Love Thy Neighbor by Sophie Wintner Read Free Book Online

dropped.
    He picked up the latest issue of National Geographic and started to read an article about Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. He was about to call his buddy Conrad and tell him to check out the photography when the phone rang.
    “Hey, baby,” Tammy purred on the other end. “Whatcha up to?”
    “Doing a little reading. Thought I’d do some work, turn in early.”
    “Oh.” He could picture her perfect little mouth pouting. “I was thinking that since they canceled the shoot today, you could come by. We haven’t seen each other in so long.”
    “I saw you yesterday.”
    “Yeah, but we were working,” she said. Tammy was one of the models on his current job.
    Dallas dragged his hand through his hair and tried to stifle his sigh, but she heard it anyway.
    “What’s the matter, baby? You sound tired. Want me to come over and give you a massage? Help you relax?”
    “Thanks, Tam, but I’m gonna turn in early. Really. Been a long day.”
    “Seriously?” The purr left her voice. She sounded incredulous. “Are you mad at me or something?”
    Shit. “No, I’m not mad at you. Why would I be mad at you?”
    “Well, you don’t want to see me.”
    Bollocks. Here we go. Tammy’s going to get needy. Please do not get needy on me. “Tammy, I’m tired. I’ve got work to do. We’re friends—you know that.” He wished he’d never crossed that line with her. They’d been working late one night, had a few drinks after the shoot wrapped, she stuck around, and one thing led to another. It was a mistake. Every time he got involved with a woman, she wanted more than he could give. He’d try, but even his best was never good enough.
    “Can I see you tomorrow then?”
    “Yeah, at the shoot.”
    “What about after that?”
    He sat up and set his beer down hard. “Tammy, listen, I like you. I do. But we’re friends, and it needs to stay that way. We work together, and I don’t want to mess that up.”
    “Seriously?” There was that incredulous tone again, from a woman who no doubt wasn’t accustomed to being turned down.
    “It’s for the best. I can’t give you anything more than that.”
    “Then why the hell did you act like you wanted so much more?”
    Why? Because you were flaunting your tits in my face all day. “I didn’t mean to imply that I wanted anything more than a friendship.”
    “You have a real funny way of showing a girl you just want to be her friend.”
    “I didn’t mean to lead you on…”
    “Maybe you should have thought about that when you had your dick in my mouth.”
    “Tammy, I didn’t mean to—”
    Too late. She hung up, and Dallas reached for his beer and drained the rest in one gulp. I’m sorry, Tammy. I know you don’t believe me, but I really am.

Chapter Six
    Early the next morning, Nikki felt like she’d been knocked down for the count. She still couldn’t get over that Matthew was bringing someone else to their friends’ wedding. She never could have done that to him. Never.
    She was on the verge of another round of tears when she heard a knock on her door. She should have checked the peephole first, because Mr. Sex God was standing on her threshold.
    “Oh, Dallas.”
    “Can I come in? Hope I’m not disturbing you. I wanted to ask you about something.”
    She looked down at her yoga pants and baggy T-shirt, tried to smooth the tangled mess sticking out of her ponytail. “No, I mean, yes. C’mon in.”
    He smiled as he stepped inside.
    Nikki couldn’t help but stare at him. His hair was still damp, probably fresh from a shower, and he had a thin layer of stubble on his face, as if he hadn’t gotten around to shaving yet. He smelled of soap and pure man. She breathed in as deeply as she could, wondering how anyone had the right to look that handsome so early in the morning.
    “Wow,” he said, looking around her place. “You’ve lived here for about a minute and look how you’ve set this place up. It looks great. Really brilliant. Love the color you