“I can send you over to a colleague of mine, but I don’t handle rentals, Mr. MacDonald. Only purchases.”
“I’ll give you five thousand dollars in cash to have those places sent to me by the end of the day.”
“How does six o’clock sound?” the man asked.
I grinned as I cranked up my car and sped out of the driveway. I fed my stipulations to the man while he jotted them down, then I hung up the phone and drove around to find the nearest ATM. After collecting the money I owed the man, I drove back to Anton’s and went inside. I pulled out a small manila envelope and stuck the money inside, then took it out to the garage with me. I needed to do some more work on the Chevy, especially if I was going to be with Michelle for the next couple of days. I set the envelope down on the driver’s seat, then rolled myself underneath the car after jacking it up.
I tinkered with the powertrain and replaced a few parts before I heard a car pull up into the driveway. I rolled out and wiped my greasy hands off, grinning as Mr. Angier stepped out of his car. He had a folder of files waiting for me and I had an envelope of cash with his name on it.
“Here are the rentals in town that fit all the stipulations you asked of me.”
“And here’s the money I promised you,” I said.
The two of us exchanged folders and I saw his eyes sparkle with green dollar signs.
“There are a couple in there that are listed as purchase properties, but I talked to the owners and they said they would be willing to rent the properties out for a year or two. They’ve been struggling to sell the homes, so it’s money in their pockets. I jotted down some notes on who to call, but I notified all the properties that you would be coming by to look at them within the next couple of days. Their contact information is available on the sheets, double-checked by myself.”
“I appreciate your timely efforts, Mr. Angier.”
“And I appreciate your business. How is the house coming along for showing?”
“I’m getting it ready. I’ve got three more rooms to clean and organize, but once the next couple of days get past me, the house will be ready to see.”
“Perfect. The people who are interested in the property are coming into town this weekend. I assured them they could see the property once they got here,” he said.
“That won’t be a problem. Thank you for your time.”
I smiled down at the folder of listings as I peeled open the cover. I couldn’t wait for tomorrow. My slow seduction of Michelle was coming to a head. The idea of spending the next two days at her side trying to figure out where she was going to live served two purposes. One, it gave me more time next to her to help her figure things out. And two, it gave us more time to connect without the looming cloud of Anton’s death hovering around us.
It gave us a chance to escape that grief and tap into the connection the two of us shared.
And I couldn’t wait to revel in my victory.
Chapter 12
Michelle
I reached down for the cold water and flipped it all the way over. My nipples were puckered to painful peaks and the hot water only reminded me of the hot encounter I’d had with Gray yesterday. I dreamed of him all last night as I slept on Cecily’s couch, waking up with panties so wet I could smell them without even lifting my damn blanket. I had to calm myself down and get myself under control. I was about to spend the entire day with him looking at rental properties, and the last thing I needed was for my body to be focused only on him.
But it was hard.
Our encounter took me by surprise and had taken over my conscious mind. I’d been aroused ever since our time together, despite the hiccup we had. I shivered in the cold stream of water as I washed the conditioner out of my hair, but thoughts of Gray’s body still rattled in my mind. His thick muscles. His pulsing girth. The way he filled my body perfectly and the way he loved my curves. Most men had sex with me despite them. Ignoring them, like they were doing me a favor. But not Gray. He enjoyed my curves. Relished them. Covered them with his lips and massaged them with his palms. I’d never been treated like that before. I’d never experienced the feeling of sheer beauty like I did when I was against his body.
He was so damn sexy, and he knew exactly what my body needed.
I had no idea where I conjured the strength to turn down his offer. Staying with him at Anton’s would’ve been a dream come true. I would’ve rather been in one of those guest bedrooms than on Cecily’s lumpy couch, but I knew that being close to Gray like that would be too damn dangerous. It took me so long to get over him leaving the first time. To let him go only for him to come barreling back into Stillsville. The last thing my life needed was to lose myself in him again, just in time for him to leave.
Because once he left, there would be no more of Anton’s estate to bring him back.
I wanted him desperately, and I knew if I spent another week around him all the time, I would be lost. I’d lose myself in him. In the breakfasts he cooked
and the dinners the spoiled me with. In the afternoon delight whenever he slipped behind me in the shower and the evening dessert sessions when he sank me to the glass table on Anton’s porch and devoured me whole. I’d lose myself in him. In the dream of him. In an expectation of him that was unfair for me to hold him to.
Gray wasn’t a staying man.
He marched into Stillsville again knowing one day he would eventually leave.
Gray wasn’t the keeping type, so it didn’t make sense to fall in love with him. It didn’t make sense to convince myself that anything else would happen other than a fleeting passion and a raw desire, again left cold by his absence. I stepped away from the stream of water as my toes turned to ice, thoroughly settled down as my mind calmed its lewd thoughts.