Chapter Two
There he was again; the hot-as-shit Marine that lived next door.
As he walked past, Henry wished he could find an opening to talk to him.
But he had Angel with him every time he saw the man.
There was no way she was going to let them talk.
Mrs. Martinez, the kindly old cul-de-sac gossip who lived on the other side of the gorgeous soldier, had filled him in on all the neighbors.
She’d told him about the Pearsons three doors down who were both cheating on each other.
The Ericksons who lived on the other side of him and how their oldest boy had just gotten a scholarship to MIT.
And about the Andersons who had three young children with a fourth on the way.
Then she told him about his neighbor, the high-ranking Marine.
From the way she spoke of him, Henry had expected someone older, not the walking wet dream that currently sat on the front porch.
Henry had a thing for military men. They usually were so decisive and take charge.
But it wasn’t only that. He had nothing but complete respect for the job they did.
Several members of his family had or were still serving.
For a while, he’d thought about joining himself, but it didn’t happen.
He wasn’t sure he could have passed any of the physical fitness tests.
Instead, he went to school to pursue design.
Like it was something she did every day, Angel turned up the sidewalk leading to the Marine’s house.
Henry stopped her and continued on their usual path.
Angel whined a bit but followed. He’d gotten no farther than Mrs. Martinez’s house when the Anderson’s older-model car backfired.
Angel began pulling on her leash, trying to go back toward their house.
When Henry didn’t move fast enough for her liking, she whined and wrapped the leash around his legs.
“Whoa, Angel. It’s okay.” Henry tried to soothe, but the dog only whined louder.
Somehow, he managed to free himself, but a second backfire sounded, and Angel jerked away from him, causing his tentative hold on the leash to break.
Instead of heading home, Angel took off in the direction on the Marine’s house, sprinting across his yard at full speed to get to the man who now had his head in his hands and was looking very shaky.
“Angel, heel,” Henry shouted, but his usually well-behaved girl ignored him.
She ran right up onto the Marine’s porch and licked his hands until he acknowledged her.
“I am so sorry.” Henry rushed up after the dog.
“It’s okay.” Instead of looking put out, the gorgeous man smiled, scratching Angel’s head as she nuzzled into his touch. Never had Henry been more jealous of his pet. “What’s your name?”
“This is Angel,” Henry introduced.
“A pretty name for a pretty girl.” The man scratched under Angel’s chin and her tail wagged a mile a minute.
“I’m Henry, by the way, Henry Andrews.”
“Nice to meet you, Henry.” The Marine looked up at him and smiled, but Henry could read the troubled look in his eyes and instinctively wanted to make it better. “Jackson Owens.” Jackson stuck out his hand for Henry to shake.
Henry took it with a nice firm grip. “Are you okay? I don’t mean to pry or anything, you just look like you could use a friend.”
“I’m fine,” Jackson said instantly, his voice incredibly gruff.
“Good to know.” Henry reached down to grab Angel’s leash so that Jackson wouldn’t see his cheeks heating.
“It was nice meeting you.” He attempted to walk away, but Angel was having none of it, laying down at Jackson’s feet.
“Come, Angel,” Henry tried. When that didn’t work, he whistled.
Finally, the dog got up and reluctantly followed Henry.
“It was nice meeting you too, Henry.”
Feeling dismissed, Henry all but dragged his unhappy dog back to their house.
He had known that would happen, that he’d say the wrong thing or too much.
He just hadn’t been able to help himself.
The man, Jackson, had obviously been suffering, probably a flashback caused by the backfire.
He’d seemed fine before that. But Henry had no time to dwell on that; he had three clients lined up for the day.
Extremely early the next morning, there came a banging on Henry’s front door. He glanced at the clock and groaned. “Who the hell could that be?”
He’d had a long day the day before and had been planning on sleeping in as long as Angel would allow him to.
All three of his clients had been talkers, causing each appointment to run long.
The last one had been the worst, wishy-washy to a fault with no clue what she wanted.
Yet she rejected every one of Henry’s ideas.
When he’d suggested that she might be happier with a different designer, she’d lost her mind, started screaming at him, and then threw him out.
When he returned to his office, another surprise was waiting for him.
His assistant had quit, leaving a mess of unorganized paperwork and unscheduled clients.
It had been well after eleven when he’d finally got home.
After a quick walk for Angel and a shower, he’d fallen into bed.
But thoughts of what was and what would be plagued him, and he’d lain awake for a few hours dwelling on his situation.
With a sigh, he hefted himself out of bed.
He liked to sleep nude, so he had to throw on some jeans and a T-shirt.
All the while, the pounding continued. He looked out the peephole and rolled his eyes.
Fuck, not this guy. After Maddox and Emmanuel’s wedding, he let himself be more open to the possibility of an actual relationship.
He’d even gone out with this asshole for about a month.
But that didn’t end well. Henry thought about ignoring him, but the pounding had grown so loud that Angel had emerged and came to stand at his side.
His sweet girl whined, afraid of the noise.
“Alright, baby, Daddy will make the bad man go away.” He patted her head, sighing before opening the door to step out into the crisp early morning. “What do you want, Abe?” Henry said, arms crossed over his chest as he blocked the entrance to his house.
“I came to tell you that I forgive you and I’m ready to get back together,” Abe slurred loudly.
“Get back together? I wouldn’t go out with you again if you were the last man on earth.”
“Don’t be like that. You know you love me.”
Henry laughed. “Are you serious? I honestly kind of hate you.”
“It was no big deal,” Abe insisted.
“No big deal? Really?” Henry raised an eyebrow. “You stole from me and lied to me, repeatedly.”
“It was just a few grand. No big deal,” the man repeated. “Besides, you’re my boyfriend. You’re supposed to help me out of tight spots.”
“We went out on four dates. I was not your boyfriend.”
“Oh, come on.” The man actually rolled his eyes. “Look, I won’t do it again, okay?”
“Do you really think that makes it better in any way? I can’t trust you. You’ve lied to me about almost everything.”
“What does it matter? So, I told a few lies about my past. It’s not a big deal unless you make it one.”
“I choose to make it one.” Henry took a step back toward the door, ready to end this conversation.
“Now you’re just being difficult,” Abe said, frustration seeping into his voice. “You need to get over it.”
“No, I don’t think I do.” Henry shook his head. “It’s like four in the morning; you need to leave.” He turned to go back into the house, but Abe grabbed his arm, yanking him around to face him.
“I’m not leaving.” Abe crowded into his personal space, making Henry feel small. The grip on his arm tightened, causing his pulse to race and his heart to pound.
“Let go.” Henry struggled against the steel grip.
“Stop fighting me and get your ass inside,” Abe growled.
“I’m not going anywhere with you, you lying asshole,” Henry spat. At his words, Abe drew back his hand and Henry could already feel the sting of the slap. He closed his eyes, bracing for the pain that never came.
“What the absolute fuck do you think you’re doing?” A hard voice came from behind Abe. Henry peeked up to see his neighbor, death grip on Abe’s wrist, looking ready to do some serious damage to the man threatening him. “You have exactly two seconds to let go of him.”
“This is none of your business.” Abe pulled away from Jackson, letting go of Henry in the process.
“You okay?” Jackson came to Henry’s side to ask. Henry managed a nod, even as his entire body was shaking. Jackson shot Abe another hard look. “He asked you to leave.”
“Again, none of your business,” Abe sneered.
Jackson stared at him with cold eyes. “Do you really expect a Marine to stand by and let you abuse him? I don’t think so.”
“Come on, Henry.” Abe ignored Jackson and turned to Henry.
“You need to leave.”
“You heard the man,” Jackson said harshly, taking a step toward Abe. “And you will leave him alone. If I catch you here again, you’ll have to deal with me. Trust me, you don’t want that.”
“Whatever. We’ll talk later, Henry.” It came out like a threat and Henry shivered.
“Are you really okay?” Jackson waited until Abe sped away before he asked again.
“Not sure,” Henry admitted.
“Let’s get you inside,” Jackson suggested. Henry led the way into his home and over to the couch where he plopped down. He didn’t see Angel, so he assumed she went back to bed. “Has this happened before?”
“Definitely not,” Henry answered. “That’s not something I would put up with.”
“Good to know.” Jackson nodded. “But he’s an ex for a reason, right?”
“A good one,” Henry confirmed.
“Stealing and lying sound like excellent reasons to me.”
“You heard that?” Henry felt his face heat with embarrassment. “Damn. Now I’m going to be the talk of the neighborhood.”