Page 8 of Objection to Love

“But not at dinner tonight,” April said with a teasing voice.

“No. Sorry, April, I still can’t come.”

“No problem. If I were you, I’d want to stay home and watch my hot neighbor too.”

Em rolled her eyes. “April! You’re married.”

“Doesn’t mean I don’t have eyes.”

Em sighed, partially because she had just glanced at the clock and realized that, even with only a few minor distractions that morning, they were going to be cutting it close on time. But also partly because she, too, had eyes. And she couldn’t let her attractive neighbor become a distraction.

She was in a committed relationship with her job. There was no need to let her attention wander.

Chapter 3

Garrett

Garrettblewoutalong breath as he watched the silver Honda Civic pull away from his neighbor’s house. Someone ought to have warned him that his six-month lease came with a neighbor far too attractive for her own good. And his own good.

There’d been a mild amount of amusement last night when he’d looked at her address and realized just where she lived. Okay, maybe more than mild. But mostly in a funny coincidence kind of way. But when he got home, he’d had a hard time erasing her face from his mind as he got ready for bed.

And now he would have an even harder time erasing it after seeing her in daylight, no longer looking like a wet dog.

He shook his head. He hadn’t intended to drink his herbal tea—a weird habit he’d picked up from his mom—on the porch, but the beautiful June morning had pulled him outside. The possibility of running into September had not played any part in the decision. None at all.

He set his mug in the sink and rinsed it before heading to his room. He would be on site today and intended to get some work in with the crew. If he jumped in next to them, they were always much quicker in accepting his leadership. Plus, he liked to get a little dirty now and then.

Thatthought definitely did not bring a cute brunette to mind.

He also definitely didn’t enjoy a moment replaying her appearance in his mind while he brushed his teeth. Her brown waves brushed her collarbone instead of being slicked straight with water like they had been the night before, which naturally led his mind to think of her slender neck, then her full lips and angular brows. Those brows had spent more time pulled in together than they had relaxed. Garrett guessed you could tell a lot about September by her eyebrows.

Wow. He spit into the sink and rinsed his brush.

When was the last time he’d taken in a woman’s appearance so totally? Sure, he noticed if someone was attractive or sparked an interest in him, but since when did he take note of pretty women’s eyebrows?

Since yesterday, apparently.

He had no idea what Jenica’s eyebrows looked like. She could have been missing them, and he probably wouldn’t remember.

Garrett grinned. It was satisfying to think of Jenica with no eyebrows. Then maybe her outward appearance would partially reflect her inner appearance. It had taken him almost nine months to realize the extent of her self-centered vanity, and he swore he wouldn’t be taken in by another pretty face.

Especially one who told you her job before her name.

Who did that? Seriously.

But there was still the fact that the woman seemed to have some sort of inability to enjoy herself. At first he’d thought it was just the awkwardness of their situation—he didn’t blame her for being tense. He was a random, strange guy whom she had to rely on to get her home. But even when she’d started to relax, she’d not really relaxed.

She’d clearly still been tense that morning… which meant she would be pretty fun to tease. And he could definitely tease a woman without falling prey to her attraction. Especially when he was only in town for a few months.

He pulled on a pair of jeans and swapped out his t-shirt for one that wouldn’t require some sort of stain-removing magic after a day on a worksite.

Five minutes later, he was walking out to his truck, which was parked in the driveway. It was the one bummer to this rental: the house had no garage. That was the reason his guest bedroom was full of sleeping bags, a tent, climbing equipment, a few hiking backpacks, a snowboard, two hammocks, and a bike.

He really needed to get that organized before his mom came down to visit. She would probably object to sleeping with a mountain bike.

Actually, for the first time in several years, his job had brought him close enough that he could probably visit his mom every weekend, so the mess could probably stay in the guest room. Maybe they’d even start back up Sunday Sundae night, which they hadn’t done since he’d moved away for college. It would be a good situation. He could make sure she had a properly cooked steak at least once a month—like Dad had taught him. Mom could bug him about his dating life. The important things.

Garrett pulled out of his driveway. The next few months could turn out to be a pretty sweet gig.

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