“Brothel,” Levi says immediately, making me laugh, spitting out my drink.

“I don’t think so. Oh, and when I went over there a few days ago to introduce myself, she only opened the door wide enough for me to see one eye.”

“Creeper,” Jace says, and I shake my head.

“No, she seemed nervous.”

“Brothel,” Levi repeats, making me smirk again.

“I helped her with a heavy delivery today, but there’s nothing odd about the inside of her house. She seems pretty normal, just private. She doesn’t come and go. I’ve never seen her leave the house, now that I think about it.”

They both frown. “Maybe she’s agoraphobic,” Levi suggests.

“Or she might have that disorder where she’s allergic to the sun,” Jace adds. “So maybe she leaves at night.”

I’m blinking, watching both of them with a frown on my face. “Why are you both so fucking dramatic?”

“What?” Jace demands. “If she’s not leaving the house, and has things delivered, it makes sense that she can’t leave the house.”

“So, what’s up with all of the people coming and going?” I ask. “I could have sworn I saw Will Montgomery, as in the quarterback, over there the other day. And the movie star, Luke Williams, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Have you had a fever?” Jace asks, and I flip him off.

“Friends?” Levi suggests. “Business?”

“Maybe she’s a celebrity call girl. Is she hot?” Jace asks and then throws his head back and laughs when I just stare at him. “Of course, she is. This is why you’re so curious. Just go over there and talk to her.”

“I did, and she wasn’t interested in talking.”

“Well, maybe she’ll just remain a mystery,” Levi says with a shrug. “Look at that, Jace, our baby brother finally met a woman that he can’t charm.”

“Just don’t turn into the perv across the street who watches her every move,” Jace says. “You’re better than that.”

“I don’t watch her every move,” I reply and roll my eyes. I just watch her moves when I catch glimpses of her from my office, which does not make me a pervert. “I’m just curious.”

“So, on a scale of Mom to Blake Lively, how hot is she?” Levi asks.

“Fuck you.”

“Hotter than Blake?” Jace asks, stunned. “Whoa. I’d be obsessed, too.”

“I’m not fucking obsessed.”

I’m pulling into my driveway just as Lia pulls into hers. I’m surprised. Maybe she does only leave the house after dark.

Which is ridiculous, but here we are.

I step out of my car and see her looking over at me, so I wave. She smiles and waves back before disappearing into her house.

My phone is ringing as I unlock my door. I cringe at the caller I.D.

“Hello, Mrs. Malkowitz.”

“Hello, dear,” she says. I regret taking this job. Yes, it’s bringing in close to a million dollars, but it’s also bringing me anxiety and calls at ten in the evening from the homeowner. “Thank you for sending over the changes to the kitchen today.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I hate it.”

I sigh and drag my hand over my face. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I really think we should just go back to the way it was at the start.”

Of course, you do. I wonder how far away my drafting pencil is. Because I’d like to stab my own eye out in frustration.

“We can certainly do that,” I reply calmly. “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Oh, no, that’s all. I wanted to get back to you right away.”

I check the time. I sent those plans over seven hours ago. All I can do is laugh as I say goodnight and end the call.

I’m so ready for this day to be over.

“You just sit right there,” Lia says and winks at me. There’s a stage in her living room—with a pole—and I’m sitting on a lounge chair, watching her. “This was in the box you brought inside. I wanted to surprise you.”

“I’m surprised,” I reply. She smiles and turns away from me, slowly peeling her clothes off. When she turns back to me, her shirt and bra are gone, but her long, blond hair covers her tits. “Do you want to see these?”

“Hell yes.”

“Not yet,” she says with a laugh. “I want to tease you.”

“It’s working.” My hands flex in and out of fists as I watch her dance around the stage, stripping out of the rest of her clothes but not showing me her breasts.

She even starts to dance around the pole, managing to keep her nipples covered.

“Watch this,” she says and effortlessly climbs the pole, swinging around it gracefully. “I’m really good at this.”

“I’m not complaining.”

She whips her legs up over her head and then stomps to the floor, making a loud bang.

Over and over again, she stomps her feet on the stage, until I finally wake up.

My cock is hard in my hand, and I’m swiftly working myself up to an orgasm when I realize that the banging isn’t from my dream.

Someone is pounding on my damn front door.

I climb out of bed and reach for my boxers, immediately thinking of spaghetti, baseball, anything to get rid of this boner.

But then I open the door and come face-to-face with the source of said boner.

~Amelia~

“Oh, so you’ve got jokes,” I say to my cousin, Will. He’s snickering behind his hand, and his wife, Meg, just rolls her eyes.

“Hey, you’re going to eventually need those.”

I stare at the box of condoms he just dropped into my Louis Vuitton handbag and cock an eyebrow. “Really? Who, exactly, am I going to screw while I’m being held hostage in Natalie’s house?”

“You could meet someone,” Will replies with an unconcerned shrug. “And when you do, you’ll be safe.”

“Now I remember why I didn’t come home often,” I mutter and shake my head, but Will just smiles again and stands to walk me out of their house. I came over for dinner and to see their sweet little baby, Erin, who has since gone to bed.

“You missed me,” Will says and wraps me in his big arms. Will is a big man. As the starting quarterback for Seattle’s football team, I guess he needs to be. But then, all of the Montgomery men are big. “And if you need anything at all, we’re here. Just call.”

“I will. You’ve all done so much already.”

“It’s what the Montgomerys do,” Meg says with a smile and offers me a hug, as well, even though I don’t know her nearly as well as I’d like to. “They swoop in and take care of the people they care about.”

“Sounds about right,” I reply with a nod. “Thanks for dinner. And for letting me vent.”

“And for the condoms,” Will adds with a wink as I walk out the door.

I just wave and climb into Jules’ little car, then zoom down the freeway toward the house that I’m quickly beginning to think of as mine.

I love my condo in L.A. My car, my friends, my life. But then I come here, and this fits, too. It’s damn confusing.

I mean, I could work from Seattle, right?

No. Probably not.

I sigh as I turn off the freeway and follow a Lexus SUV into my neighborhood. I’m surprised to see that it’s my neighbor from across the street. What did he say his name is? Wayne? Wesley?