Turn Me On

by Jeannette Winters

  Yet listening to her, he believed Robin was driven enough to pick up the pieces and start again. She had the spunk and hard-ass attitude needed to be successful in any business. The world could be a harsh place and the competitive nature of business could break many. He didn’t see that happening to Robin. Not a second time.

  But all that was going to take time. That meant she was going to be in Tremont longer than she may like. He needed to ensure she was safe there. The property needed more than just electrical done, but it was the most critical.

  His employees seemed thrilled when he announced he was taking a week vacation and to call him only if something went wrong. Sam hired only people he could trust, so he didn’t need to worry they’d fuck off while he was gone. It just meant they didn’t need to worry he’d be adding to their list of work right now. As they said, “Finally, a forty-hour week.” He had been pushing them hard for quite awhile. But he’d been doing the same to himself. Listening to Robin reminded him how lucky he was to have such loyal employees. The first free moment he got, Sam was going to reach out to the accountant and have a cash bonus delivered to them this week.

  The sun was rising by the time he pulled up in front of her house. Robin had fallen asleep hours earlier and although he was exhausted himself, he didn’t have the heart to wake her. Even now as she laid half curled up on the seat, her tough exterior was gone and she actually appeared…vulnerable. His gut said there was more than just a failed business in her past. Something, or someone, had hurt her. Maybe as he worked in her house each day, she’d become more comfortable with him. Or shut down completely due to my lack of charm.

  When he turned off the engine, Robin stirred then sat up. “We’re here? Why didn’t you wake me?”

  “I figured it was a hint that my life story was boring as hell,” Sam teased.

  Robin stretched and said, “Funny, I don’t remember you telling me much of anything.”

  Just the way I wanted it. “Like I said, boring.”

  She opened the truck door and climbed out. He did the same and walked around to join her. “You must be exhausted.”

  “A bit, but I’ll start and rest later.”

  “I can’t let you work on an empty stomach. How about I make us some breakfast?”

  Sam shook his head. “You’re not turning on that stove or coffee pot till I’m done.”

  Robin looked at him, her eyes wide. “If you think the wiring is dangerous, then you don’t want to see me without coffee in the morning.”

  Sam stopped dead in his tracks. “Then there’s only one thing to do. Dottie’s Diner, here we come.”

  Robin said, “If I go there, she’s going to make me stay all day helping make pies again.”

  Arching his brow he said, “For the record, chocolate cream is my favorite.”

  “You really aren’t expecting me to stay there are you?” Robin asked.

  Sam nodded. “There or someplace else.”

  “Why can’t I be at the house with you?”

  He turned to her and was more honest than he’d wanted. “Because you’ll be a distraction I can’t afford.”

  She looked at him as though she didn’t believe him, then smiled and turned away. Had she been blushing? Wish I knew what you were thinking. It probably was better that he didn’t. If it was anything even close to what he was, then no work was going to be getting done.

  * * *

  A distraction. It’d been a long time since anyone called her that, at least in the way Sam seemed to imply it.

  It had been the first indication that he found her attractive. Although his choice of words was…interesting, he hadn’t shown any personal interest. What surprised her was her reaction to him. Blushing? She didn’t blush. Yet she’d done that a few times with Sam. Robin was normally comfortable in her own skin and with her sexuality. So why was she different with Sam? He was just a man, no different than any other.

  Who was she kidding? Even now as they sat in the diner, she barely tasted her food. Robin couldn’t stop thinking about Sam and he was sitting across from her. This was ridiculous. Thankfully Dottie continued to interrupt them time and time again.

  “More coffee?” she asked.

  “Any more and I’ll be floating out of here,” Sam replied. “But I’ll be back tonight.”

  “Tonight?” Dottie said. “Didn’t the sheriff tell you?”

  “Tell me what?” Sam asked.

  “My cousin and her kids are here for two weeks. I don’t have any open rooms available.”

  Robin saw the look on Sam’s face. That had to be where he stayed when he came up. There wasn’t a hotel in Tremont. Usually a guest stayed with family. This was a bad idea and she knew it. It was going to be like playing with fire. Then again, he was working on her house, so really it was also a matter of convenience.

  “Why don’t you stay with me?” Robin said, averting her eyes as she spoke.

  “Excuse me?”

  She knew he heard her. He was probably thinking the same thing as she was. Robin could feel the excitement in Dottie, as though she was about to burst by holding her breath. She knew no matter what Sam’s answer was, the story was going to be much more interesting when Dottie retold it.

  Trying to ignore everything else, Robin clarified her offer. “You said you have a lot of work to do at my house. I thought it might be easier if you were close by, like on site. And this way, you’ll know if something goes wrong right away.”

  It was the most pathetic attempt at trying to keep things professional. But the truth was, she really wasn’t hitting on him. She just wanted to spend more time with him. If he was going to be working all the time, she needed to find a way to incorporate that into their time together.

  “You make a good argument. I still would’ve preferred you not be living in the house while I’m working. There will be many times there is no power at all.”

  Robin smiled. “I might be a city girl, but I won’t die without electricity for a few hours.”

  Sam teased, “But I might if I mess with your coffee. Got it.”

  Sheriff Bob walked in and Dottie, holding her head up high, walked away from them to wait on Bob. Robin heard her mutter to him, “I was right again.”

  Bob shot a look at her and Sam, then turned back to Dottie. “And that’s why you’re single.”

  Robin leaned closer to Sam and said, “That was odd. Even for Tremont.”

  Sam only shrugged as though he didn’t pay Bob and Dottie any mind. In a low voice he asked, “Are you sure about me staying with you?”

  Robin wasn’t sure about a lot of things, but at least on this, she was. It was unlike her to be at a loss for words. She answered simply, “Yes.”

  As they left the diner and headed back to her house, one word continued echoing through her mind. Distraction. Was that what he was to her? A distraction from all the things she didn’t want to deal with, her lack of funds, her aunt’s belongings, and her utter, complete boredom. If that was the case, that was a horrible reason to ask him to stay with her. But Sam wasn’t a child. She’d been frank with him on the ride about where she was with all those things. Yet he agreed to stay. That puzzled her even more.

  With so much time on her hands, it was no wonder that she started overthinking things. Sam was here to fix her electricity, not service her box. That didn’t mean one couldn’t fantasize about it.

  It really wasn’t her fault. He’d started it with how he’d spoken about her wiring. It might have all been innocent on his part, but somehow she just learned she has a dirty mind. He was staying at her house on a purely professional basis. She pictured Sam pulling off his shirt, his jeans riding low and his tool belt tied around his waist filled with battery-operated devices that were meant for one thing: pleasure.

  For the first time, Robin was excited to return to the house. It’s just a shame it’s all in my imagination. But oh what fun it could’ve been.

  Robin had to look out the passenger’s window so Sam wouldn’t h
ave a clue what thoughts she was having. She wasn’t into all those spicy romance books, but if she were, damn, this would be a great storyline. A title even came to mind. Plug in my Outlet.

  She chuckled and Sam asked, “Am I missing something?”

  “Nope,” was all she could muster.

  “Are you sure?” he asked.

  “Yup,” she bit her lip to prevent from laughing more.

  Sam turned onto her street and he didn’t seem ready to drop the line of questioning. “Was it something I said?”

  She shook her head. Robin needed to think of something. No way was she going to admit she’d been fantasizing about him. Think quick. Say something. Say anything. She’d taken a creative writing course in high school. At that time she’d written about zombies taking over the world. That was as far from sexual as one could get.

  “I was thinking about zombies.”

  Out of the corner of her eye she noticed he gave her a quick, surprised, look. “Zombies?” She nodded. “Wow. You’ve got me nervous now.”

  “Why? Are you afraid of zombies?”

  “No. But the look on your face said you might like them too much.”

  Oh if you only knew. “Would it give you nightmares if you knew they weren’t just zombies, but zombies from the circus?”

  Sam laughed. “Is this your way of saying you changed your mind?”

  “About what?”

  “Me staying with you? Not that killer clowns scare me, but I have to admit, your décor in the house does freak me out a bit.”

  Robin laughed. “Me too. You wouldn’t want to take all that stuff as payment would you?”

  “No. But I’d be happy to rent a dumpster for you.”

  She had thought about doing that herself. But this stuff had meant something to Aunt Ester. Tossing it like it was trash wasn’t right. “I think I’ll try selling it online first. Someone must be into this stuff.”

  Sam replied, “I’m just glad you’re not.”

  She was about to ask him why, when they pulled up in front of her house. Just seeing the place brought reality back. He was here to work and she was there to plan for her future. As she climbed out of the truck, she realized at least one thing came from that trip. I know this stuff needs to go sooner rather than later.

  Robin wasn’t even going to address the other issue. Totally sexually frustrated. At least she didn’t need electricity to take care of that problem.

  5

  As Sam had suspected, wiring was only one of the issues. Some of the outlets were practically falling out of the wall. Each new revelation only made him even happier that she agreed to let him do this. It was a fire trap and from what he’d found so far, he arrived just in time.

  He kept his findings to himself. The last thing Robin needed was any more stress than she seemed to be under. Sam got it. She lost her business, then her aunt, and now all this crap was taking place. There was only so much one person can handle, especially alone. At least right now, he was there. For now.

  It had been a long time since he’d done anything residential. He had to admit, he didn’t miss it one bit. This was a tedious job of snaking new wires through walls to replace the old ones. It’d have been a hell of a lot easier if he’d snagged one of his guys to come and help. He was almost tempted to pull a few off his crew and just bang this thing out in two or three days. But even though this sucked, he wasn’t really in a rush to finish. That meant their little banter back and forth would end.

  As he cussed for the third time, Robin entered the room. “This doesn’t look like any fun.”

  He grumbled. “Part of the job.” The part he hated.

  “What can I do to help?” she asked.

  He was about to send her on her way, but he really could use her help. “Let me show you and you tell me if you still want to be my assistant.”

  Robin said, “As long as it doesn’t require me to go in the basement, I’ll be fine.”

  “Do they scare you?”

  “Nope. But I know what crawls down there and I’d prefer not to cross paths with them. Especially since all you have is a head lamp.”

  “Don’t worry. You’ll be up here feeding the wire down to me.” He showed her exactly what she needed to do and asked, “Think you can manage that?”

  “If it’s this easy, maybe I should’ve become an electrician.” He opened his mouth to correct her when she added, “As long as I don’t have to do anything but this. No bugs. No rodents. And most of all, I don’t want to touch any live wires. Besides that, I could do the job.”

  Sam laughed. “I think you might want to stick to the trade you chose and leave this to me.”

  “Deal.”

  He knew she was willing, but what he never expected was for Robin to be so serious about it. When they were done with one, she was ready for the next, even before he was. Not that she had a clue what needed to be done on his part, but she sure was a go-getter. There were a few guys on his crew who could use her drive. There were a few times he forgot that he was the one in charge.

  “I can’t believe we have one room done,” Robin said. “I just wish it wasn’t the kitchen.”

  “Why is that?” Sam asked.

  “I really like Dottie’s breakfast better than mine.”

  Sam laughed. “I’m not sure about the cooking, but since you don’t have a dishwasher here, I definitely like her diner better.”

  “Were you afraid I was going to ask you to do them?”

  “Nope. I was afraid I was going to offer and you’d agree.”

  Robin grinned. “You think you have me figured out, don’t you?”

  “Not one bit. And that’s what I like about you. You’re unlike anyone else.”

  “I’m definitely not a Tremont native, that’s for sure.”

  “Even in Boston, you’d stand out.”

  She wrinkled her cute nose and said, “I’m not sure that’s a compliment.”

  “It was meant to be one.” Sam sucked at giving compliments. Usually he avoided them. But he wanted her to know that her being different, worked for him. He liked it. A lot. But with his normal lack of charm, he probably just made her feel self-conscious. Way to go Sam.

  He took a step closer and brushed her long red bang out of her eyes.

  “Sam, I know I’m not your everyday woman. And I don’t want to be. I just want to be…me.”

  “I’m glad. Because if you were, I probably wouldn’t be here.”

  She looked surprised. “You mean you wouldn’t help me?”

  “I’d never leave someone in a dangerous situation.” He stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. “But I wouldn’t be here. Staying with you, that is.” She batted those lashes at him, and her green eyes sparkled. “You’re the only reason why I’m here.”

  He hadn’t intended to kiss her, but when her tongue darted out and traced her lips, almost in a slow torturing motion, he was lost. Sam couldn’t help but lean in and claim those soft lips that had been teasing him from the moment she’d kicked him off her property days earlier.

  He'd meant for it to be a sweet kiss, but the minute his lips touched hers, an uncontrollable fire began to burn. She didn’t resist. Instead she wrapped her arms around his neck. Sam dropped his hands to her waist and lifted her up into his arms. Her body pressed against his was sweet torture. Taking full control of the kiss as her body slid down his to stand on the floor again, he tilted his head, letting his tongue dance with hers. He kept his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him. Her effect on him was evident and he was positive she could feel his growing erection pressing against. The ringing of her cell phone slowly brought him back to reality, and he reluctantly broke the kiss.

  “I’m sorry, but I have to get that,” Robin said as she slipped out of his grasp.

  The moment she left the room he regretted this. Not kissing her, but putting her in this situation. Even if she wasn’t going to stay in Tremont forever, she was thinking about going back to Chicago. Sam wasn’t sure
he was looking for a serious relationship, but hell, he definitely didn’t want a long-distance one either. He’d crossed the line and would have to apologize.

  As he heard her light laughter coming from the other room, he knew that would need to wait. You enjoy your call and I’ll do what I’m supposed to be doing here. He grabbed his tool belt and headed back down into the basement. Even the musty basement wasn’t enough to make him forget how good she felt in his arms. Damn it. I knew she’d be a distraction. But hell, I never thought it was going to be one I couldn’t control.

  She was definitely anything but ordinary. And he liked it too much.

  * * *

  Robin never was so happy for her friend Barb to call. They hadn’t spoken as much since Barb gave birth to twins two years ago. When they did talk, half the call was listening to Barb say the word no. This seemed to be one of those rare times when Barb was driving and was alone.

  “You really sound different from the last time we talked. Like you’re settled in,” Barb said.

  “Let’s not go that far, but it’s giving me time to think and time to plan.”

  “Does that mean you’re moving back to Chicago soon? Because I really could use a babysitter.”

  Robin laughed. “Are you trying to scare me off? You’ve seen me watch one child. I was lucky that I wasn’t found tied up in a closet.”

  Barb replied, “You cannot be talking about when you were only thirteen years old and watching the terror of the town.”

  “Age has nothing to do with it.”

  “You’re right. The boy was hell on wheels. But guess life had other plans for him.”

  Robin hadn’t heard a thing about him since they moved away from Chicago. “Prison?”

  Barb laughed. “Pastor.”

  She wouldn’t have guessed that one. Robin thought they moved because they had run out of babysitters who hadn’t heard of their little angel. But that was the funny thing about being a child. You don’t always turn out as one expected. Even now she knew her parents cringed each time they saw her tattoos. They weren’t just random dots of ink on her body. Each one represented something important to her. One that she knew she wasn’t ever going to get was a clown. As she looked around the room, they were etched in her mind. She didn’t need any further reminder.