21. Sexy Neighbor

21

SEXY NEIGHBOR

“ I ’ve got this, Poppy. Go lie down and rest.”

Easton had just rung the bell at the McGill estate three days later. He’d been hoping that he wouldn’t run into Poppy but knew that might not be the case when he’d heard that she was due any day now with her baby and not working as much.

“Oh no,” Poppy said. “You talk work, but then I’ve got to meet the man dating Laurel.”

Reese lifted his eyebrow at his wife, then turned to Easton. “I should have figured. Abe already told me you’d be here to talk and get the guys going.”

His cousin had been in contact with all the clients and explained what was going on. “Yeah, I just want to walk the property with you and let you know what is going to be happening and see if you have any questions or concerns.”

“Let me talk to him first,” Poppy said, shoving her husband out of the way. “If I try to walk the property I won’t make it and you’ll have to carry me back. You might break your back.”

“Hardly that,” Reese said, snorting.

“Daddy,” he heard and saw a little girl push her way between Reese’s legs. “Take me.”

Reese squatted down and picked his daughter up. The spitting image of Poppy, but she had her daddy’s eyes.

“You can go with me if Mommy puts your jacket and boots on. The grass is wet and muddy in spots.”

“Holly, go get the boots and jacket you want,” Poppy said. “Mommy will put them on you. Out of the way, Reese. Pregnant woman needs to ask questions, then I’ll go lie down.”

“My wife has spoken,” Reese said.

“Laurel told me you’d want to talk to me,” Easton said.

“I do,” Poppy said. “I don’t know her as well as my other staff, but I like her.”

“The same,” he said, smirking.

“She said you’re an attorney.”

“I am,” he said.

Laurel had told him about the conversation she had had with one of her bosses. He found it funny. Even more so when Laurel was embarrassed and worried he’d be mad that maybe she was talking about her relationship at work. She had never been that open before but said the women she worked with were mostly easy to talk to.

“Seems you two are getting along well.”

He squinted one eye and Reese nudged her out of the way. “Don’t be nosy, Poppy.”

“I don’t want to lose her. That is all I’m saying.”

“Don’t know why that would have anything to do with me,” he said. “She lives here.”

“But you don’t.”

“I’m sure she told you it’s been a few weeks and that I work remotely,” he said.

“So you could relocate here,” Poppy said cheerfully. “Perfect.”

Poppy turned and finished getting her daughter ready. “Ignore my wife.”

He planned on it. Moving back here wasn’t anything he was thinking of. Not after a few weeks. That would be getting way ahead of anything in his brain.

He was going to take things as they came.

That was how he always operated and he had no intention of changing.

But two hours later he was back home and the crew was getting to work. He picked up his phone and called Abe. “Everything is set at the McGills’,” he said. “Reese said he’d reach out to me if there is an issue or he’ll talk to you. The guys know where the new shrubs are going, along with the plants and flowers.”

If he thought it was odd that Poppy wasn’t using her own flowers or staff to plant things, or doing it herself, he kept that to himself. Not everyone liked working on their properties, even if they knew how.

“Good to know,” Abe said. “Speaking of flowers. What is going on with that sexy neighbor of mine?”

“Why would you say that?” he asked.

“Laurel is the name of a flower,” Abe said.

“It is?” he asked. He didn’t keep track of that shit.

“It is,” Abe said. “And that is why I make my career in landscaping and you don’t.”

“I’ve done it enough,” he said.

“You have and I appreciate you doing it now. But you didn’t answer my question.”

There was no reason not to either. Or to lie about something. “Things are good there.”

“Good?” Abe asked. “What does that mean?”

“It means we are dating.”

“Code word for sneaking over at night,” Abe said, laughing.

“There is no sneaking and not at night,” he said drily. “We are both busy.”

They had dinner last night together at his place. Made it up to his old room and barely fit on the double bed. She was laughing more than him and joked that if he spent the night, it’d be at her place, her bed was at least a queen.

He hadn’t realized how much he missed his king until last night.

“That doesn’t sound good,” Abe said. “What the hell?”

“I didn’t think it sounded bad,” he argued. “I’m not sure what you were expecting.”

“I don’t know either,” Abe said. “I just want to make sure you’re not all caught up in your head over the past.”

It was hard to forget the past when everyone was bringing it up. “I’m not,” he said. “It’s been a few dates. I like her. She knows I’ll be going home in a few weeks.”

“Then what is going to happen?” Abe asked.

“No clue. We haven’t gotten that far.”

“You haven’t talked about it at all?” Abe asked.

“Since when have you gotten to be so nosy?”

“I’ve got no life here and am only talking to Mom half the time.”

“You’re losing your mind, aren’t you?” he asked. And it made him wonder if his cousin would come home earlier than expected and then he’d have to leave.

Shit, that could put a wrinkle in things when he was hoping to have a few more weeks to get a feel of things with Laurel.

“A little,” he said. “I’m staying busy and doing a bunch of work around the house here. It doesn’t need much. I can’t even do anything with the landscaping. Their HOA covers it and Mom said I’m not supposed to change a thing.”

“That has to kill you,” he said, laughing.

“It does, but it’s better that she lives here and doesn’t have any upkeep or maintenance for those things.”

His aunt lived in a townhouse. She wanted nicer weather and less work around the house.

“Then what are you doing?” he asked.

“Thankfully her bedroom and bath are on the first floor, so no stairs for her. No carpet, which is good. Everything is tile in the house on the first floor. The second, where I am, was carpet and she didn’t want it. I put hardwood in for her. I redid the guest bath too.”

“While you’re using it?” he asked. “Are you out of your mind?”

“I used hers to shower. It was only a few days with no shower.”

“She’s giving you busy work to keep you out of her hair, isn’t she?” he asked, laughing. “Or she is keeping you so busy that you’ll get fed up and leave.”

He knew how his aunt worked. “I think so, but I told her too bad. I’m not leaving until she is out of the wheelchair. She can’t drive either. Even when she gets out of the wheelchair.”

“So you’re staying longer than the end of April?”

“I can’t tell the emotion in your voice,” Abe said. “If you’re excited to have more time next to Laurel or if you’re groaning because you’re doing your job and part of mine for longer?”

“Nothing more than a question,” he said. If he was feeling both of the things his cousin said, he’d keep his lips sealed on it.

“I’m not staying longer,” Abe said. “My mother is ready to strangle me. She’s got friends—as she shoves that statement down my throat daily—who would look in on her. They have all offered to take her to appointments and she knows how to call an Uber.”

“No Uber. She might be taken advantage of.”

“Dude, do you want to say that to her? She might throw my phone across the room and then I’d have to get another one.”

He laughed. “No, I won’t say it.”

“Good. I’ll be home at the end of the month. Once she is out of the wheelchair and walking with crutches or a walker for more than a few steps.”

“No walker!” he heard shouted behind him.

“Shit, she’s across the house and still heard that.”

“Aunt Carrie’s radar has always been up for words that she wants no part of.”

“Tell me about it,” Abe said. “I haven’t booked my flight yet, but it will be the end of the month. So you’ve got a few weeks to get your life in order with your new girlfriend. Then she’s going to be my neighbor. Or you can stay at the house still if you want.”

“I’ll go back home,” he said.

“You’re saying that now,” Abe said. “But you might change your mind.”

“Anything can happen and I’ve got to run. I’ve got a bunch of shit to do.”

“Thanks again,” Abe said. “I can’t tell you how much I owe you for this.”

“You don’t owe me anything,” he said.

He hung up after that and got back to work, but his mind was on the sexy neighbor and what he was going to do when his time was up here.