Page 51 of My Ruthless Neighbor

And how can I forget the finger-sucking thing? I grimace.

“Looks like you remember after all.”

When I remain mute, he towers over me. “Still going to accuse me of undressing you while you were unconscious?” He mocks.

“I hate you.”

“Hmm. You didn’t hate me last night.”

I clear my throat. “I’m sorry for what happened. I was intoxicated and didn’t know what I was doing.”

“If you say so.”

I stiffen. “Thanks for your help. I owe you one.” I mean it. I don’t take favors from anyone.

He is not my friend. He is just my neighbor.

He takes a step closer. “Good. Because I didn’t go through hell last night to be nice. I am not nice. Not at all. Iwillcall in a favor one day.”

My jaw drops. What an…

He is not just my neighbor. He is my ruthless neighbor.

“Fine. All right then. I’ll be ready.”

“You’ll be ready, huh?” He says, looking slightly amused.

“Yes. You can reach out in the dead of the night if need be. I will return the favor.” I spit out the last word.

“You aren’t lying, are you?” His tone is soft and mocking. It enrages me.

Spinning around, I face the door. “Aren’t you getting late for work?”

I feel his chest grazing my back before his warm breath tickles the shell of my ear. “You better drink the juice.”

With that, he opens the door and leaves.

???

“You are late.”

Hallie—the manager of the upscale Italian restaurant in West Hollywood who also happens to be my boss—grits out.

I turn. The woman is a huge pain in my ass. I had already informed her I’d be late tonight. It’s Friday night. I was at the resort since morning and got off only an hour ago.

In the haste of coming here, I couldn’t even grab a bite at my usual stop between shifts.

My hair is still wet. In just an hour, I somehow managed to get the makeup and costume off me, change into my casuals, pack my stuff, and rush here.

My stomach is growling and I am shivering and dreading the night already because I have to stand for hours.

On top of everything, I have to remind this woman that she had agreed when I offered to work extra hours in case I was late tonight.

And although I am only thirty minutes late, I am down to work an hour extra because I need this job. It fits around my mermaid gigs perfectly.

Hallie knows this. She knows I work at the resort during weekends and sometimes take aquarium gigs on weekdays. She knows this but still never misses a chance to reprimand me. Especially when the staff is around.

They all know shelovesto indignantly rebuke me.

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