Page 8 of Enemy Kisses

He holds his hand out in front of him as if to stop me. “Now, now. There’s no need to involve the council. I’m sure you wouldn’t want them to know about the pile of trash you’re leaving at my back door each day, now, would you?”

What in the actual fuck?I narrow my eyes. “You have no proof I’m leaving anything at your door, so don’t even go there.”

His lips spread wide. “Well … actually, I do.” He’s so freaking smug.

I narrow my eyes and my heart races.What if he does have proof?He could get me into a lot of trouble. “Bullshit.”

He raises his brows and his eyes hold a glint that says,I got you!“Not at all.” He digs into his back pocket, drags out his phone, and presses the screen a few times, then turns it around so I can see. I recognize the location. It’s the back area of the pub. “I, unlike you, have security around my property.”Oh shit!“So when I look back over my saved footage, I clearly see you dumping trash at my back door.”

I see red. “Well, if your patrons weren’t such pigs, I wouldn’t have to collect the damn trash, and if you had responded to my email like a civic-minded person, I wouldn’t have had to stoop to such low tactics to get you motivated to do something about the problem.” My voice rises with every sentence until I’m almost shouting.

“Calm down,” he says as he holds his hands up as though he’s warding off an attack. I can’t believe he thinks telling a riled-up woman to calm down is okay. Maybe this guy is more of an idiot than an asshole.

I grit my teeth. “You did not just tell me to calm down. I have every right to be angry. You’ve done nothing to help the situation, and you stand there like your shit doesn’t stink and tellmeto calm down. Get out!” I fling my arm out toward the door, but he doesn’t move. “I said, get out. Get out of my café and never come back here.”

That stupidly sexy smirk appears again. “You’re fucking stunning when you’re angry. Anyone ever tell you that?”

That’s it. I step around the counter, my lungs heaving with my anger, and press my hands against the hard planes of his chest to push him out of my café. “I’ve asked you to leave. Now get out.” I push and he moves a little, but I’m pretty sure it’s only because he wants to.

“If you wanted to touch me, all you had to do was say so. I wouldn’t mind.”

“Aaaah!” I almost scream as I continue to push him toward the door. Geez, he smells good. Damn him. He finally moves. “Get out before I grab one of my rolling pins and hit you over the head with it.”

He chuckles—chuckles—and holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’ll leave, but we still need to work out this issue.”

I open the door and he stops on the threshold so I can’t close it. “You stop your patrons from being pigs. Simple. Problem solved.” I give him a false saccharine smile. “Goodbye.” I shove him hard and he breaches the doorway enough that I can slam the door closed. I flick the lock and give him a smug smile.

He blows me a kiss and salutes me, his eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. Why did he have to be so damn good-looking? “Later, Little Firecracker,” he calls through the glass.

Ugh! I turn my back to the door and stomp my way through to the kitchen. Once I’m out of sight, I lean back slightly to peer around the door frame to make sure he’s gone. Yeah, I’m definitely only watching to make sure he leaves. He’s standing with his hands in his pockets and a grin I want to slap off—

“What are we looking at?” Judy’s voice startles me, and I jump out of my skin as she moves into the doorway, in full view of the windows where Finn is standing.

I grab her hand and yank her back. “Shh. You scared the bejeezus outta me.”

She chuckles and tries to peer around me. “He’s hot.”

Quentin clears his throat. “Did you forget I’m here?”

“No, love. Just making sure Harry noticed how hot her neighbor is.”

I roll my eyes and huff out a breath. I noticed. I’m not blind.

“So long as that’s the only reason you’re using the word ‘hot’ to describe another man while I’m in earshot.”

Judy moves closer to Quentin. “I only have eyes for you. You know that.” She bats her lashes at her husband and presses onto her toes to land a kiss on his chin. He softens and gives her the smile he saves for her as he brushes her sun-kissed bangs out of her eyes.

“Okay. You guys should head home. I can finish up here.”

I get them out the door and then slump against it, blowing out a long breath. When I bring my hands up to rub down my face, they’re shaking from my confrontation with Finn. I drop my head back against the hard surface, looking up at the ceiling.

I can’t possibly be attracted to the asshole next door.

CHAPTER6

–finn–

I setthe alarm and step through the back door. The security lights flood the back area, and as I lock the door, I glance across to Harry’s place with a smile that instantly drops when I notice how dark it is around her building. No wonder people are loitering there when they leave my pub. It’s the perfect place to take a piss or have a quick fuck.

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