The Inheritance (Contemporary Reverse Harem 1)

“Well,” I said, smiling. “He was really tall. I mean I had to look up at him.” Which didn’t happen all the time when you were my height of five foot ten. “Super broad shoulders, really muscular from what I could tell. Messy little ponytail, some beard scruff, and these pretty blue eyes with the longest lashes. How come guys get the good lashes?”

“Damn, Gar. You did all right. Think you’ll see him again?” Matty asked.

I was counting on it. “He owns the gym around the corner from Drive By Saloon. He invited me to join his bootcamp class.”

“Oh. My. God. A dumb jock. You hit booty jackpot.”

“Well, I don’t know that he’s a dumb jock—”

“Gar, gotta run. I have a call coming in. Love you!”

And he was gone.

It was okay, though. That was how we operated. He had a date, or booty call, or something lined up, and I never got in the way.

And he never got in my way, either. That was why we were best friends.

Chapter 6

Baldwin “Win”

Things hadn’t changed much for me since old man Cordy had kicked the bucket. And I was hoping things would stay that way.

His lawyer had come by a couple days after I found him dead in the house, when the cops had come and had the coroner take him away. I wasn’t sure what to do after that, so I just kept working, keeping up the house and property, and minding my own business in the apartment over the garage.

The lawyer told me they’d be figuring out what was to happen with Cordy’s estate in the next few days, so to just hang tight. I was really gonna miss him. The old man had been more of a father to me than my own father.

I was busy trimming some hedges and enjoying the fresh smell of the incoming San Francisco Bay tide when I saw a woman on the property. I’d known it was just a matter of time before someone from Cordy’s family came sniffing around to see if there was anything they could get now that he was six feet under. Damn vultures. I had to say, though, this particular one was quite the looker. Crazy long hair and some tight-ass jeans. Shit.

“Yo,” I hollered.

She looked around, having heard me, but unable to figure out where my voice had come from.

“Hello?” she called.

“Over here.” If she were here to cash in after Cordy, I was going to make her walk over to me and not the other way around.

“Oh, hi,” she said, waving. And she starting walking toward me.

“Can I help you, miss?”

Her mouth opened, and it looked like she was trying to figure out how to explain herself. I’d seen it before. It was what liars did.

“I…um…I was looking into, um, checking out the house.” She nodded like she needed to convince herself more than me. “I, um, heard it might be for lease. It’s a pretty awesome place. Do you work here?”

No, I hang out and trim bushes for a good time.

“Yes. I am the groundskeeper, property manager, whatever you want to call it.”

“Oh. Did you know Gran—I mean, Bill Cordy?”

“Of course. This was his place, until…” God, I was going to miss the son of a bitch.

She looked around, taking in the view of the sailboats in the distance. Shit, I hoped I wouldn’t have to leave the property. It was one of the few residences on the water in Belvedere, a tiny community just outside San Francisco. Cordy’s huge stone house sat on a spit of land that extended into the Bay with perfect views of downtown San Francisco on the other side of the water. It was magical and a far cry from what I had had growing up.

“Yes, I heard he passed.” She looked at me. “Had you worked for him for long?”

I pulled off my gardening gloves and pushed back my hair. My own dad had kicked me out when I’d gotten busted for pot. Cordy had offered me the little apartment above his garage, and in exchange, I was to do some work around his house. That was twelve years ago.