Love Thy Neighbor by Sophie Wintner

great stand-in. I hope you had at least a little fun.”
    He looked at her and she saw something flicker behind his eyes. “It was my pleasure. Any time.”
    “Well…” She wanted to kiss him. God how she wanted to kiss him, but this wasn’t a date. And there was no Matthew standing off to the side watching. She had to stop before she made a fool of herself. So she smiled and dug inside her bag for her keys. “Good night.”
    “Good night, gorgeous.”
    Neither one of them made a move for their door.
    Finally she turned and was about to head inside when he reached for her, drew her into his arms, and held her, pressing his hard body up against hers. She turned to liquid right on the spot. He kissed her, and as she kissed him back, she ran her fingers through his glorious dark locks, savoring his tongue, which was so perfectly soft and warm and wet against hers.
    “I mean it,” he said, finally pulling back. “Any time you want to make your ex jealous, let me know.”
    After that explosive, passionate kiss, he leaned in and kissed the top of her head. “Good night, Nikki Norris.”
    It was all she could do to breathe, let alone say good night.
    As soon as she got into her apartment, Nikki leaned against the door, panting, trying to catch her breath. The last man to hold her, to kiss her that way, was Matthew. And if she was being perfectly honest, Matthew had never held her that way, had never kissed her that way. That friendly, neighborly good-night kiss, or whatever the hell it was, was the hottest thing she’d ever experienced.
    But then what was that peck on the top of her head all about? Did he get carried away when he kissed her on the lips, lost in the moment? Was he teasing her by kissing her with such passion? No, he wouldn’t do that. That would be cruel, and Dallas wasn’t cruel. Dallas was red-hot sexy, and hands down the best kisser on the planet.
    She closed her eyes, her legs still weak from his embrace. She slid down the length of door and brought her knees up close to her chest.
    She was in trouble.

Chapter Nine
    Dallas woke with a dream still fresh in his mind and a hard-on throbbing between his legs. A Nikki Norris��inspired hard-on. He reached his hand under the covers and gripped his cock, still aching from what had started the night before.
    The whole evening had turned out to be a surprise in more ways than one. He knew Nikki was beautiful, but when he stopped by her place earlier, he found himself face-to-face with a downright hot, sexy woman. And not in that over-processed model-like way. No, Nikki’s sensuality was natural, pure, coming straight from her core. The astonishing part about it was that Nikki wasn’t even aware of the vibe she gave off. It was effortless, irresistible.
    And the legs. The woman had those legs. They went on forever, especially in those high heels and that short dress. Oh man, that dress. It fit like it was painted on, and even if she didn’t believe it, Nikki had the body to pull it off. And her skin, luminous and so soft…he could have touched her all night long. He sighed, remembering the glow of her bare shoulders bronzed from her runs along the lakefront.
    When he had her in his arms on the dance floor, she made him downright dizzy. Those lips of hers were begging to be kissed. And her perfume teased him. Her hair had draped over his wrist like silk. All he’d wanted to do was kiss her. So he did, and it was the sexiest first kiss he’d ever had. He was still turned on just thinking about it.
    If she weren’t his neighbor, if she weren’t still hung up on her ex, if she weren’t such a sweet girl, he would have brought her back to his bed last night and fucked her till the sun came up.
    If that ex-fiancé of hers thought she was boring, it was only because he’d never fully explored her. Dallas was certain of that. He could sense that she’d never really been pleased sexually, had never really been fulfilled the way she deserved to be. She