Girl Next Door (Complete)

Chapter 6: Sang

It was his eyes. If I had to pick one reason as to why I agreed to let my overly intrusive neighbor, Owen Blackbourne, into my house, that'd be it. The way they went from hard steel when he was angry, to those silver pools of molten lava as he begged me to let him help. Those are dangerous eyes. They have the power to bend me to their will. I'm not one to go down easy, and I will put up one hell of a fight. He wants in? I'll show him exactly who he's messing with. And then he'll leave. They always do.

"So, I'm planning on having this be my study, library thing. Whatever you wanna call it."

He walks into the room and takes a look around. Knocking on the walls, checking for whatever.

"It seems the realtor managed to keep the inside in good shape." He muses aloud. "I would guess that all the damage is cosmetic. A good coat of paint and some elbow grease is all the place really needs."

"I know," I tell him. "That's why I bought it. I've never been afraid of a little hard work. And this way I get a say on what happens here. The final say."

"You bought the place?" He asks surprised. "Fully?"

"Yeah. The lady lowered the price a bit so I could afford to stay someplace else while the work was being done, but I didn't really see the need if I could do it myself."

"I don't doubt that you could." He says with a miniscule smile. The right side of his mouth rising about a millimeter. "Although it would be faster with help. The windows are leaking air. I could fix it for you."

"Don't you have better things to do?" I ask, crossing my arms as I lean against the mantle. "You don't see a lot of twenty somethings in a suit in the middle of the workday, you know, not working."

"The suit is my choice," he smirks. "Not necessary in my line of work but I like it."

"And what exactly is your line of work? Mr. Blackbourne?"

"I help people."

"Like me?"

"Like you. And others like you."

"I assure you Mr. Blackbourne, there is no one like me."

"I'm beginning to think you're right Ms. Sang. Nevertheless, I can still help you. If you'll let me."

"I let you in didn't I?"

"That you did." There's that millimeter smile again.

"You'll need to lose the suit. Dirty work and all that. Do you even own anything other than a suit?"

"I assure you Sang, I have everything you need. To fix the house, that is."

Yeah I bet. Did he just flirt with me?"

"And you're sure you have nothing better to do?"

"I'm all yours."

"Well, in that case, you should go change. You can work on the fireplace while I start painting."

"You won't turn into a pumpkin while I'm gone?"

Did he just crack a joke?

"I'm pretty sure it's the carriage that turns into a pumpkin."

"Well I know the house won't transform. You I'm not so sure of."