Neighbors In Love Book 2: Trusting the Enemy Next Door

Jess

Thou shalt not covet thy best friend’s boyfriend.

I never had a problem following that rule until I met Logan Jacobs. Now, it’s a rule I can’t stop breaking.

Take right now, for instance. I’m dancing with Logan in a packed nightclub. It should be an innocent dance, one to make the creep who keeps hitting on me back off. And it is innocent—from Logan’s side. But from mine? My heart races every time our eyes meet. I enjoy the feel of his hands on my hips too much. Then there’s the heat that stirs low in my belly every time I imagine pressing my body against his.

I’m attracted to Logan, and I’ve never felt worse about anything in my life.

Logan looks over my shoulder and smiles. I don’t need to turn around to know that he’s smiling at my best friend. Not only is Logan gorgeous—a blond Adonis in the flesh—but he’s also smart. Smart enough to know that my best friend in the entire world is the complete package. At last, Kristy found one of the good guys. And I think that’s what I like most about Logan; the way he treats my friend. The way he adores her.

I keep smiling and dancing with Logan, waiting for Kristy to join us, but I stop moving as soon as she walks up to us and I see the expression on her face. She’s staring at Logan and me as though we’ve just ripped out her heart.

“Kristy!” I take my hands off Logan and step away from him. “Logan said you were looking for me. Sorry, I was dancing with some douche who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. When I saw Logan, I asked him to dance with me so the guy would leave me alone. I hope you don’t mind.”

Without any encouragement or provocation on my part, her past two boyfriends both made a pass at me, so perhaps I should have anticipated her reaction. But she should trust me. Even if I have feelings for Logan, and I was just fantasising about him, I would never let anything happen between him and me. He could be the last man on earth, and I’d never touch him. Not when my friendship with Kristy is at stake. I value her friendship above everything else. She’s the only person who matters to me, and she should know that.

After a moment, Kristy breathes a sigh and nods. Thank God. She remembers I’m on her side—that she’s my rock and I’m hers. At least, I used to be her rock. Now, I suspect that honour is Logan’s.

“It’s fine,” she says, putting her hand on my arm to reassure me. “But are you okay? I saw Alfie dancing with someone else.”

I tear my eyes away from her to look at Alfie. My ex-fiancé as of tonight. Not that Kristy knows his new status in my life just yet. Our breakup happened half an hour after we arrived at the club.

Watching Alfie dancing with a girl in a too-tight skirt and top, his hands roaming over her hips, butt, and thighs, I wish I felt something more than a brief stab of disappointment. Unfortunately, my feelings for Alfie—like every man I’ve dated before him—are apathetic at best.

Did I want to believe it could be different with Alfie? That I could let myself go and surrender to the madness of falling in love? Yes, but only because, for a short time, I thought we might be having a baby together. Before the plane had even touched down in Melbourne, I knew him leaving Italy to come home with me had been a mistake. I should have told him then that I’d changed my mind about our relationship, but I was weak. And then he kept me company while Kristy spent time with Logan.

I lift a shoulder and smile at Kristy, showing her I’m not hurt. “Easy come, easy go. He’s free to play.”

Her warm blue eyes are full of concern and confusion. “But, Jess, you’re engaged!”

“Don’t worry about it, K. Alfie and I... It’s over between us, and I’m okay with that.” I look between her and Logan and smile. “We never had what you guys have.”

“I don’t understand, Jess. He came to Australia with you. I thought you were going to get married. I thought this was the real deal.”

Disappointment clouds her gaze as she studies me. I know she’s not disappointed in me, just for me. Still, her disappointment chafes. Kristy knows me better than anyone. She knows that companionship and sex are the only things that interest me about the opposite sex. Well, they were before I met Logan. Seeing how Logan acts with Kristy makes me long for a deeper connection than I’ve experienced before.

It makes me long for him, even though I know he and I will never happen.

I give Kristy the most reassuring smile I can muster. “Things with Alfie are complicated, but it was a mistake to think we could make it work. I’ll explain it all later. Right now, I just want to dance for a bit. Let loose.”

Seeing Kristy’s worried expression, I wink at her and walk away. I head straight for the bar, in need of a drink. I’ve never been one to knock them back. After all, one doesn’t receive the high-profile modelling jobs I do with a reputation as a party girl, but tonight I want the lift a sweet, girly cocktail can give me.

I politely turn down the three different men at the bar who offer to buy me a beverage and instead pay for my own. Then, drink in hand, I turn back to watch Logan and Kristy dance together again.

The way he looks at her, touches her, loves her...

The two of them are lost in each other, their heads full of each other. I should look away, but I can’t. Their feelings are a magnet, drawing my gaze. What does it feel like to be so wrapped up in someone that nothing else matters but them? Have I done the wrong thing by keeping every man at a distance? If Logan and I had met first, would he have been like that with me?

“Kristy needs to watch her back, doesn’t she?”

Whipping around, I see Logan’s best friend standing less than a foot away from me. Adam Granger’s navy-blue gaze is filled with disgust as his eyes lock with mine. The same confusion and anxiousness I always feel in his presence make me want to turn tail and run. I’m always in control. Cool, calm, and collected. Nobody gets beneath my skin, but Adam comes close. There’s something about the way he looks at me, as though he can see my deepest, darkest secrets and despises me for them, that unnerves me. It’s as if he can’t stand the sight of me.

The last time I spotted him in the crowded club, he was dancing with a small waisted, big breasted brunette, who had her body plastered to his. I wish he was still dancing with her instead of standing here glaring at me.

Ready to get this confrontation over with, I hold his gaze and pretend I’m entirely unperturbed by his sudden appearance. “What are you talking about, Adam?”

He shakes his head as though he can’t believe I’m asking. “You’re clearly into Logan. But he’s with Kristy, so you need to stop chasing what’s not yours and leave the two of them alone.”

Adrenaline and fear surge through me as his words crash over me and I realise he knows. He knows I’m attracted to Logan.

I thought I’d hidden my attraction to Logan well enough, and maybe I’ve succeeded in keeping everyone else in the dark. But Adam sees what others don’t. The man is a hot-shot radio personality, with a reputation for his intelligent and keen observations of life and his edgy interviews with celebrities. He gets paid for speaking his mind and revealing people’s secrets.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I tell him with exaggerated confidence.

“I’m not an idiot, Jess. The way you were looking at him while you were dancing together was a dead giveaway. Plus, you’re always staring at him. Even though you’ve got your pretty boy from Italy here.”

Denial is hot on my tongue, but I don’t want him to know just how rattled he has me.

“And you would know that, how? Have you been staring at me the whole time?” I bat my eyelids, employing all the fake charm I can muster. Maybe I can annoy him into walking away. “Have you been watching me, Adam?”

His expression darkens, the muscle in his jaw ticking. I know he’s not into me at all, but it’s amusing to see how downright disgusted by the idea he looks. At least, it would be funny if he didn’t look capable of wrapping his hands around my neck and squeezing the life out of me.

“I’m worried about Kristy. That’s the reason I’ve been watching you.”

“You don’t need to be worried. I’d never do anything like that.”

“But you want him, don’t you?”

He takes a step towards me, his eyes flashing dangerously. He’s never been this close to me before, and I realise he’s taller than I thought. 6′3 at least, maybe 6′4. His long, dark brown hair is a gelled and styled mess instead of hanging all over his forehead. It adds to his height, making me feel dwarfed, an unusual occurrence considering I’m 5′10 and a half—taller in heels. I stare at his angular jaw, full lips, and high cheekbones, startled to discover he has a face better suited to television than radio.

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say breathlessly.

“You can’t even be honest about it. You disgust me.”

“Your opinion of me matters very little, Adam.”

“You’ve been treated differently to others because you’re beautiful and now you believe you’re above everyone else.”

I swallow hard at the hatred behind the words and wonder which beautiful woman yanked his heart out and turned him into a giant douche. I’ve met men like Adam before—men who hate the opposite sex because of a bad experience. But they warmed up to me eventually. Everyone warms up to me. Everyone except Adam. His comment is personal. And I’m not sure how to deal with it or why I even care. Maybe it’s because he’s Logan’s best friend, or perhaps it’s because he’s the first person who has ever truly disliked me.

Whatever the reason, I’m not about to let him know his hatred bothers me.

“You have a problem with beautiful women, Adam?” I stand on my tiptoes, bringing our faces closer together, trying to raise myself up to his level and pretend he doesn’t intimidate me. “Did some cheerleader ditch you at prom, and now you have a vendetta against us all?”

His eyes harden. “You don’t know anything about me, princess. Don’t pretend for a moment that you do.”

“You don’t know me, either.”

“I know your type. You’re the kind of woman who uses her looks to cover up her biggest flaw.”

“And what, pray tell, is my biggest flaw?” I don’t want to know what he thinks. Truly I don’t, and yet the question rolls off my tongue before I can clap a hand over my mouth.

“Ugliness.” He pauses for a moment to let the word sink right in. “I see you for who you are. The exterior is all glossy, but underneath that, you’re painfully unattractive.”

I choke on his venom-filled words, my breath locking up in my lungs as I stare at him. My heels thud to the floor. No one has ever spoken to me like that before, let alone said something so awful.

Finally, he steps away from me, and I try to inhale a large gulp of air, but the pain in my chest inhibits it as I repeat his words over and over in my head.

“Stay away from my friends, princess,” Adam says. “Leave them alone, or you’ll wish you never met me.”

His friends? Logan and Kristy are my friends, too. And I’m never letting go of Kristy.

I smile at him sweetly, praying my smile isn’t as wobbly as it feels. My hands won’t stop shaking, and my body is trembling from the words we’ve exchanged. “I already do, Adam. Don’t you worry about that.”

I down the rest of my drink and walk back to the bar. My hand is still shaking as I put down the now empty glass and signal to the bartender that I want another one.

I hate that Adam gets to me. He shouldn’t have any power over me, yet every time we’re in the same room together, I find myself desperately trying to avoid him. I hate that his words bother me so much. I hate that he tears at the carefully constructed self-control I always have in place and that his words hurt.

The only person who matters to me is Kristy. Her opinion is the only one that’s important.

The bottom falls out of my stomach as I imagine Adam telling Kristy she has to watch her back around me. What if she believes him?

I don’t want to believe she will, but the look on her face when she saw me dancing with Logan? Well, it makes me think she might. I can’t bear the thought. I’ve never seen her as happy as she is now. Hearing that I desire Logan will ruin it for her. She’ll doubt Logan’s faithfulness, even though the man is one hundred percent devoted to her. She’ll be on the lookout all the time, waiting for something to happen between him and me, waiting for him to pick me over her because her last two boyfriends did.

I can’t allow that to happen.

Yesterday, my agent called me with a job offer—a role on a new game show in London. I turned it down because I’d only just come back to Australia after being away for several months. I worried about Kristy being on her own again, and I’d missed her so damn much while I was away that I didn’t want to leave again. But Kristy isn’t alone anymore, and it couldn’t hurt to give myself some time to get past this attraction I feel towards Logan.

“Or you’ll wish you never met me.”

Adam might be more inclined to keep his mouth shut if I go to London. I hate the thought of giving in to Adam’s threats, but the alternative—Kristy’s unhappiness—is not an option. Leaving her to enjoy her new relationship might be the best thing I can do for her.

The lease for the rental place we share will need to be worked out. Maybe she’ll move next door with Logan. Perhaps he’ll move in with her. Whatever she wants to do is fine. She’s thriving with Logan, and she’s never needed me less. Who cares if I need her? Who cares if I’ll miss her more than anything?

I watch Kristy stare at Logan with eyes I know are full of devotion. Her arms snake around his neck as she smiles up at him. Calling my agent first thing in the morning and asking if I can change my mind is the right decision. It’s time for me to leave Australia again.