Page 10 of Sweet Shots

I gesture to the table, and even though he declined the wine, I pour him a glass anyway.

“I said no,” he says firmly.

“Well, it pairs well with the chicken, so just one glass.”

I head to the stove and pull open the oven before grabbing the oven mitts. I take out the baking dish I have everything in to keep warm and bring it to the table, setting it in the center before going back to close the oven, replace the mitts, and grab some serving spoons.

Sexy neighbor is staring at the food with his mouth open when I take a seat across from him.

“Something wrong?” I ask, reaching for his plate and putting food on it.

“You made this?”

“Uh, yeah? Why? What’s wrong with it? You suddenly allergic to carrots and lemon, too?”

“No, no. It looks… good.”

I grin, loving that he approves. Why I love it? I have no idea. Just one of my things, I guess.

Having no shame, I openly stare as he cuts into the chicken. He brings the bite toward his mouth, but pauses before putting it in.

“What?” he asks.

“Just want to see how you like it.”

He huffs and puts the chicken in his mouth. Confusion crosses his face before his eyes light up.

“You didn’t make this,” he says, pointing to the food.

“Oh, I did.”

“How? Where did you learn to make this?”

I shrug, digging into my own. “From watching shows and stuff.”

He finishes his food and gets more—andhe drinks his glass of wine. When he’s done, I expect him to be happy and smiling, but he’s only glaring.

“What’s the problem?” I ask.

“This changes nothing.”

“Meaning what, exactly?”

“You aren’t going to butter me up with delicious food and expect me to be nice to you. Your music is too loud, and all the people coming and going are shady as hell. I don’t like you.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” I comment, reaching for my wine with a smirk.

“You’d kick me out.”

“Then tell me why you’re here,” I suggest.

He huffs again, shaking his head. When he looks at me, I can see in his eyes that he doesn’t want to say what he’s about to say. And that, for some strange reason, excites me.

“I have an opportunity to get us each 100k.”

That has my heart flipping in my chest. I’m not hurting for money, not at all. But I enjoy splurging and spending money on nice things, and an extra 100k could get me some pretty nice things.

I lean forward. “Tell me more.”

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