Page 38 of Between Now and Forever
Gabrielle looks up, propping a hand on her hip, and all but scowls.She’s not happy to see me.
“What in the world are you doing?” I ask, marching across the lawn.
“What’s it to you?”
“I don’t know. Call me a concerned citizen.”
She makes a face that tells me to fuck off. “It’s demo day. So if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.”
“Look,” I say, frustration growing. “I know demo day is cute on all the home renovation shows. But in the real world, all that smashing something with a sledgehammer is going to do is make a bigger mess to clean up.”
“And?”
I roll my eyes. “What are you trying to do?”
“Right now, I’m trying to get a very nosyand unwelcomeneighbor to leave me alone.”
Her little jaw is set in place like a wannabe badass. Her tits are about ready to spill out of her skewed tank top. She has a pair of safety goggles dangling around her neck and boots on—with her shorts. It’s hard to keep a straight face.
“Let me help you,” I say, struggling not to smile.
“You’ve already thanked me for the shirt.” She turns toward the porch. “You’ve done enough.”
Oh. That’s what this is about.
She pulls the sledgehammer back, ready to attack a defenseless spindle. I snatch it from her hand as she brings it forward.
“Hey,”she yelps, spinning around. Her hand is still cupped where the handle was. “What are you doing?”
“Will you stop being so dramatic and talk to me?”
She snorts. “You are hilarious.Hilarious.I’m dramatic and you want to talk. I’m in stitches over here.”
“Then you should see me when I’m trying to be funny.”
“I had a front-row ticket to it last night, bucko.”
I smirk. “Bucko?”
She waves a hand in the air. “I don’t know. My grandma used to say it. But that’s not the point.” She steps my way. “The point is that—”
“The point is that I didn’t kiss you last night.”
Gabrielle sucks in a breath and, for once, doesn’t speak. I’m completely aware that Dylan could walk around the side of the house at any moment, so I speak quickly and quietly.
“I think that was more effective at getting you to stop talking than kissing you would’ve been,” I say.
That brings her back to life.
“Do you want to know what I’m mad about? Fine. I’ll tell you,” she says. “It’s not because you didn’t kiss me. Believe it or not, I’ll survive without kissing you. What pissed me off was that you made me feel like a complete fool.Youinitiated the situation.Youacted like you wanted it. And then when I opened myself up to it,youlaughed in my face.”
“Idid notlaugh in your face.”
She glares at me.
The hurt in her eyes swims to the surface. Her lips tip toward the ground. Her voice is filled with frustration and edged in hurt.And I kick myself for it.
I didn’t anticipate her thinking I was fucking with her.Doesn’t she realize that she’s the prize?Any man in their right mind would kiss the hell out of her.
