“What are you talking about? Of course not,” I semi-lied.
“Goodness me,” she cooed, placing her palms to her chest. “You have! I just saw it written all over your face. Can’t say I’m not disappointed it wasn’t my girl who got you there, but I am happy some lucky woman’s finally caught your eye.”
“All right. This conversation’s over. You need to get back to your yoga, and I need to mow your lawn before the grass reaches to your knees.”
“By all means,” she said on a tinkling laugh, waving her hand as she moved backward toward her mat. “Mow away.”
Shaking off the discomfort caused by the turn in that conversation, I moved back to my lawnmower, determined to put the conversation out of my head as I checked the gas level and cranked it up.
Then, pretending Sylvia wasn’t watching me, laughing her ass off at the scowl etched into my face, I got to work.
Hayden
It felt like someone was drilling into my skull. My eyeballs were actually pulsating, and my mouth tasted like I’d eaten hot garbage.
“Oh God,” I groaned as I gingerly rolled to my back, and slowly peeled my eyes open, one at a time.
Needless to say, the drinks had gotten a bit ahead of me last night. In comparison to everyone else, I hadn’t had all that much, but it had been years since I really drank, so I was the very definition of a lightweight. Everything that came after getting into yet another fight with that arrogant bastard was fuzzy.
I remembered he stuck close to the group the whole time, hanging out with the man I’d discovered was Dani’s fiancé, a man by the name of Leo Drake. A few other guys had shown up as the night progressed, boyfriends, husbands, and the like of my new group of girlfriends, but I didn’t remember names or faces. The one thing I did remember with almost perfect clarity was feeling Micah’s eyes on me the entire night. They seared into my skin like a brand and made my heart race.
“Get your shit together, Hayden,” I cursed to myself, staring up at the ceiling. “He was a one-night stand, for God’s sake. Was he amazing? Yeah, sure. But you’ll find another guy who’ll do those same things without making you want to commit murder.”
I could tell myself that all day long, problem was, I wasn’t completely sure it was true. There was actually something . . . I don’t know, almost fun about how we fought.
“God, there’s something wrong with me.”
Pushing up to sitting, I brushed my hair back off my forehead and blew out a steady breath. Once I felt like I was no longer at risk of my head splitting open, I climbed out of bed and padded across the floor to the bathroom. Halfway there, the loud, teeth-clattering roar of a motor sliced through the peace and quiet—and my skull.
“What the living fuck?” I rushed to the big bay windows that faced the back of the house but couldn’t see anything past the huge garden. Moving as quickly as my pounding head would let me, I stormed to the bathroom and pulled my satin robe off the hook behind the door.
I stabbed my arms through the sleeves and cinched the belt at my waist as I charged down the stairs and out the back door.
“Sylvia!” I yelled over the grinding noise as soon as I saw her, rising up from half-moon pose. That was a mistake. Hell, this whole scene was one huge mistake. I’d shot down there in an indignant rage, and now the evil sun was making my brain feel like an egg being scrambled.
“Oh dearie. Someone looks like their feelin’ the effects of a good night this mornin’.”
“Yes,” I gritted, lifting my hand to shield my poor eyeballs from that bastard, daylight. “So can you please explain to me what the hell is going on?”
“Of course!” she smiled brightly, rubbing her sunny disposition in my hungover face. “My—well, now our—neighbor cuts my—our grass every once in a while. Isn’t that just the sweetest? He really is quite the gentlemen. I’d been hoping to set the two of you up, but it seems he’s already smitten with another woman.” She stuck her bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Such a shame, really.”
“Oh my God,” I groaned, closing my eyes and rubbing my temples. “This isn’t happening. Look, any other morning, I’d be the first one out here to thank him for doing me a solid, but right now it feels like someone’s using my head as a piñata. So please, please, can you just ask him, really politely, to knock it the fuck off?”
I’d been so busy trying to keep my brains from leaking out of my ears that I hadn’t noticed the mower had cut off. That was, until I heard a rich, sinful voice come from behind me. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? You’re Sylvia’s niece?”
I slowly turned and faced a sweaty, shirtless Micah, holding on to the handle of a lawnmower, looking too freaking good to be legal. It took a few seconds for my alcohol-soaked brain to catch up. “Wait . . . you’re my neighbor?”
Those grassy green eyes did a full-body sweep, reminding me I was standing out in the back garden in nothing but a nightie and short satin robe—which had come untied. Son of a bitch! “Looks like,” he answered, a sinful grin stretching across his lips.
In reaction to that news, I threw my head back and looked up at the sky, shouting, “What the hell have I ever done to you, huh?” at the top of my lungs.
Me and the man upstairs were about to have some serious words, because this shit was getting ridiculous!
Chapter Ten
Hayden
“Oh my.” Aunt Sylvia looked far too pleased when I righted my head and pointed an unhappy frown in her direction. “Well, isn’t this an interesting new development?”
I didn’t see it that way, but of course she would.
“Sylvia,” Micah said, his tone holding a hint of warning, but also humor, like he and my aunt were the best of friends. And isn’t that just freaking great?
“What?” she asked innocently. “I didn’t say anything. I certainly didn’t say how pleased I am to find out the best sex my precious niece ever had just so happened to be with my strapping young neighbor.”
“Sylvia!” I yelped.
“And I most certainly didn’t say boo about the fact the woman that very same strapping neighbor is completely hung up on is my niece. Nope. Not me. Not a word. I’m just here, minding my own business.”
“That’s it!” I threw my arms up and spun around, my bare feet slapping on the cobblestones as I headed back for the house. “I’m drinking an entire pot of coffee and pretending this morning never happened. This has all been an alcohol-induced nightmare.”
Slamming the door on my aunt’s laughter, I moved straight to the coffee maker and hit the switch, glaring at it as it gurgled and began to spit out the much-needed liquid, like my anger might actually make it work faster.
I heard the creak of the back door opening, but didn’t bother turning around as I stated, “Now’s really not a good time, Sylvia. I think it’s safe to say I’ll be skipping yoga this morning.”
“Gotta say, that’s some nightie.”
At that, I spun around so fast my poor, abused head wobbled like it was at risk of falling off my shoulders. “Did you seriously just walk in here without even knocking?” I asked as I slapped my robe closed and retied the belt.