Page 5 of Angry Lion’s Naughty Little Neighbor (Company 417 Shifters #60)

Chapter Five

Kelsey

I don’t know how in the world this happened.

Wait. I mean, sure I know. I spent years out of control and then got scared when I was kind of forcefully exposed to the potential and actual consequences of being out of control.

I was rescued by a man who had about a million reasons not to bother with me but did.

Then, the man didn’t take advantage of me when he could have.

Then, he didn’t take advantage of me when I begged him to!

And my house is completely clean. It’s the first time it’s been completely clean.

The damaged carpets are replaced and the damaged tile is replaced, too.

Everything the partying broke is fixed or replaced.

All of my broken furniture is thrown out and there’s something new there instead.

My yard is fixed now, too, and that includes putting up a picket fence.

See, I can use my trust fund for home improvement regardless of my monthly allotment so I just got it all done.

And I got a desk.

And a computer.

And a catalogue for the junior college about four miles away from here.

And an honest to goodness notebook with my goals, desires, wants, and dreams on it!

I have to tell you; I spend the first few hours working on that list in tears. When I thought about all the things I’d just let slip away it hit me hard enough that I couldn’t function. Eventually, though, I cried myself out and got to work.

I think this may be the first time in my life I ever got to work on anything!

And I spent my trust fund money for the first time thinking about how my parents worked hard to provide this for me and how I had a father who was careful to plan for unforeseen circumstances so his children wouldn’t be helpless and lost. I think that was the first time I thought about my father without just feeling anger or self-pity.

And now, I’m just… I don’t know how to explain it.

Well, I can tell you part of it. I spend some money on myself (from my monthly allowance) and my hair is done. That’s not all. I got every beauty treatment imaginable. My skin is glowing. My nails are gorgeous. I got a wax so my hair down there is a perfectly manicured tiny little triangle.

I’m wearing stockings and a garter belt. The lady at the store was from England and she called them suspenders and not garters. I don’t know why I told you that except that I’m nervous waiting for Aaron to arrive.

Nervous for all the right reasons for the first time in my life.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I wanted to wait for him in the lingerie.

Just the stockings and the garter belt, you know.

No bra and no panties but just that. Well, I’m wearing jeans and a tee shirt because when Aaron gets here, I need him to see that I’m serious about making changes in my life and not just a silly girl who spreads her legs instead of thinking.

I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ll be spreading my legs tonight.

I can promise you that. You know why I can promise you?

Because he gave me his word if I still wanted it when his four days were over he’d do it.

He promised and I know he won’t even dream about breaking a promise.

Anyway, instead of meeting him without any clothes on, I cooked dinner and told him to come over as soon as he could.

And here I am freaking nervous!

How am I this nervous? I mean, I’ve been with so many guys and nothing ever made me so afraid as the thought of Aaron being disappointed in me.

And that realization shocks me. It really does.

Unlike any of the guys I’ve been with over these last few years, I care about what Aaron thinks.

I want to impress him, and in all the right ways.

My thoughts and fears are interrupted by a knock on the door. My heart starts pounding pretty hard and I look over everything one last time before I hurry over to answer the door.When I open it, I instantly feel my nervousness increase tenfold. “Come on in, Aaron.”

I can tell by the look on his face that he’s impressed with what he’s seeing as we step into the dining room. He looks over the set table and then, he takes a longer look around. “Wow, this is amazing, Kelsey. Everything looks beautiful.”

I actually blush when he says that. “Thank you. Now, sit down and I’ll go get the food. I’ve been cooking all day.”

He sits and I rush to the kitchen. I grab the first part of dinner, some soup and rolls, and walk back to the table.

He smiles when I set the food down. “Wow, this really looks tremendous. I’m not even eating yet and I can tell you are quite the cook.”

“I watch a lot of shows.”

“Well, it’s paid off.”

I smile and dinner starts. He exclaims about each dish, complementing the flavors and the tenderness of the steak and how the risotto is so creamy and tasty. I blush harder and harder. No one has acted so proud of me in a very, very long time.

I ask him about his job as a firefighter. “Did you always want to be one? Were you a little guy in school pretending to rescue the girl from the burning tower?”

He laughs. “No, actually. I wanted to be a singer, actually.”

My jaw drops. “Really? An actual record-making singer? You sing?”

He shakes his head. “Well, I thought I was pretty good at it when I was eight. I’m not so sure now.”

Now, I laugh. My goodness, it feels so good to be with this man. “Yeah, that’s okay. I wanted to be a jockey when I was little. I was really nuts about horses.”

“Hmmm, horses are okay, but I like the wilder animals.”

I give him a small smile. “Well, yeah, I’d guess you’d be all into tigers or something macho.”

He shrugs. “Tigers aren’t all that great either. I think the king of the jungle is a good choice.”

“Oh, okay, okay. So, you could be a lion tamer or something, huh?”

He gives me a weird look and then laughs again. “Well, I’m not the one talking about working with animals. Tell me more about wanting to be a jockey. How did you pick that one?”

“Well, I fell in love with it when I saw them running at a neighbor’s property. They were just so fast, you know, and my dad worked it out so that I got some riding lessons and, of course, I, well, I was just a typical preteen girl.”

I get stuck a moment in memories of dad watching me bopping up and down as I took Nanny Blue out for a spin. He had been such a cheerleader, even though I was not that great.

“Anyway, I also, at one point, wanted to be a ballerina and an astronaut. So, that’s how things go.”

“You still have a lot of time to make any of that come true.”

I nod and let his words go by without comment.

We finish eating and I clear the plates, insisting that he doesn’t help because that would defeat the purpose of proving my determination to change. Once everything is dealt with, I sit back down. “Well, I hope you enjoyed everything.”

“This dinner was absolutely amazing, Kelsey. I’m just so impressed.”

My blushing hits a new level. “Thank you, Aaron.”

And I decide I don’t want to wait anymore. I stand up from the table and walk over to his chair. I look down at this incredible man and whisper, “We have a deal.”

He doesn’t stop me as I slide onto his lap. I put my arms around his neck and lean in.

This time, he doesn’t block me or push me away. This time, as my lips meet his, he brings his hands up to hold me closer.

I think about the fact that I’m wearing just the lingerie under my tee shirt and jeans. No panties. No bra.

I think about his hands roaming over my body once my tee shirt and jeans are gone.

But mostly, I think about how nice it feels to be with him.