Chapter 5
CHAPTER 5
H e’d done it. He’d butchered her tree. He’d butchered her freaking tree.
Argh. She was going to kill him.
Pure, unadulterated rage burned through her veins as she glared at Becket’s house. A part of her wanted to march right on over there and strangle him now. But she was late. And even though the need to murder him was strong, her need to get ready for the ball was stronger.
Damn him. He knew she’d be busy tonight.
Sky stomped inside and slammed the door closed. Tonight was supposed to be fun. A celebration. And she was not going to let her no-good neighbor ruin that.
She jogged upstairs and jumped into the shower.
Maybe she’d throw a drink on him tonight. No, better yet, she’d call Jesse tomorrow and get him to arrest his own brother.
Ha. That probably wouldn’t happen.
He thought he’d won this one. But the joke was on him—because today, her building permit for the fence had finally come through. The fence was going up, and there was nothing her deranged, yard-mutilating neighbor could do about it.
A small smile returned to her face as she got out of the shower and dried off.
Sky could just picture the scowl on his face when he saw the fence up, and it brought her far too much joy.
She should be thinking about the million and one things she had to check once she got to the venue. The food. The drinks. The music. It should all be on her mind. It wasn’t. Becket was.
She dressed quickly, applied her makeup and did her hair before pulling on her dress. The dress was formal but also with a hint of sexy.
She stepped away from the mirror and glanced out the window, her heart giving a sad kick at the sight of her naked tree. The worst part was, there’d been no reason for him to do it. Yes, he’d said it was a safety thing. And yes, she was well aware of the town thief that had been in the paper. But if her tree blocked his view, that wasn’t her problem. He still had plenty of street view with the branches fully intact.
She hated him. It didn’t matter how pretty his face was, she did not like Becket Hayes.
Her phone buzzed from her dresser, and she lifted it to see it was her mother.
“Hey, Mom. Are you and Dad ready to go?”
“We’re all dressed, but I need you to tell your father there’ll be food at the fundraiser. He’s insisting on stopping for dinner on the way.” There was a shuffling noise. “Roger, take the phone.”
“Who is it?”
Sky chuckled at her father’s confused tone.
“Who do you think? It’s Skylar. Take the phone.”
There was another shuffling sound, then her dad’s voice again. “Skylar?”
“Hi, Dad. There’s food at the fundraiser.”
“But you said we don’t have set seats or individual plates.”
She put the cell on speaker and set it onto the dresser to put on her left earring. “That’s right. It’s cocktail food.”
“Cocktail food?”
What century was her father from? “Food will be brought around by servers on trays, and you can take what you want. There’ll be plenty.”
“Oh. I don’t think I’ll like that.”
“Roger, stop being a stick in the mud,” her mother scolded. “It’ll be great. Give me the phone.”
Sky’s grin widened as she switched ears.
“Your father’s being difficult,” her mother said. “But what’s new? See you soon.”
“I’ll see you soon, Mom.”
She hung up and turned to her mirror, inspecting the dress, then her makeup and hair. She’d put up her hair to show off the twisted spaghetti straps at the back.
Good. She looked good.
Good enough for Becket to take a second look?
The thought came out of nowhere, making her nose wrinkle. God, why would she care if that dog-hating, tree-butchering neighbor took a second look at her?
She didn’t. She absolutely did not. And even if he did take a second look, she wouldn’t know, because she wouldn’t be looking at him . Unless it was to plan his impending death.
After throwing her lip gloss and phone into her purse, she locked her house and headed toward her car.
She told herself not to look at the tree again, but damn if her gaze didn’t go straight to it.
It looked so bare.
Damn Becket.
She’d worked a half day today at the doggy daycare, and being a Saturday, it hadn’t been busy. Although…there’d been one new dog. A Border Terrier named Marty. Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as she drove, thinking back to that morning. The second he’d trotted into the daycare, her entire body had frozen—because he’d looked so much like her Charlie. His strong jaw. His short, shiny coat.
A familiar ache twisted inside her chest.
Some days, she almost forgot he was gone. Some days, she still woke up expecting to see him next to her. Or hear him barking when she got home.
Tears pushed at her eyes, but she forced them back.
This is for you, Charlie.
And it was true. Every fundraiser lifted some of that unbearably heavy weight on her chest, like she was somehow making up for what had happened to him. And even though she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel ready to have another dog, running the doggy daycare allowed her to still get her daily fill.
The parking lot at the events center was almost empty. Good. Guests hadn’t started arriving yet.
Inside, there was a wide grand foyer with a huge staircase in the center, but she headed for a function room to the left.
When Sky stepped into the room, she couldn’t hold back her gasp. Beautiful. The lights were dimmed, making the chandelier sparkle above the large dance floor. There was a bar at the back and a band setting up at the front. Cocktail tables were scattered around the space, covered with black cloths and decorative glass animal centerpieces.
She smiled at the balloon arrangement with “The Humane Society” lit up in the center.
“Perfect,” she whispered.
“It really is.”
She spun to find Clara Hayes beside her. She wore a floor-length sky-blue dress and stood with a woman who had the most dazzling emerald-green eyes.
They’d actually gone to the same high school, but because Clara had been younger than her, they’d never spoken. Now she saw Clara regularly for acupuncture, and they’d become fast friends.
“Hi, you’re early!” Like half an hour early.
Clara cringed. “Sorry. A bad habit of mine. I hate to be late so sometimes get to places absurdly early.” She turned to the woman beside her. “This is my cousin, Indie.”
Sky smiled at the woman. “Hi, Indie. I’m Sky Williams. It’s nice to meet you.”
Indie dipped her head. “You too. This place looks great.”
“Thank you. Now I just hope it goes well.”
“I know it will,” Clara said, gently touching her arm. “All your fundraisers have been perfect.”
“Thank you.” Clara had such a calming energy about her. It was just one of the reasons Sky loved seeing her for acupuncture.
Clara inched closer. “Hey, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Becket’s coming tonight.”
All the fine hairs stood on end at the mention of his name. Then she remembered her tree. Could she strangle him here? No. It was a formal fundraiser. Maybe tomorrow.
She forced a smile to her lips. “He told me.”
“Sorry. Hopefully he’s on his best behavior.”
His best behavior? Ha. She didn’t even think he knew what that was.
“He doesn’t bother me.” Lie . “He’s oil and I’m water. Everything he says and does rolls right off me.” Big…gigantic…lie.
As if the universe needed to prove that point, the doors opened and two men walked in, both tall, both broad—one of them Becket.
Good God. Did people not know how to arrive at events on time? And why did he have to look so hot in formal wear? Like really hot?
The suit cut across his broad shoulders too freaking perfectly, and when his gaze hit hers before running over her body, it felt like he was undressing her with his eyes.
She kind of liked it.
No. No, you don’t like it. You don’t like him. Remember the tree, Sky. And the fence. And every other thing he’s done to you.
Her hands fisted. “I’ve, um, got to go talk to some people.” She turned and took off in the opposite direction, almost running from the neighbor who she absolutely needed to avoid at all costs tonight. Because part of her wanted to kill him.
But another part of her wanted to do something she absolutely would never admit out loud.
* * *
Red silk rolled over Sky’s thighs as she moved, and Becket couldn’t fucking look away. He’d been watching her all night. The imprint of her nipples against that dress. Her sexy back and shoulders. How a back could be sexy, he had no fucking clue, but hers was.
“You should talk to her.”
Becket forced his focus to shift from her to Holden, who came to stand beside him. “She’s been doing everything she can to stay as far away from me as possible.”
In fact, as the ballroom had filled up, she’d conveniently always been on the opposite side of the room as him. He wasn’t going to lie, he was kind of surprised. He’d expected the woman to rage at him the second she saw him.
“Why would she do that?” Holden asked, even though he knew their history.
“I trimmed her tree this morning.”
“Trimmed?”
Okay, maybe it was a bit more than a trim. “It was blocking my view of the street.”
“Ah, the town thief.” Holden’s fingers tightened around his glass. “Have you told her that’s why you did it?”
“Yep. I told her it was a safety thing. She didn’t seem to care.”
“Did you tell her it was for her safety too?”
“I assumed she’d know that.”
Holden shook his head. “With your history? Probably not. Talk to her.”
He sipped his beer. Holden was right. It would still probably end up in an argument though. Every conversation with Sky did.
Holden frowned at something across the room. “Your sister was looking tired when I spoke to her.”
Becket followed Holden’s gaze to Clara. Five years ago, she’d been diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. She’d gone through chemo and had responded well to it, going into remission before the end of treatment. Since then, there’d been no cancer found in her body, but she still suffered from chronic fatigue, and everyone, especially family, worried about her.
“Maybe I should get Mom to talk to her about not pushing herself too hard,” Becket said quietly.
Since her diagnosis, Clara had changed. There was rarely an experience she said no to, and if anyone questioned her on her decisions, they always got the same response—that life was too short. So far, she’d jumped out of planes, taken a million different courses, and completely changed her profession from lawyer to acupuncturist.
Whenever he or Jesse tried to have a conversation with her about slowing down, she got defensive.
“I might go over there and make sure she’s okay,” Holden said.
Becket nodded, appreciating that the man was looking out for Clara. Even though Holden had only just moved to town, he’d been part of their family a lot longer. His own mother had died when Holden was a teenager, and she’d been the only family he’d had. Once he and Jesse started getting closer as friends, he’d started joining their family for holidays, slotting right in.
Becket was just lifting his beer when Sky walked past, heading toward the bar. He should leave her the hell alone, he knew that, but damn if he wasn’t a sucker.
He set his beer onto a table and crossed over to stand beside her. The scent of lilacs surrounded him—her scent. One that he’d grown to really like since meeting her.
“Nice fundraiser you’ve organized.”
She jumped and turned, eyes widening as she looked up at him. “Becket.”
She said his name like a warning, and he almost laughed.
“In the flesh.” He cocked his head. “You look nice.”
“Really? You know what doesn’t look nice? My tree.” She leaned closer, a bite behind each word. “I don’t know whether to kill you myself or call the sheriff on you.”
“Why not both? Call the sheriff and then kill me. It will make discovering my remains a bit quicker.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Is this funny to you?”
“Don’t be mad. I told you I did it for safety reasons. Your safety too.” As suspected, that didn’t seem to appease her at all. “Come on, this is a fundraiser. Smile and tell me I look nice too. I know you’re thinking it.”
“You want to know what I’m thinking when I look at you? Two billion years of evolution for this ?”
He threw his head back and laughed. He’d never been insulted as much as he had in the last year, having this woman as his neighbor, and he fucking loved it.
The bartender stopped in front of them. “Hi, what can I get you two?”
“We’re not together,” Sky said, as if the very idea repulsed her. “I’ll have a pina colada.”
“Beer, thanks.” He looked down at her. “You’re a bit frosty to a donor.”
“I’m frosty because I got home to my tree no longer looking like a tree.”
“Okay, maybe I went a bit crazy with the trimming.”
“A bit?” If looks could kill, hers would be murdering him on the spot. “There’s no tree left.”
“Sure, there is. There are branches.”
“Two. You left two branches.”
“Now you don’t need to pay anyone to trim it.” Her glare grew darker, and he almost laughed. “I’ll buy you a new potted plant.”
“I don’t want a potted plant, I want my tree back.”
“Here you go.”
Sky huffed as she turned back toward the bartender. When the woman held out the credit card machine, he paid before Sky could.
She turned toward him. “Why did you do that?”
“Penance for the tree.”
She rolled her eyes. “Like that could make up for it. And by the way, I got the permit for the fence. It’s booked for next week.”
“Not happening.”
“It is.”
“It’s not.”
She inched closer and jabbed a finger into his chest. “You can’t bully your way out of this one, Becket. The fence is going up and that’s that.”
“No, it’s not.”
“You’re impossible. And you’re also wrong.” She lifted her glass. “You enjoy Delusion Island over here. I’m going to have fun.”
He chuckled, because she didn’t look like she was having fun. He, on the other hand, never had more fun than when he was around her.