“Sure. I mean, why not? We’re neighbors, aren’t we?”
“Uh…yeah.” He conceded and came to take a seat on the couch, though he acted a little unsure of the situation. “I guess I can hang out for a few minutes.”
It wasn’t lost on me that I was treading in shark-infested waters. In two or three months, I’d be gone, and he’d be left with the real Tiffany Lewis. Befriending him was basically setting him up for failure. Although, I was lonely, and it was nice to have someone to talk to. Dave had promised to come and stay with me when he could, but that would only be for a few days at a time—a week at the most. I’d spent my entire life living with someone else, so being here all alone was a little unnerving. Truthfully, there was no way I’d survive without company of some kind.
“If you are your only friend”—maybe my joke hadn’t been lost on him—“does that mean you sent yourself a package?” He raised his brows and pointed to the box in my lap.
I checked the name of the sender and smiled. “No, it’s from my best friend, Dave.”
“Oh, thank God.” When he observed what I could only assume was a perplexed expression on my face, he shook his head and sniggered. “Earlier, you said Dave would be here soon, so I was concerned that you were cheating on your boyfriend. Unless, of course, his name is Davadam, and his close friends call him Dave while the public calls him Adam—to not confuse his fans. Either way, the last thing I need is to be in the headlines for some drama I’m not even involved in.”
I really needed to remember that I was supposed to be engaged.
“Nope, nothing like that at all. Dave has been my best friend since high school. Nothing to get mixed up in.” Needing to take my mind off the drama that I now called my life, I attempted to open the box, but unfortunately, I couldn’t cut through the tape without something sharp.
“Let me do that.” Jacoby took the package from me and pulled out a pocketknife. Once he’d gotten through the tape, he pulled back the flaps, prepared to return it to me. But at the last second, right before swapping it from his lap to mine, he froze, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.
I had no idea what Dave had sent me.
That was…until I heard the quiet hum coming from inside the box.
4
Jacoby
Never, in my wildest dreams, did I think I’d be sitting on a couch next to a supermodel with a box of vibrators in my lap.
“Lonely?” I asked, trying my best to bite back my laughter while handing her the box.
Tiffany’s cheeks were bright red, which only made it harder to fight off my smile. After our initial introduction, I felt she deserved a little humility. Unfortunately, I didn’t get what I wanted, because a second after her face flamed crimson, her embarrassment disappeared as quickly as it took her to clear her throat.
To my surprise, she calmly closed the flaps and set the package on the floor. Ignoring the dildo that continued to vibrate at the bottom of the box, she turned to me with a smile on her face. “Not anymore.”
Either I was in an alternate universe, or Tiffany Lewis was drunk. Or concussed. Actually, there was a good chance she was both, because the person next to me right now was not the same woman I met a month ago. No, that woman wouldn’t know humor if it had smacked her in the face.
Which was why none of this made any sense.
Not knowing how else to handle this situation, I quickly shook my head and ran my palm over my face to clear away the surprise she could surely see. “I guess I better let you have at it then, huh?”
I pushed off the couch and stood in front of her for a moment. Part of me wanted to stay and figure out this mystery, but the other part worried that she was on something and this would all come back to bite me in the butt later.
“Well, it was nice meeting you.” She almost sounded sad, as if she didn’t want me to leave. Again, this didn’t at all match up to the woman I’d met several weeks ago. It was too much to wrap my brain around.
“Uh, yeah. Nice meeting you, too.” I retreated a few steps toward the patio doors, and when she started to shift in her seat, I held my hand out and said, “Don’t get up. I’ll let myself out. I guess I’ll see you around.”
Her brow furrowed as confusion painted her expression.
There was something seriously off about this whole thing.
Instead of heading back to the main house—where my sister lived with her husband—I went straight to the pool house where I’d lived for the past eight months. It was small, but it had everything I needed. I wasn’t interested in anything bigger. After all, it was just me.
I’d gotten less than halfway into a movie when several harsh knocks resounded from the front door. Jessa never knocked—even though I’d told her many times that if she didn’t want to get an eyeful of something she’d never be able to forget, she probably shouldn’t walk in. And her husband, Marcus, always texted before showing up. Other than those two, no one ever stopped by, which was why it shocked me to hear someone at the door.
What was even more of a surprise was finding Tiffany on my front step. She held out a tray covered in foil, a smile stretching across her face. “I brought you some Pizza Rolls.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. She’d cooked the very thing I’d given her to ice her ankle and brought it over for me to eat. “Um, thanks…I guess. Any particular reason for your, uh, very generous offer?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say there’s a particular reason, more like a few.
