The only thing worse than having a hot neighbor you’re too intimidated to talk to is accidentally hitting his cat with your car. Felix Lane was perfectly content to spend the rest of his days with Sunny, his canary life companion, in their quiet little corner of the suburbs. But then Kirk Shoo with his unusual eyes moved in across the street, and Felix’s carefully constructed life is starting to unravel. When your every bad-boy fantasy lingers at the mailbox, stands too close and smells too damn good, what’s an under-appreciated administrative assistant to do? Besides sneak out the backdoor to go to work? But when Kirk’s cat runs out in front of Felix on his way home, he has no choice but to face the music and his dream man. Unless ... What starts as a tragic accident turns into something far more bizarre. And when Felix’s backyard begins to look like a pet cemetery, he has no choice but to come clean. That is, if he can manage to find his sexy neighbor at all.

Nine Stones

The clock was on sedatives. Felix spent the morning checking and answering emails, and it was the longest morning he’d ever lived through. He needed ice cream.


When it was forty-five minutes before his lunch break, he faked heading for the bathroom and snuck out the side entrance. The summer sun bounced off the glass walls of the office building and was trapped between the houses. It was hotter than a sauna and it would’ve forced him to take shelter in the ice cream place on the corner even if he hadn’t been heading there.


The bell chimed when he pushed the door open, and he breathed out a sigh of relief when the cool air embraced him. Before the door closed behind him, it was pushed open anew, and Felix feared it’d be someone from the office. Looking over his shoulder, he stared right at Kirk.


“Felix.” His voice was desert dry. The tight black T-shirt he wore revealed a large bruise on his neck and the longer Felix stared, the more scrapes and bruises he found.


Chapter 7