Chapter 17 JR
JR
With the bar closing down early during the week, I generally got a few more hours of sleep than on the weekend, which meant I wasn’t so cranky when I headed out to Murky Falls Ranch in the morning.
The double shifts were tiring, but it was good for me. I hated sitting around that damn house with nothing to do, aside from thinking about my neighbor and wondering what she was up to.
Not that I did that often. It was just something that happened to cross my mind from time to time.
My headlights illuminated Josie’s car as I pulled into my drive, and what I saw confused the hell out of me. Getting out, I stomped over to her vehicle and eyed the woman slumped against the window. A small fog circled her mouth from where her breath fanned out every few seconds.
Rapping on the window, she jumped, rubbing her face where it had been smooshed against the glass. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes before rolling down the window.
“What?” she whined.
“What are you doing?”
“Sleeping,” she muttered, cranking the heat higher in her car.
I glanced at her house, then back at her. “See, a car is for general modes of transportation. A house,” I said, pointing to the one right in front of her, “is where a person goes to eat, sleep, hang out…I know you’re aware of these things. You’ve done them before. I’ve seen you.”
“Yeah, well…my brother brought home some red-haired cougar, and they’ve been going at it all night. I thought the walls were going to fall down.”
I almost walked away. After all, it was none of my business where she slept. However, it was the middle of the night, and she was sleeping in her car. She was wasting gas.
That’s what I told myself.
Sighing, I yanked her car door open and reached inside, turning the engine off.
“Hey! I need that to stay warm.”
“No, you don’t. Come on. You can stay on my couch.”
“I can’t do that,” she yawned loudly.
“Why not?”
“Because—”
“I’ve slept on your couch. It only seems fair that you allow me to return the favor.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but I grabbed her arm and tugged her out before she could utter a word.
It probably wasn’t my best and brightest idea, but if I left her out here all night, I’d probably end up looking out my window every five minutes to make sure she was still alive.
Then I wouldn’t get any sleep, and I’d be crabby as hell the next day.
“Come on,” I said, dragging her and her blanket from the car.
She was dressed in her Christmas pajamas, along with slippers of the Grinch on the toes. It might have been cute, not that I would admit that to anyone.
“Ugh, I’m so tired,” she mumbled as she shuffled across the lawn. “You’d think they would have gotten tired and gone to sleep after round two, but no. They took a five-minute break before round three started.”
“Maybe you should invest in soundproofing.”
“I’m hoping she won’t be around that long. Maybe if I make another pot of beans and rice, she’ll flee for good.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I made beans and rice for dinner and she didn’t touch a bite of it,” she mumbled. “Rude, if you ask me. She sat on her ass all day and filed her nails.”
She trudged up my steps and nearly fell asleep against my shoulder as I struggled to get the damn door open.
Tomorrow, I was getting this fixed. Guiding her inside, I led her over to the couch, where she promptly fell down and snuggled in.
Her blanket was hanging half off her, so I fixed it until she was all tucked in, then chastised myself for even caring.
I quickly showered, wiping the smell of grease and liquor from my skin, but the problem started when my mind accidentally moved in the direction of the woman on the couch.
And what it would be like if she joined me in the shower.
I hissed as my hand brushed over my hardening cock.
Why the thought of her got me all twisted up inside, I’d never know.
I didn’t normally fantasize about women.
Sure, I brought them home and had a good time, but that was it.
I didn’t believe in marriage or even monogamy.
It all seemed like a good way to piss off the person you were supposed to be devoted to.
And yet…
Thinking of her laying on my couch, her short blonde locks tangled around her face did something to me. There was an innocence to her, yet somewhere deep in my gut, I wondered if that was just an act.
I could picture her now, on her knees for me with the spray from the hot water cascading down her breasts as she stroked my cock and let the tip of her tongue flick out and tease my head.
Fuck. Cum shot against the wall as I quickly braced myself, keeping my balance so I didn’t end up falling out of the shower. Breathing hard, I stared at the streaks of cum lining the shower wall.
There was something wrong with me.
I could not—would not allow myself to think about the woman on my couch or the effect she had on my cock. I had to keep my distance from her and remind myself that she was just the annoying next-door neighbor. I had done her a favor tonight, but it wouldn’t happen again.
With any luck, her brother would get rid of his skanky mistress, and the two of them would be back to their annoying selves.
Killing the water, I wrapped a towel around my waist, cursing my already hard cock and the way it jutted from between the folds of the fabric. It had been a long time. That’s all this was. I wasn’t actually attracted to my neighbor. I just hadn’t gotten pussy in a really long time.
A very, very long time.
And my cock was letting me know it was not satisfied. I needed to fix this situation as soon as possible. Preferably by tomorrow night. Then I’d be fine and these insane thoughts about my neighbor would disappear.
Decision made, I flung the door open and smacked right into Josie.
“Oops, sorry,” she muttered. “Just have to use the bathroom.”
Her body brushed against my cock, but I doubted she noticed. She was practically sleepwalking.
As she shut the door, she whispered, “Thank you again for letting me sleep on your couch.”
I rolled my eyes and headed to my room, slamming the door.
So much for getting any sleep tonight. I tossed and turned, willed my cock to go down to at least half mast, and even tried counting sheep, but not a damn thing kept my mind off the woman in the other room, or how damn tempting she looked in those fleece pajamas.
Finally, at some ungodly hour, my eyes drifted to sleep and I was able to get at least a few hours of shuteye before my alarm went off way too early in the morning.
And what greeted me in the kitchen was something I could totally get used to, but probably shouldn’t.
“Good morning!” Josie said, cheerful as ever. “I made you breakfast. I figured it was the least I could do after you saved me from a night of sleeping with my face smooshed against cold glass.”
She took the pan off the stove and slid fried eggs onto a plate, then took the sizzling bacon from the pan and laid it on a paper towel to soak up the grease. There was orange juice, tomato juice, and something green that I decided to ignore completely.
And then there was tea.
“Now, I know you like coffee, but I really don’t know how to make it, and this tea will really get your day started,” she said, pouring a cup for me. “And I promise, if you don’t like it, I’ll never make you drink it again.”
The thought of even putting the damn cup near my lips was revolting, but she had gone to all the trouble to make breakfast. The least I could do was taste her tea.
Taking the mug from her, I set it on the table as I took a seat. The mountain of food was enough to feed an army, but I’d gladly dig in and help rid her of having to send anything to the soup kitchen.
“It looks great.”
She dropped everything and rushed over, cupping her ear. “What? I’m sorry, I missed that.”
Rolling my eyes, I took some buttered toast. “I said, it looks great.”
“I must have misunderstood you. It sounded like you said it looked great, but that can’t be right. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a positive word out of your mouth.”
“Where did you get all this food?” I asked, ignoring her taunting.
“I went over to my house. Thankfully, all was silent when I entered. There was no moaning or groaning, and whatever that horrible noise was against the wall had also disappeared. I just hope Sawyer has enough energy to actually go to his job.”
“How long is the cougar planning on staying?” I asked around a bite of toast.
Sighing, she took a seat, a steaming mug of tea in her hand. “Apparently, they’re engaged.”
I choked on the toast, taking a long sip of my tea to swallow the dryness clogging my throat. “Engaged?”
“I know. He’s known her for like five days. She calls him Boo Bear,” she grimaced.
“And he likes that?”
“Oh, it gets better,” she grinned. “He calls her Cuddlebug.”
I dropped my toast, wiping my hands on my napkin. “That’s it. My breakfast is officially ruined.”
“Don’t let their love names ruin your breakfast. With any luck, you’ll never run into either of them. I, on the other hand, have to see them again before I leave. Maybe they’ll both be so worn out that I’ll never see them ever again. It’ll be like we’re ships passing in the night.”
The smile on her face was forced, but the hope was clear as day.
“It might get better. Doesn’t this sort of thing usually die out after a few weeks?”
“You think?” she asked hopefully.
“Hell, I don’t know. I’ve never been in a relationship.”
Her jaw dropped, as did the hand holding her teacup. “Ever?”
“Ever.”
“How is that possible? I mean, there must have been girls lining up to whisper to other girls about how hot you are. And in that whole bunch, there had to be at least one brave girl who risked life and limb to build up the courage to tell you that someone in that group had a crush on you. It’s the way of the world! ”
I quirked an eyebrow at her.
“Well, it was the way of the world when I was in school. Seriously, not a single one of them?”