Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 49490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49490 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
After all, Rob was the one who’d made pizza bagels an issue. Not Amber. And not me.
At least, I didn’t think so.
“What are you up to…besides casing the joint and eying our deliveries?” Amber teased, her brow glistening in the summer heat.
“Oh, I just heard a lot of banging and wanted to be sure everything was going okay,” I replied smoothly.
“Sneaky McSneaker! Our grand opening is next month and yes, you’re invited so—”
“Is he?” Rob asked, slipping outside. He draped a proprietary hand on Amber’s shoulder and flashed a smarmy smile my way.
Amber elbowed his stomach and stepped out of reach. “Behave, cavemen. Rob, is Travis in the store? We need to get these boxes inside, pronto. I almost caught Mateo with his hand in the cookie jar…or the blender.”
I sputtered indignantly. “I—what? I had no intention of—”
“She’s yankin’ your chain.” Rob snorted as Amber sashayed into the bagel shop.
Oh. Right.
I studied him unabashedly but with an edge of suspicion. I’d learned a long time ago that it was better to go with a semi-menacing glare than to give a straight guy the impression I was checking him out.
News flash: I was totally checking Rob out. He looked fierce as fuck in a battered Cowboys T-shirt and workout shorts that clung to his beefy thighs. I had a thing for thick quads and sculpted biceps. Add the heady scent of aftershave and sweat, and I was two seconds from poppin’ a boner.
For the record, I hated that I found the guy attractive. Hated it. Why couldn’t he look like a troll, for fuck’s sake?
I crossed my arms, tilting my chin toward his shop. “Is this almost finished? My customers shouldn’t have to listen to this banging during lunchtime.”
“You’re right,” he agreed smoothly. “I apologize for the noise. I’ll stop in and offer your customers complimentary bagels to—”
“The fuck you will,” I intercepted. “You seriously think I’d let you waltz into the pizzeria and poach my customers out from under my nose?”
Rob glared. “See, language like that makes it hard for me to like you.”
“Boo hoo. I’m really gonna lose sleep tonight,” I snarked.
“You’re a grade-A asshole, Cavaretti.”
“Back atcha, Vilmer.”
Rob’s steely glower would have a scared the hell out of most people, but it sent a shiver of something dangerously resembling lust through my veins.
What the actual fuck?
Before I could think of a snappy retort, Rob turned on his heels and paused in the doorway to yell, “Go for it, Jim. It’s not too loud.”
I gritted my teeth hard enough to give myself a migraine. No doubt steam was billowing out of my ears. That freaking jackass. That absolute piece of—
“Yo, Cuz! What’re you doin’? We got a full house here!” Vanni griped, gesturing for me to come over.
I shot one last irritated glance at the papered windows of the bagel shop and sighed. “I’m comin’, I’m comin’.”
4
ROB
You know that saying, “Play stupid games, win stupid prizes?” Yeah, well…until recently, I’d assumed that old adage could never apply to me. I rectified the noise escalation by having Amber deliver a stack of coupons next door, requesting that she give them to anyone other than Mateo. I hoped a free bagel and an apology would appease Boardwalk Pizza’s owners and customers. The last thing I wanted to do was ostracize our neighbors, but damn it…Mateo was a real SOB.
But only to me.
Everyone else loved the guy.
Terrence, the mailman: “You got great neighbors here. They’re good people. But you probably already know Mateo from college, so you know he’s a sweetheart. And a hard worker too.”
Mary Flannigan, a fiftysomething woman who’d introduced herself as a sixth-grade teacher while her energetic labradoodle ran circles around her on the sidewalk: “I’ve taught all the locals, like the Cavarettis. Let me tell you that Mateo’s an angel—a good family man. He takes care of his mom and his aunt, and you should have seen him with his father at the end. God rest his soul.”
Carly, the barista at Boardwalk Coffee: “If you played football here, you probably know Mateo…you know, from Boardwalk Pizza? OMG. He’s so fine.”
Uh-huh.
And don’t get me started on Amber.
“I have a huge crush. Huge! Mateo is hunkier now than he was in college.”
“Is he, though?” I’d scoffed.
Amber had giggled like a besotted schoolgirl. “That would be a big, fat yes. And you know it! C’mon, he’s totally your type, too. Dark and broody with a sexy smile and bedroom eyes and—”
I’d stuffed a bagel bite into her mouth to shut her up and hopefully end the conversation. I hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to deny or defend myself. We both knew she was right. If he wasn’t an annoying jerk, I’d admit that Mateo was obscenely hot.
And yes, after everything she’d been through, it was nice to see Amber gush over a good-looking guy. But I sincerely hoped she didn’t start something with that dickhead.