Page 73 of How to Love Your Neighbor
Rob crossed his formidable arms over his chest. The guy owned a gym, but Noah just scoffed at the show.
“What? You gonna bounce me out of my own house?”
John rooted through the fridge, pulling out a bunch of items, making Noah wonder if he’d need to shop when this was all over.You mean get Josh to shop.
“I’m leaving.”
“I’m telling Grace,” John said, his arms laden with pickles, yogurt, a bag of carrots, two sodas, and a container of red-pepper spread. What the hell kind of mix was that?
Noah cringed. “Nothing to tell. I’m leaving. And maybe put a puke bucket by your judge.” He saluted Stacey and Rob and hurried back over to Grace’s.
The tensions were running higher, giving him that rush of adrenaline. He couldn’t remember a time a woman had managed to infuse him with energy when she wasn’t even touching him. When he got back, Morty was snoring in the canvas chair. Chris and Josh were lifting a shelving unit upright. Rosie was securing the final shelves inside the desk Grace had purchased.
“Where were you?”
He grinned. Even his own team was suspicious. “I went to get Morty a snack. Can’t hurt to keep the judges happy.”
“It can if we lose because you were sneaking into enemy territory,” Chris said.
Noah laughed loudly, making Morty snort himself awake. “It’smyhouse.”
Noah looked down at the old guy, who looked momentarily confused. “You should really get that checked out. Here, I brought you snacks and beer.”
He took off back to the den to see that Everly had almost completed the feature wall.
“Hi there. You get lost?”
He hurried over to her, tried to take the roller from her hands. “Let me finish. You take a break.”
She shook her head, a small smile on her lips. “We don’t have time for breaks. You want to win or not?”
It stopped him in his tracks when he realized the answer normally would be a hard-and-fast yes. Now? He was just enjoying the process, the game. The atmosphere Grace had created.
“I’ll catch up in no time. Just watch.”
As he got to work, he heard Everly chuckle.
“You better hope cute and quick are exactly what she’s looking for in a man.”
He started to growl back a response but as he rolled gray paintonto the wall, he couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Gracewaslooking for outside of her profession. She wanted forever, but what kind of man did she envision? She was definitely attracted to him. That was only a starting point, though. Did she see anything else in him? Did he want her to?
27
“That’s time,” Tilly said. “Think the others will stop? Morty’s probably sleeping.”
“I set timers and I’ll send a text now.”
Grace
Time’s up, cheater.
Noah
I didn’t cheat! I came over to get some food because your fridge was empty.
Grace grinned at her phone. He was so easy to rile up. She loved… no, not loved. She enjoyed being with him, messing with him, making him smile. Like she did with Rosie. They were friends.
Grace
