How?

“Two, Mickey,” my mouth said.

Well, that was how not to get out of it.

Shit.

He nodded, swept his eyes through the room and called a general, “Later.”

Then he disappeared, closing the door behind him and his daughter.

It barely clicked before I found my body shifting an inch to the right at the same time I felt a piercing pain in my ribs, all because Alyssa had elbowed me and did it hard.

I looked her way in surprise.

She waggled her eyebrows, saying, “Mickey?”

“I like this,” Josie said softly and I looked to her to see she did like it. A lot.

“I don’t like it, I love it,” Alyssa declared, and my eyes went back to her. “Mickey Donovan. The Irishman. Total score,” she decreed.

If this was that, she would not be wrong.

However, this was absolutely not that.

“We’re neighbors,” I told them both.

“Neighbors where one of you has boy parts and one of you has girl parts,” Alyssa pointed out suggestively and unnecessarily.

“Yes,” I agreed, also unnecessarily. “But his kids will be there.”

Alyssa’s grin got big. “All the better. Though, not about the boy-girl parts. Just about the invitin’ you over with the family part.”

“No, Alyssa,” I said softly. “I’m a neighbor. Just a neighbor. Sure, a female one, but this is how it goes,” I began to explain. “You’ll never know it because you and Junior look at each other like you’re passing in the halls in high school on a Friday afternoon and you have a hot date planned that night so you’ll never have to do this. But if this was a neighbor with boy parts and one with girl parts scenario, I’d meet his kids probably in six months after we spent six weeks planning for that particular meeting.”

“This is, unfortunately, true,” Josie murmured.

I nodded, even though I wasn’t fond of her confirming. She didn’t need to. “So this has nothing to do with boy and girl parts. This is just Mickey being a good guy.”

“Bet, you go over there with cleavage, his good guy will get better,” Alyssa suggested.

I shook my head but did it grinning.

Josie snapped, “It’s hardly appropriate for her to wear cleavage in front of Mickey’s children.”

Alyssa looked to Josie, raising her brows. “Why? I wear it front of my kids.”

“They’re your children, Alyssa, with your children you can do what you wish,” Josie pointed out. “And if something were to happen between Amelia and Mickey, and the children got used to her and she became a part of their family, then she could do what she wishes.”

“Oh…right,” Alyssa muttered.

“Anyway,” I cut in. “It’s nothing to get excited about. Just brats, chicken and relaxing with a new neighbor.”

“Bummed,” Alyssa kept muttering. Then she perked up. “Though, means you’re good to go on the prowl, which means we can go on the prowl with you.”

On her we, she elbowed Josie, who didn’t shift an inch to the side, but she did glare at Alyssa.