The Neighbor

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning to a pounding on the door, and started wondering why someone would be up this early on a Saturday morning. After sitting up and doing a little morning stretch, I headed to the front door, hot mess and all. As soon as I opened the door, I wish I hadn't.

There he stood; all tall, dark and handsome. I almost thought I was dreaming for a second. As soon as he saw me, a little smirk played at the corner of his mouth, due to my appearance. Or at least that's what I thought it was there for. I stumbled for the words to say; half because they wouldn't come out, and half because of the morning breath that I knew would knock him out if he got just one whiff of it. Finally, after a minute of just staring at each other, his deep, manly but sexy voice broke the silence.

"Hi." He said, smiling a beautiful crooked smile; a smile that took my breath away.

"H-hi. I replied back when I finally found my voice. Why did he do this to me? I usually don't get this nervous in front of guys. What made him any different?

"So I was in the neighborhood," I chuckled a little at the irony, "and I thought I might just come by and officially introduce myself." He held out his hand for a handshake, only it took me a moment to realize what he was doing. When I finally connected the dots, I shook his hand. It was so big compared to my tiny hands that it ate mine right up. But his skin was so smooth and warm against mine, that I just didn't want to let go. "I'm Damien, Damien Salazar." Even his name sounded sexy.

After an awkward minute of shaking his hand, I reluctantly pulled my hand away; the feeling of his in mine still lingered. "I'm Isabella Adams." I replied with a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you!" He grinned in response, showing his perfect, pearly whites. I couldn't help but smile back. "I also wanted to come over and invite you and your roommate to a party I'm having tonight at 9. I would give you my apartment number, but I'm sure you have already figured it out." He said with a wink. How embarrassing. I could feel the red rise to my cheeks. His answering smirk proved that he could see my face transition into tomato red once again.

I let out a nervous laugh before I replied. "Umm, thanks, but I'm going to have to get back to you on that." I answered. It's not that I didn't want to go; it's just that that's not my scene. I've never been to an actual party before, other than birthday parties, so I didn't know how I felt about it.

"Ha-ha, okay, well if you change your mind, you know where to find me." His answering smirk sent butterflies to my stomach. Before I could say anything else, he turned and walked down the stairs. He even has a beautiful backside. What is WRONG with me? How could this one guy, that I just met, have this hold on me already? I need to do some hardcore praying, because lust is definitely out to get me, and his name is Damien Salazar.

"Good morning Bells!" Mari said as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee.

"Ello puppet!" I answered as I flipped through a magazine at the kitchen table. I drank the last of my coffee then got up to put it in the dishwasher when I saw a figure out of the corner of my eye. I turned and saw Damien just as he was heading back into his apartment. How long had he been out there? I shrugged that thought off but then got reminded of our earlier conversation.

"Hey Mari?" I asked as I sat back down to join her at the table.

"What's up?" She questioned in return.

"So, guess who stopped by here earlier this morning?" She looked right up from the same magazine I was looking at not too long ago, with wide eyes. I thought they were going to pop out of her head.