE

“The mud creations look great, girls.”

“Thanks, Miss Lizzie,” Mackenzie and Addy reply in unison.

Cameron has been gone for about thirty minutes now, and I’ve learned a lot about his daughters in a short amount of time. For one, they do not stop talking. These girls are not shy. And two, they love their dad more than anything. Something I can definitely get on board with.

Oh my gosh, did I really just think that?

I need to get myself under control if I have any chance of surviving as Cameron Dylan’s next-door neighbor as an adult. Being a teenager with a crush was bad enough.

“Daddy said we can have sleepovers with our cousins now that we live here. We’ve never had sleepovers before,” Mackenzie says while making a mud castle, not even looking up as she carries on with our conversation.

“Auntie Nikki has a pool, too. We get to swim in it all summer long,” Addy chimes in with excitement. I’ve been in a trance watching her rub mud on her legs for the past five minutes like it’s some sort of spa treatment that people pay hundreds of dollars for.

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