Page 14 of Charmed By the Next-Door Neighbor
"Long enough."
He doesn't elaborate, and I don't push. But I want to. I want to know everything. What made him retire. What those scars are from. Why he lives alone in a house that's too quiet. Why he fixed my porch light without telling me.
"What about you?" he asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.
"What about me?"
"Morning or night?"
"Night. Definitely night. I'm basically useless before ten a.m. My brain doesn't start working until I've had at least two cups of coffee." I lift my mug as evidence.
"What do you do? For work."
"IT. Remote tech support, mostly. I help people when their computers hate them."
"You good at it?"
"I'm okay. It's not exactly thrilling, but it pays the bills and I can do it from anywhere. That's why I moved here. I wanted out of the city."
"Why?"
Because I was suffocating, I think. Because my parents were everywhere. Because I needed to know who I was without them breathing down my neck every second.
"I wanted space," I say instead. "And I always liked the idea of small-town life. It seemed... I don't know. Quieter. Simpler."
"Is it?"
"So far." I take another sip of coffee. "I like it here. Even if my parents think I've lost my mind."
"They seem like they care about you."
"They do," I admit. "Too much, maybe. They want to control everything. Where I live, what I do, who I date." I pause. "That's why this whole fake dating thing is so important. They need to see that I make my own choices now. Even if they don't like those choices."
Nash sets his mug down on the counter. "And you think me being around will prove that?"
"I think you being around will scare them enough that they back off," I say honestly. "No offense."
"None taken."
But there's something in his expression that makes me wonder if I've hurt him somehow. Before I can figure out what to say, he straightens.
"I should go. Let you get ready for dinner."
"Oh. Right. Yeah."
He moves toward the door and I follow, coffee mug still in hand. At the door, he pauses. Turns back to me.
"Claire."
My name in his voice does something to me.
"Yeah?"
"You did good," he says. "With your parents. Standing up to them."
I blink, caught off guard. "Oh. Thanks. I mean, I had help. You were… You really saved me back there."
He looks at me for a long moment, and I swear there's something he wants to say.
