Tempting Marcus: Hallow Falls Series (Romance Bunnies)

My hands clench at my sides until I reach up and tug at the strands of my long brown hair.  “He’s an asshole.  An idiot.  A complete neanderthal.”  I repeat the litany of my complaints out loud, stomping across the street.

The beagle’s howling and baying echoes up and down our dark street.  It’s five in the morning and I have to be up in about an hour for work at the library and I’ve gotten shit for sleep thanks to the adorably fuzzy little bundle of fur that hasn’t shut up all night.  Although it does sound like it’s slowing down.

But seriously?  How the hell can anyone ignore that sound?  It’s echoing up and down our street, driving me insane and tunneling into my ears like a jackhammer to the head.  And that sexy asshole is probably sleeping like a fucking baby!

Wait…I pause with my fist in the air, my breath whooshing out hard.  No.  I do not find that man sexy.  Not at all.  He’s an annoying asshole.  With an amazing ass in those tight blue jeans that are so worn you can see every line of his body.

Shaking my head, I growl and stomp my foot like a two-year-old.  No!  Dammit, he is not hot.  Not sexy.  He’s a troll.  A troll that has eyes of the most gorgeous clear, sapphire blue, whispers in my head. They practically melt through my sensible work clothes every time I see him.

I turn away from that door.  There’s no way I’m gonna face him right now.  I’m too confused.  I’ll wait until he pisses me off so bad that I can’t help but wish he’d drop off the face of the earth.

“What’s up, neighbor?”  His dark, smoky voice behind me makes me jerk to a stop.  Steeling myself, I turn and face him.  Only to almost drop to the ground.

Oh my god!  That’s all that I can think.  Everything else is a blur of some kind of twisted lust rolling over me.  Marcus Gray is standing in front of me holding a travel mug of steaming coffee, his pouty lips about to take a sip as he lifts one dark brow, his blue eyes lasered on my disappearing body like he can see right through my clothes and he likes what he sees.

Why?  Why does my damn traitorous body react like this every time I get near this man?  The heat sliding into my bones and warming me until I’m almost fanning myself.

Which I will not do.  I stiffen my spine and throw a hand on my hip.  “Why the hell is that dog howling like a banshee?  It’s been going on all night!  Don’t you have any consideration for your neighbors?  I didn’t get a wink of sleep last night and I have to get ready for work now!  What on earth are you doing to that dog?”

The slow, sensual curl of his full lips has me gasping for air.  And self-control.

“That’s a lot to unpack there, Miss Garland!  Which part do you want me to answer first?”

“Any one of them as long as that dog doesn’t bark all night tomorrow night!  Because if I don’t get some damn sleep tomorrow, I’m gonna hunt your ass down and throttle you!”

A laugh bursts out of him.  “I can’t make any promises, G.  I’m crate training him.  And he doesn’t like it a bit.  But since he’s already eaten two pairs of shoes and so many damn pillows that I can’t even count them, he’s just going to have to live with it.”  His eyes meet mine.  “I guess you are too, G.  Sorry but I’m running out of shoes.  And pillows.  And countless other things he’s teething on.”

“Poor baby.”  For just a second my sensitive heart jumps in my chest.  That poor little dog.

“Wait.  You can’t leave him in a crate all day.  That’s just mean!”

“I’m not.”  He leans his back into the door and crosses his arms over his chest, coffee sloshing over onto his shirt and he hisses.  “Dammit!  Listen, I’ve got to go and change my shirt now.  But I’ll be back at lunchtime after the rain’s come through this morning and let him out into the yard.  That’s the best I can do.  I can’t promise more than that.  Hopefully he settles down soon.”  His eyes dance wickedly and I feel that traitorous tug in my lower belly again.  “I’d hate to interrupt your beauty sleep with the dog.”  His hot eyes slither down my body and I shiver everywhere they touch.  “Not that you need beauty sleep, G.  But if you have to get your sleep interrupted, I wish it’d be for something more fun than a dog barking.”

I hiss out a startled breath.  “You are an absolute neanderthal!  I don’t know why I bother talking to you.”

“Probably just can’t get enough of my gorgeous face.”

My mouth drops open and I gasp.  “You are disgusting.  Have a good day, Mr. Gray.”  I turn to stomp away.  “And stop calling me G!”

“Okay, Garland!  And I’ve asked you to call me Marcus!  We are neighbors, you know!”

Growling under my breath, I stomp over to my own house.  “No way in hell am I calling him Marcus!  I cannot even believe the nerve of that man!”

“Nice seeing you again, Garland!  I have to go change my shirt.  Unless you want to come watch!”

“Grrr!”  I slam the door of my house and fall back against it.  Screaming like a wild woman, I grit my teeth and then glance down, groaning even more.  My light t-shirt and boxer shorts are perfectly comfortable to sleep in but my nipples are puckered up and clearly visible under the pale t-shirt.

“I swear that man is going to drive me to drink.”  But now that I’m back in the house, I just want to run and head back to bed, put my head under the covers and pray that Marcus the deviant didn’t notice.

I’d bet money he did though.  That man is too observant for my own good.

Too observant, too sexy and too distracting.

All of that spells nothing but trouble for the sake of my sanity.  And my panties.