Grabbing the groceries out of the car, I hold as many as I can. It's my goal to make as few trips as possible. Struggling up the drive to get my keys out. Which, honestly, was poor foresight on my behalf. The groceries shift in my arms, and I try hard to keep them from falling.

A voice starts me from behind.

"Hey, let me help you."

It belongs to a handsome stranger that came out of now where with black hair coming over his ears and to the nape of his neck. Icey blue eyes hide underneath. He brushes his hair to the side and I notice black studs  in his ears, spider bites on the left side of his lip, and a little bit of scruff. His style reminds me of a pirate in a way.

Helping me with some of the bags that are trying to fall, he smiles and I do the same.

"Thank you." My words come out instantly.

I make it to the door a lot easier with his help. About to open it before the realization hits that I should probably warn him of Spirit before he's taken off guard.

"Hey, we have a dog that might come up to you and bark, but she won't bite you. Not unless you try to hurt me that is."

Laughing off the last part, it didn't occur to me until after making a joke about it.

Oh, crap. what if he does try to hurt me?

 'You're just being paranoid.'

Trying to brush it off, he doesn't seem like someone who I should be nervous about. At least not yet.

He gives me a charming smile.

"Then, I should be good. How could anyone think of harming someone so beautiful."

His words make me blush, so I turn back to the door and open it. As stated before, I'm very not used to attention from men. At least not men who aren’t being creepy in the way they show you attention. Especially not those who I wouldn't think would be interested in me. Don’t get me wrong, I don't classify myself as unattractive, but I do have flaws. A little weight being one of my biggest insecurities, and others are ones people have to get to know me before noticing them as much as I do.

As soon as the door opens, Spirit comes running as expected. She spots the stranger and begins to growl.

Does she know something is off about this guy that I didn't sense?

Kneeling, he speaks calmly to her.

"Hey, girl. It's okay, you can trust me."

His gaze looking up at me on his last words, I'm not sure what it is behind his eyes that I’m seeing. Nothing bad, at least not enough to be noticed.

Putting the groceries in the kitchen, he's right behind me. Spirit no longer seems agitated by his presence, but she also seems to avoid him. Not something of much surprise since she's used to mostly females coming over.

Wanting to thank him more for helping me, I offer a drink.

"Would you like a drink?"

His tone teasing, "Although I would love to take you up on the offer, isn't it a little early for drinks?" he smirks to show that he’s making a joke.

Giving a faint grin myself, I begin to trip over my words.

"I, I didn't mean. What I, what I meant."

Grabbing a breath helps me to stabilize my words.

"Would you like some coffee or something?"

Leaning himself against the counter, he keeps the same flirtatious tone when responding.

"That would be nice actually.”

I grab the stuff down to make a pot of coffee while he continues the conversation.

“The name’s Kalston by the way, and yours would be?"

Putting grounds in the coffee maker, I respond to his question.

"Madison, but most call me Maddy."

"But, why? Madison, your name’s beautiful, so who would want to shorten it?"

Having my back to him, I can't help but blush again.

What is with this guy?

Having someone’s attention is one thing, but this whole flirting thing is something else. I can't tell if this charm is his usual behavior, one I tend to do myself with those I'm comfortable with in a way to lighten the mood, or if he is actually into me. Probably the former of the two since we just met only a few minutes ago.

Deciding to use the same tactics he is, I make sure to put a wall up so as to not let him in on my true feelings for him.

It's time to see what game he's playing.

Not all, but most that use this kind of charm are trying to get something they want. If that's the case for him, I'm not entirely sure if his random rescue was really all that random.

Turning back to him, I lean on the counter only a few inches away from his face.

"Well then Kalston, I guess you can call me by my full name then. So, what brought you to my rescue?"

He pauses for a moment before giving me a half grin and answering.

"I saw through my window that you were struggling, and  thought helping you would be the neighborly thing to do."

Neighborly? He must be the new residence next door. Was he the one watching me last night, or was it no one as I originally thought?

"Neighborly huh? So, that means we'll be seeing each other quite often then. I guess there are worse faces to see on a consistent basis."

Watching his half grin go full-mast, I turn back to put the groceries up before the frozen start to defrost.

Coming up behind me, I feel his presence roughly a couple of feet away.

"Do you need help with that?"

Continuing with what I'm doing, I answer.

"It will be easier if I do it since you don't know where anything goes, but thank you."

Feeling his presence walk back towards the counter, I let go of the tension I didn't know I was holding. It shows me that this situation is making me more anxious than I originally thought.

I hope he doesn't notice.

Once groceries are put up and coffee done brewing, I grab out two mugs.

"How do you like yours?"

Kalston quiet for a moment, "Black with just a little bit of honey." his request takes me by surprise.

I don't know any other person besides myself who drinks their coffee with honey. It's one thing Bailey has messed with me about a few times in the past.

Handing him a mug, I make sure that it's one of mine. A sunflower design with Proverbs 31:25 & 26 on it, Bailey would kill me if I let some stranger drink from one of her mugs.

Continuing with trying to get to know him, my curiosity has grown even more with the knowledge that he's our new neighbor. That bit of information still doesn’t change my stance of caution with him though. If anything, it increases it.

"What do you do for a living?" I ask to start the exchange of information again.

His response comes quick, "I'm a freelancer. I do a few different things, but mostly a reporter." it leads me to believe that it's the truth.

Shifting the question back at me, "What do you do?" it's a natural shift in conversation.

"I'm a freelancer too. I write a blog, so I guess in a way you could say that our jobs are similar."

His demeanor shifts slightly before going back to his same nonchalant attitude.

"Indeed, they are."

I'm unsure what about my response caused his shift.

Am I being too bold about saying our jobs are similar? We both write about things that people are looking for information on.

Reporters and bloggers aren't all that different. If anything, they are more similar than they are different. Though some aren't ones to have truth behind their writing, that goes for both jobs. None of my topics are anything I posted half-heartedly. I‘ve always made sure to do my research fully before publishing any of them. Just as any good reporter would do.

'You're being paranoid again. Stop looking for reasons not to trust him.'

Realizing that my thought is probably right, I try not to be so hard on him anymore, but still being sure to keep my wall up. Something my therapist says I need to work on, but I’m not yet ready to do so.

‘He is our new neighbor, so why not give him some slack?’

Becuase that gives him even more chances to hurt me if I get too close.

‘Not everyone is the same.’

Yeah, but it’s better to be too cautious then allowing myself to be blind again.

‘Still, you can give him a little break. He hasn’t hurt you, so why keep treating him as he did?’

Okay.

But, I’m still not letting myself get attached again.

Talking some more, he leaves not long after finishing his coffee. I make sure to walk him to the door and be the good hostess my mother taught me to be.

"Well, I guess a goodbye is due. Have a wonderful evening Kalston."

I give him a warm smile and realize that his company is that which I wouldn't mind again.

Giving me another half grin, "Hopefully our goodbye isn't for too long, Madison. I wasn't sure how I would like living here, but knowing you're next door makes me glad I moved here." his charm lingers even after he leaves.

Kalston, I don't know what to think of you. So please don't make me trust you if you're going to abuse it.

Shutting the door, my phone vibrates to tell me I have a message. Looking at it, it's from Matt.