Boy Next Door (Parkside Avenue Book #2) Read Free Page B

the
girl, but hey, she was getting what she wanted, just as much as I was. Trouble
was, as I rammed harder, and the pressure built, my thoughts were honed on one
thing. Cora’s ass.
     

 
    Chapter Three
     
    It was almost lunchtime when I
crawled out from under the bedspread and moseyed down to the kitchen. I poured
a glass of juice and gazed through the window as I drank. The sun was out, and Pappa
was pruning the hedge, with Smokey laid out at his feet, black fur shimmering
in the breeze. I went outside to say good morning.
    When he saw me, Smokey wagged his
tail, jumped up, and ran around my legs. I stroked his back as I asked, “Need a
hand, Paps?”
    “Oh, morning, son.” Pappa looked
flushed and was panting from the exertion. “It would be wonderful if you could
save me stretching. Grab those ladders over there and start on the top, if you
would. There’s another pair of shears in the shed, at least there should be. I
was actually in two minds about whether to call the police or not. The shed
appears to have been broken into, last night.”
    Yeah, by a horny couple . “What
makes you say that?” I asked, opening the shed door.
    “Stuff everywhere, tools on the
floor which I know I hung up, broken plant pots, and they made a right mess of
my potting bench. Haven’t found anything missing, though. Very strange.”
    I scanned the shed quickly for
the shears, noting the gouges along the table’s surface. Tina had had sharp
nails. “Most likely kids,” I shouted.
    “All the same, I think I’ll run
down to the hardware store this afternoon and buy a padlock. I’ve been meaning
to fix one on for ages,” he replied.
    Finding the shears, I tucked them
into my back pocket, and picked up the ladders on my way back. “I can do that
for you, Paps. I’ve had some flyers made, advertising my gardening services.
They might let me leave a few on the counter.”
    “I thought you were going to look
for a real job?”
    I planned to take anything I
could find, but I needed as much money as I could get, as quickly as possible. My
plans were big, and slacking wasn’t an option. “I am, but it won’t hurt to have
a sideline.” I wiggled the ladder’s feet into the soil and climbed up. “How
much should I trim?”
    “About two feet. It’s far too
overgrown, and I’d like it level with the top of the fence.”
    I set to work lopping the
branches, and it wasn’t long before I had a great view over into next door.
“Did you know the neighbours have a pool?” I asked.
    “Waste of money and space, if you
ask me. Why anyone would spend money on something that only gets used a couple
of times a year, when they could have a nice lawn instead, is beyond me.”
    His grumblings about people’s
general lack of appreciation of a good garden washed over me. My attention was
occupied elsewhere. On the tiniest section of overgrown grass, behind the
swimming pool, a figure was contorted into a strange position. I stared in
admiration as it slowly formed another shape. Damn, she was flexible. I
wondered if she was seeing anyone. If so, I hoped he appreciated what a gem he
had. A woman as fine as her would know how to please a man. I could be that
man. Unlike Tina, Cora was just my type—if you took away the fact that she was
old enough to be my mother. Fair in colour and feminine, yet sporty, my brain
began to imagine her naked, bending her body around mine, as she twisted into a
new pose, met my eye, and smiled. Crap. I’d been caught peering over her garden
fence like a perv. At least she couldn’t read minds.
    “Morning,” I said, holding up the
shears to prove I had a reason to be there, before severing a nearby branch.
    Cora nodded, turned away, and
continued with her routine, but her indifference didn’t stop my eyes from drifting
over, more than once, before the hedge was fully shorn.
    ***
    Sunshine streamed through a gap in
the curtains, making it impossible to sleep any longer. I got up and threw on
my black vest