Chapter 4

Four

Gemma

“ S hit, where the hell is my charger?”

Sutton just went to bed, and I was going to try to get maybe an hour of work done before calling it a night but, of course, my laptop is nearly dead and my charger is nowhere to be found, which doesn’t make any sense. I specifically remember putting it back in there this afternoon.

My phone rings, temporarily putting a halt to my search. Grabbing it off the bed, I swipe across the screen, putting the call on speakerphone.

“Hello?”

“Do you know if Beau left his glasses in your car?” my sister Grace’s voice filters through the speaker. “They’re nowhere to be found here, so he must’ve left them at camp or in your car, is my guess.”

“I’m not sure.” Slipping my feet into my slippers by my bedroom door, I walk out toward the front of the house. “Let me go check.”

My sister has two kids, Beau and Blakely. Beau is Sutton’s age, while his sister, Blakely, is a grade younger. Since Grace runs her own bakery and I have a bit more flexibility in my schedule, I pick all three of them up from summer camp each day so she doesn’t have to leave work.

“Did you get a lot done today?” she asks as I bound down the front steps toward my car.

“Yeah, it was a good day. What about you?”

“It was okay. I’m training the new girl, and so far, she seems great.”

Unlocking the car, I open the back door. “Beau’s glasses are here,” I tell Grace. “And Blakely left her book in here too.”

Grace groans. “Those kids.”

I laugh, grabbing them both to bring inside before something catches my eye on the front passenger seat. “Aha!”

“Aha, what?”

“I’ve been looking for this damn charger. Finally found it.”

“Looks like our kids aren’t the only ones who would lose their heads if they weren’t attached,” Grace teases.

“Ha ha, you’re so funny.” Snatching the charger, I lock the car and turn to head back up the walkway to the house. “If you want, I can swing by in the morning and drop these off so Beau has his glasses for camp.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you.”

My gaze flits over to the house next to mine. The porch light is on, as is the kitchen light. My neighbor, Rosie, passed away about three months ago, but it looks like, as of today, somebody is living there now. As I’m making a mental note to go over there this weekend and introduce myself, the front door opens, and out walks the man I can’t seem to stop running into.

Grace is rambling on about something or other in my ear, but I’m too focused on the pair of blue eyes that drift my way, and the fact that I’m standing outside in nothing more than a silk robe and fuzzy slippers I put on after my shower.

“Grace, I gotta call you back,” I murmur, watching as a smile tugs on his lips and he descends his front steps.

“Uh, okay,” she says.

Hanging up the call, I cross my arms over my chest, uncomfortably aware of the fact that under this very thin robe, I’m not wearing a bra. Or panties.

“You know,” I call out. “I’m going to start thinking you’re stalking me if we keep meeting up like this.”

“Yeah, but have you forgotten that you’re the one who approached me first at the pier?” he counters, a smug grin on his face. A pair of blue-and-white plaid pajama pants are slung low on his hips, the black t-shirt he’s wearing has little holes in the sleeve and on the hem like it’s well-worn, and his feet are bare as he pads across the grass toward my yard. “So, really, who is stalking who here?”

“My bet is still on you.” I can’t help but match the smile on his face. Something about being around him feels so carefree, it doesn’t make sense. I don’t even know him and have barely spoken to him. “Were you related to Rosie?” I ask, jutting my chin toward the house behind him .

He nods. “She was my grandma. Her passing is the reason I moved here. Did you know her well?”

“Well, she’s been my neighbor for the last several years, but everybody knew Rosie and loved her. She was a wonderful woman. I’m so sorry for your loss.” Resting my arm on the handrail, I take him in, in a new light. Now that I know they’re related, I can kind of see the resemblance. “I don’t know how I didn’t put two and two together. My brother told me that some of her family was supposed to be coming here, and then when we met at the beach, you’d said you were new in town.”

“You were blinded by my charm and wit, obviously.”

“You got me,” I tease, rolling my eyes. “That’s definitely it.”

It kind of is.

Everett’s eyes drift over my shoulder toward my front door, shoving his hands into his pockets before his gaze slices back to me. “So, neighbors, huh?”

My stomach dips, and I bite back a grin. “It would seem that way.”

With his dark hair and piercing blue eyes, Everett is a very handsome man. He’s got striking features, but the stubble lining the lower half of his face gives him more of a rugged look. I find myself, not for the first time, wondering what his story is.

“Do you always walk outside in your bathrobe?” he asks with the beginnings of a smirk. “Because if so, I don’t think I’ll have any problem being neighborly.”

Laughter bubbles past my lips. “No, I typically keep clothes on when I’m outside, but you caught me at a bad time. ”

Brow arched, Everett drags his gaze down my body before landing on my face again. A bolt of heat rips through me at the way he so unabashedly checked me out. “I don’t know if bad is what I would call it.”

“My new neighbor is a pervert,” I tease, biting back a laugh. “Duly noted.”

“Hey.” He holds up his hands innocently. “You’re the one waltzing around in this state of undress. Who’s the real pervert here?”

I roll my eyes and drag my fingers through my hair that’s still damp from my shower earlier. “My apologies,” I murmur, meeting his gaze. “The neighbors across the street are all old and in bed by eight, and to my knowledge, nobody lived next to me. I thought I was in the clear.”

“No apologies needed.” He grins.

My stomach does a weird somersault as we gaze at one another for a moment, neither of us saying anything. “All right, well, as much fun as this has been,” I say, breaking the silence, “I should be getting inside. It’s late.”

“I look forward to seeing more of you, neighbor .”

His words are playful, and I’m sure he didn’t mean anything by them, but they send a spark of heat down my spine regardless, my heart pounding a little harder as I clear my throat.

“Yeah, you too,” I manage to spit out. “Good night, Everett.”

“Good night, Gemma.”

With one more longing glance, he turns and disappears back over to his property, and I hurry inside, letting out the breath I’d been holding as soon as the door is locked.

After I check on Sutton, I go back into my room and plug my laptop in, sitting with it on my lap in bed, fully intending on getting some work done. Except I get no work done. Instead, I sit there, pondering how the hell the cute guy from the pier, who has eyes as blue as the ocean and a smile that sends a swarm of butterflies around my belly, is now my new next-door neighbor.

What an interesting turn of events that is.