Page 3 of Here & Now

“Neighbors?”

He nodded with the same amused look on his face. “I’m Zane Reed.”

He waited expectedly, but she was still stuck on the word “neighbors.”

“And you are?” he prompted.

“Briana O’Connell, but I go by Bree.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Bree.”

She liked the way he said her name. “So, you live here?”

“Yeah. I bought the place about six months ago. What about you?”

“I’m just visiting.” If he’d only been living here for six months, he probably didn’t know about her grandparents or the history of this house, which was fine with her.

“Well, I’ll let you get back to whatever you were doing,” he said, smiling.

If he only knew she’d been spying on him...

She watched him walk away, striding confidently despite his near-nakedness. Of course, this was Florida, so it was par for the course, especially for the people who lived here.

She shook her head. She’d embarrassed herself twice in front of this guy, and she’d only been here a few hours! To prevent any more mishaps, she gathered her book, towel, and water and went inside, locking the door behind her.

Once again, she was assailed by the scent of her grandmother’s perfume, and it grounded her firmly back in reality. Her hot neighbor wouldn’t be her neighbor for long.

With that in mind, she changed out of her bathing suit and back into shorts and a T-shirt. She had work to do, and it was time to get to it. There’d be no more spying on the guy next door!