Dane - A MacKenzie Novel Read Free Page A

part of her, and she was still working like hell to get
back to the person she really was. To not let those old doubts
sneak up on her.
    Bayleigh wiped away the tears that had
managed to escape and padded back into the bedroom. It didn’t
matter what her new neighbor thought. No one had ever said the
Devil was nice.
    Now if she could avoid him for the rest of
her life, he’d make the perfect neighbor.
    ***
    “Oh, baby,” Shane, Cade’s youngest brother,
said, still laughing at Cade’s expense. “I think I’m in love. Are
you sure you don’t need a roommate?”
    “Shut up and let’s get the rest of this stuff
inside.”
    Cade hefted his flat screen TV off the truck
and headed inside, ignoring his brothers’ laughter. He should have
known they wouldn’t be able to drop it. They were like pit bulls
the moment they sensed weakness.
    The urge to go next door and apologize for
his behavior was a heavy weight on his chest. He’d hurt her, and
there’d been no need for it. When he’d mentioned being left at the
altar, her face had paled and her blue eyes had lost the sparkle
he’d found perversely arousing when she’d been arguing with him. It
was as if the life had all but been sucked out of her. Hell, he’d
actually enjoyed watching her in action. It wasn’t often he ran
across a man who had the courage to argue with him, much less a
woman.
    Cade scowled as he overheard the conversation
from the other room.
    “She’d never go for you, Shane,” Declan said.
“You’re the runt of the litter.” Cade thought it ironic since Shane
was every bit as large as his two older brothers. “A woman with a
body like that could only appreciate a real man.”
    And boy did she have a body, Cade thought,
irritated his brothers had noticed. She was his neighbor, dammit.
Didn’t that mean he had some kind of claim? He shook his head in
disbelief. His brothers were turning him into an idiot. He wasn’t
about to claim any woman.
    He headed back to the truck for another load,
but they followed him with their incessant chatter, as if they were
women instead of warriors. It didn’t matter she had the kind of
body that had always been his weakness. He liked curves. No, he loved curves. And she had assets that would fill his hands
nicely—breasts that were luscious and full and an ass that would
look spectacular bent across his lap as he spanked the rounded
globes until they glowed red.
    Dammit. He’d be coming in his jeans if
he kept up that avenue of thought. The distraction of a sexy
neighbor wasn’t what he needed at the moment, and she wouldn’t be
an easy woman to get involved with. She’d have expectations, and
she wouldn’t hesitate to give her opinion if he did something
stupid. That is, if his first impression of her was correct—and his
first impressions were always correct. The best thing he could do
was stay far away, despite the erection that hadn’t disappeared
since she’d twitched those curves across the scrawny patch of grass
between their houses.
    “You know, when I was checking the security
around the house last night I noticed you could see right into her
bedroom from the back deck,” Shane said, shaking his head in mock
sympathy at Declan. “It’ll be totally wasted on Iceman here. But I
can certainly appreciate attributes like that on a woman. And did
you see all of that hair? It’s enough to make a man want to
beg.”
    “Fifty bucks says she’s not a real blonde,”
Declan said.
    “Oh, you’re on, brother. I’m sure if I stand
on the deck long enough I’ll be able to tell you one way or the
other.”
    “What the hell is wrong with you two?” Cade
bit out. “You’re reducing yourselves to becoming peeping Toms? Just
go to the nearest bar and pick up the first blonde you see. You’ll
be asking for a headache messing with the one next door. I can
already tell she’s going to be a pain in the ass.”
    “Not if you become a pain in hers first,”
Shane said, wiggling his