THE NEIGHBOR'S SON by Rakhibul hasan (fb2 epub reader TXT) 📕

managed to say while pretending his astonishing hotness wasn‟t turning my knees to Jell-O. I smiled and nodded politely while he talked about his family and the neighborhood. Or at least that's what I thought he was talking about. The truth is I wasn't really listening to the words coming out of his perfectly shaped, kissable lips. How could I? I was too distracted by the pair of piercing sky blue eyes trying to bore a hole through me. He stared at me in a way that excited me but also made me uncomfortable. It was very strange. Even though he looked very young, he had an air of confidence and maturity about him that didn‟t match his age. How old did he look? I‟d say twenty, twenty-two tops.

 

I held Cade‟s gaze for most of the conversation but I noticed his eyes would occ asionally slip down to my breasts and my bare midriff. He clearly liked what he was seeing judging by the way he held his lower lip between his teeth every time his wandering eyes rolled up and down my Lycra-covered body.

 

When I managed to wrestle my eyes away from his smoldering gaze, I noticed he had a body that was just as spectacular as his face. He had a tight, sleeveless t-shirt on that drew attention to his bulging, sun-kissed biceps. The t-shirt was tight and thin enough that I could see

 

 

some of the cords and ridges on his torso through it. Cade was definitely not a stranger to the gym. He had a muscular body, but not yucky, body builder muscular. His build was more like that of a runner or a boxer, which to me was just perfect.

“So...Do you?” Cade asked while pulling something out of the back pocket of his khaki

 

shorts.

“I‟m sorry. Do I what?” I replied, embarrassed that I had not been listening.

 

“Do you have anything around your house that needs fixing?" He handed me a white business card. Cade Fisher, Landscaping/Repair Services, the card read. There was a telephone number and an email address printed on it. Unfortunately, my lawn had just been mowed and I couldn't think of anything in the house that needed fixing. “Sorry. I don‟t,” I said.

 

“Well, I‟ll be around all summer. If you need someone to mow your lawn or repair your air conditioner, I‟m your guy. I have references if you need them and I‟m affordable.” His crooked smirk transformed into a white toothed smile. "Anything you need...I'm at your service, Sidney MacDougal." He was definitely flirting with me. I wanted to flirt back but I refrained. I was a respected educator in a very small, close-knit community. It would've been inappropriate for me to be flirting with someone like Cade.

“I‟ll keep that in mind,” I said, shoving the business card in my bag.

 

“I hope you do,” Cade replied, smirking again. “I‟m very good with my hands.” He was being shameless now. I was loving every second of it, but hid my amusement behind an unreadable expression.

 

“Well, Cade. I have to get to my class. It was very nice meeting you,” I said before turning my back to him so I could lock my front door.

 

“It was very nice to meet you too, Sidney,” he replied. I turned back around and he was still standing there, blocking my way. I shot him a nervous smile as he hovered over me, tall, imposing, impossibly sexy. When I realized he wasn't going to move, I stepped around him so I could get to my Audi A7 parked at the end of the driveway. I could feel his gaze boring a hole in my ass as I walked away from him. I felt flustered and my hands were shaking, but I managed to keep it together until I was safely inside my car. Once I was seated behind the wheel, I let out the breath I had been holding. After starting the car, I glanc ed back at my front door through the glass window. Cade was still standing in front of it, watching me intently with a shameless, lustful grin on his face.

 

I drove away and let out another sharp breath once I knew his hot gaze was no longer scorching my flesh. What the heck was that, Sidney? I mentally scolded myself. Get it together.

 

You‟re a grown woman. Start acting like one. I turned the radio on and set it on the most boring station I could find. I was trying to get my mind to focus on anything other than Cade Fisher but I was failing miserably. The more I tried to not think about my hot new neighbor, the dirtier my daydreams about him got.

 

After pulling into the parking lot of my gym a few minutes later, I grabbed Cade‟s business card out of my bag and held it between my fingers. For a second, I felt tempted to break something in the house just to have an excuse to dial the number listed on that card. But I quickly reminded myself that doing something like that would've been not only inappropriate but a lso dangerous. So I wouldn't be tempted later on, I got out of the car, tore the card up and dumped the pieces in a garbage can at the entrance of the gym.

 

In class, I tried to get my mind to relax and focus on the yoga. The whole 'Let's not think about Cade for a minute' brain exercise was still failing miserably. I was so angry at myself. How could I be that obsessed with someone I just met? I felt like I was back in high school and it was

 

 

embarrassing. That yoga session was a complete waste of time. It d id not relax me at all. It actually made me more stressed.

 

Sigh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER II

 

 

 

“Did you hear what I just said, Sidney?” Gloria, my friend and colleague, asked while snapping her fingers in front of my face. “You‟ve been spacing out a lot lately. What is go ing on with you, woman?” Gloria stared at me with a furrowed brow while stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork and shoving it in her mouth. Gloria knew me well. We‟ve been friends and yoga buddies since I moved into the neighborhood. She had been a teac her at St. Francis High School for years and the reason I had a job there.

 

“I‟m sorry. It‟s nothing,” I said, taking a sip from my iced tea. That was a lie. I kept spacing out because I couldn‟t get Cade Fisher out of my head. Almost a whole week had passed since I met my sinfully hot neighbor. I hadn‟t seen him again since that day outside my house, yet I still couldn‟t stop thinking about him. My dreams about him had gotten so filthy, I'd turn beet red while replaying them in my head which I was doing non-stop. I just started telling people I developed a skin allergy. It was easier than explaining that I, a grown woman, was having inappropriate, dirty thoughts about the neighbor's son. Gloria was my best friend. She knew all my most intimate secrets. I trusted her with my life, but I couldn‟t tell her about Cade. It was too embarrassing.

 

“So what do you say? Will you go out with Kevin?” For weeks, Gloria had been trying to set me up with her brother‟s best friend. According to Gloria, Kevin Reese was the perfect guy for me on paper, whatever that means. I‟d never seen or met Kevin. All I knew about the guy was that he was recently divorced, had a son, and worked as an insurance adjuster. Honestly, to me Kevin sounded like the most boring guy on earth. After some awful experiences, I was weary of blind dates. But it meant a great deal to Gloria that I go on a date with Kevin. I knew she wasn‟t going to stop bugging me about it until I agreed to go out with Mr. Boring McBore, so I caved.

 

“Fine,” I groaned, rolling my eyes and sticking a French fry in my mouth. “But he better not be crazy,” I added, pointing the half eaten fry at Gloria.

 

Gloria began to wiggle in her chair and clap her hands like a deranged seal. “I promise you he is very sane. I‟m telling you Sidney, Kevin is the perfect guy for you. I wouldn‟t have bugged you about it for this long if I didn‟t think he was your perfect match. You will love him.”

 

I scoffed while Gloria picked her phone up off the table and began dialing. I assumed she was calling Kevin to give him the good news. I wasn‟t sure I‟d like Kevin, but I figured a night out with him might help me get my mind off pretty Cade at least for a couple of hours. Gloria set the date up right there in front of me. She decided on the where and the when without any input from Kevin or me. After hanging up, Gloria informed me that Kevin was to take me to dinner and then to a movie. That sounded as exciting as a root canal, but I plastered a fake smile on my face and feigned as much enthusiasm as I could.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER III

 

 

 

Two days later, I made my way to my neighbor Dana‟s house to return an electric mixer I had borrowed from her. Dana lived directly across the street from me. She was the first person to welcome me to the neighborhood when Peter and I mo ved in. She was what you would call a typical housewife, stay at home mom. She had three young children she was madly in love with, but on more than one occasion, she had confessed to me how bored she was with her life. Her husband, whom she had married at a very young age, was very good to her but worked constantly. She felt lonely and neglected, just like I did when I was married to Peter. Dana and I bonded over that and became good friends.

 

That afternoon, I knocked on Dana‟s front door and her adorable five-year-old son let me inside the house. “Hi, Dylan. Where‟s your mommy?” I asked him.

 

“She‟s in the kitchen,” he shouted before running up the stairs and disappearing from view. With the electric mixer in my hands, I made my way to the kitchen. From the hallway, I could see Dana sitting at the breakfast counter with her fist tucked under her chin and a dreamy look plastered on her face. She was staring intently at something or someone on the opposite side of the kitchen. As I got closer, I could hear metal clanking sounds that appeared to be coming from under the kitchen sink. When I stepped into the room, Dana snapped her head towards me.

 

“Oh, hey, Sidney. What are you doing here?” she breathed, looking like a kid who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her eyes darted back and forth between me and the sink. That's when I realized there was someone else in the room.

 

“I came to return the mixer I borrowed. What are you up to?” I asked, standing on my tippy toes to try and see who it was crouching under Dana‟s sink. But I couldn't see anything because the breakfast counter was blocking my view. That‟s when Cade, wearing a damp tank top and shorts, sprung to his feet and turned toward Dana and me. My stomach did a flip when his stunning blue gaze met mine. I didn‟t think it was possible but that day, he looked a million times hotter than he did a week earlier when we met outside my house.

 

“Hi,” Cade breathed, looking flustered and wiping his hands on a rag. His face broke into that charming, confident smile that made my toes curl. Hello dimples. Oh how I’ve missed seeing you. His eyes were so hypnotizing, I forgot to breathe for a second. I even forgot