Page 16 of Tempt Thy Neighbor

Dean buys it. River continues to eye me skeptically.

Uncomfortable under her scrutiny, I glance across the restaurant, and our eyes collide like he knew I couldn’t keep myself from staring at him.

One.

Two.

Three.

That’s how many times my heart skips as his gaze bores into me.

His lips pull into a satisfied smirk, and he blows me a kiss.

The reminder of just exactly who he is settles in along with the irritation he brings about.

I curl my lip in disgust, and he laughs.

I hate him.

But more than that, I hate that even though Sutton Barnes broke my heart, I still want him.

4

Sutton

Gettingup at the ass crack of dawn is not my idea of fun.

Never has been.

But my dad once said that a man who gets up with the sun is a man who can conquer the world, and unfortunately my internal alarm clock took that shit to heart.

I’ve been waking up at sunrise for as long as I can remember. It doesn’t matter how much or how little sleep I get the night before or how comfortable my bed is; I’m awake at dawn.

Every. Damn. Day.

Including today, my first day at my new job. I could have really used the sleep too, considering I was up half the night tossing and turning, trying not to let my nerves get the best of me.

It’s ridiculous, really, me being nervous. I mean, I’m a Barnes. We’re not nervous. It goes against our nature.

But seeing as this is the only place that didn’t laugh in my face and tell me to get lost, I need this to work out.

It seems my reputation precedes me even here. Many places didn’t want to hire the infamous screwup Barnes who punches people at charity banquets and crashes his dad’s boat.

But this one, Spectrum Marketing, decided to give me a chance.

Even though my resume and experience warranted a higher position, I’ll be starting as a marketing coordinator and will be on thin ice, but if I can prove myself worthy and reliable in the first sixty days, I’ll have a shot at a promotion.

Even though I’m good at it, I’m not eager to continue my career in marketing. But I’d be a complete fool to turn down this job when I desperately need it.

Unable to sleep past sunrise, I’ve been sitting in the parking lot of my new job for the last half hour. I’m hyped up on caffeine and need to piss something fierce.

I rake a hand through my hair and take another swig from my nearly empty coffee.

I still can’t fucking believe I’m about to start working somewhere that doesn’t have the name Barnes attached to it.

I can’t believe I haven’t spoken to my father in over a week.

I can’t believe I might actually truly be done with my family’s bullshit.

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