Chapter 9
CHAPTER
NINE
Skye
Over the next few days, I learned that having a hot-as-sin neighbor came with a few perks…
especially because he went out for a run every evening at the same time.
He wore shorts and a T-shirt that were unfortunately not very tight, but there was plenty to admire, such as his sculpted calves and arms.
On the third evening, he proved that he hadn’t gotten those mouthwatering biceps by running: he did fifty push-ups right in his backyard. Yum….
How was a girl supposed to not have sexy dreams after such a performance every evening?
Truthfully, watching him through my kitchen window had been my only “interaction” with Rob since our dinner. He left early in the morning, and I returned late in the evening. Besides, his sister and niece stopped by for dinner almost every night.
Meanwhile, Tess and I had made tremendous progress in our search for someone to manage the store every Sunday.
After reviewing countless applicants and not finding anyone we could agree upon, we convinced Jane to reconsider taking charge on Sundays.
She’d been unsure if she could handle it, but she finally agreed.
We’d also hired a student to help her out—since Jane knew the business inside and out, it didn’t really matter if the person helping her had experience, and students were our cheapest option.
“To us learning to delegate and not be such control freaks,” I said, clinking my cup of coffee to Tess’s on Thursday morning.
She chuckled. “Speak for yourself, sis. I’m still working on the control part.”
“It’s going to be fine. Jane knows her stuff, and the new sales associate will just follow her instructions. Can’t wait to give everyone the good news.”
“Oh, yes. They’ll be thrilled. I think I’m going to arrive a little later for our family meeting. George said he’d meet me half an hour later.” George was the CFO of one of the factories we worked with.
“Okay.”
We were meeting the whole gang today for one of our working lunches.
Technically, there was no reason for them now.
We’d set them up so we could work on organizing the galas, and those were not starting again until September.
But then again, we used these meetings mostly to update each other on our lives.
I headed to Hunter and Cole’s office later in the day.
When I entered the conference room, my brothers, Hunter, and his wife, Josie, were already there.
She wasn’t just Hunter’s wife—she’d been our friend forever, and I loved it that she joined our lunches whenever she had time.
With chocolate brown hair she’d cut into a bob and a little black suit, she looked every inch the lawyer she was.
Her blue eyes lit up as she waved at me.
I looked around the room once, content that no one appeared troubled or exhausted.
Although the roles might have reversed now and the boys were more into our business, that didn’t mean I could just drop my old habits.
They’d been honed over more than a decade.
Hunter, Cole, and Ryker were all over six feet and well built.
The boys had also inherited the blue-eyed gene in our family, but other than that, they looked nothing alike.
Hunter had light brown hair and high cheekbones, Ryker had dark blond hair that looked perpetually messed up, like he was preparing himself for a rock concert, and Cole…
Cole was something else. His jet-black hair brought out his eyes in an amazing way.
He didn’t quite give off the bad-boy vibe Ryker did, but it was just as deeply ingrained in his DNA.
When Josie met us the first time, she nicknamed Ryker the Flirt and Cole the Charmer, and she’d been spot on.
She’d also nicknamed Tess the Hurricane, which had been fitting because my sister was a force of nature.
I’d been the only one left without a nickname (until recently, when Ryker said I was a dragon .
I absolutely loved that… he might have become my favorite brother ever since).
“Hi, everyone. Tess will be a little late,” I said. “What are we eating today?”
“Pizza,” Josie said. “It’s on the way.”
Hunter squeezed his wife’s hand, kissing her forehead. I sighed. He always looked at Josie as if she walked on water. I might not be a romantic, but I couldn’t deny that watching them did something to me.
“Tess and I have some news, but I’ll wait for her so we can share it together.”
I rubbed my stomach, my mouth already watering at the thought of pizza.
My sister arrived at the same time as the food.
“Ooooh, I have excellent timing. Which one’s mine?” Tess asked, surveying the stack of cartons.
“The one with your name on it,” Hunter said. We’d been doing this long enough that we already knew each other’s favorites.
The meeting room exploded with the smell of melted cheese, olives, salami, and anchovies.
All eyes were on Tess and me while we devoured our respective pizzas.
“What’s up?” Tess asked.
“Oh, I told them we have news. So… we’ve finally convinced Jane to take over on Sundays, and we hired her a part-timer.”
“Which means none of you has to sacrifice your Sundays anymore,” Tess added. “We’re very grateful for all your help.”
My phone vibrated while my sister talked.
Rob: Hello, neighbor. Want to catch up this evening?
Skye: Not sure when I’ll be home.
Rob: Past three days you’ve always been home already during my run.
Holy shit, he’d noticed me watching him? I decided to play dumb.
Skye: Oh, really?
Rob: Skye… I saw you through the window.
Skye: Couldn’t just ignore what was right in front of me.
Rob: Which part did you like more, the run or the push-ups? I can take my T-shirt off, just for you.
My face felt so hot that I was certain everyone at the table could tell something was off. Glancing around, I noticed Tess was grinning at me, but everyone else was too busy devouring the pizza.
Hmm… I wasn’t one to overshare, but I stood by the family’s no-secrets policy.
Tess had insisted on it after Dad left, saying that keeping things in wasn’t healthy.
We used to just sit together in circles and pour our thoughts out when Mom wasn’t looking.
She’d been so down anyway that it would have broken her heart.
But the strategy worked, and after a sibling session, we all usually came up with ideas to cheer Mom up.
I didn’t miss those times, but we did grow very close because of it.
Some might say our relationship was weird, but I liked that everyone had their nose in my business.
My siblings and their better halves gave some good advice.
Usually I only mentioned guys when I’d been on a few dates, but I decided to try another strategy this time.
Perhaps if I spoke about this, I could get some perspective.
“So, my neighbors moved away,” I said.
“That’s right,” Cole said. “You said you were helping them sell the house. How is that going?”
I took a deep breath. “Well, this gorgeous guy just moved in. I was already there for dinner once and it was delicious. We also kissed, and it was smokin’. Anyway, if anyone has advice on dealing with a too-hot-to-handle neighbor, I’m all ears.”
I’d said all this very fast and was greeted with such an unnatural silence that I wondered if they understood me.
“He’s the guy who just texted you?” Josie asked. As usual, she caught on the fastest. The lawyer of the group, always looking for clues.
Tess laughed. The boys were just stunned.
“Yes, how did you know?”
“I don’t know. Body language. Also, you’re blushing. And all that from some texts.”
“I also can vouch for the fact that she’s been daydreaming about said hot neighbor a few times at work,” Tess said.
Cole whistled. “You know what, sis? Good for you.”
My eyes bulged. “Wasn’t expecting this reaction.” My brothers usually were skeptical of any guy I mentioned.
Cole, Ryker, and Tess exchanged glances. Josie pressed her lips together.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You were so down after you broke up with that last guy you dated that we’re happy you’re moving on,” Cole said. “Just putting it out there, but I’m still volunteering to punch the moron.”
I hadn’t realized they’d all worried so much about me.
I was slowly putting two and two together though.
There was a lot of sibling support over the last weeks…
like when Tess, who would sleep at the store if she could, had started suggesting we take the evenings off to go to museums or for walks in Central Park.
Josie and Heather had organized girly evenings.
Ryker and Cole had pampered me even more than usual.
It had all been a group effort to cheer me up.
I hadn’t been in a funk because I was single but because the guy had made me feel like I was worth nothing, and it was a shitty feeling.
Like goo I couldn’t scrub off. And oh crap, now they were all hopeful I was moving on.
I hadn’t meant to get their hopes up. I mean…
at least they weren’t worrying about me, so that was a good thing.
“Let’s recap,” Josie said. “He’s hot, a great cook, and, by the intensity of your blush, an excellent flirt. I’m giving you one week before you agree to whatever is making you blush.”
“Nah, two weeks,” Tess said. “Give Skye some credit. She’s a tough nut to crack.”
“Thank you for the vote of confidence, sis.”
I turned to my brothers. Ryker was deep in thought, judging by his frown.
Cole whistled. “I usually agree with Tess, but I’m with Josie on this one.”
Ryker held his hands up. “I don’t want to wake the Dragon, so I’m just going to withhold my opinion.”
“We can do that?” Hunter said. “That’s so smart! I’m with Ryker.”
Tess burst out laughing. Cole was grinning from ear to ear.
“You’re no help. At all,” I concluded, but I was grinning just as widely as Cole. And when my phone lit up again with a message from Rob, I knew I was a lost cause.
Rob: Going for a run at the same time tonight. Want to come with me?