Alpha's Irresistible Neighbor
By: J.P. Comeau“If she feels up to the task, tell her to earmark pages that have things on it that she likes. We can boil things down later, once tensions settle a bit.”
He clicked his tongue. “Can you do something with me?”
I tossed some Sour Patch Kids into my cart. “Sure. What’s up?”
And that’s when a video call started coming in from my cousin.
“Uh, hello there,” I said as I picked up the video call.
“Happy dance with me?”
A smirk broke out across my face. “I’d love to do a happy dance with you.”
The second I saw his shoulders dipping side to side, I simply couldn’t help myself. I released my cart and swiveled my hips, putting my knees through hell as I dropped right down to the floor of the grocery store. Mikael bumped out a little beat, humming one of his favorite songs.
And as I shook my ass coming back up, he shimmied down low before his smile grew so big that it closed his eyes.
“Oh, my God. He’s finally off the streets.”
Relief started to fill my chest. “You’re free, Mikael.”
He shook his head. “No, once I have answers from Detective Walker as to why the hell this man did this to my life, I’ll be free. But, for now? I’ll take never having to worry about that man ruining my life ever again.”
“That’s the spirit.”
He blew me a kiss. “Gotta go. Penny’s headed back downstairs.”
“Give that woman a hug for me. I’ll be back over there tomorrow afternoon, sometime.”
“See you then. And Dani?”
“Yeah?”
He smiled softly. “Thank you for helping us with the wedding. Maybe now, we’ll be able to stomach the process of piecing it together.”
I nodded. “Thank you for letting me help. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”
“Sounds good. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
And I didn’t even get the damn phone hung up before Mikael dropped a text message into my lap.
Cuz <3: I’m paying you for your time, so clock it. I won’t argue with you on it, either. Send me the AirBnB bill, too. I’ll cover that.
I quickly shot him a message back that told him exactly where I stood with that bullshit.
Me: We’ll revisit that subject when emotions aren’t running so high.
I shook my head as I set my phone down on the seat of the grocery cart. Mikael and I could bicker over whose card was being swiped for this little venture later. I knew I’d never win the fight, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t put up a fight. Especially when it came to someone paying my way. I hated that shit. I hated people paying for my stuff when I was perfectly capable of getting it on my own.
I didn’t like feeling indebted to anyone.
But, it seemed like I didn’t have a choice with my cousin. Especially after the text message that came after that one.
Cuz <3: Yes, we will revisit this later. When I’m asking you for your bank account information because I know you won’t cash any check I give you.
I barked with laughter as I pushed my way into the line for the self-checkout. I knew we were cousins, but the two of us might as well have been brother and sister with how well we knew one another. I waited patiently for a register to open up, then I started heaving everything I wanted to buy onto the conveyor belt so that I could scan it out myself.
That is, until I started digging around for my card.
“What the hell?” I whispered.
I shoved my hand into my purse for a second time, but my fingertips couldn’t find the smooth edge of my debit card. Panic rushed through my veins as a total of $62.45 stared me in the face. That debit card was the only monetary connection I had to the outside world, and I had no idea where the hell it had gotten off to.
“Oh, come on,” I grumbled.
I took to dumping out the contents of my purse, watching them scatter all over the conveyor belt. I shuffled through the half-used chapsticks and lip glosses and ignored the age-old condom wrappers from what seemed like yesteryear as I dug through to try and find my fucking card. I tore through my wallet, hoping maybe I had jammed it into another pocket while in a hurry someplace else.
However, it wasn’t until I came across a folded up piece of yellow paper that my jaw hit the floor.
