He slid his chair back and stood up, sliding his big arms into the jumpsuit that was bunched around his waist. It was a clean one this time, freshly-laundered. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a pair of gloves.
“This was delicious by the way,” he said, indicating dinner. “Thank you.”
I smiled, trying not to blush. “You’re very welcome.”
“Got any more of those?” he asked, pointing to his empty bottle of beer. “I’ll take one out to the garage if you don’t mind.”
I hurried to the fridge and grabbed him a cold one. The six pack I’d picked up on the way home was half gone. Next time I’d get a twelve.
“Tate?”
He turned back at the side doorway, twisting his body half in and half out.
“Thanks for doing this,” I said. “But if you go in there and it turns out it’s too much work, I’ll totally understand. Honestly, that thing hasn’t been touched in years. It’s in about a million pieces.”
His eyes flared, like I’d said something interesting. Or more accurately, as if I’d just given him a challenge.
“If the parts are all there, we’ll be driving this thing out of your garage together,” he declared confidently. “Might just take a few weeks.”
I watched him stomp off, closing the door on his beautiful, bubble-shaped ass. Part me was relieved that I could relax now, and finally let my guard down. The other part of me didn’t want to see him go.
Now what?
I didn’t know what the gorgeous mechanic would do in there, or how long he’d be doing it. I only knew that rather than distract him, I’d try to relax a little. He’d flirted with me a bit at dinner, but hadn’t made a move. It was entirely possible I’d misread his intentions.
Or maybe you just haven’t made yours well-enough known.
It was crazy how much I’d been thinking about him in the past twenty-four hours. I’d emboldened myself for what might happen, and chastised myself for wanting it. In the end I’d decided to roll with whatever went on. Even if the only thing going on was me, my couch, and my television remote.
Ah, but Jacob though…
It wasn’t long before I was thinking about my landscaper again. I flipped on one of my guiltier pleasures — one of those competitive cooking shows — and settled back to rest my tired feet. Jacob’s kiss had been hot, delicious, and entirely unexpected. And there were so many forbidden elements to it! You had the older-younger thing going on. The employer-employee aspect of it.
That part isn’t technically true anymore.
No, I supposed it wasn’t. If he were cutting my lawn for free I guessed our business relationship was pretty much over. I was ‘Serena’ now, and he’d called me by my name. Not Mrs. Nelson. Not Ms. McShane.
I thought about these things even as my mind wandered back and forth between him and Tate. Twice I got up to check on my hot mechanic, and each time I’d brought him another cold beer. He was bent over the open hood of the bright red muscle-car, either putting things in or taking things out. Other than grunting a ‘thanks’ he didn’t say much. But I could see
he was working feverishly.
Sometime after eleven o’clock I began dozing off on the couch. As much as I wanted to stay up I just couldn’t help it. I was drifting dreamlessly, stuck between the hazy state of consciousness and unconsciousness when I abruptly sat up.
“All the parts are there,” said Tate, standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen. “Every last one of them.”
He’d removed his gloves, peeled off his jumpsuit, and was back in jeans and a T-shirt. Right now, his arms still pumped from the exertion of work, he looked especially magnificent.
“Good,” I smiled groggily, rising to my feet. “That’s good, right?”
He crossed the room wordlessly, before I could even react. And then suddenly I was being crushed against him. My body was completely enveloped in his arms, as he buried his face in my neck and began kissing me in ways that made my legs fold out from under me.
Oh my GOD…
I didn’t have to stand up for long. After less than a minute of tickling my neck with his sexy stubble Tate shoved me backwards, and onto the couch. I gasped as I fell, sprawling helpless before him. Then, before I knew what was happening…
… he dropped to his knees and slid his hands up my thighs.
Nine