My Beautiful Neighbor (The Greene Family Book 1) by Piper Rayne (phonics reading books TXT) 📕

Grandma hops in right after, next to Dori, leaving me as their chauffeur with no one in the front passenger seat.

“Um. Grandma?” I ask.

“Oh, our friend will sit there so she can see the sights. I’m old and I can’t be moving around so much. The more I get up and down from your truck, the more likely I’ll break a hip. And then someone will have to wipe my ass. Do you want that job, Cade?”

I wince and decide that instead of arguing, I’ll just get on my way. I put the truck in drive to get this favor over with.

On the way to Glacier Point, I endure a conversation about nutritional shakes and which ones help them stay regular. I might have zoned out. I pull up in the circular entrance and do a double take when I see Presley standing outside. She’s got on another great pair of jeans, but instead of the high heels, she’s in a pair of boots. A jacket covers up whether she’s got on another tight sweater.

“Do I need to go in and get your friend?” I ask, hardly taking my eyes off Presley. She’s checking her phone and hasn’t looked up yet.

“No, she’s right there.” Dori rolls down her window. “Yoo-hoo.”

Presley picks up her head and smiles at Dori before she takes in the truck and sees me through the windshield. Then the smile is quickly stripped from her face. She walks toward the truck, but doesn’t get in.

“I’m sorry, I think there was a misunderstanding. I thought it would only be us three.” Presley never even looks at me.

“Sorry, my car didn’t start, so we called Ethel’s grandson. Presley, this is Cade.”

“We’ve met,” she says through a tight smile. “Let’s just reschedule.”

“Nonsense, go sit up front.” Dori waves at the valet. “Excuse me, I’m Wyatt’s grandma-in-law. Can you please open the door for this woman?”

The guy actually comes over and opens the door, but Presley doesn’t step in. Her jaw twists, and little huffs fall from her mouth. It’s a turn-on, watching her be so defiant. Makes me want to throw her over my shoulder and drag her home.

“Ma’am,” the valet says.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming.” She climbs up, still not looking at me. “I don’t have a ton of time anyway.”

“Good, me either. I’m just dropping you at breakfast. Surely you can handle a twenty-minute car ride with me?”

She looks at my grandma in the back. “I thought we were looking around the different towns?”

I look in the rearview mirror and find Grandma hitting Dori on the arm.

“Oh, I have to go. That’s Wyatt and my great-grandson.” Dori points out the window, but I don’t see who she could be talking about. “I completely forgot I said I’d watch him this morning.” She opens the door, and since the valet is still nearby, he helps her down. “Cade, you don’t mind if I steal your grandma, do you? I could really use her help. I can’t watch a toddler all by myself. He’ll have me tied to a chair or will be running out in the middle of traffic. You don’t want a child running into the middle of traffic on your conscience, do you?”

“Sorry, dear.” Grandma pats my shoulder. “But you two go. Cade knows all the places around here too.”

“I’ll definitely just do this another time.” Presley’s hand goes to the door handle.

“Nonsense.” Dori is suddenly at Presley’s door as though she’s strong enough to keep it shut if Presley tries anything.

I’m not a complete idiot. I know the stories of Dori involving herself in her grandchildren’s love lives. And now it looks as though they think they’re going to involve themselves in mine. That’s a no-go.

“Let her go if she wants.” I spread my arm out along the seat of my truck, my other hand on the steering wheel. “It’s just that she can’t control herself around me.” I laugh.

Presley doesn’t. “That’s not it. Surely you have better things to do rather than take me around town.”

Both grandmas peer through the window, waiting to make sure we pull out of here.

“Actually, I have about an hour,” I say. “Can you handle an hour in my presence without jumping my bones?”

She guffaws, and I want to clap myself on the back for earning that reaction. “Of course I can.”

“Good, then you two go.” Grandma waves. “Bye now.”

They both go inside the resort, probably to have a long leisurely brunch.

“You can just take me to the store, and I’ll figure it out after that.” She’s facing forward, her purse in her lap with her hands holding it to her body.

“I can drive you around. It’s not a problem.”

She turns toward me. “Did you plan this? Have your grandma set this up?”

“Why would I do that?”

“So you can be a little birdy in my ear about how I’m not going to be successful and I should just let you and your brother bail me out.”

I laugh. “Man, that’s a conniving thought. One thing you’ll figure out fast if you move here is that my grandma noses her way into everyone’s business. Dori’s her sidekick. Those two have already gotten her grandchildren married off. They must think we make a good couple.”

She scoffs. “They don’t even know me.”

“I’m not saying they’re right. I’m just stating a fact.”

She turns and narrows her eyes. “Can we please just go?”

“Nothing would make me happier.” I pull out of Glacier Point and turn right toward Lake Starlight’s downtown.

“Where are you going? Isn’t Sunrise Bay that way?” She points in the opposite direction.

“I’m showing you around here first.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m a nice guy, even if you don’t believe me.”

She huffs, but her attitude dies down a bit. “Well, thank you. I’ll gladly pay you for gas.”

I shake my head. “That’s okay, I’ll just take it off what we pay you for the building.”

Her head whips my way and a strand of her blonde hair sticks to her lip gloss.