The Boy Next Door

Chapter 10 - brushes and blushes

Sniff. Sniff. Whine. Sniff. Sniff. Paw. Whine. Lick.

I blinked awake from Mit climbing over my head and licking my ear. Letting out a startled groan I sit up blinking to a mug of something in my face. Letting my eyes adjust I look at the hand that held it then to the arm, body then finally looking at Mark.

"Morning sleepy head." He says in a low groggy manner. He seemed as awake as I felt. Not at all.

I look at the mug and scoot over to pat the bed. "Coffee?" I question as I eye the dark liquid infront of me. "Yeah. Not sure if it's your thing-"

I raised my hand as I sipped the bitter liquid. Nope. Ew. Still hated coffee. I make a sour face as Mark chuckles watching me as Mit fell into his lap. "Not a fan I see." I shake my head "I can only do hot cocoa, chai tea, tea or white coffee." I say softly "but thanks. That was sweet of you." He takes the mug from my hand and places it on the side table. "How did you sleep?" He asks playing with Mit before he jumped off him and onto the ground where Tim was attacking my shoe.

"Like a baby... then again I'm a heavy sleeper." I say softly. He nods as he looked down. "I had fun yesterday... thanks for that." He says honestly his expression a mix of sleepiness and happiness.

I nudge him. "What are neighbors for?" I say before coughing to adjust my morning voice. "Besides... I had fun too." I reply as I sit up against the wall. The room was quite for a moment as we both watched the dogs play with my shoes.

I felt a small brush against my fingers as I look down his hand was right next to mine. The mere touch of his hand brought a wave of heat thorough my body, making my mind wander again.

Calm down Alana...

I had to remind myself as he turned and looked at me only to look at our hands so close to one another. He parted his lips for a moment, our eyes meeting.

"TAKE ME DOWN TO YOUR PARADISE!" We jumped hearing my phone go off, the Demi lavato song blaring as I pulled away and fumble with my phone on the nightstand. "H-hello?"

I felt my cheeks were hot again as I stared at the carpet. It was Intresting. Very intresting. 'Dont look at me anymore Mark! Look at what your doing to my heart!' "So we need you to come to the office. Is that ok?"

I paused being pulled back to reality by my boss. "S-sorry. Can you repeat that? I didn't hear you Greg." I could hear shuffling papers on the other side. " We are having a meeting Monday with the big wigs. I was hoping you could come in and finish those samples?" I nod slowly looking up at mark who moved to the ground and was playing with the twins. "Y-yeah. I can come in... it's not a problem. I just have to make a few adjustments to three of them then print. I'll put them on your desk for you..."

I heard a sigh of relief as I got up from the bed. "Your a god send. I swear." I smiled fixing my bun. "You owe me." I tease. "I'll see you soon." I nod "yep. See you soon." Tapping my phone off I look up. "Yeah for corporate... working on a weekend." I sigh taking my shoes and putting it on. "I better get going." Mark gets up and nods "I guess... if you want I can watch Mit... then after work..." I pause "I'll owe you dinner. How about that?"

I seemed to have just taken his idea because he seemed to pause longer than. Normal. "Sounds perfect." He says with a smile. "Almost like we are a old married couple." He says as he scoops the pups up and heads out leaving me gripping my robe.

Old married couple. Does that mean he could see us as a couple?! Right? That's what that means. I'm not making it up. Right? Right?!

I headed out after that. Ran to my apartment and showered and changed. Then headed to work.

I couldn't concentrate at all while I was there. My mind drifting to Mit and Tim.....and most of all. MARK.

"You seem diatracted." The voice startled me making me jump as I looked at my boss. "I-i" he smiles "boyfriend?" He mused as I immediately shook my head. "No! No! New puppy... got him yesterday." I say softly "I know you allow pets... so I was hoping to start bringing him in once he was trained." Greg nods as he brushes out his Santa Claus beard. "Remember you have to have a training certificate for puppies." I nod. "I know.. I know.." I say softly.

"So how far are you?" He says motioning to the illustrator document I had open. "I just need to print them out." He nods "just add them in the drop box. I'll take care of the printing." He says as I smile "Go get back to your boyfriend. I mean... new puppy."

I felt my cheeks brighten as I turned away and started doing as he said. Greg was my boss. A 56 year old man who reminded me of Santa claus. He was like everyones favorite grandfather around the office. But he always seemed to know how to ruffle everyone's feathers with his comments.

I was falling hard for Mark. And I knew that. Lots of his fans do. The only difference was I was the girl next door to him. I had to not screw this up.