The Stranger Next Door Read online

  He gave her one last squeeze then turned and strode away.

  Tess watched for a long moment until he disappeared from sight.

  “Tess?”

  Turning, Tess spotted Lieutenant Danny Holdings.

  “Hey, Danny.”

  “I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose Marty.”

  Tess nodded. She and Danny had been friends for as long as she’d been on the force. He possessed a kind smile and handsome face with bright blue eyes, long black lashes, a square jaw, and firm, full lips. A handsome man, but Tess had never had anything but a friendly emotion for him.

  “Marty’s a great guy,” she agreed. “You’re lucky to have him watching your back.”

  “You coming back to work soon?”

  “No. I’ve already talked to the captain. I think I need a little time before I come back.”

  “I know what you mean.” He nodded with understanding. “But I hope to see you again soon. You're a good cop, Tess.”

  With a gentle squeeze of her shoulder, he turned and walked away.

  Taking a look around her, Tess couldn’t help but feel as though everyone were watching her. She knew she was being paranoid, but the feeling was still there.

  “You look ready to bolt.”

  Looking at her friend, Patrice Monroe, she admitted it. “I am.”

  “Then let’s get the hell out of here. If one more person looks at us like we’re lepers, I’m going to lose it. What’s the deal with some of these folks?”

  They’re gossiping bastards, that’s what.

  With a nod and a sigh of relief, Tess grabbed her handbag and followed her friend out the door.

  Chapter Two

  Six weeks later…

  “Damn it, not again.”

  Grabbing a towel, Tess wiped the soap from her eyes then stepped out of the shower.

  Sighing, she sloshed across the water-covered floor and out the door into the hallway.

  She’d lived in this house for less than a month, and she’d already replaced nearly every pipe, line, and wire comprising the inner structure of her house.

  It was her fault, she knew. If she’d bought the apartment in the city instead of the run-down manor in the countryside, she’d be enjoying the rest of her hot shower right now, instead of wading through water with shampoo running into her eyes.

  But she’d needed a change. She needed out of the city, and most of all, she needed to get away from anything that reminded her of that fateful night not so very long ago.

  Wrapping a towel around herself, Tess grabbed her cell phone and hit the speed dial for the plumber, Mr. Marsten.

  She jogged downstairs, careful not to slip and fall.

  “Marsten Plumbing,” a deep voice rumbled over the line.

  “This is Tess McCoy,” she began wearily. “A pipe in the bathroom burst, and the bathroom floor’s flooded … again.”

  Mr. Marsten’s voice softened. “We can be there in twenty minutes.”

  Dan Marsten and his two sons had been to her place so many times since she’d moved in, she was sure they must be getting tired of seeing her.

  “Shut off the water. You know where the main water valve is. We’re on our way.”

  The soft click of Mr. Marsten disconnecting the call sounded in her ear.

  Maybe not, she thought to herself.

  But then again, why should they be tired of seeing her? She’d paid them well and often over the last month of living in her old/new house. At the rate things were going, they’d be able to retire on her payments alone.

  Hitting the off button, she tossed the cell phone onto the side table next to the front door and stepped out onto the front porch. It was early morning and the air felt crisp, raising goose bumps across her exposed flesh. Rubbing her hands over her upper arms, she gazed out over the open stretch of her lawn.

  The water valve was in the front yard near the edge of the street.

  The house was located in a secluded neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. Tall rock walls blocked the houses’ views of each other on three sides. The only open spaces, in which the houses were visible to each other, were the front yards, and they were gated with tall, wrought iron fences. She liked to leave the front gates open. It made her feel less confined.

  She’d fallen in love with the seclusion and peace of the house the first time she’d seen it. There were neighbors aplenty, but they all kept to themselves. Not to mention, she didn’t have to worry about leaving her shades open when she walked around the house naked, thanks to the dividing walls and distance between the houses.

  Because of her inability to remember to close the blinds, the people living across the street from her old apartment knew her very well.

  She’d been out here enough in the past in nothing but a towel or a robe and no complaints had been lobbed, so she figured one more time wouldn’t hurt anything. Besides, the longer she left the water on, the bigger a mess she’d have to clean up later.

  Grabbing the flat screwdriver she’d left on the porch while installing a new doorknocker, she peered across the street at the house of the only person whom she thought might possibly see her.

  Her new neighbor.

  But even that chance was amazingly slim. He’d moved in a couple of weeks after she had, and in all that time, she’d seen him out and about only a couple of times. He took out the trash, he mowed the lawn, and that was about it. She’d begun to wonder if perhaps he was hiding from something.

  But who was she to judge? Wasn’t she hiding as well?

  Seeing not a hint of movement from the house across the street, she tightened the towel around her and continued down the steps then across the thick green lawn to the valve.

  Kneeling down beside the black metal box, Tess pried the tip of the screwdriver beneath the edge of the metal cover and popped the box open.

  Absently she reached in and twisted the red metal knob inside until it wouldn’t turn any farther then secured the black metal box back over the valve.

  Satisfied she’d completed the job, she turned to walk back to the house.

  Only a hard jerk stopped her short.

  Looking down at the metal cover, a cool breeze brushed across her skin, sending a shiver across her flesh … her now-naked flesh.

  “Oh, shit,” she gasped.

  Horrified, Tess stared down at her towel, the corner trapped in the metal cover, then at her naked body on display to see for anyone who passed by.

  Kneeling down again, she pried at the cover with the screwdriver, growling with frustration as the metal refused to budge.

  “Come on,” she begged as she tugged at the hopelessly stuck towel.

  She shouldn’t have been surprised at the situation she currently found herself in. Her luck had never been that great. But standing in her front yard, as naked as a jaybird? Tugging again at the towel, she blew out a breath and wiped the soap from her eyes.

  What next?

  *

  Shaking his head, Jackson Blake wandered down the stairs of his newly purchased home, cell phone pressed against his ear as his best friend Robbie chattered away.

  Jack was on vacation, and while he’d much rather be working, he and his partners had decided they each needed to start taking some time off now and then. Working the hours they did could drive a man insane.

  His job was a hard one. Being a private investigator wasn’t as fun as it had sounded when he was a kid. It seemed like he was always on the go, living in hotels and out of his car at times. There’d been moments he felt like kicking his own ass for becoming a PI. Sometimes his job flat out sucked, especially when people who were supposed to love each other turned against one another.

  He’d seen situations ranging from cheating spouses to people trying to hire a hit man to kill said spouse.

  Truth be told, he was exhausted, but after working a job that required constant action, it was hard to just sit around and do nothing now that he was ab
le.

  “So, you like the house? I never pictured you secluding yourself in the countryside. Isn’t action and adventure more along your lines?”

  Grinning at his friend’s description of him, he replied, “It usually is, but a person can only handle so much lying and deceit.”

  “Well,” Robbie began, “I know how you feel, but I don’t think I could enjoy a vacation. I need to keep busy, you know?”

  Jack did know. Jack and Robbie had been friends most of their lives. They were similar in many ways, including their desire to keep busy and help others, but recently Jack had been feeling a growing weariness. He associated that weariness with being over-worked. Purchasing this house had been an impulse he still couldn’t explain. After all, one didn’t usually buy a house when taking a vacation, but in the end, it’d been a good decision. He needed a place to get away from the fast-paced comings and goings of the city, and this was it. While he enjoyed his small apartment in the city, he needed a place to escape, a real place to call home.

  “Yeah, I know what you mean, but I just need a break. I’ll be back in a couple of weeks.”

  “Well, in the meantime, get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Robbie said.

  Signing off, Jack closed the cell phone and slipped it into his pocket. He stepped off the last step and stood on the ground floor.

  Jack wasn’t one to act on impulse, but the moment he’d spotted this house, and its appealing surroundings, he knew it was meant to be his. But he had to admit the beautiful woman living across the street had helped sway his decision.

  Thinking back on the day he inspected the house with the real-estate agent, he smiled at the memory of his cute neighbor.

  She’d been standing on her front lawn gazing up at her house, her hands perched on her curvaceous hips, her dark hair billowing gently in the breeze. Then, for a fraction of a second, she’d turned and looked him directly in the eyes as though she’d sensed him watching her where he stood on the thick, green grass. In order to comprehend what the agent had been saying before looking like an idiot, he’d had to shake himself free of her mesmerizing beauty. After that one look, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. An hour later, he’d made an offer on the house.

  Now he found himself watching her. No matter how much he fought the urge, he couldn’t keep himself from doing so.

  “When did I turn into a stalker?” Jack asked himself. He crossed the foyer barefoot. He felt no better than the scumbag stalkers he caught on a daily basis.

  “What the hell’s the matter with me?”

  Perhaps it was the fact he hadn’t been with a woman worth mentioning in a very long time. He took his job seriously, and he supposed, after seeing so many betrayed at the hands of the person who was supposed to love them, he’d developed a jaded opinion of love and relationships.

  Shaking his head, Jack wandered to the bay window at the front of the house, something he found himself doing quite often since moving in. Only this time, it wasn’t the sight of a roofing crew or plumber’s van across the street that caught his attention.

  “What the hell’s she doing?” he muttered to himself, unable to believe the sight before his eyes.

  Struggling to stifle the surprised laughter bubbling inside him, he reached up to cover his smile with his hand.

  Just across the street, his little mystery stood in her front yard, completely naked. Her wonderfully rounded bottom bounced up and down. Soap ran in rivulets into her eyes and over her shoulders as she tugged at what he could only guess was a towel, stuck in something in the ground.

  He couldn’t imagine how she’d gotten herself in that predicament, but he was glad she had.

  Her pale skin glistened with water. The bubbles from her hair ran down her neck, over her shoulders and breasts as she tugged at the thick, white cloth.

  Her soft skin captivated him, called to him like a siren’s song, and before he knew what he was doing, he was already halfway across his lawn, robe in hand.

  What on Earth am I doing? He’d grown up with three sisters and knew she’d throw a hissy fit when she saw him. She’d probably scream and squeal and jet back into the house as red as a beet, but he couldn’t just let her stand there naked for the entire world to see. Anyone could happen along at any minute.

  Why doesn’t she run back into the house? He shook his head. She was probably too shocked by losing her towel to think clearly.

  Well, I’ll just have to come to her rescue, won’t I? He smiled. He’d wanted to meet her, and it appeared he would finally do so today. It just wasn’t the way he expected. Not that he was complaining.

  So as not to startle her, he approached her warily. She glanced up.

  “Oh great, an audience.” She groaned. She rolled her eyes as she continued to tug at the trapped towel with one hand, while trying fruitlessly to cover her generous bust with the other.

  Stopping just steps away from her, Jack smiled. “That wasn’t the greeting I expected,” he said with a soft laugh of disbelief.

  “What’d you expect?” she asked dubiously, looking up to meet his gaze, her expression clearly one of irritation.

  “Well … maybe some shrieking, or blushing, or some other such feminine response. After all, you are naked,” he finished with a grin as he held his robe out to her and forced himself to avert his eyes. How he managed to do so was beyond him. She was perfection.

  She watched him warily for a moment before reaching out to take the offered robe. Sliding her arms in, she smiled. Not a full smile, he noticed, just a small tilt at the corners of her mouth.

  “Running around in the nude isn’t something I do often. Sorry if I offended you.”

  Jack furrowed his brow. “Why would your nudity offend me?”

  This time, her smile reached her eyes.

  “Well, I had this neighbor in the city and he once saw me naked through my windows. He was very offended and made sure I knew about it. Turns out he was gay and didn’t appreciate the female form.” She finished with a shrug.

  “Well, I'm not gay,” Jack stated bluntly. If she’d take a closer look, she’d be able to tell for herself from the bulge in the front of his pants that her soft, nude form did anything but offend him.

  “Thanks for the robe,” she said, pulling it tighter around her.

  From her long, onyx-black hair to her soft pale skin, from her feminine curves to her sky-blue eyes, the sight of her sent his senses reeling. It surprised him he could form a coherent sentence as all the blood rushed to his head … and not the one on his shoulders.

  “You’re welcome.” He grinned, battling to control his fast-rising arousal. “But if you don’t mind me asking, why were you out here in only a towel to begin with?”

  Laughing, she flipped her heavy, soap-laden hair away from her face. “This house is old, and I haven’t replaced all the pipes yet. One in the bathroom burst while I was in the shower then leaked from behind the wall and out onto the floor. I came out to shut off the water until the plumbers get here. This place is so quiet I didn’t think anyone would see me, but then the corner of my towel got caught in the meter cover and…” She held her hands up and shrugged. “I guess I was wrong,” she finished with a mischievous grin.

  But he had seen her, all of her.

  The image of her hot, sexy body had seared into his memory. Even with his robe covering her, he could still picture her sensual curves, her creamy skin, and plump breasts. For a moment, he was envious of the cotton touching her and wished it were him instead.

  “Why don’t you come over to my place? You can shower there.”

  He wasn’t sure what made him extend the invitation. It was a bit presumptuous of him to assume she’d just agree to bathe in a strange man’s house without question, but he couldn’t help it. The words flew past his lips before he could stop them.

  Maybe he just wanted to be a good neighbor. And maybe he just wanted to have her all to himself, for whatever reason, if only for a few innocent moments. />
  He could tell she was contemplating the invitation from the expression flickering across her face. She was so easy to read, her emotions showing clearly in her brilliant blue eyes. Silently, he willed her to accept.

  From the corner of his eye, he spotted a familiar blue van rolling down the desolate street.

  The neighborhood didn’t see much traffic, and he’d seen this van in her driveway many times. The plumbers had come to her rescue.

  “Thanks, but the plumbers are here,” she said, confirming what he already knew, in what sounded to him like a relieved voice. Sending him a small wave, she started back in the direction of the house.

  After weeks of wondering who she was, she was about to escape without his learning anything more about her than the fact that she wasn’t modest. She intrigued him, and in an attempt to learn more, he tossed out the first offer he could think of that would keep her with him a little while longer.

  “Don’t you need to rinse out your hair?”

  She turned and gave him a look.

  *

  He was simply gorgeous.

  Taking another quick glance at the man before her, Tess smiled.

  He was tall and muscular, and his eyes were the most brilliant shade of blue she’d ever seen. His deep, auburn hair was just long enough to be shaggy, giving him a rakish look, like one of the heroes in the romance novels she so often read.

  Her fingers itched to trail through his hair, to feel the silky strands beneath her fingertips. Fisting her hands in the thick material of the robe, she took a deep breath.

  His chest was broad, his arms thick and muscular. Lowering her eyes, she couldn’t help but sigh silently at the sight of a trim waist, a flat, rigid stomach, and muscular legs encased in tight, faded jeans.

  Giving herself a kick and mentally wiping the drool from her chin, she shook her head. “No, I can take care of it in the house.”

  The last thing she needed was for this stranger to get the wrong impression of her; he’d already caught her buck-naked on her front lawn. If she slipped up and let him catch her ogling him, or accepted his invitation to be naked in his house, that’s exactly what would happen.