Unconventional

The fire in Chase’s eyes died down a little, and I was left staring back at our former employer. Or current employer. Or whatever she was at the moment.

“Look,” I said simply. “We know you need this place finished. That without passing these upcoming inspections, everything we’ve done here will be for someone else.”

Chase folded his arms across his chest in solidarity. Madison just blinked.

“And there’s no way we’re gonna be upstaged by that guy,” I chuckled, nodding toward Julian. “Especially not when it comes to you.”

Now she did cry, but the tears were joyous ones. Madison flung herself into my arms and hugged me with all her might. She smelled incredible! I lifted her from the ground, and her body felt every bit as amazing as I always imagined it would.

“Uhh… I’m gonna need one of those too,” Chase quipped.

She laughed, dabbed at her tears, then did the same to my partner and friend. Chase’s big arms slid around her, crushing her against his body. His face slid alongside her face, his nose buried in her hair.

“Stop,” I admonishe

d him. “You’re getting our girl all dirty!”

Chase threw me a wink, then kissed her briefly on the cheek before letting go. Sure enough, the side of her face came back streaked with soot and grime.

But damn, it sure felt good to call her ‘our girl.’

“Sorry,” I apologized, reaching out to clean her cheek. “He’s a barbarian.”

Madison didn’t seem to care in the slightest. She was practically vibrating with happiness.

“You guys are the best,” she said exuberantly. “And I’ll pay you back. I’m making that promise that to the both of you, right now! I swear, I’ll—”

“Just keep bringing us lemonade,” I smiled, reaching for my hammer. “We’ll do the rest.”

Six

MADISON

The next week was a total blur. I ran back and forth into town a lot, to set up deliveries. Stopped at various county offices, to make sure my permits were still on track. I barely had time for anything other than coffee, and nothing good on that account. Each night I came home well after dark, usually hungry and always exhausted.

My evenings however, were a lot more exciting.

Every night before he left, Julian would knock on my door, sweep me into his arms, and smash his lips against mine. It always happened wordlessly, and in super-slow motion. We’d kiss with a voracious, insatiable hunger, for what seemed like hours on end instead of mere minutes. As our tongues would dance hotly in one another’s mouths, our fingers would move even more tentatively, exploring each others’ bodies…

Each time it happened, things would progress a tiny bit further. Julian would cup my ass with an impossibly big palm, or drag the backs of his fingers high up along the inside of my thigh. At one point he slid a hand under my shirt and beneath my bra, his fingers just barely teasing one pert nipple before tracing slow, wonderful circles around my areola.

He always stopped short though. Always left me on trembling legs in my own vaulted foyer, panting and breathless and dripping wet.

“See you tomorrow,” he’d say each time. Then he’d spin from my home and close the door.

Hours later I’d be laying in bed afterward, fantasizing about fucking him. Dragging my fingers over my swollen clit with an all-too familiar rhythm and pressure, while imagining all the dirty things I’d let him do to me, if he were really, actually there.

It was no better with Noah or Chase, either. Though they weren’t taking payment in the form of panty-drenching makeout sessions, they’d ramped up our mutual daily flirting. The lemonades became beers somewhere around quitting time, with the guys often working several hours afterward just to hang out with me.

Greetings and departures now involved hugs, and long, lingering looks. Most of the time I was just as guilty. Many of the looks came from me, ogling and admiring their hard, filth-smeared bodies. Talking and laughing and flirting until our faces drew so close together, I could swear one or both of them were going to kiss me.

I walked away each time feeling warm and flustered. Wondering if taking things further would still be the horrible idea I’d always told myself it would be, back when we had a more employer-employee relationship.

But was it even like that anymore? I was no longer paying them. Not in anything other than kisses and hugs and lemonade.

No, they were just normal guys now. Hardworking men who’d been loyal to my uncle — and now to me — thankfully committed to helping me out.

The days wore on, with the weather growing even hotter. Julian continued his rebuilding of the curtain wall. Noah and Chase kept fleshing out the framing necessary to keep one of the towers from collapsing. And me? I kept on watching them. Kept on admiring their shirtless, powerful bodies beneath the summer sun, kept on bringing them snacks and refreshments more often than ever before.