Page 2 of Bean Flicker
All that does is earn me a deep belly laugh that echoes through the open air as he walks off and leaves me to contend with my embarrassment alone. I can’t believe I just masturbated in front of my hot neighbor.
And what’s worse, I didn’t even finish.
JOSH
The sun is low in the sky by the time I finish repairing the fence where our wayward sheep got through. My muscles are aching, but I can't help but grin to myself as I replay the events of this afternoon in my head.What a way to meet my new neighbor.
Cedarwood Valley is a sleepy little farming community where nothing much really happens outside the daily grind. There are maybe two thousand residents, and everyone knows everyone else’s business, so it’s unusual for anything to go by unnoticed. The rumor mill in this town is supreme, and I’m shocked they managed to miss a new resident moving into our midst. But my god, am I glad that they did. Finding her the way I did will stay with me forever.
Normally when I go on a hunt for a missing sheep, the best-case scenario is finding it safe and unharmed so I can return it to the herd without any vet bills. What I found today has completely changed up my expectations. I didn’t even know I had a new neighbor moving in, so the last thing I thought I’d find there was a cute as fuck brunette taking care of herself with the window open.
I know it was wrong of me to stand there and watch, but once I saw her, you couldn’t have paid me to look away from that curvy goddess as she writhed on that bed to the pleasure of her own hand. The only thing I’m truly regretful for is that damn sheep bleating and interrupting her before she finished. Nowthatwould have been a sight to see.
I straighten up and stretch my aching back as I hiss through my teeth at the memory.She was so close…
Setting my tools down, my eyes flick to the book she was reading. There’s some muscular guy getting real cozy with a curvy hottie on the cover, and I can’t help but picture myself and my new neighbor in that exact position. I should probably feel like a dirty fuck, or a peeping tom—or whatever name you want to call it—but I don’t. All I feel is intrigued. I want to know more about her.
My dick twitches at the thought, and I close my eyes, remembering the look on her face while she touched herself. To say that I've been hard since I caught sight of her would be an understatement. I've actually considered jacking off in the middle of the paddock just to give myself some relief. But I’m not about to risk getting caught with my dick in my hand and a bunch of sheep nearby. The rumors that’d go around town would be endless. I’d never live it down.
Besides, the only way I’m interested in getting off right now iswithmy new neighbor. There hasn’t been a single woman to spark my interest in…I can’t remember how long. And while yes, it was the show that drew me in, it was her body and beauty that made me stay. Those green eyes of hers and the cherubic shape of her face are going to haunt my dreams—along with that spunk of hers too. I might not know much about her, but they say you can learn a lot about a person based on what they read. And since I have her book, I’m pretty much set.
Picking up the novel, I set my ass on the lush grass underfoot and flick through the pages. I've never been much of a reader unless that book had something to do with my work, but whenever I did pick up fiction, it was always some crime thriller or military focused. Romance has never piqued my interest—until I found my neighbor so 'engrossed' in one, that is. And I guess I fell into the trap that most guys do where the romance genre is concerned. I saw it as unrealistic and lacking substance, something only teenage girls and bored and lonely housewives in unhappy marriages read. But after what I witnessed today, I’m willing to revisit my obviously ill-informed opinion.
Flipping the book over, I read the blurb on the back cover. It's what one would expect from a book like this—hockey star is an asshole who sleeps around, but when he meets the woman of his dreams his whole outlook on life changes and his soul focus becomes her. But does she want him?
I smile to myself. It all seems so Hallmark, so over the top and unrealistic. I'd never consider reading this on the cover and description alone, but the more I consider it, the more I appreciate the beauty of the romance genre. And better still, I'm starting to realize that the pages within hold the key all men have been searching for since the dawn of time. This book right here contains the inner workings of the female mind. It’s like I’ve found the holy grail.
"It's a manual on how to turn a woman on," I say in amazement, pulling back the front cover and starting to read...
REGINA
After barely sleeping a wink from replaying my embarrassment and researching where I can buy a cabin hidden in the deep, dark woods so I can become a mountain-dwelling hermit for the rest of my days, I put in a call to my best friend who's back in the city. I've been doing my best to keep the conversation neutral, but she knows me too well and can sense that something more than just moving boxes and unpacking has happened.
"Spill," Mariah commands. "You know you can't hide anything from me, and even though I can't see your face, I can hear the way your mouth is twitching over the phone."
I press my finger against the corner of my mouth like it'll somehow hide my tell. "How can you possibly hear that?"
"I can't, but the fact you're questioning it means there is something. Come on, Reggie, tell me what's on your mind. Country life not what you thought it'd be?"
"Well," I start, biting my lip as I take a deep breath and steel myself for this conversation. "I met my neighbor yesterday."
"OK."
"Well, technically, I met his sheep first."
She giggles. "That's about as country as it gets."
"Yes. But it's not so much the sheep bleating through my window as it is what I was doing when the sheep bleated through my window."
"Oh god. Did some stuffy old farmer see you naked?"
"Worse. And he's not stuffy. Or old."
"What's worse than being nak—Oh my god. Were you reading one-handed?" The last part comes out in a hushed whisper, and I immediately put my hand to my face in shame.
"Mm-hmm," I squeak. "It was that Saffron Spark book you gave me before I left. And you know how hot it is."
"Ohmigawd! What were you doing reading like that with your window open?"
