Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131728 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 659(@200wpm)___ 527(@250wpm)___ 439(@300wpm)
Chapter 7
I widen my eyes at him . . . rude.
I introduce them. “Henley, this is Joel.” I smile awkwardly. “Joel, this is my neighbor Henley.”
“Hello.” Joel puts his hand out to shake Henley’s hand.
“What do you do, Joel?” Henley asks, arrogance personified.
Joel’s eyes flick to me in question. “I’m the interior designer.”
“Are you really?” Henley’s assessing eyes hold his.
What the hell?
“Henley, can I help you with something?” I ask.
“Yes, I need to speak to you.”
“Okay.” I frown. What about? “I’ll come over and see you when Joel and I are finished.”
“No, it’s fine.” He walks past us into the house. “I’ll wait.”
“It’s going to take forever.”
“I’m happy to wait,” he says. He casually pulls up a stool to the kitchen counter and takes a seat.
My god, what is he doing?
Go home, Henley. I want to dream about my house in private.
Joel walks around downstairs and scribbles on his notepad. He draws a floor plan and takes some notes.
I peer out to the kitchen to see Henley scrolling through his phone. I have no idea what he’s doing here, but it must be important.
“I’ll show you upstairs,” I say to Joel.
We take the rickety stairs. “This staircase is original,” Joel tells me.
“No, it’s not,” Henley calls from the kitchen.
“Are you sure about that?” Joel calls back.
“Positive,” Henley snaps.
“I’m sorry,” I mouth to Joel as we walk up the stairs. “Ignore him.”
“Who is he?” Joel mouths back.
“My neighbor.”
We get upstairs, and Joel winces. “It’s in a lot worse condition up here.”
“I know.” I bring him through to my bedroom. “There is an en suite, though.”
“Nice brown tiles.” Joel chuckles as he looks around. “I’ll have my work cut out in here.”
“Pfft.” We hear a tsk from the doorway. Henley is now upstairs and looking unimpressed.
Seriously?
“Henley.” I hold my hands out. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He puts his hands in his suit pockets as he looks around. “Just interested in what Joel has to say, that’s all.”
“Wait downstairs,” I reply.
“No, I’m good.” He stands beside Joel and looks around the bedroom, legs wide, with his dominance overpowering the room.
Joel scribbles on his notepad, and I can tell that Henley has rattled him. “I think that should do me,” Joel says as he makes for the stairs. “I’ll call you tomorrow, and we can discuss.”
“Or you could just be professional and email her,” Henley says from the top of the stairs.
I bite the side of my mouth to stop myself from smiling as I follow Joel down the stairs.
He’s jealous.
Joel glances up at Henley, and I see him come to the same conclusion. “I’ll be doing that after our discussion,” he fires back. “So what colors are we thinking, Juliet?” Joel asks me.
“I really like white, but then I want it warm, so perhaps cream would be a better option?” I shrug. “What do you think?”
“I’m going to make some mood boards up for you, and we can really dive deep into the essence of the property.”
I glance up and see Henley roll his eyes in an overexaggerated way.
“Fantastic.” I smile as I open the front door. “Thank you so much for coming.”
“It was really great to meet you, Juliet.” He shakes my hand; he glances over to Henley as he stands on my stairs. “Henley.”
“Goodbye, Joel.” Henley smiles sarcastically.
I close the door behind Joel, and I turn toward Henley, who is standing halfway up the stairs. “What are you doing?”
“Walking down the stairs.”
“No, you’re not. You are trying to annoy me. That’s what you’re doing, and let me tell you—it’s working.”
He holds his hand out in surrender. “What?”
I walk into my kitchen and flick the kettle on. “What did you want to see me about?” I snap.
“I came to talk about Saturday night.”
I frown, confused. “What about Saturday night?”
“The wedding.”
“You’re not coming to the wedding,” I scoff.
“Yes, I am. Debbie invited me.”
“You don’t even know Debbie.”
“It would be rude of me not to go after I said I would.”
“No.”
“I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“You don’t have good behavior, Henley, let alone best.” I hold up a coffee cup. “You’ve perfected assholism, remember?”
“Got any wine?”
“No,” I snap. “Do you want coffee or not?”
“Fine.”
“What do you want, Henley? And before you say anything stupid, think very carefully about your reply because I am sick of your childish tantrums.”
His eyes hold mine.
“If you want to have an adult conversation, let’s have it,” I say as I make the coffee and then sit at the kitchen counter. He slouches onto the stool beside me. We sit in awkward silence for a while, and I can tell that my lecture is rolling around in his head.
“When you moved onto the street, it’s possible that we got off on the wrong foot.”
“Possible?”
“Probable,” he agrees.
I sip my coffee as my body goes into fluttering overdrive. Just sitting beside him makes me want to do dirty things. Damn it, why is he so gorgeous? It would be so much easier to be repelled by him if he was hideous.