THE NEIGHBOR'S SON - Rakhibul hasan (books to read in your 30s .TXT) 📗

where I

was...until Dana spoke and broke the spell.

 

“Sidney, this is Cade, our new neighbor. Cade, this is my friend Sidney. She lives across the street.”

 

“I know,” Cade breathed without taking his eyes off me. “We met a few days back. Nice seeing you again, Sidney.”

“It‟s good to see you too, Cade. I see you found work.”

 

“Yeah. Actually, I‟ve been pretty busy ever since I started handing out my business cards. It‟s funny but almost every house in this neighborhood seems to have a plumbing problem.” Cade shot Dana a knowing smirk before returning his gaze to me. It was obvious he knew what was going on. He knew he wasn‟t getting all that work because of his handyman

 

 

skills. But he didn‟t seem to mind having all these housewives ogling him. If anything, he seemed to be getting a kick out of it.

 

“Good for you, Cade. I‟m glad you‟re putting your skills to good use,” I shot back with a knowing smirk of my own which elicited a bashful chuckle from Cade and made him do that thing where he drags his lower lip between his teeth. Sigh. I wish he‟d stop doing that. I was beginning to think he was doing it on purpose just to torture me.

 

“Dana? Could I speak to you in private please?” I said to my shameless friend without taking my eyes off Cade. After placing the mixer on the kitchen counter, I walked out to the living room and Dana reluctantly followed me there.

 

“Oh My God Sidney! Is he gorgeous or what?” Dana squealed like a school girl after making sure Case was out of earshot.

“What are you doing Dana?” I asked, my tone disapproving. With my hands on my hips,

 

I narrowed my eyes at her.

 

“What?” She whispered sheepishly with a shrug. “My sink was clogged so I hired our new neighbor to fix it. That‟s all.”

 

I cocked my head to the side. “You just had someone unclog your sink less than a week ago. How could it possibly be clogged again?”

 

Dana pursed her lips before letting out an exasperated breath. “Fine. You got me. I clogged it on purpose so I could have an excuse to get Hottie McHot in my house. So what? Is that so terrible?”

 

“It‟s wrong, Dana, and you know it. You‟re a married thirty-five-year-old woman and Cade is practically a child. It‟s wrong for you to be ogling him like that.”

 

“I‟m not hurting anyone, Sidney. I won‟t try to seduce him or anything. I‟m not crazy. I love my hubby even though I rarely get to see him anymore. I'd never cheat on him with anyone. Cade is just eye candy, a treat. Besides, I‟m paying him well. It‟s a win-win for everyone if you ask me.”

 

I let out a heavy sigh. I guess Dana had a point. There was no harm in what she was doing as long as she kept her fantasies in her head. No one was getting hurt there. Dana was a very level- headed woman. I knew she wouldn‟t try to do anything stupid like cross the line with

 

Cade, especially with her kids in the house. I decided to get out of her way and let her enjoy her eye candy. She deserved it. She was a good wife and an even better mother.

 

Dana and I made our way back to the kitchen and found Cade standing on the other side of the breakfast counter facing us. He had his head down while digging for something inside his toolbox. When Dana and I entered the room, he looked up. His eyes immediately found me and his face lit up. “I‟m almost done here, Mrs. Griffin,” he said, briefly flickering his gaze to Dana.

 

“Please. Call me Dana,” my shameless friend purred, smiling wide and twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. I shook my head while trying to stifle a laugh. Cade looked as amused as I was with her behavior. He and I shared another knowing smirk.

 

“Well, I have to get going. Good to see you, Cade,” I said to the handsome handyman who seemed disappointed to see me go. “I‟ll talk to you later,” I said to Dana, out loud, before leaning in to whisper in her ear. “And behave yourself.”

I turned on my heel and was about to walk out of the room when Dana grabbed my wrist.

 

“Wait a second, Sidney. The deck in your backyard… Doesn‟t it need to be repaired? Maybe Cade can help you with that,” she said, smirking, her eyes wide with mischief.

 

I began to stammer like an idiot, not knowing what to say. Dana's suggestion caught me completely off guard. I wanted to strangle her. My gaze flickered from Cade to Dana and back to

 

 

Cade. He seemed thrilled with Dana‟s idea and eagerly awaited my reply. “Nah. It‟s okay. Cade‟s probably very busy with all the faulty plumbing around the neighborhood that he has to fix. Besides, I already hired someone to fix my deck. He‟s coming over in a couple of days.” I said all this through gritted teeth while scolding Dana with my eyes. I was not making excuses. I had, in fact, hired someone to fix my deck.

 

“But how much is that guy going to charge you, honey? I bet Cade here can fix it for you for a lot less. Isn‟t that right Cade?”

 

Cade nodded. “Yeah. I don‟t know what price that guy quoted you, but I bet it's a lot more than what I'd charge you,” He held his lower lip between his teeth again. Yep. He knew what that did to me. He was doing it on purpose. The bastard. “Besides, with me, you won‟t have to wait two days. I could fix your deck for you right now. I just need a few minutes to finish up here and I‟m all yours.” He flashed his d imples at me. Sigh. Pure torture.

 

I began to stammer like an idiot again, my gaze bouncing between Cade and Dana as I tried to come up with an excuse to keep Cade out of my house. I had no doubt he could do the deck work. It wasn't a complicated repair job. I just didn‟t want to be alone with him.

 

It had been a while since the last time I got laid. I had needs, needs that were keeping me up at night, needs I couldn‟t ignore no matter how much yoga I did to distract myself from them.

 

Night after night since I met him, I had been daydreaming about Cade Fisher satisfying those needs. But fantasizing about the guy was one thing. Acting on those fantasies was another thing entirely. He was too young. I was afraid of doing things I'd regret if I suddenly found myself alone with him for a long period of time. That's why I didn't want him in my house.

Unfortunately, that morning, I didn't have a good reason to reject Cade‟s handyman services.

 

Thanks a lot, Dana.

 

“Fine. I guess you can fix my deck, Cade,” I finally sa id. Cade‟s face broke into a slow smile. “Great. I‟ll be over in a few minutes.”

 

I turned on my heel and finally walked out of that kitchen, but not before shooting Dana a deadly look. She stuck her tongue out at me before turning her attention back to the pretty repairman. I rolled my eyes at her and headed for the front door. I wasn‟t really angry at Dana. I understood what she was trying to do. Like a good friend, she was trying to share her eye candy with me and I love her for that. I just wish she hadn't ambushed me like that. I knew the next few hours were going to be pure torture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER IV

 

 

 

After leaving Dana‟s house, I crossed the street and went into mine. I was determined to have as little contact with Cade as possible. I was just going to show him what needed to be done and leave him alone on the deck until he was finished. While waiting for him to show up, I paced back and forth in my living room. My pulse was already racing and he wasn‟t even in the house yet. Damn it Dana! Why did you have to open your big mouth about the deck?

 

About twenty long, agonizing minutes later, there was a knock on my door. With a fleet of butterflies swarming my stomach, I took a deep breath and went to let Cade in.

 

“Hi,” Cade breathed, flashing his signature, slow- motion devastating smile at me. The front of his tank top was still damp and clinging to his magnificent torso and he had his toolbox with him.

“Hi. Please come in,” I said, trying my best to hide how nervous I was.

 

“Nice place you got here,” Cade remarked, walking past me and strolling around my living room as if he owned the place.

 

“Thank you.” I shut the door and leaned against it while Cade continued to survey the place. Once he was done, he turned his attention back to me. He just stared at me without saying anything. It was almost as if he knew the effect he had on me and enjoyed making me feel uncomfortable. When I couldn't handle the heat of his lustful gaze anymore, I rushed past him, out of the living room and toward the deck. “Come with me," I hollered. "I‟ll take you out to the deck.”

 

Once outside, I showed him the parts of the deck that needed fixing and got out of his way. I stood by the kitchen door while he walked around, meticulously inspecting every piece of lumber. When he was done, he slowly strolled back to where I was and stood uncomfortably close to me. “You know, this deck is in pretty bad shape,” he said with his hands on his hips.

 

“I know. I would've gotten it fixed a long time ago but couldn‟t afford to hire anyone until now.”

 

“What about your husband? Why didn‟t he just fix it himself?” “I don‟t have a husband… not anymore.”

 

One of Cade‟s eyebrows went up. “So, you‟re divorced?”

I nodded.

 

“I‟m sorry to hear that,” Cade breathed, sounding insincere, almost gleeful. “What happened?”

 

I cross my arms over my chest and shook my head. “Boy, you‟re just full of questions today, aren‟t you?”

 

Cade dropped his chin to his chest and let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I‟m sorry. You‟re right. That‟s none of my business.” He turned his back to me and walked to the other end of the deck to inspect it a second time. “I‟m going to need wood,” he said, his back still towards me. “I‟ll have to swing by a Home Depot to pick some up before I can get started.”

 

“There‟s no need. My ex bought all the wood and tools he needed for the job about a year ago. Everything is in the garage.”

 

 

After I helped Cade get everything he needed out of the garage, he gave me an estimate for the job. The price he quoted me was actually half of what the contractor I was going to hire had given me. I was very relieved and grateful that Dana had suggested Cade do the job. I was still nervous and uncomfortable around him, but for the price he quoted, I figured I could keep my lust in check for a few hours.

 

Once Cade was set up with all the things he needed for the job, I went back inside the house and let him work. Through the kitchen window, I watched him as he took his tank top off, put on his safety goggles, and went to work. The sight of his taut, sun-kissed muscles flexing and relaxing as he got down and dirty was almost too much for my poor senses to handle. It was, without a doubt, the most erotic thing my eyes had ever witnessed. He was drilling and sawing and nailing like he was mad at the wood. It didn't take long for his whole body to be glistening with sweat and