Page 41 of Jerk Neighbor

“Huh. The most touching. Gotcha.” She toasted with her cider glass. “You’ve got quite the little eagle eye yourself.”

The girl nodded. “But not like Larry.”

“Is that one of your friends?”

The girl pointed to a girl who was whispering in the ear of her neighbor. “Larry’s her little brother. He’s sick. But he’s not here, so you win.”

“I win…oh, because I’m themost. Wow, very cool. Do I get a prize?”

The girl bit her lip. “I don’t got stars.”

“Those little shiny stickers? The ones you get in school?” At the girl’s somber nod, Paula faked a crestfallen expression, “Aw, where are those stars when you need them, huh?”

With widened eyes, the girl continued to stare. “Mydress is velvet. But it’slittle.”

“Right, so it’s not the most!” Paula was getting the hang of this. “What about your bow? Is your bow velvet?”

“Uh-huh. It’s the most,” she concluded.

“Awesome.” She bit her lip, trying damn hard not to laugh, but the girl was purely adorable.

“How do you spell your name?”

“P. A. U. L. A. That’s my first name, Paula. What’s yours?”

“G. I. L. N. Gillian.”

“Let me guess. You’re six.”

“I’m four. Are you in barfy-barfy love with Cousin Basty?”

Paula blinked. “No?”

“Larry says big glasses are themostdorky.”

“Gilly.” Bastian’s attention finally snagged onto the little girl.

“Did I say it impolite?” The girl turned her big eyes to him,

“You know you did,” he said sternly, adding sotto voce to Paula, “Meet my cousin’s daughter, who single-handedly invented a new year of terribles. Four.”

“Four-year-olds are great,” Paula argued.

Bastian smirked. “You know, she reminds me of you.”

“I spell better.”

“But you don’t hold back what you think.”

She grinned. “Oh, no? Sorry to tell you, bud, but I’ve been taking it easy on you.”

He laughed. A real laugh, happy, even carefree...and she found it seductive as hell.

He held her eyes. Without looking away from Paula, he said, “Gilly, when we meet strangers, we don’t say personal things. We say, Ms. Raymond, what a beautiful night this is. Ms. Raymond, are you enjoying yourself this evening? Ms. Raymond, I find your observations absolutely fascinating. Please tell me more.”

Gilly’s eyes widened. “Are you in barfy barfy love with Ms. Raymond?”

That did it. Paula couldn’t stop the giggles. Bastian swooped down to pick up Gilly and whisper in her ear. Paula badly wanted to know what he said.

Then he met her eyes, and the depth of heat she saw there made her think that maybe she was better off living in ignorance.

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