Page 4 of The Cocky Neighbor

"Look, I understand that I didn't make the best first impression and I truly apologize for that, but you don't know anything about me. I'm nothing like you said," Eric retorted. I liked that he wasn't backing down. There was a fine line between insubordination and kissing up to superiors. While he was straddling the boundaries of the two, I liked that his first instinct wasn't to admit defeat with his tail between his legs and fight for what he thought was right without being overbearing. A good manager was one who knew their limits while fighting for the people who worked under them.

"I don't know about that. I find first impressions to be very telling."Like the fact that my first impression of him was that I wouldn't mind riling him up in more ways than one. Preferably in the bedroom. I would not mind that at all.

I let my eyes wander from his broad shoulders that stretched the suit he wore down to his thick forearms, stopping myself before going even lower to check out his assets that I was sure would match his enormous frame. I wasn't a small dude by any means, and Eric and I were around the same height, but he definitely had me beat in thickness.

His body reminded me of the beefy quarterback I'd fucked the other night. It was too easy to imagine Eric being the man under me instead of the football player. The muscles on his strong back spasming under my hand as I fucked him senseless…which was an entirely inappropriate thought considering that I was standing in front of the employees of our new hotel, and the man I wasfantasizingabout was the manager of said hotel and someone with whom I would work very closely with in the coming weeks.

A veryinappropriatethought, indeed.

Eric saved me from thinking something even more dangerous by letting out a deep sigh that caught my attention. He put his entire body into the sigh, closing his eyes as if all his problems could disappear if he couldn't see them. He was impervious to the countless eyes that were currently on us.

A couple seconds later, his eyes popped open again and focused on me. His pupils dilated, completely taking over the chocolate brown for a brief second before turning back to normal. His gaze toward me was softer this time, as was his tone.

"We definitely started off on the wrong foot, and I hope to remedy that. Can we please start over?" His eyes were just about begging me to comply, so what else could I do but smile and nod?

Eric let out a sigh of relief and stretched out his hand. "The name's Eric Wells. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I accepted his offer. His handshake was firm, showing off his powerful arm muscles. I gave back just as good as he gave, smiling as I said, "Liam Wright. The pleasure's all mine."

I came here with a job to do, but that didn't mean I couldn't have a bit of fun while completing my task—appropriate fun, of course. As Eric beamed his bright smile at me, the anger from moments ago as if it had never happened, I knew I was going to havea lotof fun working with this expressive man.

FOUR

ERIC

"Babe, I can't believe you chose today of all days to be late," Alfred said from the small red couch nestled in the corner of my office. I looked up from my seat at my desk, where I'd gathered the reports that I'd put together last night to give to the rep from the Wright Group—to Liam Wright.

The striking man wasn't as stiff as I'd first made him out to be. I thought he'd have my ass for being late, but surprisingly, he let the matter drop easily. Not that I was complaining about it. I didn't need someone riding my ass over one little mistake. Fortunately, Liam seemed as eccentric as the purple suit he wore. I knew rich people were weird, but I thought they had better fashion sense than that.

"I know, right? Talk about the worst day to miss my alarm. I must've been more tired than I thought after staying late last night to put this together. But hey, at least our new boss doesn't seem like a bad guy. Not too hard on the eyes either," I joked, shooting Alfred a grin.

He rolled his eyes as he stood and walked to my desk. Grabbing the file I put together, he flipped through it. "I just hope they finish whatever they came to do and fast. I don't need management breathing down my neck."

I snatched the file from him and rearranged the papers that he'd misaligned. "Hey, don't forget that we're both part of management as well. I don't breathe down your neck or anyone else's for that matter," I muttered, which only earned me another eye roll.

"That's different, babe. We're all a team here, and he's the enemy—the enemy who has invaded our tower to sabotage us from the inside."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. I loved Alfred to death, but he had the tendency to be a tad bit dramatic. "Okay, Mr. Tower Defender. I'm sure the heir to the Wright Group wouldn't want one of their own businesses to go to ruin."

"He's not the heir."

"What?" I asked as I gathered everything I needed to meet with Liam later. I was supposed to give him a tour of the hotel, but he’d received an important call that he needed to take. The call couldn't have come at a more perfect time, because it seemed like neither of us was keen to break contact when we shook hands.

"He's not the heir to the Wright Group, his older brother is," Alfred slowly explained as if I was a child who didn't understand basic math.

I shrugged, unfazed by his sharp gaze. "Even better. Maybe he'll be easier to deal with."

"You really don't know anything about the man?" he asked with such seriousness that had me raising a brow at him.

"Should I?"

Sure, the Wrights had lived in Corio City long before it was even a city. They were basically blue bloods, the wealthiest family for miles around. But what did that have to do with me? I was just a normal dude, long removed from the fancy world of fame and wealth. I'd done my basic research on the Wright Group when I'd learned that they might acquire our hotel, but didn't take much of an interest in the family besides learning that they seemed like decent enough people. It had nothing to do with me, after all.

"I swear, babe, sometimes I feel like you live under a rock. While Liam's photos don't appear much online, he's talked about in the tabloids quite often. They especially love talking about all the men who walk in and out of his life."

"Oh, so he's gay?" I had no clue where this conversation was going, but I'd play along. I knew Alfred well enough to know that he'd get to the point eventually.

Alfred started at the hotel a few months after I had, and over the years of working our way up the company ranks, he'd become one of my best friends. It helped that we were both queer as fuck, and quite honestly, his tendencies to exaggerate mixed quite well with my hyper energy. We were a perfect match in hotel heaven.

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