1. Ayla

Chapter 1

Ayla

A nother Friday had arrived, and there were only a few clouds in the sky. On a sweltering July day in Alabama, those clouds were much needed. Even though I loved the sun, I needed a break from the constant heat. Fridays were my only days off work, and in the summer, I looked forward to spending my time reading by the pool.

Sadly, it hadn’t been that enjoyable the past few weeks.

All was quiet for the moment, but with my luck, the second I stepped out onto my back porch, my peaceful oasis would be nonexistent.

I slid my feet into my flip-flops, grabbed my beachy romance and cell phone off the nightstand, and headed outside in my teal bikini. The air was thick with humidity, and I could already feel the sweat drip down my skin as I made my way to the pool. When I was attending college at UNC-Chapel Hill in North Carolina, I grew to like the cooler temperatures, especially in the winter. But I couldn’t wait to come back home to Alabama after I graduated.

Once at the pool, I kicked off my flip-flops and stepped into the water. Nobody lived to the right of me since my house was built on a small peninsula on the lake, but there was a guy who moved into the house on my left a couple of months ago.

Had I met him yet? Not exactly, but he sure was a pain in my ass.

Standing on my tiptoes, I tried to peer over the fence on the far side of the yard to see if I could see Declan’s garage door. I’d only learned of his name through one of my patients who’d asked if I’d met him yet. Apparently, he was a grumpy recluse who liked to keep to himself. I had no clue how old he was, where he was from, or what his deal was, but being an unfriendly jerk wasn’t the way to make your introduction into a small town like Magnolia Grove.

A relieved sigh escaped my lips when I could see his garage door was down. Hopefully, that meant he wasn’t at home .

I carefully sat down on my in-pool chaise lounge so none of the water would splash up and wet my book or my phone which were on the chair armrest. Once the cold water soothed my heated skin, I opened my novel and smiled. It was going to be a great day.

I couldn’t begin to describe the level of joy that flowed through my body. The sound of the birds chirping and the swooshing of the lake water as it lapped against the shore was music to my ears. It was all so serene and heavenly.

That was until . . .

A noise off to my left made my blood boil.

“Son of a . . .” I grumbled under my breath.

Grabbing my phone, I searched for Kat’s name in my recently called list and pressed it so hard I was surprised my screen didn’t crack. Katherine Graham was my best friend in dental school and was well aware of the issues I’ve had with my neighbor.

“Hey girl,” she answered. “You out enjoying your day off?”

Huffing, I slammed my book shut and walked out of the pool. “I wish.”

Kat laughed. “Are you serious right now? He’s making noise again? ”

“Yes,” I growled, forcefully sliding my feet into my flip-flops and storming toward my patio door.

All I could hear was metal clanking against metal, which was so loud that people across town could probably hear it. That was how it had been for the past three Fridays. Declan would be in his garage making all kinds of noise, followed by the loud rumbling of his lawn mower. It wouldn’t be so bad if it only took him a few minutes to cut his grass, but the process always lasted hours. I haven’t been able to relax by my pool in weeks.

Once inside, I tossed my book onto the kitchen table. “This is getting ridiculous. My idiot neighbor makes so much damn noise I can’t even think straight. I’m surprised no one else has complained.”

“Why don’t you go over there and talk to him?” Kat countered. “He might not know he’s causing problems.”

I walked over to the window and scoffed. All I could see over the fence was Declan’s head, covered by a baseball cap as he mowed the lawn.

“How can he not know he’s loud as shit?” I fired back.

Kat burst out laughing. “He might be wearing earplugs. Who knows? Just go over there and talk to him. He’s new in town. Don’t you small-town women bake cakes and muffins for newcomers? Do that and I’m sure he’ll stop, especially when he sees how gorgeous you are. He might even be single.” She said the last part teasingly, but there was no way in hell I would even entertain the thought.

“Please,” I snapped, marching into my bedroom to put on shorts and a tank top over my bathing suit. “I’ve heard he’s not friendly. My guess is that he’s old, hairy, and set in his ways. The chances of him being hot and single are slim to none.”

Most of my neighbors were all retirement age, except for the people I grew up with who decided to stay in Magnolia Grove instead of moving off to the bigger cities. I thought I’d found my match when Andrew moved here to be with me after we finished dental school. Our plan was to take over my father’s practice and settle down. It turned out small-town life wasn’t for him. We called off the wedding and I was back at square one. Five years of my life just down the drain.

“Now you don’t know that,” Kat replied. “I’m sure there are some hot guys who live there.”

“There are,” I agreed, “but unfortunately, most of them are taken. And all the ones who are single are guys I grew up with who I have no interest in dating whatsoever. ”

Declan’s lawn mower rumbled so loud I could practically hear my windows vibrating. My patience was slipping with each passing second. I couldn’t take it any longer.

I stormed over to the door and opened it wide.

“Kat, I’m going to have to let you go. I’m going over there.”

“Good luck,” she chuckled. “Call me back and let me know how it goes.”

“Will do,” I said and walked out the door, slamming it shut behind me.

I slid my phone into my back pocket and marched down the driveway. The privacy fence prevented me from cutting across the yard. Once on his property, I could hear the clanking of the dilapidated-sounding lawn mower coming from his backyard; the thing was about to clearly blow up. I had to cover my ears the closer I got.

When I spotted Declan around the corner, his back was to me, and he was bent down and inspecting the mower that was now giving off a thick cloud of smoke. He didn’t have the body of an old, hairy man. In fact, it was the complete opposite. He was dressed in cargo shorts and a T-shirt. His arms had just the right amount of muscle and his legs were toned. However, I had yet to see his face .

“Hey!” I shouted, edging a little closer. The mower was so deafening I had no doubt he couldn’t hear me. “ Hey! ” I called out even louder. Again, he didn’t turn around, so I closed the distance and tapped his shoulder. Declan jerked around so fast that I lost my footing and started to fall backward, but he reached out and grabbed me before I could hit the ground. The breath left my lungs, and everything moved in slow motion. My body reacted to him instantly, like a spark igniting the second his skin touched mine. What caught me off guard more than anything was Declan’s eyes; they were so blue, bluer than any I’d ever seen. His lawn mower blew up with an ear-piercing bang, and then all went silent. It was what I’d been waiting on.

Declan let me go and pulled out the earphones in his ears. Judging by the bit of gray in his five o’clock shadow, he was older than me, probably in his late thirties.

“Are you okay?” he asked, staring at me with impatience as if I was the one who had inconvenienced him .

And just like that, his hypnotic blue eyes had no effect on me.

I planted my hands on my hips. “Actually, I am now. There’s finally peace and quiet.” I glared down at his lawn mower and then back to his face. “I’ve had to listen to that contraption of yours for three weeks now. Not to mention all that banging around you do in your garage. It’s not what I want to hear on my days off when I’m trying to relax.”

His lips spread wide, revealing perfectly white, straight teeth. That was the dentist in me; I always looked at people’s teeth. But there was nothing sweet about his smile. I knew something smartass-ish was about to come out of his mouth. Then again, what I said wasn’t exactly welcoming and friendly; it actually sounded quite bitchy. He didn’t know me or my work schedule, or that I only had Fridays off.

Declan nodded toward his lawn mower, which continued to give off a stream of smoke. “That contraption was my grandfather’s. I’m not going to go out and buy a new one just because it has issues. When something’s broken, you fix it.” His blue gaze roamed up and down my body. “Then again, I wouldn’t expect someone like you to understand that.”

I knew what he meant by that. I probably looked like I didn’t know how to get my hands dirty or do manual labor.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I narrowed my eyes at him. “You can assume all you want, neighbor. You don’t know me, and I clearly don’t know you. All I ask is that you show a little bit of consideration to the others around you and keep the noise down. You’re not the only one who lives on this street.”

A hint of humor sparked in his eyes, but then it disappeared quickly, replaced with grumpy impatience. “Duly noted, neighbor .” He glanced back at the mower. “Looks like you’ll get your silence today.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I turned on my heel and headed back to my house. As soon as I made it back to my driveway, I pulled out my phone and called Kat.

“Hey, how did it go?” she asked, her voice excited.

I blew out a sigh. “Well, he’s not old and hairy.”

“So, he’s hot?”

There was no denying he was a good-looking man. “Yeah, I’ll give him that. But I do have to say one thing.”

“And what’s that?”

I glanced over at Declan’s house even though I couldn’t see him. “He is one smug bastard.”

Kat chuckled. “Is he going to stop making so much noise?”

Judging by his attitude toward me, I’d say no. “Doubt it,” I replied. “However, as luck would have it, his lawn mower died on him a few minutes ago. I’m going to go back to the pool and enjoy my reading time while I can.”

We hung up and I went inside to take off my tank top and shorts and grab my book. All was quiet when I made it out to the pool and sat down in the lounge chair. There was about twenty minutes of blissful silence until a chainsaw revving jerked my attention toward the fence by my pool.

Declan was just on the other side, trimming one of his trees. My blood started to boil again.

I slammed my book shut and leaned my head against the chair. “You have got to be kidding me.”

What an asshole.