Open House

by Tamara Larson

  "I really don't know," Lacey said, shaking her head. "I'm totally overwhelmed. The thought of my own place, especially something this lovely, in the perfect neighborhood, and in my price range, didn't even seem like a possibility before. I feel like I really shouldn't get my hopes up. Or there's going to be some kind of nasty string attached. I'm not going to have to parade around naked out front to attract buyers or something, am I?"

  "Personally, I think that is a great idea. Let's write that into the contract," Jack said, only half kidding.

  "You're a pig," Serena said to Jack, but smiled as she said it. She turned to Lacey. "I can't make any promises, but I think this might actually happen. And if I know Jack, it will happen fairly quickly. He prides himself on being a man of action. So, you need to decide if you want to be a part of it. You gave me this idea, so I really do want to return the favor. Take tonight, and think about it seriously. This is kind of an unorthodox proposition so I get it if you're hesitant. Change can be scary, even if it's positive. But let me know soon, okay? This is an opportunity to have exactly what you want, and that doesn't happen all that often. All you have to do is say the word."

  Was it just Lacey's imagination or did it seem like Serena wasn't talking about real estate anymore? "I really don't need to think about it. If your plan is really possible, without going outside my budget, then I am totally up for it. What's a few hours a week as an Open House compared to twenty years in my own home." Wow! Her own home. That sounded so wonderful to her, she could hardly believe it. And even if Serena's plan didn't work out, at least there was chance that she might get to spend some quality time with Jack. Serena was right. How often did an average girl like her get to spend time with her dream guy while building her dream home? She'd be a fool not to jump at the opportunity.

  "Okay, then. The brains of this operation are clearly onboard. Now, all we need is the brawn. Jay? When do you think you can get some kind of definitive answer from your minions?" Serena asked, looking expectantly at Jack.

  "Don't push it, Serena. I said I'd talk to them. You're just going to have to wait and see," Jack said, crossing his arms across his chest again.

  "Fine. Pretend you haven't already decided this is going to happen. Play your little game, but we both know you would have shut me down five minutes ago if you didn't think it was a great idea. Now, I have an appointment with a man with powerful hands and a bottle of lube, so I need to take off."

  "No one needs to hear about your deviant sex life, but thanks for the mental image, Ess," Jack said, with a pained expression on his face.

  "A massage, you pervert. I have an appointment with Klaus, my masseur. Presenting brilliant ideas gets me so tense, I really need him to work me over tonight." She wiggled her eyebrows at Jack suggestively, and he rolled his eyes.

  "You're a sick individual, you know that, right?" Jack said, shaking his head.

  "Yup. But it's genetic. Oh, by the way, are you heading into town tonight, Jay?" Serena asked, her eyes wide with innocence. "Maybe you can give Lacey a ride if she wants to stay here and check out your hardwood?"

  "Subtle, really subtle, Serena," Jack muttered. "Lacey, ignore her. You're welcome to stay and hang out if you want. I was going to head into town in about an hour anyway." This wasn't actually true. He usually worked late into the evening. But she didn't need to know that. "So, I'd be glad for the company if you want to explore a bit." That had sounded a bit dirtier than he'd intended, but after Serena's "hardwood" comment his mind was firmly in the gutter.

  "No, really. Thanks for the offer, but you obviously have a lot of work to do. You don't need me here distracting you from your rubbing, I mean, sanding. I'll just get a ride with Serena." Other than the flush staining her cheeks, Lacey valiantly ignored her slip. Hopefully, they would too.

  "Lacey, I would be happy to drive you. Please stay. I insist." And help me with my rubbing, he thought to himself with a grin. Obviously, he wasn't the only one having dirty thoughts here.

  "I seriously have to go," Serena said, walking toward the door. "Lacey, are you coming? I'd be glad to call ahead and see if Klaus can squeeze you in with his partner, Clay. I mean, it seems like you have some tension of your own to work out. So, a massage might be just the thing. Jay will let us know what's happening with 'The Plan,' won't you, Jay?"

  Jack was trying block the image of any other man rubbing Lacey's smooth olive skin with scented oils. Just the thought made his vision cloud with a red mist. He felt his fists clench of their own accord. There was no way he was going to allow some soft-handed pretty boy to touch her, while he sat here by himself, polishing his wood.

  "You know what? Serena is dangerous behind the wheel on any given day, but when she's in a hurry, she's downright frightening. You should really let her go, and stay here, with me. I'd really like to spend some time with you." There, he'd said it. He felt like a complete weenie, but he was a man, and men said what they wanted. Consequences be damned.

  "If you're sure?"

  "Yes, I'm completely sure."

  "Okay then. I'd like to spend some time with you too. And talk about the cottage. Go ahead, Serena. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Have fun with Klaus. And maybe I'll set up something with Clay for another time."

  Like hell you will, Jack thought to himself, but grinned like an idiot as they followed Serena out to the porch and watched her walk to her car.

  "Jay, if I don't hear from you tomorrow, I will be calling your mother, so get on this thing right away, okay?" Serena called, sliding behind the steering wheel.

  "Yeah, yeah. Quit badgering me or I will develop selective amnesia on this subject, I swear to God."

  "Okay. Have fun, you two. Don't get any splinters." Putting on her sunglasses, Serena smiled wickedly as she flipped the car into gear, and rocketed down the driveway. All in all, she felt like she'd accomplished a lot today. Both her match-making and her real estate plans were coming together, perfectly. If only her own personal life was so easy to control.

  Chapter Five

  "My car is parked at the Daily Grind on Third Ave," Lacey said, darting a glance at Jack. His strong profile was barely illuminated by the truck's dashboard lights, and she couldn't tell if he was smiling or frowning. She really hoped he was smiling. It became brighter in the cab as they approached the city limits, but his expression seemed neutral to her.

  They had spent an hour at the cottage, simply wandering around as Jack pointed out features that she'd missed on their whirlwind tour with Serena earlier. Then, they had spent another twenty minutes sanding the door Jack had been working on when they had arrived. He had simply handed her a sheet of sandpaper and demonstrated the proper technique as they stood companionably, side by side.

  Lacey had half expected him to jump her bones the second Serena's car was out of sight, but he hadn't even touched her. She was totally disappointed. There had been something so intent about the way he had been watching her upto this point. She had felt a little like a particularly juicy rabbit being stalked by a famished wolf. And yet he had been a perfect gentleman, damn him and his mixed signals.

  What did she have to do to get a little action from this guy? Maybe, like Barry, he thought she was boring. Well, she wasn't. She was a wild woman. She just needed to figure out how to go about being the aggressor without looking too desperate or slutty. Desperation was not sexy. Neither was clumsiness. And she was terribly afraid she was going to mess this up. Why couldn't he just lean over and kiss her? That would be so much easier.

  "Do you mind if we take a little detour?" Jack asked, interrupting her thoughts.

  "Not at all. I'm not in a huge hurry to get home." She hoped he might suggest going to dinner. She was famished and a meal would prolong their time together. She was about to casually mention a Thai place she frequented when she noticed where they were.

  They had just driven past the row-houses where they'd met, and Jack slowed the truck as they approached a building site that was fenced off and had a large 'Kingston Bros.'
sign hanging from the gate. The old-fashioned streetlights revealed the frame of a large, roofless house. It stood on a wide, corner lot facing a green space containing a lovely path through a wooded area.

  Jack turned off the ignition and pointed through the windshield with his keys. "It's a construction zone right now, so we can't go in. But you see that corner? That just may be your new address in about six months. What do you think?"

  Lacey didn't think anything. For perhaps the first time in her life, she just acted.

  Instead of answering him or worrying about making a fool of herself, she slid across the bench seat and completely surprised him by turning his face toward her. Looking into his shocked eyes for a moment she leaned forward and kissed him soundly on the lips. It was really more of a peck to show her joy and gratitude than an attempt at seduction, but the result was the same.

  Jack's response to Lacey's lips on him was immediate and enthusiastic. He threw his keys on the dashboard and lifted her onto his lap, angling her chin so he could deepen the kiss. His tongue licked at her lips sweetly and then thrust between them with gradually accelerating heat and force.

  Suddenly they were making out in the cab of his truck like horny teenagers. The windows quickly fogged up, enclosing them in their own little sensual world and Jack took full advantage of the privacy. He slid his lips down her jaw to her throat where he nibbled at that sensitive skin until she gasped and tightened her grip on his hair. He shoved the shoulder of her blouse part-way down her arm and sucked at that spot where her neck meets the collarbone. She would probably have a bruise there the next day and the idea that she would be walking around with his mark on her pleased him.

  Sliding his hand up her denim-clad leg, he made small circles on her inner thigh, and then slid his hand back up to her knee. He did this three times before momentarily cupping her between her thighs. He could feel her heat against his fingers and was overcome with lust when she reached down to capture his hand and keep it there between her legs.

  He groaned against her neck as she shifted restlessly in his lap, and there was no hiding his state of arousal from her. He was painfully hard and impatient for relief, but no matter how much he wanted her, screwing in a truck on the side of the road was not good enough for their first time together. If he took her now, he probably wouldn't get another chance, and he could not let that happen. She'd almost slipped away from him once. So he took a deep breath and stopped moving his fingers against her mound. Removing his lips from her neck, he sat there with his face pressed against her sweet-smelling neck, trying to get his breathing under control.

  "Jack? Is everything alright?" Lacey asked tentatively.

  "Yeah. Everything is fine. My penis and my brain are just at war right now. It will be over in a second. Just don't move, okay?"

  Lacey giggled and the motion made him groan. "Umm, is it okay if I don't want your brain to win?" She asked, delicately licking the shell of his ear.

  He angled his head towards her for a moment, chills running up his neck from the the feeling of her warm breath against his ear. But then he came to his senses and jerked his ear away from her marauding tongue. "Probably not a good idea. Because if my brain loses, then you' re going to be spread-eagled, with your legs in the air and your jeans balled up on the floor faster than the speed of light. And 3 seconds after that, I'm going to be really embarrassed. So, Mr. Happy really needs to lose this battle today, but hopefully he will get a chance to fight another day. Alright?"

  "Wow, what a tease your are, Jack. Don't I have any say at all in this?" She asked playfully, running a hand through the hair at the nape of his neck.

  Easily, he lifted her off his lap and set her on the seat beside him. "Lacey, I'm seriously begging you to stop. I like you, and I don't want to take advantage of you like this." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew he'd said the wrong thing.

  Lacey glared at him as she slid back to the passenger side of the truck. "Take advantage of me? What does that mean? I'm 32 years old, Jack. Not a silly teenage girl. If I want to boff your brains out in the front of your truck, then it's because I've been fantasizing about you for the past week, and I can't wait any longer. Not because I'm some poor lonely spinster who is too overcome with frustration to know what she's doing, okay?"

  Oops. Damn it. He'd touched a nerve. But he really liked the part about her fantasizing about him for the past week. He needed to smooth this over, pronto. "What I meant was, I took you here to show you the lot of land we were talking about earlier because I knew you would be excited to see it, and I thought I would probably get a hug out of it. And since I've been trying to think of a way to touch you all afternoon, I brought you here with my own perverted agenda in mind. That's what I meant by taking advantage of you. The whole frustrated spinster thing never occurred to me, I swear."

  "So, you brought me here to cop a feel?"

  "Well, I wouldn't put it quite that crudely, but yeah."

  Her smile was radiant as she slid back across the seat towards him again. "That is just about the sweetest thing I've ever heard," she said, and reached up to kiss him gently on the lips.

  Jack returned the kiss for a moment and then pulled back to look at her beautiful face in the moonlight. He traced one finely arched eyebrow with his thumb, and drew in an unsteady breath. "Let's get you back to your car, and then we can talk about what's going to happen next, okay?"

  *****

  Ten minutes later, Jack slid the truck into the slot next to Lacey's car in The Daily Grind parking lot. He had been trying to distract himself from his prominent erection by talking about plans for Lacey's place, but she seemed to have lost her enthusiasm for the idea. He sincerely hoped she was just thinking about getting naked with him as soon as possible, and couldn't concentrate on anything else. But he doubted that was the problem. She was still smiling and joking with him but otherwise seemed a bit subdued for someone who had just committed to her dream house and been kissed senseless, all within the last two hours.

  He turned off the ignition, got out of the truck and quickly moved around the vehicle in time to help her down from the passenger side. The truck seat was too high off the ground for her to manage gracefully, so she scrambled down with a laugh at her clumsiness. Jack took her hand and pulled her against him as he leaned against her little car.

  "Now what?" He asked, kissing her on the forehead. Was it just his imagination or had she pulled away from him a bit?

  "Well, now we decide what's going to happen next."

  "I was thinking that we head over to your place…to talk," Jack said, reaching down to cup her bottom with one hand.

  "But Jack, you were just making plans for the cottage." She said, looking at him incredulously.

  "Yeah. I think it'll be really amazing if we can get the property re-zoned so your place faces the north side. Don't you think? Then you can be looking at that little green space instead of your neighbor's jungle gym."

  "But the cottage isn't going to happen. At least not with me."

  He pulled back to look at her. "What the hell are you talking about, Lacey. I thought you wanted to do this. Didn't you tell Serena that you wanted to go for it?"

  "But that was before."

  "Before we kissed? Was it that bad? You don't want to have anything to do with me because of what happened in the truck?" Jack felt coldness starting to creep into his expression and fought valiantly against giving into it. He looked at the ground, so he couldn't see him shutting down.

  "No, Jack. I want a lot to do with you because of what happened in the truck. And as soon as possible."

  "I'm confused. What do you want, Lacey?"

  "Jack. I want you." She reached up and put her hands on each of his cheeks and forced him to look down at her. "For a night or a week or a month. I want to be with you. For as long as you want me. That's what I want. There'll be other houses, but there won't be another chance with someone like you."

  "Are you serious? Please don't be kidding, ok
ay? I really couldn't take that." Was he dreaming or was she actually offering him exactly what he wanted? He felt the coldness ebbing away and being replaced by something relief and warmth. She wasn't rejecting him. She was just being overly cautious. He could work with that.

  "Jack, why would I joke about that? I'm telling you exactly how I feel."

  "I just find it hard to believe that you would want something casual. I mean, girls usually want a commitment right away, don't they?"

  "Not me." Lacey shook her head and held up her hands in supplication. "Oops, that sounded bad. Like I do this on a regular basis. That's not what I meant. I've never done anything like this before, but I swear, I'm not looking for anything long term or serious. This isn't some kind of trap. We barely know each other. All I know is that I've never wanted anyone like this before, and if I don't act on it today, I know I'm going to regret it. You may meet a yoga instructor nymphomaniac with nipple piercings tomorrow and then I'll be kicking myself because I missed my opportunity. I'm sick of being boring and predictable. So, I say, screw the house. I want to be be impulsive for once in my life. And I want to be impulsive with you. What do you want, Jack?"

  "Well, right now I'm a little stuck on the whole nymphomaniac thing, but other than that I feel the same way. I've been alone for a long time, granted, but I can't remember ever being so clearly obsessed with a woman before. I swear, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you for the last week either. I really, really want you too. But why can't we go ahead with Serena's plan too?"

  "Jack, we'd be working together. As much as I'd like to reduce this to just mind-bending hot sex between us, I know I'll become emotionally involved and that will complicate things. What if things go sour between us while the house is being built? Imagine how awful it would be if you get bored of me, and we're still forced to work together on this project? Talk about awkward."