Page 87 of Never Kiss the Bad Boy

DANI

Things are going well—with me and Kyle, and with him and his family—so I should’ve known better than to let my guard down. That’s when the universe likes to throw an Uno Reverse at you and ruin everything good you’ve got going. It’s happened to me before, but I’m still surprised when I look out my kitchen window shortly before the Thursday lunch rush starts and see Kathy, Kyle, and a guy in a Polo shirt and jeans staring at the fence between my yard and Kathy’s.

I’m outside, demanding to know what’s going on before the screen door slams behind me.

“We’re measuring and marking for the fence line,” Kathy informs me. That’d seem innocuous enough except she has an evil smile on her lips and a hungry look in her eyes. “Nothing for you to be concerned about.”

She waves me off, literally flicking her hand at me like I’m going to leave her to it, but I’m instantly on alert. If someone tells you not to worry about something, you should absolutely get all up in that shit. Immediately. Most likely, they, like Kathy, are trying to pull a fast one on you.

“Ma’am,” Mr. Polo says, holding his hand out to me over the chain link, “Zach Rollins. I’ve been hired to do an official survey of Mrs. Wilson’s property.”

I look at his hand but don’t shake it. Partially because I’m feeling suspicious of this whole thing, and partially because I’m in food service mode and not risking any contamination.

He narrows his eyes at the rebuff but isn’t too put off, continuing, “I need to come on the other side of the fence to confirm the lot boundaries, if that’s okay?”

“I’m not doing anything to help her.” I cut my eyes to Kathy, glaring nastily. “I wouldn’t piss on her if she was on fire, so I’m sure as shit not letting some guy she hired come onto my property.”

Zach looks to Kyle like he’s going to help, but Kyle’s standing with his feet planted firmly in the dirt, his arms crossed over his chest, and his jaw set in stone. He has on sunglasses so I can’t see his eyes, but I don’t miss the tiny upward tick of his lip like he’s fighting off a smile at my crudeness.

“Well, that’s just it, I’m afraid,” Zach says, leaning over the fence and staring back and forth at it from the front yard to the back fence line. “I’m not sure it is your property until I complete my survey.”

“Excuse me?” I snap, stepping closer to the fence in question, and he jerks back.

“It’s on my land, so it’s mine.” Kathy sounds like a selfish kid on the playground who’s claiming it’s their ball, so you have to follow their rules. “But my property actually extends several inches that way.” She makes a shoving motion like she’s moving the entire fence toward me.

“Like hell it does,” I hiss. “This thing was here when I bought my house and when you bought yours. It’s been surveyed at least twice, if not more times, and signed off by the city.”

“Be that as it may,” Kathy says airily, lifting a shoulder, “it might be inaccurate. And I do want to make sure the fence is done precisely so we don’t have any further issues between us.” Her smile is reminiscent of the cat that ate the canary.

This is another one of her ploys. It has to be.

“Mr. Rollins, are you a licensed surveyor? Experienced? Receiving any bribes from Kathy for doing her dirty work? Because we all know she wouldn’t dare get her claws muddy.” I’m looking for her angle. She always has one, so this time won’t be any different. And I can beat her at her own game. I have before. I just need to catch up to her, quickly, which I can also do.

He recoils, looking insulted. “No, of course not! To the bribe part. To the rest, yes. I’ve been licensed for ten years and have done hundreds of surveys. You can look me up if you’d like.” He points to his left chest where his company name is embroidered. But anybody can do that to make themselves look official, so I’m still not convinced.

“He’s legit, Dani. I’ve worked with him on other jobs,” Kyle confirms, and his vouching for this guy only pisses me off more.

“So, what now?” I demand, mostly of Kyle.

“Now I confirm my findings,” Zach answers, virtually running away toward the front of our lots. I notice for the first time that he has a tripod set up on the edge of the street, and he peers at something on it. He walks back toward us, carefully sticking to the fence, but on my side this time.

As he gets closer, he stares at me with hard eyes that say he’s done this before and lived to tell the tale and he fully expects to do the same today. I’m not looking to get arrested for intimidation or assault, so I don’t lunge his way how I’d like to, but I also don’t move one of those precious inches he supposedly thinks belong to The Bitch Next Door, so he scoots between me and the chain link with his back to Kyle and Kathy like he considers me the bigger threat. Smart man.

At the back fence line, he looks at the device in his hand that’s started beeping and then back at the tripod. He licks his lips and takes a big breath like he doesn’t like what he’s seeing. He walks all the way back to the tripod while I try to murder Kathy with my eyeballs and she ignores me, watching Zach in eager anticipation.

Back on Kathy’s side, he says, “The fence is incorrectly placed.”

“No, it’s not.”

Zach isn’t talking to me, though, so he’s sure not listening to me, and he keeps going, “The submission to city hall is electronic, so it’ll hit their files today. I’ll mark out the fence placement guides before I leave, Kyle. If there’s nothing else?” He directs that to Kathy, who shakes her head, smiling like she’s won the Mrs. Bitch America pageant, all innocence and appreciation.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Rollins. I want to make sure my grandbabies have all the play area they can because every bit is so precious.”

I want to vomit at her sugary-sweet, loving grandma act.

He nods, gives Kyle a look of ‘good luck, man’, and walks back toward his truck, which is parked in front of Kathy’s house. Of course, she doesn’t have a problem with that, I think spitefully.

Sounding more like her usual snobby self, Kathy says, “The fence will be up tomorrow, right, Kyle?”

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