Page 8 of Next Door Midlife Alpha
“Need a hand?”
She shrieked at the sudden sound of the deep voice behind her and turned, pressing her hand against her chest. It was the handsome ranger she’d met before, the one who’d seen her mother in all her glory. The one who was herneighbor. Stacey laughed. “You scared the shit out of me!”
“I’m sorry.” Those dark eyes were watching her, but they flicked to the dresser. “It looks like you need some help.”
With the chest of drawers all the way at the edge of the truck bed, Stacey hopped down. “I didn’t think so, but it’s a lot heavier than it looks. I guess that’s what I get for buying quality pieces. I’ll have to call the movers back out here.”
“I’m happy to give you a hand.” Without waiting for her reply, he gave one solid tug on the chest ofdrawers and had it almost yanked completely out of the truck.
Stacey’s throat closed as she watched his muscles bulging under the tight-fitting sleeves of his t-shirt. “Thanks.”
“I’ll go backward,” he volunteered, easily swiveling around and leading the way up the walk.
They fell automatically into sync, their steps timed so that the load between them didn’t jerk either one of them in one direction or the other. Stacey tried to focus on keeping a grip on the furniture, but she also had to keep a grip on herself. Carol had joked with her about the handsome ranger, but she’d been closer to the truth than she might’ve realized. There was something about this guy that sent flutters of excitement through Stacey’s chest. “This is very kind of you.”
“Just being a good neighbor.” He flashed her a smile as he stepped up onto the porch.
Those fluttery feelings in her chest melted straight down into her stomach. “Then I guess that means I’ve never had good neighbors before.”
“Where does this go?” Dylan asked as they stepped inside.
“Well, upstairs, so I’ll have to figure that out later.” Now the hot ranger was in her house. She hadabsolutely nothing to be ashamed of when it came to the state of the place. Dylan knew they’d just moved in. Even with disarrayed furniture and stacks of boxes everywhere, the home was a nice one that’d been left clean as a pin when Stacey bought it. And yet, as Dylan’s eyes grazed over the wood trim, they might as well have been grazing over her naked body.
“No need. You go backward this time.” Dylan once again swung around, easily taking the brunt of the load between them as they headed to the second floor.
Now, those melty, fluttery feelings had migrated even lower. The anger and frustration were much easier because now she could hardly even concentrate on something as simple as moving an object from Point A to Point B. She backed into Elijah’s room, glancing over her shoulder to find his Legos still on the floor. “Watch your step. Those little bricks can kill a man, I swear.”
Dylan laughed as he set the chest down where Stacey indicated and shimmied it against the wall. “At least I’m not barefoot. That’s when they’re most dangerous. How many kids do you have?”
“Two.” She followed him back down the stairs and out the door, surprised at how quickly he movedafter hefting that thing all the way up there. “Vivian is eight and Elijah is six.”
“I remember those days.” Dylan leaped into the back of the truck. He hefted an armchair with just as much ease, flipping it over so that it rested over his shoulder. “When you first become a parent, everyone tells you how quickly they grow up. They sure aren’t kidding.”
“Oh? I take it you have some little ones, as well?” Struggling to keep up with him, Stacey quickly snatched a dining chair and followed him.
“No, not anymore. Well, I think I do, but Lila would disagree with me on that since she’s eighteen. She just graduated high school this year. Even when she was a freshman, I thought graduation was still pretty far off. It all went by like that.” He shook his head as he stepped into the living room. “Any certain place for this one?”
“Just there in the corner is fine.” Stacey trotted her wooden chair across the hall to the dining room. She glanced around, but there was no sign of her mother or children. They’d likely gotten distracted looking through all the stuff they’d hauled along with them, or maybe they were somewhere dreaming about wolves.
“Listen, I just want to apologize about my mother’s behavior yesterday,” Stacey said quietly when they were back out at the truck and guaranteed not to be overheard. “She can be a little unruly, but I promise we’re not here to cause any problems.”
“Don’t worry about it.” He grabbed one end of the dining table and waited for her to take the other one. “Does she live here with you?”
“Yes. She’s with the kids right now and is an amazing help with them. Of course, she keeps her top on for that.” Stacey struggled with the heavy table, wondering just how weak he’d think she was after this. Granted, that hard jawline of his made her weak in the knees, but that was a different sensation altogether.
“Hey, at least she’ll be easy to recognize from a distance when we’re all out on the beach,” Dylan cracked. His smile was more of a grin this time, one that made her sweat a little more than she already had been.
Regardless of how attractive she found him, Stacey was relieved to know that his first impression wasn’t quite as terrible as she’d imagined. “That’s true! Of course, my kids think there are all sorts of interesting things out on the beach. They’re really going nuts today. They told me they saw wolves out there having a bonfire.”
Dylan stiffened in the entryway to the dining room, almost losing his balance as Stacey continued forward. He quickly moved his feet, regaining his stance. “Wolves?”
“I know. It’s ridiculous.” Stacey swung the table around and settled it onto the floor. She grabbed the dining room chairs and began putting them in place. “I mean, I’ve never lived right on the ocean before, but that’s not exactly the kind of wildlife I was worried about running into.”
“Have they been reading any books about wolves?” Dylan, too, helped position the chairs. “I remember Lila checked out a library book about ghosts, and she couldn’t stop thinking about them for weeks. Every little creak of the house sent her screaming from the room, sure that it was a spirit coming to get her.”
Stacey considered this as they once again went back outside. The truck was starting to look empty. “I hadn’t thought about that, but I’ll have to ask them. They were pretty insistent about it, but kids tend to get caught up in whatever they’re currently interested in. I would’ve thought moving to a place like this would be enough of an adventure for them, but maybe it’s just enough of an adventure for me.”
“What made you come out here, anyway?” Dylanasked. “Don’t get me wrong; it’s a nice area. I just don’t usually see a lot of people coming in who don’t already have some connections to the place.”
