Page 24 of Need You
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” he muttered, and went to examine the window. “Why don’t you have blinds?”
“Because I don’t want anything to interfere with the view. Besides, it isn’t a standard-sized window.”
Nope. It was more like a wall of glass.
He rubbed his hand down his face. “C’mon, Delaney, work with me here.”
“Seriously, how bad can it be?”
He motioned for her to follow him downstairs. When he crossed her deck and headed toward his house, she balked.
“Wait. I’m not dressed.”
How had that not been a problem at her house? “Put on a robe, then.”
She disappeared, only to reappear in a silky kimono thing that hugged her curves as much as the tank had. But it was the slippers that killed him. High heels. Fluffy feathers. Totally impractical. Bordering on ridiculous. So why were they rocking his world?
“All right. Let’s go.” She let him take the lead.
As they walked through his house and up the stairs he wondered if she thought he was a slob, then wondered why he cared. The last woman inside his bedroom had been Lisa. Since her, he’d made it a point to date and hook up out of town. As far away as San Francisco if possible.
As soon as she stepped over the threshold, he pointed toward the window. “See what I mean?” He shielded his eyes to make his point.
She gazed around the room, lingered on his messy bed, then focused on the window where the drapes were drawn. “Huh. I never realized how close our houses are.”
He wanted to say,You mean how you encroached on my property when you decided to build Xanadu, but refrained.
“It’s a little bright,” she said.
“Are you freaking kidding me? It’s like having Eta Carinae two feet away.”
She gave him a look. “This is going to be a problem because I work a lot at night. It’s when I’m the most creative.”
“Okay. Get some blackout shades.”
She scrunched up her nose. “Why don’t you?”
“Because I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect a good neighbor to turn off her klieg lights at midnight.”
She sat on the edge of his bed and his instant reaction was to think about sex. With her. Which wasn’t good because pretty soon she’d look at the lower half of him and see what he was thinking.Shouldn’t have worn basketball shorts.
“I guess I don’t have a choice then,” she said, clearly clueless of his predicament. “They’ll have to be custom, due to the size and shape of the window. That could take some time.”
It was a miracle he’d heard what she said at all, since he could see that her nipples were hard where the fabric of her robe puckered.Avert your eyes, asshole. “I’d, uh, just appreciate you taking care of it.”
She let out a breath. “Between the parking and the lights, you’re the most high-maintenance neighbor I’ve ever had. You know that, Garner?”
He laughed at her use of his last name. It was very football coach for a fashion designer who wore pink feathers on her feet. “That’s what you get for living next door to a police chief who likes to occasionally sleep.”
“I heard about the accident on Highway Eighty-nine . . . pretty bad, huh?”
“Yep, though it could’ve been worse.” By the time Colt had left work, one of the victims had been upgraded from critical to fair condition.
“Awful when something like that happens.” She shook her head. “According to the news, the driver who caused it fell asleep.”
“That’s what he says.”
“You don’t believe him?”
