Chapter 6
Serena
I am trapped in a closet with my smoking-hot jerk-of-a-cowboy neighbor, and I kind of like it.
When we realize we both left our cell phones in the kitchen, Colt grabs a couple of old blankets shoved in a corner for us to sit on.
My neighbor then pokes around the shelves until he turns, smiling at me, his bright blue eyes landing on a deck of cards.
"Shall we?"
Oblivious to how late it gets, we pass the time playing a variety of card games. The irritated awkwardness we have experienced since I moved here last year has lessened substantially, and the yummy cowboy even makes me laugh at his silly competitive streak.
"You can actually be charming when you want to," I say.
Under the dim closet light, I watch his cheeks redden as he gives me a crooked smile.
"I'll take that as a compliment," he says with a chuckle.
A bolt of desire shoots through me.
Watching my neighbor shuffle the deck of cards, I giggle internally. Nova is going to lose it when she finds out I was trapped with my hot cowboy neighbor.
Later in the night, we are both exhausted and punchy, but neither of us is ready to attempt sleeping on the storage room floor. Colt breaks out into a song, but sings it in such a goofy way that it takes me several seconds to realize what he's singing. An old TV theme song.
"I saw them in concert," I say.
He stops, his jaw dropping open. "Me too, for the twentieth anniversary!"
"My uncle took me. One of my favorite memories as a kid."
"You were a kid? Damn, I feel old now," Colt says with a small laugh.
"Wait, how old were you when you saw them?" I ask, suddenly curious.
"Twenty-four, twenty-five maybe. I was working on my first farm job and saved up for months to afford the ticket."
I do quick math in my head. "That would make you... fifty-seven now?"
He shifts uncomfortably. "Yeah. Does that bother you?"
"Why would it?" I say, studying his face in the dim light. Fifty-seven. Twelve years older than me. "I mean, you were just singing a TV theme song like a dork. Who was your favorite Monkee?"
"Easy. Nesmith."
Before my brain functions enough to stop myself, I reach out, grabbing his knee with a squeeze.
"Woolhat was my favorite too!" I blurt out before my entire body is consumed with an electric fire.
Staring down at my hand, I yank it back and look up at my neighbor, whose blue eyes are revealing a heat that makes my pussy quiver.
Did he feel that as well?
Sitting straighter, I clear my throat. "I guess we should probably get some sleep. I still have a busy day on the farm tomorrow. Or today. I have absolutely no idea what time it is," I add with a giggle.
Colt digs out some empty potato sacks to use as blankets, and we lie down on the cold floor. It takes a bit, but sleep finally takes me.
I wake to a voice yelling.
"Colt, are you in there?"
My cowboy neighbor jumps to his feet.
"Benjamin, we're in here!"
The two men on each side of the door work it until it finally pops open.
"Damn, man. Were you in there all night?" Benjamin says with surprise, but his expression when he notices me sitting sleepily on the floor reaches a whole new level of shock. "Oh, I didn't realize you had a visitor."
Colt gives a small laugh, gesturing to the dining room table.
"We were meeting last night for our shared booth for the harvest festival, and let's just say my love of keeping windows open during rainstorms bit me in the ass."
Benjamin chuckles as I slip by him heading to the door. Colt follows, and we both stare at each other awkwardly at the door for a beat. Damn, this man is fine. Even with a mouth that tastes like I just ate a bag of cotton balls, I resist the urge to kiss his full lips.
"See you later," I blurt out before spinning on my heel and bolting out the door.
After rushing through my morning chores, I finally give myself permission to shower.
My body has been on edge all morning. Sure, I'm certain it's because my forty-five-year-old self isn't made for sleeping on hard closet floors, but the main reason is because I can still feel zaps of the electric heat from touching Colt's knee several hours ago.
When I get into the shower, I melt into the heat, letting it beat against my stiff muscles. After shampooing and washing off, I stand there a little longer, still unable to release the buzzing energy zipping through my nerve endings.
Taking my massaging shower head off its hook, I switch it to pulse.
I lean against the side of my shower, resting my head back and allowing the water to thump against my throbbing clit.
Almost immediately, I feel my orgasm build, tightening my inner thighs and making my pussy feel like it's about to explode.
With my free hand, I slide it up, cupping my breast and pinching the nipple while pretending it's actually Colt's stubbled lips sucking on it. Immediately a purr escapes from the back of my throat as my climax rips through my body.
I stand there, shower head dangling from my limp hand, feeling dizzy and confused.
What the hell is happening to me? I've lived next to this man for over a year, and suddenly one night trapped in a closet has me fantasizing about him in my shower?
The rational part of my brain tries to convince me it's just the stress of the situation, the close quarters, the vulnerability of being stuck together. But my body knows better.
I can still feel the phantom warmth where my hand touched his knee, and the way his eyes darkened when he looked at me in that dim storage room. There was something there, something real and electric that I can't dismiss as imagination.
Turning off the water, I wrap myself in my favorite oversized towel and pad into my bedroom. Through my window, I can see across to his property, where Benjamin's truck is still parked. They're probably still out in the fields, doing whatever it is they do with their herbs and vegetables.
I wonder if Colt is thinking about last night too, or if he's already forgotten about our unexpected sleepover. Maybe for him it was just an inconvenience. Just a weird situation with his hippie-witch neighbor that he'll laugh about later.
But the way he looked at me when I touched his knee suggests otherwise. There was heat there.
A desire that matched my own.