The Geek Next Door

Chapter One




Man, I am pathetic. Dylan Crane pushed his Buddy Holly glasses up his nose, took a sip of his beer and turned away from the window. The last thing he needed to do was watch his neighbor leaving for another date. In the two years he had lived in the townhouse complex, Erin hadn’t noticed him as a man. He was the geeky neighbor. The guy who watered her plants and fed her cat. Not the object of her lust.

The purring of a sports car pulling away from the curb let Dylan know that Erin and her date had left for the evening. A typical Saturday night, Erin was out on a date with a poster boy for up–and-coming-corporate-exec.com and he sat at home with his Star Trek reruns. How had he let things come to this?

He had plenty of money and he was a reasonably good-looking guy, or so he’d been told. He could get a date. The problem was the more time he spent with Erin as friends, the more he wanted her to be his alone. Other women just didn’t hold the same appeal. The idea of suffering through a mind numbing date just to say he did seemed ridiculous.

The steady clicking of the clock on the mantel mocked him with its constant reminder of how long Erin had been on her date. What was she doing? Was the suit enjoying her curves in that sinful dress?

Dylan growled. God, I need to get a life. Slipping his feet into his sneakers, he grabbed his ID and house key. A nice long run ought to take his mind off Erin and her date. He slammed the door shut behind him.

His feet pounded on the pavement. The heat from the Las Vegas desert instantly made him sweat. In minutes his shirt would be soaked. For the first couple of miles thoughts of Erin plagued him, but by mile three his mind emptied and he hit the zone. An hour later, he rounded the corner of his block, tired, relaxed and feeling completely less pathetic. Until he saw Erin slamming the door of the BMW roadster she had left in only a couple of hours ago. Her date scrambled out of the car and chased her up the walkway. Dylan pushed himself harder, racing to get to his house. When he reached the driveway, he could hear their conversation.

“I told you to leave,” Erin told her date.

“Come on, you know you were sending out the vibe.”

“Yeah, ’cause I’m just stupid enough to think a five star meal is worth a roll in your bed.” She placed her hands on her hips, outlining her curvy body in the spectacular blue dress. “I’m worth a hell of a lot more than that.”

The smarmy suit stepped toward her, his jaw clenched. Anger emanated off his body.

“Hey, Erin,” Dylan called, making his presence known. She visibly relaxed when she saw him and a fist clenched in his chest. She was magnificent, strong and confident.

“Hi Dyl. My date was just leaving.”

“Whatever.” The suit waved his hand in the air and turned on his heel to storm back to his fancy car.

Dylan didn’t take his eyes off the man until his car peeled away from the curb. With the loser gone, he turned his attention back to Erin. “Looks like your date went well.”

“Yeah, it was a real hit. I should know better than to date an investment banker. In my experience, they’re all about the bottom line.” She shook her head sadly. “I don’t know why guys think just because they paid a lot for your date, you owe them payment.”

“Not all guys think like that, Erin. Maybe you’re dating the wrong kind of guys.”

She didn’t answer then raised her head to look at him. “How was your run?”

He looked down at his soaked gray T-shirt. “It was good, but I need to hit the shower.” He moved to walk past her but the sadness on her face pulled him up short. “Look, why don’t you change into something more comfortable and come upstairs for a movie? I’ll leave the door unlocked while I jump in the shower.”

Her eyes widened hopefully. “I won’t be interfering with your plans?”

“Nah. You know me. The life of a computer guy, it’s action packed.”

She laughed. “If you’re sure?”

“Of course. But bring some microwave popcorn, since I think we ate the last of mine after your last dating disaster.”

She touched her hand against his damp T-shirt, and he was surprised steam didn’t fly off it. “Thanks Dyl. You’re a great friend. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

Right, friend. Story of his life. He certainly didn’t feel like her “friend” with her warm touch on his body. He clenched his stomach muscles, praying she’d finally notice him. Her hand rubbed against him and a surge of hope shot through his body. Finally.

“No problem.”

She dropped her hand from his stomach. Damn, he really wished she’d kept it there.

“See you upstairs.”


* * * *


When Dylan came out of the bathroom, he followed the sound of popcorn popping in the kitchen. The sight of Erin with her hair pulled back in a pony and her flannel pj’s in his kitchen almost stopped his heart. He should be used to it by now, but every time it hit him square in the chest.

What kind of perv was he that flannel pajamas with cows on them did it for him? He walked into the kitchen and gave her pony a little tug. “Love the jammies.”

A blush stole up her cheeks. “Thanks.” She busily grabbed some napkins and placed them beside the soda on the counter. “Popcorn’s almost ready.”

“Sounds good. What movie did you want to watch tonight?”

She glanced at him. “I noticed Avatar on your coffee table. I haven’t seen that yet.”

Dylan’s mouth dropped open. “How can you not have seen Avatar?”

Her blue eyes glittered with amusement. “Sorry, I’m not the sci-fi geek you are. Three hours in a theatre just didn’t appeal.”

“But still? How could you not have rented it the second it came out?”

She laughed and raised her hands in the air. “I don’t know. I just don’t get the whole thing.”

“Oh.” He grabbed his heart. “You’re killing me. Well, you are in for a treat.”

Dylan put the movie in and flopped down on the couch beside Erin. As the movie progressed, she curled into him like she always did. Part of him loved that he got to hold her against his body. The other part hated that she had relegated him to this friend role where she was comfortable cuddling him as if he was asexual, while he was battling a hard on.

When the movie finished, Erin sat upright, her eyes glazed with excitement. “That was freakin’ incredible.”

He laughed. “I know. I told you.”

“No seriously, Dyl. I can’t believe you didn’t drag me to the theatre to watch that with you a hundred times.”

“The way you lounge out when you watch movies, I don’t think I could handle seeing it in the theatre with you.”

She smacked his arm. “Ha-ha. I’m so going to buy that movie, so I don’t have to bug you all the time to borrow it.”

“You know, Erin, I think deep down you’re a closet sci-fi junky just like me.”

She pushed back to the edge of the couch. “I don’t think so.” Her voice sounded as if the very idea was appalling.

“I dare you to come with me to the sci-fi convention at the end of the month.”

“A sci-fi convention? Are you kidding? I can’t believe they even have those.”

“This is Vegas, Erin. They have everything.”

She chuckled. “God, could you imagine.”

His back stiffened. When Erin grimaced, he realized he must look as offended as he felt.

“Oh God, Dyl. I’m sorry. I just meant...crap.” She ran her hand over her face. “I just have never really seen myself at something like that. I’m more of a closet Trekkie.”

“Yeah, that’s just it. You’re a Trekkie. Whether you like to admit it or not. I know it’s just not cool to be into that kind of thing, but I think you’d have fun if you actually went.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. “All right. I’ll go to your nerd convention, if you go with me to my office party on Friday night. I was supposed to go with Roger but clearly that’s not going to work out.”

“Roger? Is that the asshole from tonight?”

“Yep.”

Dylan rubbed the back of his neck. “Office party? So, suits, right?”

She nodded. “Afraid so.”

He hated suits and don’t even get him started on ties. The things were devices of torture. “I don’t really fit in with your work crowd.” He could already feel the tie strangling him.

She clapped her hands together. “Don’t worry, we’ll go shopping. You’ll look perfect.” She gripped his arm with both of her hands. “Come on, Dyl. After tonight’s disaster, I don’t want to show up alone, but I also really don’t want to have to deal with the whole octopus thing at a work function. Please. I need you.”

I need you. Shit, there was no way he could say no to that. “Fine, I’ll go, but if I have to dress up for your work thing and do the whole makeover, you’re dressing up for the convention.”

“Oh, no.”

Dylan raised his eyebrows. “You need me to go with you and not stand out then I need the same.” He mirrored her pose and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, how badly do you need me to go with you?”

“Shit,” she muttered. “Fine, but I get to pick your outfit.” She pinned him with her lawyer look and he knew there would be no negotiating.

“Deal.”

“Thanks, Dylan. I really appreciate you doing this for me.”

She smiled at him, and he had never seen her look so vulnerable before. From somewhere deep inside him a primal urge to protect her swept through him. He pulled her into a hug. Her arms wrapped around his waist, and she rested her head against his chest. How could she not feel how right this felt? He carefully shifted his hips back so they weren’t touching from the waist down. The last thing she needed was to feel his erection.

“So, maybe Wednesday night after work we could go shopping and grab some dinner.” Her head lifted off his chest to look up at him.

Everything in him wanted to kiss her. Unable to speak, he just nodded.

She squeezed him tighter. “Perfect.” With one final squeeze, she stepped back. “I should head to bed. Thanks for tonight. I can always count on you.”

“No problem.”

He walked Erin to the door and watched until she made it inside her place.


* * * *


Rushing home from work Wednesday, Erin quickly changed out of her business suit and knocked on Dylan’s door. When he didn’t answer right away, she peeked inside. “Hello? Dylan?”

“Hey Erin, come on in,” he called from deep inside the house.

Following the sound of his voice, she stopped dead when she saw him. Dylan stood at the kitchen sink, a bottle of water in one hand, sweat running down his glistening chest into the band of his sweat shorts.

Who knew he had abs like those? Wow! Guys who sat at a desk all day were supposed to have pot bellies, not six-packs. Mmmm, she wanted to lick the line between his abs.

Where the hell had that thought come from? When she finally pulled her eyes off of Dylan’s stomach, she cringed. Judging by the redness of his face, her ogling had embarrassed him.

“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d be by already. I just finished my run.”

“No...no problem,” she croaked, her tongue suddenly too big for her mouth.

“Just let me grab a quick shower and then we can head out. Help yourself to a drink or anything.”

Dylan walked past her. The smell of hot male tickled her nose. God, he smelled good. It was all she could do not to sigh. Her eyes followed him as he walked down the hall.

“I’ll be quick,” he called and closed the bathroom door.

Want me to wash your back? Geez, she had to get it together. This was Dylan. Clearly it had been too long since she’d had sex if she was lusting after him. Although, if she’d known he looked like that under his clothes, she might have had a few impure thoughts before now. She’d always thought he had nice arms, but she’d never imagined he’d have that kind of definition.

It was probably for the best that she’d never allowed herself to imagine it. Dylan was her best friend in the world. She would never want to do anything to jeopardize that.

Erin grabbed a book off the coffee-table to entertain herself while Dylan showered. Computer programming, just a little light reading. Not. She flicked on the television and immersed herself in reruns of America’s Next Top Model.

“I can’t believe you watch that crap.” Dylan’s voice intruded through her mind-numbing focus on the TV.

She blinked and turned her head. Oh God. She winced. His outfit was worse than she’d expected. His baggy cargo shorts had seen better days but his T-shirt. Where would you even find something like that? The green monstrosity had a big bug with a nail going through it and the caption read “bug fixed”. It was horrible. And don’t even get her started on his hair. Would it kill him to use some product? This might take longer than she’d thought.

“Dylan, I love you dearly. But man, your wardrobe needs work,” she said with a smile.

“Hmpff.” He twisted his lips into a fake scowl, before he broke into a grin. “So where are we off to?”

“Better hit the Boulevard so we have some choices. As soon as we hit the mall our first stop is the hairdresser.”

Dylan fingered his dark blonde locks. “What’s wrong with my hair?”

Erin couldn’t help herself. She rolled her eyes at him. “Don’t even get me started.”

“Ouch.”

“Sorry Dylan, but...” She swept out her hand. “How can you be so successful and dress like this?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. The people I work for know I can do the job and that’s what matters. Why would they care what I wear?”

“Because image is important. People buy image.”

He flashed her a huge smile. “Exactly. I’m a computer guy. So I fit in perfectly.”

“Grrr.” She wrinkled up her nose at him.

He laughed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder to propel her out of the townhouse. “Come on let’s go play dress-up.”


* * * *


Dylan stood outside the hair salon with a look on his face as if he was going to face an executioner. She bumped him with her hip. “Let’s go.”

His fingers absently rubbed his head. “You sure we need to do this?”

“It’s a haircut Dyl, not surgery.”

“I know. I just don’t want to come out looking like one of those uptight losers you date.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the salon. Erin followed him when he plunked down in the chair and explained to the stylist exactly what she was looking for. Dylan sat there dumbstruck. She patted him on the shoulder. “I’ll be back in a bit. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands.”

Dylan glanced at the hairstylist’s pink hair and made a face. Erin laughed. Okay, the girl did have wild hair, but she wouldn’t be allowed to work in this salon if she didn’t know how to cut hair well. “Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

The grin he gave her was tight, as if it hurt his face.

When he finally walked out of the hair salon, she gasped. “Holy shit.” She stood up and couldn’t stop herself from touching his hair. “Wow, Dylan, you look hot.”

His head jerked back. His eyes darkened. Erin sucked in a breath at the heat on his face. He’d never looked at her with that kind of intensity before. Occasionally she’d seen a covert glance and ignored it for the sake of their friendship, but this? This said he wanted to fuck her right now. It was so not a look he had ever given her. She fought the urge to lean in and press her body against his. Realizing how close they were standing, she stepped back. The look of lust was gone from Dylan’s face so quickly, she thought she’d imagined it.

“What exactly is this shindig for?”

“Just a social with the partners and some of our top clients.”

“So I have to wear a suit?”

She stepped back and tried to look at him objectively. “You know a suit would look great. But I don’t want you to be uncomfortable or look it. So maybe just a nice shirt and pants.” She eyed his God awful flip-flops. “And clearly some new shoes are in order as well.”

He looked down and stuck his foot out to eye the offensive shoe. “What’s wrong with my shoes? It’s the frickin’ desert. Everyone wears flip-flops.”

“That’s true, but not everyone wears those flip-flops.” He was the weirdest contrast, somewhere between a California beach bum and a nerd. She shook her head, either way it wasn’t fashionable.

“Lead the way.” He bowed. “I put myself in your capable hands, but you are going to owe me for this.”

Being with Dylan was always so much fun, his easy laid back style allowed her to relax and just enjoy herself. As they walked through the mall to Macy’s, Erin casually checked him out. Who knew hair could make such a big difference in a guy? Even with his dorky outfit, he looked considerably better. “Any chance you have contacts?”

“What?” He rolled his eyes. “Oh come on, Erin. I can’t even wear my glasses to this thing?”

She batted her eyelashes at him and smiled, hoping it would earn her some suck up points. “Please.”

“Gawd, whatever, it’s just drinks and yes, I have contacts.”

“Well, actually it’s a dinner and maybe some dancing and schmoozing with some of our top clients.” She grimaced. “So it’s kind of a ‘dress to impress’ type of thing.”

“This just gets better and better.”

She linked her arm with his and pulled him into the menswear department. Erin immediately began grabbing pants and shirts for Dylan to try on. With his arms full of clothes, she pushed him toward the change room. Ignoring his grunts and dragging feet, she smiled to herself. Typical male when it came to shopping.

He was such a good guy, she was lucky to have him as a friend. Friend being the operative word. So what the hell had the lust been about earlier? In all the time they had lived next door to each other, she had never allowed herself to see Dylan as anything other than her friend, a guy she loved hanging out with to watch movies and laugh. Today had been a complete aberration. She was still trying to figure out just what the hell that had all been about when Dylan stepped out of the change room.

The sight of him was like a punch in the gut. Shit, guess it wasn’t an aberration after all. Wow.

Erin stepped closer and twirled her finger so Dylan would spin. Look at that ass. Holy shit. Geeks weren’t supposed to have asses like that. She just wanted to bite it, it looked so scrumptious. Why had she been ignoring how damn sexy he was all these years?

“Well?” Dylan asked. His nose wrinkled up in distaste.

“The pants are a good fit, but I think a flat front would be better. Did I hand you some of those?”

“Flat front? What the hell does that mean?”

She growled. “Honestly, Dylan, you are completely hopeless at all this.”

“Yeah, why do you think I never wear this crap?”

She ducked into the change room and handed him a pair of black flat front Calvin Klein pants. “Try these and can you button that shirt?”

“Do I need to be able to breathe at this function?”

She laughed. “Very funny, Smartguy. I’ll grab you a bigger size.” She weeded through the piles of dress shirts and snagged a black Hugo Boss. She tossed it over the top of the change room door. “Try that. And let me see when you have them both on.”

“Yes, Mom.” Dylan groaned through the door. “God, I hate shopping.”

He stepped out of the change room a moment later all in black. “Wow.” Erin sighed.

Dylan’s eyes widened and he looked down at his outfit. “Really? Wow?”

She nodded and twirled her finger again. He turned around to show her his back. Yummy.

With a shake of her head, she tried to snap herself out of the sensual haze surrounding her. She could not stop picturing him naked. Why was it they’d always just been friends again? Right, because she needed him as her friend. He kept her sane.

All right, so friends. She could do this. Erin took a deep breath and slipped back into professional mode. She adjusted the shoulder seam and smoothed her hand down the fabric. “This fits really well.”

Dylan shuddered beneath her touch and all professionalism went out the window. Awareness hovered around them.

Her stomach flipped at the intensity of his look. To hell with just being friends.