But He's My Grumpy Neighbor (But He's a Carter Brother #1)

by Annah Conwell

I gape at him behind his back. Why does he have to like tea? He’s gorgeous, dresses like the men on my fantasy life Pinterest boards, has antique furniture, and likes tea. If he wasn’t so ornery, I’d think he was my future husband.

I take off again, wishing that I could outrun the image of Juliette warm and soft under a blanket. The kind of image that makes me want to join her there on the bench instead of what I need to do which is stay far, far away.

“I’ll teach you,” I blurt out without thinking and his mouth quirks up in the right corner. “You’ll teach me how to be friends with you?” The humor in his voice lightens the mood. “Yes,” I say in a resolute tone and sit up straighter. “The first lesson is don’t butt into your friend’s dating life.” He snorts and I smile.

I love them

“Do you want to move to our booth?” My heart picks up speed at the thought of anything being ours.

I smile at him, having to hold in tears because for the first time since moving away, someone isn’t interrogating me about my life choices. He studies me and I know he likely can sense my unexpected emotional response, but he doesn’t ask me about it. I sip my tea and regain my composure before responding.

lot, making me growl. I was almost to my car, too. “Where might you be headed so early in the evening?” I turn around to face him as he saunters toward me. “Nowhere. How did you know I was leaving?” “You were holding the folder too tight and you rarely give assignments out at the end of the day unless it’s an emergency. If it was an emergency, you would have told me.”

“Please don’t start calling me Sunshine,” he grouses but I can see the corner of his mouth lift. “Too late, that’s your new nickname. Remember what I said about not getting to choose nicknames?” I ask with a saccharine smile. He shoots me a glare, but it has no heat behind it.

Suddenly, warm fingers are around my wrist and light fills my eyes once more as Adrian tugs my hands away from my face. He’s closed the distance between us and is staring me down with a tenderness that yanks the breath out of my lungs. This isn’t exactly helpful considering my heart is beating so fast I can hear it in my ears. I should probably breathe, but my thoughts are rushing so fast that I can’t recall how. “Name five things you can see,” he says in a tone that leaves no room for rebellion. I blink at him.