Page 3 of Neighbor DADDY

I'm in tears, and it's embarrassing as hell. How has this stupid house, I already love so much, managed to make things this difficult this quickly? In a fit of tired, hungry rage, I stomp out to the front porch and throw the plunger stick out into the grass with all my might. I yell as I do so, a wordless complaint about how frustrating my situation is.

Then, I hear it.

Laughing. A low, rich sound coming from next door.

I freeze.

"What the hell is going on over there?" Cam is on his porch, leaning against the railing, wearing the same outfit as earlier, watching me with an amused expression on his face. "Nice robe, by the way."

I quickly dash away the tears from my cheeks while making sure the tie on my robe is tight. My nipples have gone hard from the cool evening air, and I'm sure he can see them, but I'm so far past caring. "My bathtub is clogged, and my plunger broke," I confess. "It's not a big deal. I just have a little bit of a temper and?—"

"Say no more." Cam is already on his way over, his long legs eating up the distance between our houses quickly. He stops to grab a toolbox out of the big white truck in his driveway, and while his grin is amused, he isn't condescending. "I'll have that handled for you in a flash. These houses all have old pipes in this neighborhood. I've dealt with it plenty of times at my own place."

He steps into my house, and it's almost surreal how a stranger can waltz into your home with the simple intention of helping you. Not that I'm not happy to have him here. I can't help the thrill of excitement and arousal that shoots through me having him near. I catch the notes of his cologne as he walks by, warm and spicy, and I imagine how much stronger the scent would be if I were pressed up against him.

Cam heads into the bathroom, and I stand at the entrance to the room. He leans over the edge of the tub and sticks his arm in, fishing around. He pulls the detached head of the plunger out and tosses it in the wastebasket before grabbing his toolbox.

I should have been expecting it, considering how high the water level in the tub was, but I'm still shocked when he pulls his grey shirt over his head and tosses it aside before getting to work. His body is tan and muscular, with a faint amount of dark hair across his pecs and leading down his stomach. He has a few tattoos—a vine curling around his right upper arm and the silhouette of some bird on the left—and he's got scars here and there, too, the marks of a life well-lived.

He's a man, not a boy. An adult.

And he's got my attention in a way that's totally foreign to me.

Cam is oh-so-casual about being naked from the waist up, but it's anything but casual for me. My pulse races, and I lick my lips, imagining pressing kisses to his chest, his shoulder, and his abs. It's not until he clears his throat that I realize I've been staring, and my cheeks heat.

"Sorry, zoned out for a second," I manage, and Cam grins.

"Nothing to apologize for," he drawls. "But hey, since you're standing right there, hand me a wrench?"

I fumble through the toolbox until I find the wrench, and the moment I pass it off to him, he gets back to work, sticking his arminto the bathtub again and using the tool. When he pulls back up, he's got a grimace on his face, but after a moment of intense concentration, he yells, "Gotcha!"

Cam then pulls up something disgusting from the drain, and I have to turn away while he disposes of it, laughing. "Just a hair clog," he tells me. "Nothing to worry about. See? It's draining already."

Sure enough, the water level is dropping rapidly, and within a few minutes, the tub is completely empty.

"Thank you so much," I say, meaning it.

"No problem. Anything else I can help you with?"

Yes. Please stay.

That thought surprises me, but not enough to stop me from considering it. "I ordered a pizza for dinner. Want to join me?"

His eyes are hooded as he looks at me, and there's an intensity to his gaze that leaves me breathless. "Absolutely."

Cam cleans up his tools, thoroughly washes his hands and arms, and grabs his shirt before we make our way to the living room. The pizza is late, so we sit together on the couch, the air between us crackling with anticipation. He's so much bigger than I am, his shoulders filling up the space and making me feel small and delicate. It's nice.

"So you just moved here from...?"

"Boston," I say. "My mom grew up here, and I wanted to get a fresh start. She moved to Boston to live with my dad when he got her pregnant with me, but he abandoned her a few months after I was born, and she’s stayed up north ever since.”

“What kind of bastard abandons his woman and baby?”

Cam’s vehemence takes me off guard, and I blink. “I, ah, it’s been a long time. She’s dating again, finally, and I never really knew him, so let’s talk about something else.”

"Hm." His gaze drifts down, and I'm all too aware I'm still in just my robe, hair wet, but it seems weird to jump up and change now. The pizza should be here any second, anyway.

"What about you?" I ask. "Mrs. Blevins said you're a veteran?"

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