Page 24 of Sweeper
“Oh?” I reply knowingly.
“I have a date.”
“Of course you do.” I roll my eyes.
“And we’re meeting at a cute place in Shoreditch, and well…if things go well, yours is a lot closer than mine to…”
“Shag and bag?”
She winks and does finger guns at me.
“You really are such a bloke.”
“I know! You should join me in my blokeness. It’s fun, and you’ve clearly earned it.” She smiles, her emerald eyes sparkling with mischief. “Any updates on the naughty neighbor?”
“He’s still being his normal, irritating self,” I snap, my nerves sizzling with annoyance because just this morning I swear he was herding buffalo out of his flat. “I’ve been practicing in my tiny sound booth out of respect for him…but his alarm issue is still very much alive, and I swear he’s doing it on purpose to mess with me. And then his telly is constantly on maximum volume, even when he’s not there. I tried to be nice in the beginning, but every day since he’s moved in feels like bloodyGroundhog Day, and I’m going to lose my mind if he costs me this jingle.” I finish nearly out of breath as the image of his stupid smile from last night continues to reappear in my mind.
Phoebe smiles at me. “I think you’re spoiled.”
“Spoiled?” My jaw drops. “How?”
“That flat has sat empty the entire time you’ve lived there, and you got used to having the floor all to yourself. Welcome to London, love. This is how it goes. I once had a neighbor who walked down to the laundry room in his knickers…and they were supposed to be white…but…they were not white.”
“Bollocks,” I mumble under my breath, ignoring her fake gagging. “Zander is maddening. One day we passed each other in the hallway, and he started tiptoeing obnoxiously in front of me. He really is a wanker.”
“What are the other tenants saying about him?”
I sigh. “He’s right above Miss Kitchems, and she says when she takes out her hearing aids at night, it’s as if she’s sleeping in a grave.”
Phoebe’s nose wrinkles. “That’s morbid.”
“I know. Peter below me is never home, and I haven’t bothered asking the two tenants below them. It’s just me he’s making miserable.”And annoyingly aroused but I leave that bit out.“Last night, he actually got Hubert to have me deliver food to his flat across the street. We don’t do delivery here…never have.”
“He sounds charming.” Phoebe props her chin on her hand and waggles her brows at me.
“He sounds entitled,” I retort. “And it’s affecting my work. I have to be sure I’m not recording anything when he’s around because he’s so loud over there that it seeps in through the sound booth.”
Phoebe giggles, and then both of our attention is caught by the newcomer entering Old George.
“Speak of the devil,” I murmur under my breath as Zander strides toward the bar with his backward baseball cap and crooked smile. God, why does my body instantly warm every time I see him? It’s easy to dislike him when he’s on the other side of the wall in his flat. But I need to remind myself he’s a nuisance every time I come face-to-face with him.
“Daphney Adelle Clarke…what the bloody hell?” Phoebe nearly falls off her barstool as she gapes at him. “How have you not mentioned that he’s fucking gorgeous?”
I scoff, and she swivels around to reach across the bar and yank me toward her so we’re face-to-face, her breath mingling with mine.
“I’m dead serious, Daph.” She eyes me. “You and I are framily, friends who choose each other as family…which means you were keeping this from me for a reason, and I want to know why…right now.”
I open my mouth to respond, but nothing comes out.
“Say it,” she says, her green eyes turning to slits. “You fancy him.”
“I do not!” I jerk out of her grasp, feeling my face redden at her blatant way of calling me out.
We both go quiet as Zander sidles up to the end of the bar. He eyes Phoebe with a look of amusement and then turns to me. “Am I interrupting something?”
“No,” I snap like a petulant child refusing to admit anything.
His chest shakes with silent laughter. “I was just going to order some food.”
