Sweetest Kill (2 page)

I did all the photos
for Joss’s first birthday and Jaxon told me I had to find a way to take photo’s
full time.

So I decided to take a
few photography then business classes and Jaxon helped me build a freelance
business.

I worked for myself.
Set my own hours, and I rented out a small space where I could do photo
sessions when needed.

I made decent money, I
saved most of it for my own place. Jaxon told me I could stay, but when he
started bringing home girls late at night I started to feel like maybe being
almost 20 and living with my big brother wasn’t really a good idea.

            Three weeks
after my 20
^th
birthday, I moved into my very first townhouse.

It was a rental, with
the option to buy after the first year. I was making over 600 for a photo
shoot, which meant that if I really wanted to save I could totally buy the
place.

The townhouse shared an
entrance, but I had my own entire side. It was the largest thing I had ever
seen considering it wasn’t a house.

There were 3 bedrooms.
One for me, one for Joss and one for an at home office.. I insisted when
deciding to move out that Jaxon let me take her once a week or every other
weekend so that he could go out and have fun too.

At first he wasn’t
really sold on the idea, he told me he had taken up enough of my life, but when
Joss came wobbling in and climbed on my lap and passed out, he kind of knew we
needed to have our own time.  Now that Joss was nearly two, Jaxon wanted her in
day care until she was old enough for preschool. At first I protested, until he
explained that she needed the social interaction, and that I needed to be a 20
year old and enjoy my life.

There was a large eat
in kitchen. This was my favorite part, I loved cooking. I wasn’t very good at
it because mom had always done it. Since I had gone to stay with Jaxon I was
picking things up and couldn’t wait to continue learning.

It is all one level,
which I love the most. I wouldn’t have a hard time baby proofing for when Joss
would be with me.

The walls are all white,
while the windows have black trimming which I find interesting. There is also a
huge backyard and I couldn’t wait to get Joss a play set.

The landlady is amazing.
Her name is Erica, she is actually an old friend of a guy that Jaxon works
with. She met me on the day I moved in and told me about the neighborhood. It is
a gated community, with a home owner’s association but she said I didn’t need
to be a part of that. The grass needs to be mowed at all times, and we have a
sound ordinance, but it isn’t anything I am too worried about.

She tells me about my
neighbor as well. “He’s just a sweetheart, he’s single so maybe you all will
get on just fine. He keeps to himself most of the time, doesn’t make a lot of
noise but I think he’s just a doll.” I notice she she’s blushing.

“He isn’t home at the
moment, I wanted to introduce you. You two share the entry way which means you
each get a key. My only rule is that the entry way stay clean. If you notice
that his side is messy, just sweep and clean it up he will do the same for your
side.”

I nod my head as she
hands me my keys and I sign all the paperwork.

My very first place!

There is no sign of my
neighbor the first few days I am there. Erica had mentioned that he goes out of
town every couple of weeks. I’m pretty excited to blast some music while
unpacking, without feeling like I might disturb him.

Jaxon and Joss had gone
out of town for the week. To Florida to visit our grandparents. I decided to
skip this trip so I could focus on making my new place feel more like home.

Of course I didn’t
consider the furniture company unloading a ton of furniture and not putting
most of it together.

I purchased the extra
assembly package, but it turns out there was a mix up and they were short men
so no one could stay to help out.

I get mostly everything
into the right rooms, but I have to put Joss’s toddler bed together as well as
a toy box, an Ikea entertainment center and my night stand that seems to
include one too many pieces.

My work is cut out for
me.

About 6 hours into
building I decide I need a break. I jump in my Murano heading to the grocery
store to buy myself some soda and snacks. If I was going to slave over
furniture I’m going to be fed and happy.

When I come back, I
notice a white F150 with enormous tires in the parking spot next to mine.

I guess my neighbor is
back.

Which kind of puts a
slight damper on my plans to jam out with tunes while pigging out and building
stuff.

I don’t see anything
but a huge pair of shoes outside his door when I walk into my apartment.

I turn my music back
on, opting for Eminem instead of my normal country, to get the blood flowing.

About 3 minutes after I
finished Joss’s bed I realize I have made a huge mistake.

I put the bed together
in the living room, and her doorway is not large enough to move the bed back
through.

I am going to have to
take the bed apart to get it through the door.

Frustration hits me and
I just scream

I grab my soda and
chips and sit at the table for a few minutes, glaring at the tiny mahogany bed
sitting in the middle of the floor.

Suddenly there is a
knock at my front door.

 I grab my iPod off the
deck click the little button on the top to turn it off.

When I open the door,
standing there is the most gorgeous man I have ever seen.

He is tall, well over 6
ft. He’s wearing a white tank top and black gym shorts. Tattoo’s cover his arms,
traveling up to his neck.

He has muscles
everywhere. Clearly he spends a lot of free time in the gym, I have never seen
a man so built.

His eyes are piercing
blue almost clear

As I am checking him
out I realize he’s looking at me with a knowing smile on his face.

God is he hot!

“Hey” he says slowly
reaching his hand out to me, a sexy smile pulling at his lips “I’m Dean your
new neighbor, Erica told me you moved in I wanted to come by and introduce
myself.”

I reach forward and
shake his hand. Noticing how rough and soft his warm palm feels at the very
same time. “I’m Olivia, or Liv whatever.”

He holds my hand a
moment longer than necessary I start to pull away, worried that he will notice
the pink flush I can feel creeping across my cheeks

“I heard you screaming,
I wanted to make sure everything was okay?”

I look up at him
feeling dazed when suddenly realization hits me. He heard me after realizing my
mistake with Joss’s bed.

I’m such a loud mouth!

“Oh, I’m okay it’s just
this annoying furniture building is proving to be a bigger hassle than I first
anticipated. I’m strongly debating throwing it all away and making everyone sit
on the floor.” I’m rambling.

Dean, who is nearly an
entire foot taller than I am, looks over my shoulder at the stacks of wood for
the entertainment center and the tiny bed that lays beside it.

“I can help you, if you
want?” He offers

“Oh, you don’t have to
do that. Really I can figure it out it’s just my first time this living on my
own thing, it is a bit overwhelming.” I giggle

He’s making me feel
strange. Just standing in my doorway five inches from me is causing peculiar
emotions.

“Trust me, it’s no big
deal and I’m really good with my hands.”

I look up at him and he
winks

Winks!

He goes on: “And building
with two is better than one. What do you say?”

I look up at him, his
grin still glued to his face

I shuffle in my spot,
feeling uncomfortable with the idea of letting him into my house.

I bite my lower lip
lightly before replying “I don’t normally make a habit of letting strangers
into my house, you could be a serial killer for all I know.”

This remark makes him
laugh hard, “You’re right, I could be but if I were a serial killer, I could
have killed you 9 different ways by now. You’re going to have to have a bit
more faith.”

Faith. That makes me
think of my parents. God what would they say if they saw this sexy man standing
on my door right now? If they knew that I was seriously considering letting him
into my apartment… Alone with me?

They would freak.

Dad would tell me I was
a whore or something along those lines.

Mom would just nod her
head in agreement with his opinion.

“Okay.” Is all I say,
standing to the side to allow him to pass me.

“Thanks.” He says
brushing past and walking towards the living room “let’s see what you have
going on in here.”

He stands with his
hands on his hips, causing the muscles in his arm to bulge more, which didn’t
really seem possible. “This is quite the set of projects you have going on.” He
laughs “which one are you currently working on, or are you doing them all at
once?”

I smirk

“I know.” I say “but
the furniture company double booked, so they were unable to put everything
together like they were supposed to. I thought that I could handle it all, but
as you can see.” I motion around the room “I kind of suck at this.”

He laughs, then he
looks at the toddler bed near the edge of the room. I knew he didn’t see it
from the doorway. The smile that had been nearly constant on his face since I
first opened my door slightly fades

“Well, we better start
with your child’s bed first, get it through the doorway,” he starts to walk
towards the bed, grabbing the Allen wrench from the coffee table on his way

I pause, wondering why
his mood seems to have changed

“Why couldn’t your
boyfriend help you do all of this?”

I walk into the kitchen
and grab two cans of Pepsi and the bowl of chips I had set out for myself
before Dean knocked on the door. I walk back in and hand Dean a soda which he
takes with a quick nod of thanks

“I don’t have a
boyfriend to do all of this, and this isn’t my child’s bed it’s my niece
Josslyn’s, she’s my older brother Jaxon’s two year old and her and I are really
close. I plan on taking her as much as possible so my brother can have somewhat
of a social life. So, she gets her own room, which means she gets her own bed.”

I pop the top of my
soda and take a sip making sure to slurp the bubbles left on the rim. Jaxon use
to make fun of me for that, but it was a quirk I have. I don’t like leaving
liquid there. When Jaxon and I would share a drink I was always telling him to
‘take his friends’ before I would take a sip. People don’t realize you are
leaving spit behind. Who wants to swap carbonated spit?

Dean is watching me
when I look back at him “why did you just slurp that?” he’s not smiling again.

“It’s a pet peeve. I
don’t like to leave soda on the rim. I know, stupid” I laugh putting the can on
the counter behind me

“It’s not stupid, I do
it too.” He says quietly looking back at the bed

He takes off the head
board and then looks at me “I think it’s sweet you are close to your niece.
What is she like?”

I go on for about 20
minutes about Joss. It’s not hard to do, the kid is freaking amazing and I love
her. I tell him a bit about my parents and Jaxon.

When I’m done I
apologize for rambling.

He laughs “seriously,
it’s kind of nice to listen to a girl ramble about her brother and niece and
not the shit I normally listen to girls blab about.”

I smile “and what do
the girls you are used to always blabbing about?”

He frowns again “let’s
not talk about them.”

Okay I guess

“What do you do for
work?” he asks

“I’m a photographer.” I
know I’m beaming, I love talking about my job “I have my own business, Jaxon
helped me set it up, it’s pretty small clientele wise, but it helps me to pay
the bills and I can work when I feel like it which is pretty amazing. I like
being on my own time, after living with my parents for years and doing
everything on schedule.”

His smile returns “what
do you photograph?”

“Everything, well
nearly everything. I like landscapes a lot, but most people want pictures of
their family, kids and dogs. I take what comes my way. I am freelance so people
find out about my work and call with what they are willing to pay and I take
the pictures. I don’t really care what the subject is.”

He nods

“What do you do?” I ask

He shakes his head
“nothing nearly as interesting as what you do. Hey, I think we can move this
into the room now, want to help?”

I find it odd he
doesn’t want to tell me what he does for a living, but I brush it off and help
him move Joss’s bed into her room.

When we are done
setting it up, I add her Doc McStuffins bed set and stand back admiring how
awesome it looks. She’s going to love it

I look up to where Dean
is standing. He’s watching me with an expression that’s new to me. He looks
happy, but he also looks a little… scared, or annoyed or both?

Before I can ask him
anything he says “let’s get to work on the rest out there.”

Dean is funny. He likes
to laugh which I really appreciate because I have had years of zero jokes and
laughter. He’s really strong too, which isn’t a shock just by looking at him.
He nearly does everything alone. He asks me to hand him pieces but doesn’t
actually let me lift anything

We put together my
bedside table a few hours later. When we bring it into my room I take a seat on
the bed, while opening the light bulb package for my bedside lamp.

Suddenly Dean is standing
in front of me. I look up at him and notice his face is serious again.

He reaches forward and
tucks the strands of hair that have come loose from pony tail behind my ear
“you are the most beautiful girl I think I have ever seen Olivia.”

His voice is quiet,
like he’s afraid someone is going to catch him and I having this moment

He bends his knees and
leans forward placing a soft barely touching kiss on my lips, still holding the
sides of my face.

He doesn’t say anything
he stands, backs away and heads to the door of my room “I’m going to head down
and see what else needs to be done.”

I nod, turning back to
my package. My hands are shaking. Too many new feelings. I just met him.
Clearly whatever is happening between us is too much for him too.