There was a loud clatter and a crumbling sound as the shelf hit the floor followed by more plaster and dust, then me of course when I couldn’t keep my balance. I coughed and cursed in equal measure.
“HA! Georgie 1 - House 0! Now what do you have to say for yourself?” I said to the mess on the floor accusingly. I supposed technically if we were keeping score I was very much behind, but deluding myself was the better option for the moment, I thought with a wry smile.
There was a firm knock on the door.
I looked from the front door back to the discarded shelf with a raised eyebrow.
“Friends of yours out for revenge?” Dusting myself off I went to answer it, wondering who it could be since I barely knew anyone in Hollow Point.
Derek and Kadee stood there. The sight of him stirred my anger as well as that persistent tingle down below. God, he was so yummy. Especially when he wore that tool-belt around his hips, bearing the heavy weight of the instruments of his trade. Not to mention how it also had the added benefit of pushing the tops of his Levi’s down a smidge, allowing me a sinful glimpse of the defined contoured muscle that led, I could only imagine, to heaven.
Distracting myself I turned to Kadee’s bright smile. She was grinning and holding out a large book. He was also holding a bundle of something.
“Hello?” I greeted them hesitantly, “what’s going on?”
“Hi, I was thinking…” Derek started, but trailed off. Was he blushing?
“This is for you!” Kadee blurted out.
“Yeah, that’s for you,” he continued with a small smile. “And I was thinking it would be pretty great if you would help Kadee tomorrow with her bike. We both agreed. I also never really thanked you for the food the other day.”
I took the large book from Kadee’s excited hands.
“Oh,” I said quite stunned at this turn-around. Maybe he wasn’t all hard edges after all? “And what’s this” I asked studying the book.
“Well, I think that will be great for you, it’s been with me for years. I don't really need it anymore. But you could probably get some use out of it.”
It was a heavy robust volume, weathered and worn, and had the feel of a book that had been bound a couple of decades ago. In neat gold lettering on the cover read “Renovation and Home Improvement - The Beginners Path To A Dream Home”.
“I know it looks a little old but it’s pretty much perfect for houses like these. Especially if you want to add those traditional touches.”
I was busy dwelling on the word beginner as he explained. Sure I was a novice but did he really see me that way? Like I needed an instruction manual to get by? “Thanks,” I said and put the book to one side. It was the thought that counted right?
“I also got this for you, think of it as a house warming gift, maybe?”
I unraveled the bundle which appeared to be a work belt of sorts. I could feel myself blushing, had he somehow caught my lingering gaze all those times I’d seen him wear his? Continuing to peel back the layers, I peeked inside. There was an array of shiny new tools some of which I didn't even recognize, let alone name.
“Oh, wow. These look expensive. You shouldn’t have. Really, I can’t accept this.”
He waved away my words. “I insist. You’ll find them invaluable for anything you’re doing. Trust me, you’ll wonder how you ever got on without them after you give them a try.”
It was hard to resist his sincerity and the confident, passionate manner in which he always spoke about his line of work. Though I wished we could talk about that kiss instead, but with Kadee present I bit my tongue and hushed the urge, as well as the persistent warmth to my cheeks.
“Georgie, can we ride my bike tomorrow?” Kadee chirped in, a little bored with the grown-up conversation.
“Now hold on Kadee, don’t forget your manners. What do you say?” Derek interjected.
Kadee stood up a little taller and in her most endearing voice invoked the magic word like a small but determined wizard.
“Please?”
I looked back to study Derek’s expression for a moment, making sure he was completely on board. He nodded and I shot back a smile.
“It’ll make her day,” he encouraged, “and mine.”
I blinked, wondering if he’d actually said those last words or if I’d imagined them.
Kadee tugged on my hand. “So will you?”
“Of course, honey. I’ll be there, we’ll have so much fun.” I glanced back to Derek, our eyes locked. “Come and get me anytime,” I said and waited to see his reaction to the potential innuendo.
Derek coughed. “Great, there we go, sweetie.” Derek shifted his attention from Kadee back to me. “I’m sure I’ll come in handy sooner or later… so let me know if you need any help.”
Chapter Nine
Derek
“Now close your eyes sweetie, time for dreams,” I said tucking Kadee in a little tighter with her bear.
I now knew the difficulty in getting her ready for bed when something exciting was on her mind. Even though we’d read three bedtime stories, she had not stopped talking about Georgie and more time with her bike tomorrow. But she was all settled, finally, her heavy eyelids were slowly closing. I lent down and kissed her sleepy head.
“Do you like Georgie, daddy?” she murmured.
“Well, what do you think?”
“I asked you first, but I like her.”
“She is very nice.” As Kadee’s brow furrowed slightly, perhaps not entirely pleased with my tentative answer, I added, “but I do know she likes you.”
“Do you think she’s pretty?”
“Not as pretty as you, baby girl.”
“Daddy! You didn’t answer. I’m not going to sleep till you tell me. Properly.”
“I think she’s very beautiful,” I replied, thinking maybe one day my little girl would make a fine interrogator. But I couldn’t lie to Kadee, even if it meant acknowledging feelings that had seemingly bubbled up from nowhere.
I stroked Kadee’s fine hair gently, smoothing down the little wispy curls around her forehead. “Now, no more questions, sleep time. You want to be up bright and early to play, don’t you?” Kadee nodded, her eyelashes fluttering as she shifted.
Silently I stayed and watched as she drifted off, her breath becoming light as she sank deeper into her pillows. As quietly as I could, I stepped away, careful not to trip over a few toys that hadn’t been tidied away, and headed downstairs.
Obviously I hadn't wanted to answer Kadee’s question directly, but I couldn’t deny what even a five-year-old could see. There was definitely something between us. Electricity practically leaped from my body when Georgie was around. But these days I had with Kadee were precious, I didn’t need the distraction. The truth however was clear as day, I found Georgie irresistible, despite the paces she’d put me through.
In fact, her beautiful eyes struck me every time I saw them. I could barely think of anything else, it was as infuriating as her infectious sarcasm. But I couldn’t deny the effect Georgie had on me. I also couldn't decide if her sassy character turned me on more than it should, she was certainly feisty.
At least watching her storm away from our numerous conflicts had its benefits. Watching her tight jeans, hips swinging, as she crossed the road had left an impression on me that I had a hard time shifting. Hard time indeed, I remembered with a smirk, then immediately scolded myself for my wayward thoughts. I had to get myself together, this was still the same woman who had single-handedly wrecked my dreams and plans of buying the house across the street so I could flip-it and finally have enough to afford something remotely decent and suitable out west, closer to Kadee.
I opened a beer from the fridge and settled down to browse Netflix to take my mind off things. The baby monitor I had for Kadee's room sat on the coffee table. Sure she was a little old for such things, but I wasn't going to take any chances. Not with my girl.
After a good while scrolling through the app, unable to findin
g anything that piqued my interest, I sighed. I didn't feel like watching anything anyway, I was too distracted. I frowned as I heard a light knocking, and paused to listen. It was definitely the front door. I checked the time, it was getting dark outside. I downed the last of my beer, and got up as a rather raunchy trailer started to autoplay on the TV. The idea of a Georgie booty call suddenly jumped into my head. I tried to shake the idea off and opened the door.
Georgie stood illuminated in the porch light. Behind her across the street her house stood in darkness. Her sudden appearance left me speechless.
“Er, hey. I didn't want to disturb you. I just had a quick question really.”
“Okay, sure go ahead,” I responded, swallowing, “is it about the house?” I added to fully dispel the booty call illusion. It didn’t matter how long I’d gone without a good-woman in my bed, I couldn’t entertain those thoughts, no matter what.
“Well yeah, it’s more of a hypothetical question really.”
“Hypothetical, sure. Shoot. What’s the problem?”
“Let’s say you didn't have power in the house, and when you went to the fuse box it kept tripping. Then let’s also say your only source of light—your phone—died because it wasn't charged. So yeah, if this was your hypothetical problem, what would you do?”
I nodded along with her roundabout explanation and scratched my head, indulging her. “Hmm, sounds troubling. In this situation, I don't have a flashlight do I?”
“Ah no, afraid not. The only available flashlight may have been broken,” she smirked as she dropped her coy facade. “So yeah, that’s the problem. I’m sure the answer was in the book, but I can’t read it in the dark. I was about to start reading in the truck but I can’t find the keys. It’s getting late and I’m super stuck.”
The TV-show trailer on Netflix started up again, the sexual sounds heard all the way from the lounge to the front door.
“Though, maybe you have better things to do?” Georgie mocked with a mischievous smile, leaning her head in through the opening inquisitively. “What are you watching? Something R-rated? Fifty Shades of Hardwood?”
Ignoring her question, I didn’t answer. Regardless, I don’t think I could’ve without blushing like a fool. “Give me a sec, I’ll be right with you.” Flustered I went to turn the TV off and gathered up my phone and the baby monitor. “Kadee’s asleep but I can come take a look, but only for a minute,” I said showing the content of my hands.
“Great, thank you,” Georgie said with a smile and turned to leave.
As we strolled across the tranquil street together, I adjusted the flashlight on my phone. The comfortable peace was short-lived, however.
“A baby monitor, really?” she inquired with her characteristic hint of sarcasm.
“Definitely, I’m keeping my girl safe and sound, whatever it takes. Besides, wouldn’t you agree it’s proving handy right now?”
She didn't really have time to respond as we navigated up the broken steps and into the dark house.
“Now watch where you go, there may be some mess on the floor,” Georgie warned.
The fuse box was toward the rear of the house in a small hallway that led to the back door. As I guided us through the house I aimed the light from my phone at objects and furniture so we could avoid them. Georgie was following close behind me. I could feel her presence, smell her sweet perfume. She was intoxicating. Almost too close… driving me wild.
As we made it deeper inside, it was surprising just how pitch black it was in the back, away from the diffused glow of the streetlights. “Careful, nearly there.” Saying it more for my own benefit than hers. Sooner I got this sorted, the sooner I could get back home. Away from temptation.
Once at the fuse box I handed over the phone for her to direct the beam as I investigated the source of the problem. It was a much older circuit breaker with porcelain chunky circular fuses, and a heavy-duty grey plastic covering. And sure enough it tripped when I threw the mains.
“Of course, we won’t be able to find the specific source of the problem in this darkness. But if we can pinpoint which circuit it is we can skip that one to get some of the power back on,” I advised.
“Yes, I agree, just what I had in mind,” Georgie replied then paused. “How do we do that?”
“Trial and error. I’ll remove each one in turn and pass the fuses to you as we go. We’ll narrow it down.”
“Sure thing, I’ll be right here.”
She was indeed right there. The narrow hallway wasn’t really built for two people to be in there at the same time. It was more like a cupboard than anything and in this dark confined space I was very aware of her brushing up against me to angle the phone light over my shoulder. I gave out a notable sigh and willed my self-control to concentrate on the task at hand.
“Oh no, what’s wrong with it?” asked Georgie after a moment. I detected a bit of panic in her voice at the sound of my sigh. She pointed the light from the fuse box into my face.
I squinted at the sudden brightness in my eyes.
“It’s fine, just hold that steady will ya? And try not to blind me?”
She laughed and returned the spotlight the fuse box. “I’m not going to drop it you know,” she said, nudging me with her elbow.
Given how mad I had been on that first night, she sure knew how to tread a fine line with her jests. Admittedly her manner was growing on me.
“Well, you never know,” I retorted. “You and your butterfingers.”
Two fuses removed and still no joy, I pulled out the third to hand it over. I hadn't noticed Georgie struggling with the other fuses as well as the phone. The third fuse leaped from her fingers as she shuffled them in her hands. I reached after it, but in the confusion I stumbled into Georgie bending over to reclaim the stray fuse. I knocked into her ass with some force, pushing her forward. Instinctively I grabbed her to steady her from a fall… and fuck, it sure felt good to have my hands on her.
She gave out a small gasp of shock that aroused me further.
Georgie straightened up and turned to face me in the darkness. Her chest rose and fell against me, her heavy and hot breath licking up my neck, testing me. Daring me. I couldn’t bear it any longer, the fuse box forgotten and took her in my arms and kissed her.
She moaned under my touch, her lips parted, admitting me entrance. We were lost for a time in our passion there in the hallway, exploring each other’s mouths as if we were hunting for lost treasure.
Breathless we parted paused for a moment. “Two secs,” I whispered, wanting to be able to see her properly. I reached out to try the mains once more.
To my surprise it didn’t trip. We were still in darkness in the hallway, but a glow from the staircase in the main hall filtered across the wooden floor, spilling onto our feet.
“You have some lights, that’s a start. I should try and get this finished up,” I suggested, my senses returning to me.
“Oh, hell no, not again,” Georgie said, her voice low, hands still upon my chest, fingers clawing at me. “You need to take care of something else first.” Georgie ran her fingers down my arm and took my hand, pulling me back towards the stairs.
Chapter Ten
Georgie
“We need to be quick,” Derek whispered eagerly, his hands unable to leave my body, tugging me towards him as we moved through the house.
“Quicker the better,” I said smiling over my shoulder.
This hadn't been my plan, it almost felt like a daft story from a porn movie. Handy man comes to the rescue, lights flicker out, the girl gets nailed. Though I couldn’t deny that the thought hadn’t played over in my mind a few times since we’d met. But this was no dream, and there was no longer any point in fighting my attraction for this man. We obviously wanted each other, and I had a brand new bed upstairs all made and ready for use. Sage advice Aunt Dakota, thank you. The rhythmic chords of the mambo started playing in my head.
We kicked off our shoes at the bottom of the stairs and I towed
him to the master bedroom, not that he was reluctant. The landing light provided the right subdued lighting in the bedroom and I didn't flick any other switches… I’d let him do that, I thought with a wicked grin. I deposited the phone and the baby monitor on the dresser, then glanced over to him. With an almost primal look in his eye he erased the space between us, immediately embracing me again.
He pulled me close to his strong body, the passion in our kisses escalating rapidly. Our hot lips dancing around playful tongues while he edged me closer to the bed with every kiss. I pulled his shirt from his waist and started to fight with the small buttons. He helped with the last few and shook his shirt off onto the floor. My hands pressed onto his exposed muscular form, feeling how solid he was. How very real. I had to wonder how much a man would have to hammer to get arms as thick and as strong like this. He didn't seem like the gym type, but he sure as hell looked like he could bench-press me with little effort.
I ran my fingers over every bulge and ripple as he pulled open the buttons on my jeans forcefully. I returned the favor and we efficiently discarded more garments, letting them fly from our bodies. I flung my top across the room dramatically and stood in only my underwear, and watched his eyes, waiting for his next move.
He stepped up to me slowly this time, sliding his arms around to hold all of me, making me shudder with each stroke. Our warm exposed bodies met, skin tingled against skin, as his hands roamed up and down my back.
Inch by inch he backed me toward the bed. Finding that my bra had been unclasped I wriggled out of it, still locked in the safe cocoon of his arms. He brushed against me, his firm chest making my nipples zing and stand up and take notice.
Derek’s urgent kisses suddenly strayed to my neck, I couldn't help but murmur pleasurably at his attentions. He kissed the sensitive area slow and steady, his hands sliding all the way down my back. They didn't stop this time and he ran them under my panties and squeezed my ass tightly. His fondling urged my panties downwards and when he gave them a little tug I obliged by sliding out of them. Not waiting he did the same to his own. I bit my lip and watched as his confined cock was revealed. It reveled in its new found freedom and rapidly stood tall to greet me. Hopelessly needing him, I took matters into my own hands and stroked it lovingly, its girthy length becoming increasingly harder the longer I lavished it with attention.
Coming in Handy_a Single Dad Romance Page 5
