I scrunched up my nose. “Jesus. Right, well I'm going to pull a quote together for you for my bits. I'll be back later with Finn and Cal and we'll take it from there. Oh and given the keys you have are the ones from the previous owners, I’ll grab you a new set front and back.”
Vi shook her head. “You don’t have to do that. It’s too much.”
“Safety is not too much.”
“Well, thanks so much for everything. It makes me feel better knowing it’s all going to be repaired.”
“What time are you leaving tonight, so I can make sure I have the lads around before you go?”
“I'm not leaving. I've got my bed coming remember? Said I was glad it was warm?”
I shook my head at her slowly. “You can't stay here. We don't know it’s safe. Where are you planning on putting the bed?”
“In the living room.”
“Vi, the ceiling could fall on your head.”
“It’ll be fine. You were able to walk on it.”
“The place is a state. You shouldn't stay here.”
“There’s no option. I can't afford a hotel and there’s nowhere else.” Frustration laced through her tone.
“Come and stay at ours.” I blurted out.
“What?” She took a step back.
Her expression revealed she thought I'd totally lost it, but I'd never been so sure of anything in my life.
“Seriously. Come stay at ours. It’s only across there so you can get back to work on the house easily. You can have my room and I'll sleep on the sofa.”
“Milo, you don't know me. I could be a serial killer.”
I closed the distance between us, backing her up against the wall and I sniffed her neck as if she were my dinner. “And I could be a cannibal. I'll take my chances.”
She pushed me away. “Have you heard of personal space?”
Her breathing was heavy. Probably with fright.
“Erm, sorry about that. I got a bit carried away. I tend to act before thinking.”
She wiped the back of her neck with her hand. “Yes, well, like I said, I'll be okay here.”
Way to go Milo, you scared her to death.
“Just so you know, I'm not a cannibal. More a dickhead.”
“I'm not a serial killer either. If I had been, I'd have just stabbed you for that move and buried your body out in that undergrowth.”
“Point taken. I'll try to think before I act from now on. Instead of impersonating Hannibal Lecter. I’ll leave the acting to Ezra.”
Then Vi did something unexpected.
She laughed. A loud snigger that caused her to clutch under her ribcage.
“Oh my god, Milo. You're like a breath of fresh air. You're quite ridiculous. Don’t worry, I can be stupid too. I think we're going to be great mates.”
“Mates?” I pouted.
“Yes, mates.” She elbowed me. “I don’t mix business with pleasure. Doing this house up is going to be so much fun.”
I had to be mindful to not stomp down the stairs. Fucking mates. No actually ‘not fucking’ mates. This house better not take long to fix.
Violet
As he left the house, I sagged down onto one of the stairs. What the hell had just happened? I felt like I'd been hit by a hurricane. Hurricane Milo. Jesus, that man was fit. Light brown close-cropped hair, stubble on his upper lip and chin, and swagger like a walking testosterone advert. I bet his muscles had muscles. When I first saw him, it felt like I'd known him my whole life and yet we'd never met before. I hit myself in the forehead. Don't be such a cliché, Violet.
I sighed. His arse in those beige shorts was like a juicy peach. He was so tall and stocky I was surprised he had to hit walls with a hammer and that they didn't just fall down with a punch of his arm. Just like that, a nickname for Milo came to me. The Incredible Hunk. I couldn't stop laughing, imagining that his shorts were trousers when he first put them on.
I went in search of where I’d left my shopping list, grabbed my bag and headed out to the small shopping centre about ten minutes’ drive away which had a store that sold all the household products I needed.
I spent a small fortune but arrived back at the house determined to get the kitchen cleaned before the day was over. I walked over to the kitchen sink before I remembered I couldn't get any warm water. Goddamn it. Every time I tried to do something I hit a snag. Pondering my next move, I stopped when the sound of a super loud strimmer started up. Just what I needed. It sounded like an angry king size wasp. I’d be getting a bloody headache listening to that racket. As I looked through the window to see where the noise was coming from, I realised it was my own garden. Milo had hacked down the overgrown weeds and grass to reveal the old path that led from the side of my back garden up to the connecting gate.
Abandoning the sink, I walked out of the side door and over to him.
“The garden's not my priority. I told you that.” Milo had disturbed a lot of flies and I had to keep wafting in front of my face.
“Yeah, I heard you. But I'm being neighbourly. You’re insisting on sleeping in that hell hole and so I'm clearing the path for when you come to your senses. I'll kip downstairs. Knock on the back door when you stop being stupid.”
I placed a hand on my hip.
“And what's happened to the gate?” The garden gate was lying on top of a pile of strimmed grass.
“The lock had rusted and it wouldn't budge so I kicked it open. RIP the gate I'm afraid. I'll repair it if you like, but I can't see the point as we'll be at each other’s houses all the time anyway.”
I clutched my forehead. “Are you always like this?”
“Like what?”
“Take your pick: bossy, domineering, Neanderthal.”
Milo shook his head. “Nah, usually after work I sit on my arse knackered and don't move other than to go to the bathroom, eat, and drink.”
“Then what's so different now? Go and sit on your lazy arse and leave me to my house.”
“No.”
“Pardon?”
“No. Now if you don't mind, you're interrupting me getting this garden done. I want to give it a first cut down so that later we can get a bonfire going in the corner. If it stays dry, I should be able to give it a bit of a mow over tomorrow.”
I cocked a hip. “What if I say no?”
A dimple appeared in his cheek as he smirked. “How are you going to stop me, Princess?”
“I… I…”
“Yep, you can't. So get back in that house, little lady, and get some cleaning done.”
“Oooooh.” I stomped off to the sound of his chuckling. How I wish I had a garden hose to turn on him. That'd shift him. I wondered if I could budget for one. I'd be able to get this half dead grass growing again, be able to wash the outside windows and my car, and drench Milo for bonus points. Tomorrow I was going back to the shopping centre.
Not a minute after I stepped back in the house, there was a knock on the door I’d just walked through. What did he want now? I huffed and yanked the door open.
“What?”
A thinner version of Milo and a shorter variation of Silas stood in front of me. They exchanged glances.
“I'm sorry, I thought you were Milo.” I changed my snarl to a smile.
“If he gets on your nerves let our father know,” said the thinner Milo. “I don't know what's got into him today. It’s like he's taken steroids. We were ordered to get round here or else.”
“He is very bossy.”
“Not usually. Usually he just gets on with his work, comes home and crashes. Sometimes he'll pop for a pint but that’s about it.” Said the shorter Silas. “Although you are Rapunzel.”
“So you lot keep saying.” I took a deep breath.
“Oh anyway. I'm Cal, the electrician,” revealed the thinner Milo. He shared the same blue eyes as his brother but was clean shaven.
I shook his hand. “Pleased to meet you. Hoping you have good news for me.” I crossed my fingers. “And you must be Finn?�
� I guessed.
Another hand was held towards me. “I certainly am. Sorry, I don't feel from what Milo's noted down that I'm going to be bringing you great news in regard to that spare room. The roof needs repairs and I think that's probably the root cause of the damp.”
I sighed. “Come in then and let's see what the damage is.”
I looked behind them.
“Milo's staying in the garden if that's who you're looking for.” Added Finn. He had brown eyes like Silas, but a different shaped face and longer hair. You could tell they were brothers, but they weren’t overly alike.
“I'm just surprised he's not come to nosy.” I said, not letting on that I was strangely disappointed that he'd stayed in the garden.
Cal checked the electrics and I was delighted to hear that they were in full working order. I celebrated by putting the kettle on and making the three of us a brew, knowing it was now safe to do so. I inwardly berated myself for using it earlier before the electrics had been tested. Peeking through the window, I found that Milo was halfway through strimming the garden. I watched as his back muscles flexed as he arced the strimmer through the overgrowth. He looked like some kind of Adonis. Filling up a large mug, I opened the window.
“Miley.” I bellowed, so I could be heard over the strimmer.
Cal and Finn chuckled behind me, but Milo didn't hear.
“Hang on. I'll have to take it to him.” I said.
“No problem. I'm done here, I'll take it.” Cal exchanged my mug for his that he'd already drunk. “Nice to meet you, Vi, and if you need any extra sockets adding anywhere as you start living in the place, just give us a shout. Might be an idea to think about it before you decorate, because as you can see,” he pointed to a chiselled out piece of rewired wall, “It can get quite messy.”
I took Finn upstairs to show him the damp wall. He peeled off more damp wallpaper. “Good job the electrics are okay,” he said and plugging in a tool at the other side he went across the wall. It kept beeping.
“What's that?”
“It lets me know where any electrical wires and things are so I don't chop through them.” He took a small pencil from behind his ear and marked the wall. Then it was back into his toolbox for a weird drill-like tool with a small circle on the end. He removed a small circle of plasterboard with it and peeked inside. “I don't think it’s the pipes. I reckon it’s coming from the ceiling and you need some repairs doing up there, so for that Milo's your man. Prepare for your house to be covered in scaffolding cos that's the only way we're allowed on roofs these days.”
“Thanks for checking. Hopefully we'll have better luck with the fire.”
“Are you having central heating? Because I'll take notes of what you need while I'm up here and price you up for that and a boiler.”
I frowned.
“It'll be mates rates, you being an old friend.” He winked. “I'll do the estimate and we'll take it from there.”
“Take what from where?” Boomed a voice from outside the door.
“Dear God,” said Finn. “I'll be looking at that fire.” He pushed past Milo. There was barely room for them to get past each other. As Finn passed him, he flicked him in the forehead. “Stop being a dick, Miley.”
Finn carried on downstairs. I folded my arms over my chest.
“You can't just let yourself into my home.” I scowled.
“I knocked and shouted but you didn't hear me. I was wanting to let you know I'd done. Wondered if you wanted to see it?”
I'd already been watching from the window while talking to Finn, but feeling contrite, I dropped my gaze.
“Gosh, I'm sorry, Milo. After all you've done for me, I must seem like a really ungrateful cow.”
“Well you can make it up to me now by fawning all over my hard work.”
“Come on then.” I tilted my chin towards the stairs and followed him back down them.
He really had worked hard. The overgrowth was down and in large piles on the garden. There were lots of bare patches of soil exposed and dead looking grass.
“I'll rake it over tomorrow and then if you have a few quid for grass seed you can reseed it when the weather gets a little cooler. Won't be garden of the year anytime soon but at least you can take a chair out and have a breath of fresh air.”
“Thank you, Milo. Are you sure you don't want anything for all this?”
“Hmm, now you mention it, the pub does two meals with two pints for a tenner. How about you take me out for tea?” He beamed at me hopefully.
“I’m not sure if I can drag myself away from cleaning down the kitchen.” I said sarcastically.
“Still be there tomorrow. Start afresh in the morning.”
“Let me grab my bag.”
I walked back into the house just as Finn was coming back out. His chin was tight. His fists curled.
“What's the matter?” I asked, alarmed.
“The matter,” he said, looking over at Milo. “Is there's no damn flue or vent for that fire. If you'd have put that on you could have died.”
My hand went across my mouth. “I don't understand.”
“Cowboy builders. Probably just put it in for show. You can get flueless fires but that's not one. I've stuck condemned tape over it. Do not put it on.”
I sighed. “Another expense to add to the ever-growing list. What did I think I was doing buying this house?”
“You thought about coming home.” Milo said, putting an arm around my shoulders. I was aware of his bare flesh against mine. “Come on, it'll seem a lot better after a pint.”
So off to the pub we went; once I’d made him call back to his for a t-shirt.
Milo
She agreed to take me out to dinner! First day here and I had a date with Rapunzel. Oh I knew I didn't actually ask her for a date and it was a thank you dinner, and well, she was paying, but come on… She must be interested in me a little or she'd have made excuses and stayed home.
“I'd thought of coming here to have my food anyway,” she told me as she picked up her pint.
Way to go to spoil a bloke’s fantasy.
“I know my nan brought me here when I was little because she used to speak of it, but I don't remember the place at all,” she added.
“Well, it’s been refurbished a few times since then.”
“Might have to have a go on the swings at the back.” She laughed and gestured behind me.
But all I saw was her left hand and the whiter mark where a wedding ring had been. Been for a long time to have made that mark. My pint glass slipped out of my hand and crashed to the floor. Beer erupted everywhere, coating both me and Vi with brown, smelly ale.
She gasped and jerked back but I wasn’t really aware of the chaos as my mind fractured like the glass.
She was married? She couldn't be married. Because she was mine. She'd always been mine. Except as I sat there stunned and she began to pick up the largest pieces of broken glass, I checked again, hoping it was a trick of the light. But no, it was still there.
“Milo. Milo. Are you having a fucking stroke or something? You've spilled your pint. Get off your arse and go get the barmaid and some cloths.” Vi pushed me in the shoulder and I looked up at her.
“God. Oh yeah. Right.”
“Men. They always expect to be waited on hand and foot,” she said to the couple of older women at the next table.
“Yeah, love, isn't that the truth?” one said back.
I came to my senses.
“I'll have you know I've just mowed all this lady's overgrown lawn. That's why I dropped my pint. I had a period of over-exhaustion through providing my services to the lovely lady in my company. So yes, I need her to wait on me now, because I need to sit here a moment and let my testosterone build back up.”
They all stared at me open mouthed. In the meantime, a staff member came over and cleaned up. She got us to move tables.
“I'll be back in a moment. I'm just going to clean the beer off me, the best I can.” Vi said.
>
I grabbed hold of her hand. “You can shower at ours. We'll run your clothes through the washer/drier as well. You can sit in a towel in my bedroom while you wait.” I winked. Bad move.
“God you are such a flirt,” Vi yelled loudly, then she stomped off to the toilets.
The parents of the kids at the nearby table gave me a filthy look. “I didn't say I would be in the room with her when she was in the towel, did I?” I protested. Though I so fucking would.
Vi returned from the toilets with her arms wrapped around her chest. She looked very odd.
“Are you cold?” I asked her, bearing in mind it had still got to be twenty-seven degrees outside.
“No.” She snapped. “I've splashed myself with too much water.” She dropped her voice. “My top is clinging to my boobs. How am I supposed to eat when I can't move my arms away?”
I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing.
Vi turned around and started to head for the exit, just as they brought our food out.
“Hey. Here.” I yelled and I took off my t-shirt. No-one gave a toss about a bloke baring his chest in this area. Soon as it hit twenty degrees, there'd be someone showing a milk bottle white expanse of flab with proudness. It was how it was done in Yorkshire. So I had no problem at all in showing my own body off, cos I had youth and working as a builder on my side. I was what the ladies liked to call ‘ripped’.
She grabbed the t-shirt and quickly shrugged it on, but not quickly enough to prevent me seeing that t-shirt moulded around those titties like puppies in a basket. I sat down quickly to hide my erection. She sat down quickly and thanked the waitress for her food.
As she took a huge bite of her burger, all I could think of was that mouth wrapped around my cock. Since all the blood diverted that way, I forgot about the bigger problem, but it all came back to me as she displayed that finger again, wrapped round the burger’s edge.
“Are you married?”
She placed the burger down and put her index finger up. I gave her time to finish eating the food in her mouth.
Waiting For Milo: THE WAITE FAMILY - BOOK ONE Page 3
