Arrogant Neighbor: A Navy SEAL Romance by Kira Ward

more.”
    “Sloane…”
    “You let me treat you exactly how my dad’s been treating my mom all these years. You knew how I felt about that, and you let me do it to you.”
    “That was my choice.”
    “Yeah, well, now it’s mine. And I chose not to do it anymore.”
    I walked away, back to the passenger side of the car, and thankfully, he didn’t try to follow.

Chapter 17
    Major
    S he ignored me . Just completely ignored me except to politely introduce me to her friend. As though nothing had happened between us.
    I paced my apartment, unable to get those thoughts out of my head.
    How was it possible that a girl could get so completely under my skin so quickly? It’d been two weeks. She lived here two weeks and she was already driving me crazy.
    When I saw her standing there in the lobby, wearing that tight little skirt and that dark jacket, I wanted to grab her and drag her up the stairs. Take her into my bed and show her what I thought about the silent treatment she’d given me these last five days. If she’d been alone, I might have done exactly that.
    I kept telling myself it didn’t matter. She didn’t come knocking Sunday morning like I thought she would. I had a speech all planned, all the things I wanted to say to her about what had happened and what I would like to see happen. But she didn’t knock. She didn’t knock Monday, either. By Tuesday, I forgot what I’d intended to say. By then I was just pissed.
    I kept expecting to run into her, but I was still caught off guard to see her standing there in the lobby. And the way she looked at me, as if I’d done something to hurt her. That was what really got me. Looking at me like I wasn’t the one sitting around waiting for her.
    It was so fucked up.
    I went into the kitchen to find a bottle of something. I left the bourbon at her place and hadn’t gotten around to replacing it. There was a bottle of scotch stuck behind an old box of crackers. I poured a healthy slug and drank it in one swallow.
    Jack had called. He wanted to go out that night. For the first time in months, he had a free evening where he didn’t have to sneak out or go back to the office after a quick bite. And I told him no. But now I was wishing I hadn’t.
    I poured another drink, but before I could take a sip, someone knocked at the door. Must be Jack. He threatened to come by even though I told him not to bother. But it wouldn’t be the first time Jack had done something I told him not to.
    I jerked the door open, ready to tell Jack exactly what I thought of him, too. But the words died on my tongue.
    Sloane stood there, a new bottle of bourbon in her hand.
    “I, uh… I wanted to apologize,” she said.
    She stared at me through big, beautiful eyes that were rounded with anxiety. She looked as though she expected me to slam the door in her face. It was almost satisfying to see.
    I leaned against the door frame and crossed my arms over my chest to wait for whatever she had to say. I knew it was going to be good because I could see from the way she kept moving the booze bottle from hand to hand that she had a speech prepared.
    “I found out today that you weren’t the one who keyed my car. And I realized that I shouldn’t have assumed it was you in the first place. I was judging you, and that was completely unfair.”
    I could have put her at ease by saying something there. But I didn’t. I just kept watching her, enjoying her discomfort. It made up in some small way for the way I’d been feeling the past few days.
    “And I’m sorry I told the police that I thought it was you. I’m sorry they came here and talked to you. That was just wrong.”
    She kind of rolled back on her heels, the bottle again moving from one hand to the other and then back again. She stared down at the floor for a moment, then her eyes slowly came up to mine.
    “You did a kind thing for me the other night despite everything. I should have known then. I’m sorry it took me so long to figure it