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

by Annah Conwell

“Is that really so reprehensible?” I ask, my voice coming out soft when I notice his eyes darken. “Anything you don’t want is worthy of punishment. You deserve respect.” His words come out gravelly and rough, those deep blue eyes boring into mine.

There’s no lying to myself about my attraction to her, but I know that I’m not ready for a relationship. Juliette deserves lifelong commitment, someone to protect her and cherish her.

I shouldn’t be thinking of her as adorable or beautiful or anything.

Plus, I’m already going to spend most of my evening worrying about Juliette–even if she did text me that she was safe and sound at the hotel–I don’t need to add Grayson’s antics into the mix.

“Is she okay?” “She’s a lamb in a pack of wolves, but she seems to be holding her own.” “I’m going to need more than that. What’s her body language?” “If you care so much, why don’t you come down here and find out?”

“Just please tell me if she’s okay. She fiddles with things when she’s really nervous, but sometimes if her gaze is flicking around the room that’s a sign she’s looking for an escape but is likely trying to be polite.” I don’t care if I just gave away how much I’ve been watching her, I need to know she’s not sitting in discomfort for the sake of being cordial.

“Wow, you must really care about her.” I do, too much. “She’s my friend.” “I hear friendship makes a great foundation for marriage.”

“If you weren’t my brother’s girl, I’d tease you a lot more, but I’ll have mercy on you for his sake.” He winks and I laugh.

My fingers twitch with the desire to draw her in, to attempt to soothe her. I shouldn’t do anything of the sort, especially with my brothers watching, but my protective instincts win out. I tug her into my arms and rub her back over the soft velvet of her dress. She immediately wraps her arms around my waist and I feel the tension slowly dissipate from her body. My chest warms with the knowledge that my touch did that. It’s a heady feeling I want to bask in.

“I thought Grayson was exaggerating when he talked about you being gone for this girl, but you really are.”

A sweet, fluttery feeling takes hold of my stomach, like leaves in the wind. He told his niece about me.

You don’t hold a woman with such strength and tenderness when you don’t have any feelings for her.

No matter how gruff he is, his default seems to be caretaking.

“You want things to be done right and you feel more secure in your abilities than someone else's. Ugh,” I groan. “I’m saying everything wrong. This is why I shouldn’t be let out of my house.”

I’d give away my entire tea collection just to see him smile like this all the time.

“You’re right about everything you said. I’m not sure if anyone but my family has called me out like that. And you did it so nicely too.” He keeps laughing and I can’t help but join in.

I roll my eyes. “That’s quite obvious, but even if you don’t care what I think about you, I care about you too much to be mean.”

“I care about what you think, Juliette. The list of people who get to have opinions on my life is admittedly short, but you’re on it.”

She walks over and gives me a small smile that reminds me of Adrian before tucking herself under Sebastian’s arm. He looks down at her with such unbridled affection it almost feels inappropriate to look at them. Her smile grows when she meets his gaze.

I’d do just about anything for either of them. It hasn’t been easy realizing that Juliette has become important to me. I can’t lose her, but I can’t have her as mine either.

She brightens every room she walks into.

but my heart heard: you matter.

“Would you blame me if while you were having a rough day, I started feeling emotional about losing my mom?” I sigh. “No.” “Then you can’t blame yourself for having feelings you can’t control.” He stares into my eyes. “Jules, you said you’d stay here all night for me, well I’m telling you I’d leave for you. Because I love you.”

For most of my life, I thought I had to earn love, but here in Adrian’s arms, I realize I was wrong. Love isn’t earned, it’s given freely. And no matter what the future might bring, knowing that brings me a sense of peace I’ve never known.

I’m not nervous that Juliette will say no, but I am nervous that this won’t be as perfect as I hope.

“You should know by now I’d go to great lengths to give you everything you deserve. If you said you wanted a star out of the sky I’d start building a rocket.”

He thought of everything.

“Sunshine, I-I don’t know what to say. You’ve done too much.” “Nothing is too much for you, Jules. Anything for you, remember?”