Wicked Neighbor Read Free Page A

said.
    Nodding, Charlotte sat back in the seat, staring at
her house as they moved away. She really would love to be back at home with a
good book, a mug of hot chocolate, and maybe some music playing in the
background. Instead, she was going to meet a man she didn’t really know for a
date. Her friends owed her after this.
    Susan and Michael were talking about the coming week’s
activities, and she tuned them out. The last thing she wanted to do was listen to her married friend’s life.
    The ride didn’t last long enough for Charlotte. They
were pulling into the restaurant way too soon.
    “Daniel’s really looking forward to seeing you again.”
    “Wow, Daniel sounds like he has really missed me.” She
tried not to sound sarcastic, but the way they looked at her, she figured she
failed.
    Daniel was okay if you liked talking nonstop about
work. She loved her work, but she didn’t want to always be talking about it.
When she was with Susan she didn’t talk about it, nor did she with Michael.
    Following her friends, she tried not to look around
her to find an easy escape. She hadn’t even taken her cell phone along with
her. Michael and Susan would give her a ride home when it was over. There was
no way she was going to go home with Daniel.
    They were shown to their table, and she saw Daniel was
already there.
    “Charlotte, it’s great to see you,” he said, getting
up to press a kiss to her cheek.
    “It’s nice to see you again.” She turned her head to
the side.
    Daniel pulled out a chair for her. Taking a seat, she
smiled at him as he pushed her back to the table. Michael did the same to Susan,
and Charlotte noticed there were two more chairs waiting to be filled.
    “Will others be joining us?” she asked, pointing
opposite her.
    “Yes, I invited a friend and he’s bringing a date,” Michael
said, taking a sip of the water glass.
    “Right.” She looked at Susan, but her friend looked elsewhere. Okay, something
clearly was going on. “Is it someone you know?” she asked, turning to Daniel.
    “I know him, but he’s not my friend. In fact I thought
you—”
    “Wow, they serve chicken parmesan here, honey. Do you
see this, Charlotte? The chicken parmesan. Isn’t that
your favorite?” Susan pointed down at the menu.
    “Yeah, I like it.”
    “Are we ordering already?” Daniel asked.
    “What?” Charlotte mouthed the words to Susan.
    All she got was a shake of the head.
    This was really confusing to her. Picking up her water
glass, she took a sip of water, while glancing around the restaurant.
    “I’m pleased Susan could convince you to come out
tonight. I know you’re always busy.”
    “I heard you’d just recently come back from Europe.
How was it?” she asked.
    “Fantastic. Expansion is always a tricky business, but
meeting likeminded people is always a pleasure.”
    She nodded.
    “England was always raining. I tell you I spent most
of the time soaking wet.”
    Charlotte smiled, wishing she’d not been put next to
him. Who were the other two people coming? She couldn’t recall Susan mentioning
other people stopping by for dinner.
    “So, Daniel, will you be sticking around for a while?”
Susan asked.
    “Yes. I won’t be going away for some time now.”
    “Sounds amazing, doesn’t it, Charlotte?”
    “It sounds like you’re going to have a lot of time on
your hands. Is there anything you’re looking forward to doing?” she asked.
    “I’m going to get up to speed on everything going on
at the office …”
    Work, work, work.
    The last time she’d met him at the barbeque, she’d
faked an interest in him. He’d talked about work all the time, and she didn’t have to try to think about talking herself. There was nothing
worse than trying to hold a conversation when she really didn’t want to.
    “I’m not late, am I, Michael?” Bryan said, approaching
the table.
    Charlotte almost choked on her water as she saw her
next door neighbor. He had another blonde on his arm, only