The Game Plan (Neighbor from Hell 5)

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“I’m an idiot,” she muttered, watching the steam rise off the homemade macaroni and cheese casserole that she’d cooked for Danny, who had apparently ditched her at the first opportunity.

She’d been ditched before, but wow, did this hurt.

It was foolish, but she’d actually been enjoying herself. This was the first date that she’d ever had where she could honestly have said that she’d had fun. Her usual first dates consisted of drinks, coffee, food and maybe a movie. Even dating Jerry had been incredibly dull and boring. They’d dated for almost two years, two very boring years with boring unimaginative dates that ended with really boring, uncomfortable, unsatisfying sex.

Well, sometimes. Most of the time Jerry wasn’t in the mood, which had been okay with her, mostly. She’d been a virgin before she’d met him, a very frustrated virgin and once she’d given herself to him………

She’d become even more frustrated.

The first time he’d taken her to bed she’d been excited and eager to take that step, but barely a minute after he’d started, he’d rolled off her, covered in sweat, panting heavily and she’d laid there, disappointed and trying not to cry. She’d barely felt anything besides a tiny pinch of pain, some jostling and his large stomach crushing her. It had been one of the most depressing moments of her life and unfortunately, it only got worse after that.

When he’d broken things off she should have been relieved, but instead it had depressed her that someone like Jerry didn’t want her. It also scared her. She couldn’t hold out much hope that a nice guy would want her when she couldn’t even manage to keep the interest of a man like Jerry. It had also confirmed her previous belief that men were incapable of seeing her as anything more than a little sister. Apparently Danny had come to his senses an hour and a half ago and had cut his losses.

She should have expected it, had expected it, but she’d hoped that things could be different. It had been foolish to let herself hope for anything more with Danny, but she hadn’t been able to help herself. She liked the way that he looked at her, the way he touched her and even though he still annoyed the crap out of her, he had the ability to make her smile.

Unfortunately for her, this date, like many dates before, had ended poorly. It also had the added bonus of making things even more awkward, because she’d stupidly agreed to go out on a date with her neighbor. She closed her eyes and dropped her head in defeat. This had been a mistake, one that she should have known better than to repeat after Jerry, but here she was in her kitchen, alone with an extra large pan filled to the brim with mac and cheese.

“Well, this is going to make things easier,” Danny said softly, sounding amused just as she registered the feel of silk touching her face. “No, just leave it, Tinkerbelle,” he said when she reached up to push the blindfold off.

“What are you doing?” she asked when she felt Danny’s large hand wrap around hers.

“Moving on to the second portion of the date,” he explained as he gently pulled her to her feet.

“Where did you go?”

He sighed heavily seconds before she felt his lips brush against hers, which pleased her bruised ego. “I’m sorry that I’m late. It took longer to pull this together than I’d thought.”

“Pull what together?”

“You’ll see,” he said, sounding a bit excited, which actually made her understandably nervous considering who she was dealing with here.

“Is it going to leave a permanent scar?” she half teased.

He sighed heavily. “It might.”

“Should I send up a silent prayer for help?” she asked, smiling as she allowed him to lead her through her living room.

“I’d send up two.”

“Maybe I should put up a struggle?”

“It wouldn’t help.”

“Should I leave a trail of breadcrumbs behind so that I can find my way back later after I escape?” she asked as she heard him open her front door.

“It would be gone in less than ten minutes.”

“Birds?”

“My cousins,” he answered with a soft shiver-inducing chuckle.

“I see,” she murmured, loving their playful banter. “Then perhaps I should put up some sort of resistance?”

“You could, but then you wouldn’t get your surprise,” he teased as he guided her to sit down.

“Will the surprise be worth a kidnapping charge?”

He chuckled as he double-checked her blindfold. “Absolutely.”

“Then I suppose I could wait a few minutes before I start screaming for help.”

“I would appreciate that,” he said, pressing his lips against her forehead. “Stay still and try to behave while I’m gone.”

With that, he was gone and she was left sitting in what she assumed was his living room. She strained her ears, but she couldn’t hear anything that gave away Danny’s plans. She did however smell flowers and a light floral scent mixed with smoke. Candles? She was tempted to peek, but she didn’t want to ruin the surprise. She didn’t care what it was. The only thing that she cared about was that Danny had done something special for her. She wanted to savor the moment, but all too soon Danny returned, and with her casserole by the smell of it.

“I wanted to take you to a nice restaurant, but……….,” he let his words trail off with a sigh that had her biting back a smile.

“Are you ever going to tell me what that was about?” she asked, not bothering to hide her amusement.

“It’s just a little misunderstanding,” he muttered as she listened to him move around the room.

“I see,” she said, still wondering how an entire family could be banned from what amounted to twenty-nine restaurants. Then again, she had a hunch that the number was actually higher.

“Don’t worry. I’ll plan better next time,” he said, making her bite back a smile.

“Who said there would be a next time?”

“You did.”

“Me?”

“Mmmmhmm,” he said, moving around her.

“And when exactly did I agree to a next time?”

“This morning.”

“I don’t remember that,” she said, almost positive that she would have remembered agreeing to going out with him again. Then again, she had been a bit distracted this morning.

“Remember when you had that big guy with glasses curled up in the fetal position crying?” he asked conversationally as she winced at the memory of making the man beg for mercy.