Chapter 17
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
E mmerleigh
Savannah, a woman who’d answered my online job opening for a subcontractor, showed up right on time the next day, which was the first of many positive signs that she just might work out. She wasn’t as tall as Pip, but she was stronger than me and had enough tattoos dotting her skin to make me not question her toughness. We had the screened-in porch completed in no time, working around each other like a team that had been together longer than a day.
“All done with paint, boss. Ready to start framing the bedroom if you are. Wouldn’t mind a beer break though.” Pip wiped her paint-splattered hands on her overalls as she came out the back door onto the porch, smearing the dove-gray color on her clothes without a care.
We had exactly five days until Warrick’s mother came back from her cruise and still had a bedroom addition to tackle. It would take a miracle to finish it on time, but we just might squeak it out with Savannah on board, no more daycare hiccups for Georgia, and a city inspector that came out right away for all the permit checks.
And if I kept my eyeballs firmly on the job and not on Warrick.
My muscles ached with all the hours we were putting in and not getting good sleep at night wasn’t doing me any favors. The pounding headache this morning reminded me why I didn’t drink more than a few times a year. I needed to refocus on this job if I had any shot at getting that extra ten-thousand-dollar bonus. I had a feeling Warrick would give it to me anyway, but I didn’t want a handout if I hadn’t earned it. Especially not since I knew he’d been taken advantage of before. I wouldn’t be one in a string of gold-digging women in his life.
“And we’re all done with the porch. What do you think? Did we miss anything?” The three of us stood tool belt to tool belt, looking at the porch with a discerning eye. It looked damn good, if I did say so myself.
“The women around here are multiplying.”
I whipped around at the deep male voice, my skin prickling in response. I’d managed to avoid Warrick all day. Something about that honest conversation last night had my insides betraying me. I’d lain awake in my bed last night, not berating myself for calling my client gorgeous, but from the memory of the heat in his eyes when I said it. I hadn’t flirted for so many years I wondered if I even knew how any longer, but I’d managed to make a successful, handsome man smolder at me. Somehow the alcohol had made me temporarily forget that he was my client and this marriage was most definitely not real in the ways that mattered.
Even if I was tempted to daydream that it was.
Warrick had his hands on his hips, wearing the cheap jeans I’d gotten him and looking far fancier than any man should in them. The hideous boots should have been the focal point of the outfit, but it was Warrick himself and the way he wore clothes that made it all look like he was posing for a modern cowboy fashion magazine. Even his dark brown hair with the couple of threads of silver at the temples was perfectly disheveled.
“Warrick, this is Savannah. Savannah, this is Warrick Wolfe, our client.”
Pip snorted, as if she disagreed with my abbreviated introduction. Giving all the details as to who Warrick actually was to me would have been too confusing. And not really something I needed my new subcontractor to know about her boss. Yes, he’s our client and I’m living with him and we got married, but no, we’re not actually together.
Shit, that was a mouthful.
Warrick shook Savannah’s hand, but he quickly stepped back again. “Looks like the sisterhood of the traveling tool belt in here. I’ll leave you to it.”
Savannah, a brunette in her midthirties, fanned her face as he departed, heading back into the house. “ That’s Warrick Wolfe?” She spun to look at me, green eyes twinkling in a way that rankled. “I heard talk of the Wolfe boys being back in Blueball, but being fairly new to the area, I didn’t realize they looked like that . Maybe I need to dress a little better, even for work.”
We all glanced at her ripped jeans and sawdust-covered T-shirt. Pip looked down at her overalls, maybe just now realizing that they looked like they’d been through some things.
“No, what you’re wearing is perfect,” I said quickly, needing to redirect the conversation before I fired the perfectly wonderful worker I’d just hired that morning. “Let’s start on the bedroom. I think we can get it framed out before we leave for the day.”
We did get it framed out before Pip and Savannah left for the day, but they subjected me to constant comments about Warrick and his good looks and how sweet he was to upgrade his mother’s house and what good shape he was in. I drew the line at Savannah speculating at his bedroom prowess as a middle-aged man, barking out orders just to shut her up. It was a relief when they left for the day and I could sit on the back porch and make some phone calls for tomorrow. I also had several voicemails from prospective clients that I needed to return.
After confirming the electrician for tomorrow to wire the new bedroom and the city inspector at the end of the day so we could proceed with drywalling immediately after approval, I returned phone calls. I heard Warrick return with Georgia and I wanted nothing more than to head into the house and hug my daughter, but work had to come first right now. Just a little bit longer before we were on our feet financially. Staying here with Warrick rent-free was speeding the timeline up and I was grateful, though I thought his mother might have differing opinions on us invading her house. I needed to be ready to move out on a moment’s notice if she disapproved of the living arrangements.
“Two weeks is fine,” the man on the other line said, agreeing to me coming out to give him an estimate on new siding for his house. “I heard you do good work. I suppose I also owe you congratulations on the marriage.”
“Oh, um, thanks.” I frowned, not realizing this potential client knew Warrick. Then again, Warrick had grown up here, so he probably knew everybody in the small town. And clearly word had gotten out about our marriage, which might complicate things when we eventually split up.
We hung up and I plugged in the address into my calendar for two weeks from now. I folded my arms across my chest and stared out into the backyard, a beautiful nature escape of manicured green lawn backed by a copse of trees. The sun was just setting into the tree line when I stood up and went inside, the conversation I just had gnawing at me. I thought it through the whole time I tossed a salad while Warrick grilled the chicken he’d been marinating all day outside on the barbecue.
The slider opened and Warrick came back in, a platter of steaming chicken in his hands and a grin on his face. Georgia cheered and raced over to the dining room.
“Salad ready?” he asked casually, like us making dinner together was a normal thing. It felt so domestic and cozy I wanted to cry. He paused when he noticed I didn’t immediately answer. With a sigh, he put the platter down on the unfinished cabinets. Hopefully the countertops would be in tomorrow like the crew had promised. “What’s wrong now?”
I shook my head, too tired and hungover to have another fight with him. “Nothing. Let’s eat.”
I went into the dining room and made sure Georgia ate her food. Like usual, she fought me over the vegetables, but Warrick made a big show of cramming lettuce into his mouth at a rapid speed, which prompted Georgia to giggle and imitate him. By the time I’d gotten her bathed and tucked into bed, I’d worked out the issue in my brain. Warrick was right. Something was wrong and I needed to speak to him about it. I’d made the mistake of sweeping issues under the rug with Cayden for the sake of peace and look where that had gotten me. Not that I was in any kind of relationship with Warrick, but after last night, I felt like we’d at least become friends.
I kissed Georgia on the forehead and inhaled her little-girl scent. It was getting fainter by the day, replaced by dirt and sweat from playing so hard at preschool. I tried not to let the mom guilt hit me over the head and vowed to spend a whole day just her and me after this job was done. Closing our door behind me, I listened for Warrick in the house, but heard nothing. I searched the downstairs and didn’t find him. Stepping out onto the front porch, I saw the light on in the barn. Heading in that direction, I finally found him talking to Bessie in the pen, his back to me.
“Did you let Pip milk you, you stubborn heifer? My hands aren’t good enough for your teats?” He shook his head. I swallowed a laugh. Bessie simply lifted her nose in the air like she was better than him. “You’re making me look bad, you know. A grown man and I can’t even milk a cow?”
Despite the issue I wanted to discuss with him, that made me laugh. He spun around and gripped his chest.
“Jesus. Warn a guy before you sneak up on him. ”
I spread my hands. “I tried, but you were too busy crooning to that cow.”
Bessie shoved her head over his shoulder and licked his ear. He flinched away and gave her a death look, wiping away the slobber.
“I got some calls today about some jobs in town,” I blurted out, not at all good at confrontation. Jeez, way to transition into it, Em.
Warrick walked over to where I stood in the doorway of the barn, his nearness making me wish I’d never taken this job or agreed to marry him for his help with the court case. Cayden hadn’t contacted me in a while, which was a relief, so maybe being married wasn’t necessary to get him to drop the case entirely. If I had no affiliation to Warrick, maybe I could have explored this attraction to him without all the baggage. Without the complicated strings attached.
Who was I kidding? I never would have explored anything with any man.
“Congratulations. I knew M Builds would take off once people around town knew about your work.”
The pride clearly shining in his eyes made me feel ten feet tall. Which made what I had to say that much harder. I felt like I was throwing his help in his face, but I had to stand up for myself. History could not repeat itself. I would not build another business around a man that could be snatched away from me once the man betrayed me. I folded my arms across my chest.
“Did you tell people about me? After we just talked about you not interfering with my business?”
Warrick frowned, the pride fading into a carefully blank look. “Talk about you? Who would I talk to?”
“Just answer the question,” I snapped. Cayden had never given me straight answers, just word soup that took me around and around until I gave up on the question.
Warrick’s jaw hardened. “No, I didn’t tell anyone about your work here. Even if I had, that’s not interfering in your business. That’s simply giving an opinion about the general contractor I’ve hired.”
“Are you sure?” Who else would have told people about me?
Warrick huffed and shook his head. “I swear, it’s always one step forward and two steps back with you, Slaywright. I actually thought after last night that you might trust me.”
“I do trust you.” To an extent. Could I really ever fully trust a man after what Cayden did?
Warrick’s eyes seemed to burn with anger. “I’ve tried being patient. I’ve tried proving to you over and over again that I’m trustworthy. That I want the best for you and Georgia. Fuck, I married you just to help you retain custody, Em! Do those actions say untrustworthy to you?”
I licked my lips, feeling a tad guilty for accusing him. He was right. He’d never done anything other than help me and my daughter. I just couldn’t seem to figure out why . Why was he helping us? Why would anyone go out of their way to help a stranger like this? I kept waiting for the “gotcha” moment. The moment where he showed his true colors and screwed me over.
“I just don’t understand why you’re helping us. Explain it to me.”
Warrick ran a hand through his hair, making it messier than usual. “I have explained it to you. Multiple times. Why can’t you understand that I simply want to help? That you’re a beautiful, hardworking, single mom who just needs a helping hand to dig out of this hole you’re in and I have the resources to do it?”
I lifted my shoulders and opened my mouth to offer some sort of reason for not believing him, but nothing came to mind. Other than my past, I had no reason to doubt Warrick. I was doing what he’d accused me of last night. I was painting him with the same brush as Cayden. It wasn’t fair to him at all.
“Fuck it. Talking about my reasons doesn’t seem to get it through your head. Maybe this will.”
Warrick invaded my space, his hands planting themselves on my hips and pushing me back against the wall of the barn. Something clattered to the ground when my back hit but I didn’t have a chance to look since his hand cupped my jaw and held me in place. His head descended and all rational thought fled my brain. His lips came down on mine. Hard. A grunt in the back of his throat seemed to ring in my ears and then his tongue was demanding entrance. For as much fight as I gave him every single day I’d known him, I had zero resistance to his kiss. I opened for him immediately and Warrick took full advantage.
His tongue claimed my mouth the same time his hips ground against my stomach, a hard, heavy erection digging into my stomach. Everything went fuzzy and all my senses zeroed in on the man devouring me. I whimpered into his mouth and it only made the kiss that much deeper and his hands that much tighter. His muscled thigh wedged my legs apart and I whimpered again when he ground that erection against my clit like he had carnal knowledge of my body and knew how to make me detonate on contact.
The kiss went on, lips angling, tongues dueling, and teeth sometimes nipping in something wild and untamed. I’d never been kissed like this. Ever. My heart rate was out of control and I couldn’t feel my legs. I nearly wept when his hand left my hip, about to beg him to stay when that hand slipped under my shirt and dipped inside the waistband of my jeans. I sucked in a sharp breath and Warrick didn’t give me any warning. His hand slid inside my jeans and under my panties, splitting me apart with ruthless efficiency. I cried out and he growled, swallowing my noises with his mouth.
I hadn’t been kissed or touched like this in years. Everything felt like the first time. Like my breasts and clit and mouth and skin had been awakened from a deep sleep. I was on fire for this man and he didn’t seem to have any inclination to stop anytime soon. A finger found its way to my clit, massaging the bundle of nerves before dipping inside me, spreading moisture as it came back to my clit. My whole body spasmed at his touch and my fingers slid into his hair to grip him tight. Warrick kept up the brutal rhythm, not giving me a single second to acclimate.
My breath came in pants and my toes curled in my boots. If I’d had a second to be self-conscious, I would have worried about the fact that I hadn’t even showered off the work of the day. Warrick didn’t seem to mind my salt-covered skin as he nipped at my jaw and neck. When everything swirled into an overwhelming pleasure lined with pain, I cried out again, my head hitting the wall behind me. Warrick’s mouth came away from my neck and I could feel him watching me as I exploded on his finger, rocking my hips shamelessly against his hand.
I’d forgotten how good an orgasm felt.
How every muscle locked up and then relaxed. Every bone softened, every care flitted away. My eyes flickered open as I came down, my breath still hitching on each aftershock that flooded my system. Warrick studied me with heat burning in his eyes. His hair was a mess from my fingers and his jaw was still locked impossibly tight.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. Referring to the incredible orgasm that ranked number one on my list of all-time greatest. Or perhaps I was referring to the way Warrick looked at me, like he still had plans to devour me all night long. Or it might have been when the thought hit me that I’d just let a client finger me in the barn while my daughter slept fifty yards away.
I must have said something out loud, because Warrick’s eyes narrowed and a tiny vein in his forehead pulsed with anger.
“Not a client, sweetheart. I’m your fucking husband.”