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Without a thought, I gave her clean cheek a congratulatory smack. My palm connected with her generous ass, the sharp crack of skin on skin filling the silence of the kitchen. Her flesh wobbled attractively for a second, and I watched it, mesmerized.
Then I realized what I’d just done.
I froze. She froze. Time itself froze as horror iced my veins.
My neighbor was the first to speak. “Did you… Did you just smack my ass?”
Was her voice a little breathy, or was it just me?
She spun around, outrage clearly written on her face.
Yeah, it was just me.
“Huh?” I yanked the towel down to cover her and took a step back. Sweatpants were definitely a bad idea. I gathered the first-aid detritus and turned to the trash can.
“You just smacked my ass,” she confirmed, straightening.
I dumped the trash in the can and moved to wash my hands. “Well, thanks for, uh, dropping in,” I said over my shoulder. “But next time, feel free to use the front door.”
Her glare was nothing short of thunderous. But all she said was, “Speaking of front doors. Mine’s locked.”
I checked my watch. “Too late to call the property manager.” I knew from experience that everything in this dump of a town closed by the time the sun went down. I hadn’t bothered getting copies of all the keys; the place was getting torn down the minute my inheritance came through and I could get the two other tenants to clear out. I met her gaze. “I don’t suppose you have a spare key under your doormat?”
“I do not,” she said.
“I could kick down your front door. But a single woman really shouldn’t have two open entrances to her apartment.”
“Who said anything about being single?” She flipped her hair over her shoulder and it glistened like a shiny red Christmas ornament.
Not single? My hands paused as I dried them on a dishtowel. I’d have to find out who… Wait. No. I didn’t care. I spun around. “Then why don’t you call your boyfriend? I’m sure he has a spare key.”
She pursed her lips. “I don’t have a boyfriend,” she said through gritted teeth like it physically pained her to admit it to me.
I couldn’t have stopped the smile that stretched over my lips if I tried. She just loved fighting back at every opportunity, didn’t she?
I stepped closer and really took in her soft features—ocean-colored eyes and long lashes, dainty nose with a full, pink bottom lip. Then I frowned. “You have a little blood…” I smoothed my thumb against it, feeling her velvety skin. Her full chest rose with a deep inhale and her breath warmed my hand as I lingered there for a moment.
Then she jerked back. “It’s ink.” She used the back of her hand to wipe her mouth after me, to no avail. “Okay, I have a better idea.” Without another word, she walked back into my bedroom.
A screech of wood against wood rumbled through the floor when I found her yanking the desk closer to the bed. She pulled again, this time so hard that her towel toppled to her toes.
Hello, nipples.
I stood there, leaning against the doorframe.
“Damnit!” She scrambled to cover herself again. They say Virginia is for lovers, but apparently New Elwood, Virginia is for two peep shows in one night. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“Whatever you need, sweetheart.”
“Back to sweetheart, are we?”
“Whatever you need, woman.”
She huffed, then pointed at the hole above her head. “I need you to hop up here, climb into my apartment, and unlock the front door.”
I looked up at the female-sized hole in my ceiling. Not sure if I could get through there without a few splinters of my own. No, thank you. Then again, she’d have to return the favor and play nurse. “You really want a stranger alone in your apartment?”
“I figure if I can trust you with my ass, I can trust you to be in my apartment unsupervised for thirty seconds,” she said with crossed arms.
