The Man Next Door. GINA WILKINS

soon?”

      “Yeah, maybe we will.” He knew it would only take a word from him for that “sometime soon” to be that very night. If he’d had any sense at all, he’d have said that word right then, before she found someone else to have fun with that evening. But instead he made a lame excuse about wanting something to drink, and he wandered off to the bar, leaving Mike to entertain the women on his own.

      * * *

      Dani had just finished an assignment for a Monday-morning class when someone rapped on her door Sunday afternoon. Closing her notebook, she crossed the room and looked through the peephole, thinking her caller might be Mrs. Parsons.

      Seeing Teague in the hallway instead elicited her usual reaction; she ran a quick hand through her hair and glanced down to check that her chocolate-colored top and khaki pants were reasonably neat. For some reason Teague always made her conscious of her appearance, though she’d tried to put less emphasis on that during the past year.

      She opened the door. “Are you hungry again?”

      He chuckled. “No. Bored.”

      “And what am I supposed to do about that?”

      He gave her an enticing look similar to the one that had earned him a cup of hot chocolate and a sandwich just over a week earlier. “I thought maybe you’d like to go see a movie with me.”

      “Oh. I—”

      “It’s not a date,” he assured her. “I won’t be making any moves on you during the movie or afterward. I won’t even buy you popcorn, if that makes you feel any better. I just hate going to movies by myself and all my other friends already have plans.”

      It was hardly the most flattering invitation she had ever received—and yet it had the result of making her feel relatively comfortable about accepting. If Teague really didn’t see this as a date, or a preliminary to anything of the sort, then there was no real reason she should turn him down, right? If her own imagination got away with her during the evening—well, that was a problem she would deal with at the time.

      “Okay,” she said, because she could use a couple of hours of relaxation herself. “What movie do you want to see?”

      He looked both pleased and a bit surprised that she’d accepted so easily.

      “Just as friends,” she reminded him.

      Holding up a hand in an I-swear gesture, he nodded. “I hope you like action movies. I don’t do tear-jerkers.”

      “Neither do I. Give me an action movie any day.”

      His smile widened. “My kind of friend. How does the latest superhero film sound to you?”

      “From what I’ve heard, it’s got enough eye candy to keep us both entertained. Let me get my bag.”

      She heard him chuckle as she turned away, and if there was a hint of smugness in the sound, she chose to ignore it.

      Chapter Four

      “Wow. I hope I never do anything to annoy you.”

      Snapping his seat belt, Teague looked at Dani in surprise. “Why do you say that?”

      Strapped into her own seat, she exaggerated a shiver. “The look you gave that woman over the back of your seat. I could almost feel the cold waves coming off you. It’s no wonder she got up and nearly fell over herself trying to move to another part of the theater.”

      “She was kicking my seat. And text messaging through the first ten minutes of the movie. All that beeping wasn’t driving you crazy?”

      “Well, yes. And she was kicking my seat, too. I’m glad you got her to move. I’m just impressed that you did so without saying a word. All you had to do was turn and look at her and she bolted. Do they teach you that glower in FBI training?”

      He laughed and shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I just glared at her the same way anyone else would. She got the message that she was annoying us, so she moved. Which made it much easier to concentrate on the movie after that—not that there was much plot to keep up with,” he added wryly.

      “No. But it was entertaining, anyway,” she agreed. She didn’t bother to argue with his assertion that he didn’t look any more dangerous than anyone else. But he was wrong. As charming and friendly as Teague could be, when he turned serious, there was a definite air of danger around him.

      They talked about the movie for a couple more minutes, and then Teague asked, “Are you hungry? Because I could go for a burger.”

      “Yeah, sure. A burger sounds good.”

      He chose a locally owned restaurant that he swore made the best burgers in town. Since she’d never eaten there, she told him she would judge that after she’d had one.

      “I like the pepper jack burger, myself,” he advised as they slid into a booth. “With seasoned fries on the side.”

      “Hey, Teague.” A chubby bottle-blonde set a large glass of iced tea in front of him with a flirty smile. “Where’ve you been?”

      “Around. You’re looking good, Annie.”

      She patted his cheek. “Sweet talker. What can I get you to drink, hon?”

      Realizing the server was talking to her now, Dani replied, “I’ll have the tea, thank you.”

      “Coming right up.” Leaving a menu with Dani, Annie sashayed away.

      Dani looked at the selection of burgers and other casual food on the laminated menu. “Not a lot of low-cal options here.”

      “No. That’s not why people come here. Everyone deserves to be bad every once in a while, don’t you think?”

      She wondered if he was only talking about food, then decided she was trying too hard to read between his lines. “I suppose so. I’ll have the mushroom Swiss burger.”

      “Good choice. The onion rings are superb here. They make them with sweet onions and serve them with ranch dip.”

      Sighing as she thought of how many salads she was going to have to eat to make up for this meal, Dani said, “Then I’ll have to order them.”

      “Good. You can have some of my fries and I’ll take some of your rings. That way we get the best of both.”

      Setting the menu aside, she nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

      She was actually having a good time, she decided as they chatted a bit more about the lightweight film, of which the special effects had been the only particularly notable feature. It was nice being out with a man who seemed to want nothing from her but companionship. Friendship.

      She was under no pressure to try to impress him or please him. If, for some reason, he decided not to ask her to join him for another outing, she wouldn’t have to interpret it to mean that something was lacking in her.

      She wouldn’t date him, because he was just the kind of man who just might make her return to those unhealthy habits—but she could be his friend. She was taking a bit of a risk in letting him get even that close.

      Since she couldn’t deny the attraction she felt for him, she would have to be very careful.

      No problem, she assured herself, and then crossed her fingers beneath the table.

      During the next few days, Teague came to some very interesting conclusions about Dani. Her trust issues went even deeper than he had originally realized, and he had an uncomfortable suspicion that her wariness was based on experience. Had some jerk hurt her…? Physically, in addition to emotionally?

      She’d told him once in passing that she’d taken six months of self-defense classes when she’d first moved to the area, stopping only when her schedule had gotten too hectic. Even that fit into the pattern of a woman who had learned the hard way that she had to prepare