Cori
The man was a beast—he was definitely more than a foot taller than her. He was also curt, rude, and sexy as hell. His extremely short dark hair, massive size, and tattoo-covered body only made him more intimidating. Cori’s eyes weren’t sure where they wanted to feast first. She briefly wondered what his beard would feel like against her tender skin.
She’d been unusually nervous knocking on his door. She’d known he’d taken the time to watch her move her things in—she could see him in the window and feel his eyes on her the entire time.
She’d thought that maybe he was interested in her, but judging by their first encounter, she’d clearly been mistaken.
Not that she needed to get involved with anyone, anyway. She’d moved to this sleepy town in West Virginia to get away from everything and focus on herself. As a psychiatrist, Cori knew the importance of mental health, and sometimes a person just needed to take a step back and take care of themselves. That’s what she needed right now. After one of her patients, Rebecca Williams, killed herself, Cori decided to temporarily close her practice.
Her other patients hadn’t been too pleased with the change, but she had to get away. Rebecca’s husband was becoming a problem. He’d called her every hour for a week following his wife’s death, and every call was the same: He blamed Cori. His beloved wife was dead because Cori couldn’t fix her. But what Cori couldn’t do was make Rebecca leave her abusive husband. Instead, the woman had taken her own life to get away from him.
Knowing it wasn’t her fault and feeling it wasn’t her fault were two totally different things. So here she was in a little town she’d never heard of, living next to a giant of a man in a house that needed more work than she’d thought, at least from the pictures she’d seen. Served her right for buying a house without visiting it first.
Nevertheless, Cori liked the house and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do. Without her practice, she had all day, every day, to do whatever she wanted. Fixing up this old house was the perfect thing to keep her busy—in both body and mind.
She carefully entered the shed. Everything inside was covered in a layer of dust. Cobwebs hung from…well, just about everything. They made her shiver. She was not a fan of eight-legged creatures. Not at all. Unfortunately, she didn’t think a can of bathroom cleaner was going to do the trick of getting rid of them in here. With the dry rot also being a problem, she decided it would be so much easier to just replace the shed altogether.
Decision made, she bounded back into the house to make a few calls. No matter what task she focused on, she couldn’t stop herself from picturing Tall, Dark, and Grumpy. He was one hell of a male specimen. She wondered if he was just having a bad day or if he was always so charming. They were neighbors, after all. Weren’t small towns supposed to have friendly neighbors? The kind that waved to you and had an overachiever as the head of the neighborhood watch?
Obviously she would need to cut down on her television time—it was skewing her expectations. But there wouldn’t be any television at all until she got this place cleaned up and decorated.
She set about wiping down the walls, doorframes, and windowsills with a damp cloth. She could only imagine when the last time this place was cleaned. When she came to one of the living room windows, she realized she could see right into Grumpy’s house.
He was lying on a couch, his head back and eyes closed. He looked peaceful. Cori found herself staring. He had a chiseled face with a strong jawline. A thick neck led down to broad, tattooed shoulders, and the intricate ink patterns continued down his chest and arms. They weren’t in color like a lot of the tattoos she’d seen—instead, they were jet black and dipped and swirled like a never-ending stream. She wasn’t sure where one piece ended and the next began. What’s more, she had never seen a man with abs like his. They were the well-defined abs of a professional athlete. She wanted—desperately—to touch them.
She was rooted in place watching him…until his eyes opened. They instantly roved her way. Without thinking, she dropped down to her hands and knees. Oh god. Did he see her watching him? Her heart was racing. After a moment on the floor, she felt absolutely ridiculous. What kind of grown woman does that? That thought didn’t, however, stop her from crawling away from the window before she stood up again. Entering her kitchen, she casually looked toward the window she had cowardly abandoned.
Grumpy stood in his window, his hands braced above his head. He stood there as if he was on display. If someone asked her to describe the word “sex,” she would give every tantalizing detail about the man currently gazing her way.
Determined not to let him get to her, Cori continued with her cleaning. By the time she had finished the first floor, she was exhausted. The upstairs could wait until tomorrow.
She placed an order for a pizza at a local mom-and-pop shop. Figuring she had a good thirty minutes, she ran upstairs to shower before it arrived.
Cori felt refreshed by the time the young woman arrived with her dinner. The smell of pizza sauce and melted cheese made her mouth water and her stomach growl. She sat at the kitchen table as she ate the gooey yumminess, looking out at her backyard. She could already picture the garden she was anxious to plant. Gardening always gave her a sense of peace. It was a relaxing hobby in her hectic world.
Now that she had something in her stomach, she needed to take a ride to the mall and the grocery store. She couldn’t live on takeout alone, and she needed curtains for her bedroom. The ones she had packed from her previous apartment wouldn’t fit here. Cori quickly cleaned up her mess and stored the leftovers in the refrigerator.
She locked the door before closing it behind her. Cori stole a glance over at her neighbor’s house. A single light illuminated the living room. She got into her car and backed out of her driveway. She had other things to do beside think of a certain man.
***
When Cori pulled into her driveway, she was exhausted. A long day of cleaning followed by an evening of shopping was enough to wear any woman out. After gathering her packages, she carried everything into the house and straight up the stairs to her bedroom, since almost everything she’d bought was for her master suite, anyway.
As she began to put things away, she noticed her bathroom door was slightly ajar and the light was on. She stood there staring as she mentally retraced her steps before she’d left the house. She didn’t remember turning the light on at all.
She slowly inched her way to the door and hesitantly pushed it open all the way. Inside, the vanity mirror had been shattered; shards of reflective glass littered the floor. The toilet paper was shredded like confetti all over the room. Above the sink, scrawled on the wall, was a message. Or perhaps a warning?
You can’t hide.
She backed out of the room, dazed and confused at the destruction. Cori tripped over the bedroom rug and screamed as she fell hard on her ass. Who would do this to her? She didn’t know anyone in town. In fact, the only person she had met lived next door.
A loud bang shook the entire house, like a bomb had been detonated nearby. The sound scared the hell out of her. Were they under attack? Cori still hadn’t regained her train of thought, so there she sat on her bedroom floor as Grumpy barged into her room. He’d traded his basketball shorts for jeans and tan work boots, but his chest was still distractingly naked. A baseball cap adorned his head, obscuring his eyes in shadows.
She looked up at him. “Excuse me?” she squeaked. “What are you doing in my house?”
“I heard you scream.” His eyes searched the room suspiciously before landing back on her. “Are you all right?’
He stretched his hand out to her. She accepted the offer, and his hand completely dwarfed hers. Then again, everything about him dwarfed her. He pulled her up to her feet. She brushed her behind off, more out of habit than necessity. She found herself eye level with his sculpted chest. A naked, yummy chest. Would he flinch if she traced one of his tats with her tongue?
He snapped his fingers an inch from her face. “Hey…Are you all right?” he repeated.
“Yeah, sorry. I think…well, I think someone broke in while I was out today.”
He raised an eyebrow. “You think or they did?”
She scrubbed her hands over her face. “They did.” She pointed to her bathroom. “In there.”
He charged into the adjoining room. Cori waited for him to emerge. It didn’t take long.
He exited the bathroom, glaring at her. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”
She glared back. “No.” This was the last thing she needed. All she wanted was a shower—obviously not in that bathroom tonight—and some sleep.
“Be honest with me, Cori.”
She put her hands on her hips. “I said no, and I don’t like the tone you’re using.” It was nearly impossible to be intimidating toward a man who looked as if he could break her in half.
“Look, I know you’re new around here. I don’t know how things were wherever you came from, but around here we look out for our neighbors. We also look out for ourselves. I need to know if a shit storm is brewing next to me.”
Cori scowled at him. “You’re a dick.”
His smile stretched from ear to ear. “That’s one of the nicer names I’ve been called, sweetheart.”
“Don’t ‘sweetheart’ me.” He was incredibly aggravating. “I’m as clueless as you are, as to who did this.” She waved her hand wildly in the direction of the bathroom. Okay, so maybe that was a little white lie…it could be a certain grieving widower. But she couldn’t blame someone for a crime with no proof. No one knew where she had moved to except her previous landlord and her sister, Brianna.
Maybe the vandal mistook her for someone else? Maybe they didn’t realize someone new had moved into the place? Yeah, that also seemed unlikely. She really didn’t know the man currently scowling at her, so she wasn’t going to divulge that information just yet. Who was she to dismiss him as the culprit? A new neighbor prank of sorts. Even as the thought formed, though, she mentally rolled her eyes. There was no way it was him. Not with the way he’d stormed her house with concern etched on his face. Now, however, the concern had been replaced by distrust.
“You’re lying,” he said. “To both me and yourself. I don’t know why or what you’re hiding, but I can see each thought flit across your pretty little face.” He shrugged and turned on his heel toward the door. “Whatever—I’ll quick fix your front door for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll replace it.”
Her mouth hung slightly agape. “You broke my front door? What the hell were you thinking?” Her voice rose with every word.
“You were screaming. I reacted. It’s what I do. Like I said, I’ll fix it.”
“Neanderthal,” she whispered.
He grinned at her before slipping out of her room. She could feel her cheeks flush from nothing more than a smile from him. She was frozen there, staring at the place where he’d stood a moment ago. The sound of his boots on her hardwood steps jolted her. Stomping her foot like a toddler, she followed him downstairs.
The front door still stood open. Splinters of wood littered the floor. The door frame had been completely busted. What the hell? She looked around the room. He was nowhere in sight. She stomped outside, putting so much force in her steps that the bottoms of her feet actually stung. Her arms swinging with purpose, she came to a halt. Cori scanned the area. She spotted him halfway across the yard. Crossing her arms over her chest, she marched after him.
“What the hell did you do to my door?”
“Really? The door again? I told you, I broke it,” he called over his shoulder.
“With what? A battering ram?”
“My foot.”
“Same difference,” she scoffed. “Care to tell me how you plan on fixing it?”
He stopped walking and turned around to face her. “Well, you have a usable back door. Therefore, I’m going to nail the front door closed until the stores open tomorrow.” He spoke to her like she was a crazy person—slowly and clearly. “Then I’ll go get what I need to repair it properly. Meanwhile, you may want to contact the BCPD. If this turns out to be something, you want everything documented.” He continued to his backyard.
She knew he was right; she wished he wasn’t. If anyone knew the importance of reporting things of this nature, it would be her. How many patients had she counseled to do the same thing and they’d refused? It only made matters worse when things escalated beyond their control. On rare occasions, silence had deadly consequences.
“Thank you,” she choked out when he returned.
“Don’t mention it.” He tipped his baseball cap as he carried a large board in the direction of her house.
Her arms dropped to her sides. Feeling defeated, she entered the living room behind him. Paxton closed the door, holding the board in place with his forearm. He held the nail in place, then used his other hand to hammer it home. He added two more nails before moving to the other end of the board. He repeated his actions there.
She liked watching him. The way his muscles moved, almost gracefully, was a sight to behold. She always did like a man who could work with his hands.
With the board secured in place for the evening, he turned to face her. She felt her stomach quiver, and her pulse sped up. She hated that he affected her this way.
He stalked over to her and stopped just inches away from touching her. She wanted him to touch her. Cori’s fingers itched to touch him too. She wondered what his muscles would feel like under her palms. She wanted to trace one of his tattoos with her fingertips. Hell, she wanted to trace them all. Her pulse continued to speed up at an alarming rate as she gazed up at him.
“Lock the back door behind me. I’ll be back in the morning.”
Without waiting for her to reply, he walked away. She stood there trying to catch her breath and regain her composure. Remembering the lock, she ran toward the kitchen and the back door. She screamed again. Outside, Grumpy’s frame filled the window in the door. He shook his head while laughing at her. Pointing to the lock she hadn’t yet engaged, he watched her approach the door. Her eyes never left his as she slowly reached out toward the door. The metal from the deadbolt chilled her fingertips. She knew once she flipped the lock, he would be gone.
Just like that, she was alone. The house felt eerie with him gone, which was insane—she’d just met the man. Sighing, she checked each room again. She double checked all the windows and inspected the front door. She had a mess to clean upstairs.
She took pictures with her phone first to document the destruction, but she didn’t want to involve the police unless it was absolutely necessary. Hopefully this was an isolated event. She was exhausted and just wanted to go to sleep…at least she hoped she could after all of this.