Chapter 2
Alistair
It could’ve been a shadow, but it sure looked like a black cat. When nothing moved again, I lowered my binoculars. I wasn’t spying. I was enforcing the tenancy agreement and protecting my investment.
There’s a difference—a legal one.
The blonde one was irritating, but because of her I could lowkey check in on the house without sneaking in when they were out. With four of them, I could never be sure if the place was empty or not.
I’d had worse tenants, but last year’s Halloween party had made me paranoid. Why had I ever thought female tenants would be better? I had a younger sister—I should’ve known better. Her teenage years alone had turned our dad’s hair grey.
My niece was only three, but give it another decade and Sophie would get a taste of her own medicine.
I chuckled. Karma.
Movement caught my eye, and I lifted the binoculars again. The nerd of the bunch. She always wore some weird beanie or hoodie, but it suited her. Drew attention to that long auburn hair. Those oversized, bright blue glasses—ridiculous, but somehow they worked on her. She carried two white bowls.
Hm. Popcorn.
No partying tonight.
Good.
?? ?? ??
I dragged my focus away from the monitor when I heard voices outside. Binoculars in hand, I rolled my chair to the window.
Melissa was heading into the house with two young men. I had no clue how that young lady was going to graduate.
I hadn’t been a saint during my uni days, but she had to be going for some kind of world record.
If I actually had a life outside this house, I wouldn’t be spying on my tenants. Working from home was cost-effective, sure—but it came at a price. My inheritance had bought the rental properties, and my career in cybersecurity paid extremely well.
I was still contemplating my lack of a love life when the front door slammed.
I lifted the binoculars again just in time to see the nerd storming down the path. She flung the iron gate open so hard it scraped against the grey paving slab.
Hmm. Looked like I wasn’t the only repressed person in the neighbourhood.
It was ironic, really.
I was a penetration tester, and I couldn’t penetrate a thing offline.
?? ?? ??
“You’re so good to me, Mr Graves,” Melissa purred, kneeling behind me.
“No problem,” I said tightly, focusing on the pipe beneath the sink.
When someone gasped, I glanced up to see the nerd—Callie. She wore only a tiny blue towel that matched her glasses. My body reacted instantly to the curves she hid behind her baggy jeans and hoodies. I sat up quickly before anyone noticed—but banged my head off the basin.
She squealed and ran, but not before I caught a glimpse of her perky little cheeks.
I wouldn’t have minded being her professor. The things I’d do to that—
Oh, fuck. What was I thinking? She was my tenant, sixteen years younger than me. But she was a year older than Melissa, and Melissa was all over me.
I remembered all four dates from their paperwork. I’d just been checking that they were able to enter a contract, not that they were legal for—
No. I was just being cautious.
I shook my head and went back to tightening the pipe, ignoring Melissa’s fingers trailing over my shoulder.
Although, Professor Graves had a nice ring to it.
?? ?? ??
Sunday—8 a.m.
Callie, the nerd, shuffled into the kitchen with a carton of eggs and a gold-foil block of butter. She wore a fluffy white-and-grey robe, hood and all.
I lowered my binoculars, wondering why she wasn’t using the extra-large fridge I’d installed in the property.
Then the memories came flooding back. Sharing a communal kitchen was a nightmare for food theft. Hell, it even happened at work back when I used to go into the office.
She turned to fill the kettle, and I ducked out of sight.
This was getting out of hand.
Still, I stayed crouched for a few moments before slowly raising my head again. There could be a fire hazard in their kitchen. The smoke detector might fail.
It was best I checked the batteries next time I was over.
I crawled over to the coffee machine. It was that time of the month again—when my sister and her horde came to perform their welfare check. Coffee was a prerequisite for survival today.
I was sure my mother had put her up to it. Even from Spain, she still wanted intel.
?? ?? ??
Despite my usual grumpiness, Ella and Harry’s giggles as they ran up the path made me smile. I held my phone, waiting for Harry to lift the tiny tyrant high enough to ring the doorbell.
“Yes? Who is this?” I said in my best dramatic voice through the phone.
“It’s Ella!”
“And Harry!”
“Who?”
“Uncle Alistair, it’s us,” Harry said with a frown.
“I need to pee,” Ella whispered loudly.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered, rushing to open the door.
“No, she said pee,” Harry corrected.
I yanked the door open, and they practically spilled through the doorway. I bent down to kiss Harry’s head before scooping Ella up and sprinting for the bathroom. One day of kiddie chaos—that, I could handle. Especially when it came packaged in such sweet little humans.
“Hello?” Sophie called out while I wrestled with Ella’s dress.
“In here! Come do your job,” I shouted back.
“I come here for a break,” she snorted.
“It’s coming,” Ella warned.
I bit back a curse and sat her on the loo, holding her steady as she clung to my neck before she nearly disappeared inside.
“Ahhh,” she sighed, patting my back in a congratulatory way.
“I’m not wiping,” I warned my sister.
“Daddy does,” Ella said.
“Daddy’s got practice,” I muttered.
“I do indeed,” Eric said, smirking from the doorway.
I didn’t care—as long as someone else took over from me.
“Getting a bit of a paunch there, Eric,” I said, nodding at his belly.
That was enough to wipe the smirk off my brother-in-law’s face.
“If I’d known, I would’ve got the light beer in,” I added, standing up but still holding Ella’s sticky hand. “Maybe watch your carbs today.”
I chuckled. Using the kids as a buffer was great.
My sister was up next.