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“Is Uncle Keith here? He said he was coming to my new house,” Jason asked as he slowly climbed out of the Mercedes ML63 SUV. Derek’s new assistant at Price had surprised him with the vehicle when they departed the plane. He now understood why she had asked him a series of questions the day he met with her. One question had been about his ideal car. Who knew the car of his dreams would be waiting for him? Supposedly, it was part of his benefits package.
“Daddy, is he coming?” Jason pulled Derek back to the present.
Just then, Keith Logan pulled up in a rented SUV that he was using until his car, which he’d had shipped to Atlanta, arrived. Keith parked next to Derek and climbed out of his vehicle.
“Hey, Uncle Keith!” Jason ran to his uncle, who lifted him up in the air. “What took you so long?”
Derek chuckled at his son’s enthusiasm. It was as if he hadn’t just seen Keith at the airport. They had arrived to Atlanta in style, flying on the company’s private jet, a first for all of them, one that Jason would be talking about for weeks.
So far, the relocation was going great. Since his brother was in the midst of a divorce and ready for a new start, Derek had invited him to Atlanta. Keith jumped at the opportunity. It was a win-win for both of them. Derek would get some help with Jason, and Keith had a potential job opportunity with Price Architecture.
“Looks like a nice neighborhood,” Keith said. They stood on the front stoop with suitcases, waiting for Derek to open the door. “A little bougie. So you ought to fit in perfectly.”
“Ha, ha, ha. Whatever.” Derek pushed the front door open and deactivated the alarm system using the keypad just inside the wide foyer. His brothers had always called him “bougie,” claiming he was stuck up despite growing up in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Columbus.
Keith released a long whistle as the three of them stood in the foyer of their new home. Derek had to admit—it was a beauty. The semicircular staircase with ornamental wrought-iron railings and a chandelier made of the same material gave the space a rich, unique feel. A large area rug with a design and colors that pulled from the taupe walls and iron accents partially covered the dark hardwood floors. Whoever Noah had used to renovate the home had nailed his personal style.
“Dang, man, you said this place was big. Heck, it’s like three times the size of my house in Cincinnati. What’s the square footage?”
“Daddy, where is my room?” Jason started roaming around the empty lower level while Derek and Keith remained where they were.
“Upstairs, lil’ man. It’s the second room on the left.” Jason ran up the stairs and Derek wondered if he understood which room was his. “Oh, and to answer your question,” Derek said to Keith, “we’re working with over 3,500 square feet.” He picked up the luggage he had left near the front door. “Four bedrooms are upstairs and there are two you can choose from. I’m thinking I’ll use the one down here as a guest room.”
“I assumed I’d be getting the master bedroom,” Keith said with a straight face as they clumped up the carpeted stairs. Out of Derek’s four brothers, Keith was the laid-back one that kept the rest of them laughing and on their toes.
“And why would you assume that?” When they reached the top landing, they found Jason in the master bedroom. “Guess you’re out of luck, Keith. Looks like someone beat us to it.”
“Daddy, my room is big!” Jason said, trying to climb up on the king-size bed Derek had ordered weeks earlier and had delivered. With his assistant Louise’s help, he had ordered furniture for his and Jason’s bedrooms, as well as for the family room. He had everything delivered a couple of days earlier. Now they were just waiting for the movers to bring some of his furniture from his and Keith’s old houses, as well as a ton of boxes. Normally, Derek wouldn’t be looking forward to unpacking, but the movers had not only packed up everything for him, but they would also unload everything as well.
“Wrong room, kid.” Derek set his luggage near the closet. “Come on. I’ll show you where you’ll be sleeping.”
“Yay! I have two beds,” Jason said as he ran into the bedroom and climbed the steps to the top bunk. Since his son was into spaceships, Derek already had some ideas on how they would transform the area. “Look at my room, Uncle Keith.”
“Yeah, man. It’s big. A lot more space for all of your junk, I mean, your toys.” Keith laughed. He left them in Jason’s room to go in search of his own bedroom.
Derek stood at the single window looking out onto the front yard and street. He was slowly starting to warm up to the new life he was getting ready to dive into.
Change often comes with gifts, Noah had once said when he first found out about Derek’s ex-wife leaving him. At the time, the only gift Derek could see in the situation was Jason. Now that his life had recently been flipped upside down, albeit in a good way, Derek wondered if Noah had started making these plans even back then.
* * *
Hours later, Derek strolled outside and sat on one of the steps to his deck. Leaning back, his elbows propped up on the step behind him, he watched his son run around the yard, trying to get his kite to fly. To be young and carefree again. The boy had an endless amount of energy.
Derek closed his eyes and let the beaming sun warm his skin. Long morning. He could honestly say he was exhausted. The past few weeks had been unbelievably busy, and sleep every night hadn’t come easy. He couldn’t get his mind to slow down. He had so much to do, including finding a preschool program for his four-year-old son in less than a month. And then there was Macy.
Macy. The beautiful, sexy goddess with the long legs and bedroom eyes was sure to be the new bane of his existence. The little sleep he had gotten over the past few weeks included erotic dreams of her either in skimpy attire or nothing at all. He groaned just thinking about her full breasts and curvaceous body. Working on the medical complex with her was sure to prove to be the greatest challenge of the move. He hadn’t even started yet and already thoughts of her made a certain part of his anatomy jump to attention. Sitting next to her at the memorial service and then across from her in Drew’s office weeks ago left his body reeling.
“Lunch is here,” Keith yelled from somewhere behind Derek. “Get it while it’s hot.”
The three of them ate while Jason kept a steady flow of conversation going, giving Derek and Keith a chance to interject periodically. When it seemed Jason was all talked out, Derek knew his son would be asleep soon.
“I really appreciate you letting me stay here a while. I have a feeling this move is going to be good for all of us.” Keith stood and tossed his paper plate in the trash before pulling a beer out of the refrigerator. “Not only do you get someone to help with Jason, but you also get to live like the rich and famous.” He emphasized by lifting his arm and waving it around at the large space and twenty-foot ceilings. “And I’ll get a fresh new start.”
What started as an amicable divorce process between Keith and his wife had turned ugly a few weeks earlier when Keith’s father-in-law laid Keith off from work, saying they were taking the company in a different direction. At first, the news couldn’t have come at a worse time, but then, with the opportunity to start over in Atlanta, Keith had figured something good could come out of a bad situation.
He had an interview with the finance department at Price Architecture in three days. Though Derek told him he’d have to get the job on his own, he had no doubt that his brother would wow them. The guy was a whiz with numbers and had played an instrumental role in taking his father-in-law’s company to the next level.
“I think the lil’ man has finally worn himself out.” Keith nodded toward Jason, who was asleep in his chair. Derek caught him just in time, before he fell out of his seat.
“I was wondering when he’d clunk out.” Derek lifted him. “He’s been going nonstop since six o’clock this morning, with only a short nap on the plane.”
Derek carried him upstairs. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he ran his hand over his son’s soft curly head and stared down at his sleeping form. Jason was the most important person in Derek’s world. Sometimes, when he thought about the responsibility of raising a child on his own, it made him nervous. Other times, he wouldn’t have it any other way.
He placed a kiss on the top of his son’s head and bounded back down the stairs.
“It looks like the movers are finally here,” Keith said from the living room window. “But they are a little distracted by the cutie-pie in the tiny shorts next door who’s cutting her grass.”
Derek stood next to his brother at the window and pulled down one of the slats of the blinds, stretching his neck to see the person. It wasn’t the short-shorts his brother alluded to that he was interested in, though. He hadn’t met any of his neighbors yet and hoped there were children nearby that were Jason’s age.
“Instead of staring out the window, maybe you can roll up your sleeves and help guide the movers.”
“I’d rather go next door and introduce myself to the cute neighbor. Apparently, she doesn’t—”
Derek released the slat and started to walk away, but quickly turned back when at the last second he caught sight of the woman behind the lawn mower.
“What the...”
Ignoring the rest of Keith’s comment, Derek bolted for the front door. He cleared his four concrete steps with no effort and stomped across his yard and the neighbor’s double-wide driveway, not stopping until he was in front of the lawn mower.
“Hey!” Macy yanked out her earbuds and snatched off her sunglasses. “What are you...?” Her voice trailed off and surprise registered on her beautiful, sun-kissed face. “What...what are you doing here?” she yelled over the rumble of the mower before shutting it off. “How did you know where I lived?”
“Like you don’t know.” The words flew out of Derek’s mouth impatiently. He folded his arms across his chest, anger darting through his body. He didn’t like games, and apparently she and Noah had a game of their own going on. First, the medical complex project, and now this. “Why didn’t you tell me the house Noah left me was next door to yours?”
Her mouth dropped open and she leaned away from him as if he had struck her. “I didn’t know Noah left you a house, and I sure as heck didn’t know it was that one!” She jabbed her glove-covered finger toward his home. “And how dare you step to me like some crazy madman?” she seethed, her eyes boring into him like a laser beam. “I don’t know what your problem is or what you have against me, but I’m sick of it!”
She snatched her gloves off and stepped around her mower, standing only inches from him. He could feel her anger seeping through her pores, right along with the perspiration coating her skin. “You have been a big, brooding...lug,” she yelled, frustrated, her hands on her hips. “From the day I met you, you treated me like a piece of gum you’ve had stuck on the bottom of your shoe. What have I ever done to you?”
Derek studied her, trying to decide if she really didn’t know what Noah had been up to. By the way she was shooting daggers with her eyes, it was safe to say she hadn’t been a part of Noah’s little game.
Instead of answering her question, his gaze traveled the length of her, from her messy ponytail propped on the top of her head to her thin tank top displaying her more-than-a-handful breasts. He stopped at the tiny shorts. When he should’ve been trying to come up with an answer to her question that wouldn’t make him sound like a total jerk, he instead had an overwhelming desire to pull her into his arms and taste her pouty lips.
Damn, he had it bad. The woman’s gaze cut into him and all he could think about was having her body rubbed up against his, sweat and all.
“Oh, so now you have nothing to say?” She slapped her gloves against her thigh, seeming to be madder than before. “You are unbelievable. You come over here making this big fuss about something I have no knowledge of and now you’re standing there ogling me.” She turned and went back to her lawn mower. “Well, I guess that’s better than the permanent scowl you wear.”
Derek sighed and rubbed his hand over his head and let it slide down the back of his sweaty neck. He didn’t know if he would ever get used to the ninety-degree temperature. It was only July. He didn’t want to think about how hot it would be in August.
“I don’t scowl,” he finally said. His words sounded wimpy even to his own ears.
The sharp edge to her humorless laughter made him want to snatch back his words. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She used her forearm to dab at the sweat on her forehead. “I can understand you being concerned about Noah, but that constant frown you wear on your face whenever I’m around is a good sign that you have a problem with me.”
“I don’t have a problem with you!” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his cargo shorts and stared down at his shoes, trying to come up with something intelligent to say. What the hell was wrong with him? He was acting as if he were still in high school. She was right about one thing, though. He did have a problem with her. She was too damn fine for her own good and he was seriously attracted to her. And he hated it. Now what to do about it was the question.
* * *
The last thing Macy needed was to live next door to the man she couldn’t stop thinking about. She didn’t want to believe Noah was playing matchmaker from the grave, but what else could she think? First he created a situation in which she would have to work with Derek over the next few months, and now this. How was she supposed to have peace of mind when she knew the tall, dark, brooding man with the sexy, intense gaze was sleeping next door to her? He had already caused her some sexually frustrated, sleepless nights. Now she would probably have to move if she ever wanted to get any rest.
She slipped her gloves and her dark shades back on. She so wanted to be angry at Derek, but how could she be when he towered over her like some sex god? Tall, lean and gorgeous. He looked good enough to make her want to drop her panties, no questions asked. Damn her body for betraying her. His blue fitted T-shirt stretched across his solid chest, hugged his thick biceps and lay flat against his abs. The cargo shorts he wore hung low on his hips, and his thick legs were muscular, like those of a football player. Her gaze finally edged back up his body and landed on his intense eyes. Damn him and his sexy eyes.
“Why are you still here?” she snapped. “I have work to do.” Mama Adel would have a fit if she heard her being this mean to anyone. She would always tell her foster daughters there was no excuse to stoop to someone else’s level if they were acting a fool.
He looked as if he was trying to determine whether or not she was telling the truth, but said nothing. His shoulders dropped and he rubbed his forehead.
“I’m sorry,” he said gruffly. “I was surprised to see you out here.”
“Probably no more surprised than I am to see you standing on my grass, blocking me from finishing my yard.” She slipped off her work gloves again and shoved them into the back pocket of her shorts. It seemed as if he was in no hurry to leave her alone.
Swiping her arm across her forehead for what seemed like the hundredth time, she wiped away the perspiration beading at her hairline. Noah, what are you up to? Derek moving in next door wasn’t a coincidence.
“Are you saying you didn’t know that Noah purchased that house and insisted I move into it?”
“I didn’t even know the house was for sale. My neighbor, a sweet older woman who was always a pleasure to have living next door, told me she had sold the house about a month ago.” Macy didn’t try to hide the bite in her words. She wanted him to know she wasn’t any happier than he was about this new development. “She said someone had made her an offer she couldn’t refuse. And despite what you might think, Noah didn’t always check with me whenever he decided to do something crazy.”
“So you didn’t know he was leaving me that house in his will and insisting I move into it?”
Macy’s hands flew to her hips. “What part of ‘I didn’t know’ don’t you understand? You come over here yelling like you’ve lost your mind because you think I’m playing some game? Well, I’m not. I don’t play those types of games.”
“Daddy!” Macy heard the high-pitched voice before she saw the cutest little boy running across the yard toward Derek, not stopping until his arms were wrapped around his leg. “Hi. What’s your name?” the little guy asked, hiding slightly behind his father.
A smile tugged at Macy’s lips. There was no way this cutie-pie could be related to the big lug. She bent down to his level. “My name is Macy. What’s yours?”
“Jason.” He finally released Derek and approached Macy. “I’m four. How old are you?”
“Jason.” Derek’s warning tone caused Jason to glance up at him. “What did I tell you about asking grown-ups their age?”
Jason lowered his eyes and bit on the tip of his finger. “You said it’s not appopiate,” he said, butchering the word. Macy was impressed he had even gotten that close to saying it correctly.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Jason.” Macy stretched out her hand for a handshake. Jason glanced at his father before accepting her hand and grinned, showing off two missing front teeth and making Macy fall in love with him instantly.
“You want to be my girlfriend?”
“Jason!”
Macy burst out laughing and tipped backward on her haunches, catching herself with a hand behind her before tipping all the way back. She stood to her full height and dusted her hands on her shorts. She didn’t know what was funnier, the fact Jason knew anything about girlfriends or the horror on Derek’s face.
“What did I tell you?” Derek lifted his son effortlessly, holding him out in front of him. “You are too young for a girlfriend and you are not to ask another grown woman to date you. Do you understand me?” Jason nodded slowly and Derek threw him over his shoulder, clearly frustrated but eliciting a giggle from his son. “I’m sorry,” Derek said to Macy. “Apparently I need to break some of the bad habits he’s learned from one of his uncles.”
Macy waved him off. “No harm done. He’s absolutely adorable.” Thanks to Jason, some of the tension between them seemed to have dissipated.
They stood there in awkward silence. Like her, Derek was probably wondering what was on Noah’s mind when he’d purchased the house for Derek to move into. They continued to stand there, each in their own thoughts, until they heard a ton of noise coming from the movers.
“Listen, I’m sorry about yelling. I just—” he shrugged “—was surprised to see you.”
“Yeah, you said that.” Macy put the left earbud in her ear and started to put the second one in. “Next time maybe you can think twice before coming onto my property and yelling at me.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” He turned and Macy grinned when Jason, who was still hanging over Derek’s shoulder, waved at her.
Such a cute kid. Too bad his father is a jerk.
Chapter 4 (#ulink_96e1e190-9dda-51d9-9d84-cb8a0c00ad86)
“Daddy, Macy is pretty,” Jason said when Derek set him on his feet but held his hand as they walked back to their house. “Do she have some kids?”
“It’s ‘Does she have some kids?’ and I want you to call her Ms. Macy.” Derek stopped when they made it back onto his property and bent to his son’s level. “And, Jason, I don’t want to have to keep talking to you about this girlfriend nonsense or about you asking grown-ups how old they are. Do you understand me?”
Jason kept his head bowed and kicked at the grass beneath his feet.
“Jason, look at me.” His son slowly lifted his head and looked at Derek. “Do you understand?”
“Yes,” he mumbled.
“Good, because if we have to have this conversation again, there will be consequences.” Derek stood to his full height. His son was quickly learning about consequences since he’d had his handheld video game taken away twice last week for misbehaving.
Derek grabbed hold of Jason’s hand again, knowing there was a good chance he would take off in a sprint toward the movers. “Oh, and Jason—” his son looked up at him “—you’re right. Ms. Macy is pretty, very pretty.” They grinned at each other and proceeded to the house.
He still didn’t know how he felt about Macy living next door to him. No. Actually, he did know. He hated the idea. She was a distraction he didn’t need, especially when she wore shorts that barely covered her butt, showing off just how long her legs really were.
More than once he had caught a couple of movers glancing her way, checking her out. He wondered why she was cutting her own grass anyway. Surely it wouldn’t take much effort for her to talk some poor guy into doing it for her.
Jason jerked on his hand, trying to pull away. “Daddy.”
“Nope. You’re staying with me, at least until we get in the house. I don’t want you getting in the way.”
“What are they doing?” he asked of the movers.
“They’re unloading the truck and taking all of our stuff into the house.”
“My toys, too?” Jason asked, his voice pitched higher with excitement.
“Yep, your toys, too.” After speaking to one of the movers who was near the truck in the driveway, Derek headed into the house. “Jason, maybe you should hang out in the family room until they’re done. I don’t want you getting in anyone’s way while they’re bringing in boxes and furniture. All right?”
“Well, I see you’ve still got it goin’ on with the ladies,” Keith said when he strolled into the kitchen, a stupid grin on his face and his key chain spinning around his finger. “I started to go over there and introduce myself to Ms. Short-Shorts, but by the way she was glaring at you, I didn’t want any of those daggers to accidentally hit me.”
Derek tried to ignore his brother’s bark of laughter. He could only imagine what the movers were thinking of the exchange, since he was sure they had witnessed every bit of it. He clearly had overreacted. It was just that when he saw her and the way she was dressed, something inside of him snapped. Thoughts of her had been flitting in and out of his mind for weeks. He didn’t want to live next door to her, but in order to fulfill the stipulations Noah had left behind, he needed to stay put for at least a year.
It’s going to be a long year.
“It’s time, man.” Keith interrupted his thoughts.
