Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
JESSE
I stepped out of the shower, rolling my shoulders.
It had been a busy day at the Habitat house, and I had built several walls and helped put them up.
We’d made lots of progress, but I was glad to be home.
The hot water had felt great on my sore muscles.
I wrapped a towel around my waist and was reaching for one to dry my hair when I heard it.
A loud commotion coming from downstairs. It sounded as if a cupboard had fallen, taking everything with it as it hit the floor. Miller started barking loudly. I raced down the stairs, realizing it was coming from the closet where I kept coats, shoes, and extra items I wasn’t using at the moment.
And from the noises I was hearing, someone was in the closet. I instinctually grabbed the closest weapon, a fireplace poker, and reached for the door handle.
The last thing I expected was for Casey to fall face first out of the closet.
The second-to-last thing I expected was for her to grab my towel to stop her fall, leaving me naked.
I was so shocked, all I could do was stare. My gaze bounced to the closet, where I saw a passage to her place, open wide. The closet was a disaster, clothes and footwear scattered.
I dropped my gaze back to her as she rolled over and froze. Somehow while she’d been acting like a tornado in the closet, her camisole had torn.
Her right breast was bare, her left not as exposed but close, the creamy flesh on display. Round, full orbs that beckoned to be touched.
Her nipples were stiff, peaked. A deep shade of dark pink. Perfect for sucking.
Just like in my fantasy last night.
I shook my head. What the hell was I doing ogling her breasts while she was lying on the floor?
How the fuck did she get in here?
Before I could speak, her eyes widened.
“Holy Batman,” she whispered. “That is an impressive fire hose.”
I looked down, startled. My cock had decided he liked Casey on the floor, her breasts on display. I was rock hard. Solid.
“Ah—” I stammered.
“The Dark Knight rises,” she intoned.
If anything, I got harder.
“Towel,” I snapped.
She rolled to her knees, handing me the towel without a word.
Jesus. Now, her mouth was inches from my dick, which wanted me to shuffle forward and say hello properly.
“Tits,” I almost yelled, wrapping the towel back around my waist. It didn’t do anything to hide my situation, but I felt marginally more in control.
“Have you developed Tourette syndrome? Or do you always yell tits when upset?” she asked, still looking up at me from her knees.
I leaned down, almost hissing at her. “ Your tits , Casey. They. Are. On. Display.”
She looked down, grimacing and pulling at her tank.
“Well, tit for tat—or in this case…cock, I guess.”
I groaned. Hearing her say cock wasn’t helping my situation. I reached down and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet. “Put on a shirt and sit down. Don’t move. Don’t touch anything. I’ll be right back.”
Racing up the stairs with an aching hard-on wasn’t easy, but I managed.
I yanked on a T-shirt, then cursed and changed.
I wasn’t wearing a bloody Batman one right now.
I found a fire station shirt and pulled it over my head.
I stood for a moment, trying to think of terrible things.
Sad things. Dead puppies. Mark snoring at night. My house covered in wind chimes.
Anything but Casey’s breasts.
Her perfect, rose-tipped, lush breasts.
Dammit.
Deciding I had no dignity left, I headed back downstairs. Casey was on the sofa, looking strangely docile. She was wearing one of my old T-shirts, somehow looking even sexier than she had a few moments ago.
“Don’t you own any shirts?”
She frowned, indicating the laundry I hadn’t taken upstairs yet. “You said sit on the sofa. Put on a shirt. I thought you meant one of these.”
I ran a hand through my hair in vexation. “Jesus, I need a drink.”
I stomped to the kitchen, feeling my anger build. I grabbed the closest bottle and poured a healthy amount of scotch into the glass and downed it, feeling the burn as it ran down my throat and into my belly.
I stood for a moment, willing myself to relax.
Then I returned to the living room, handing Casey a bottle of water. “Drink it.”
She sipped, looking anxious.
“Talk. Now,” I demanded. “How the hell did you get in here?”
“I moved the armoire.”
“How the fuck did you do that?”
I listened as she told me about the furniture jacks. Moving the armoire. Finding the door.
“I only wanted to see if the door would open at all or if it was stuck.” She frowned. “Did you know about the door?”
“Yes. So did Lou. The people who owned the house—the parents built that apartment for their daughter. They put in the door so they could come and go as needed, but from what Lou told me, they knocked .” I added sarcastically.
She didn’t seem to notice my tone.
“Like an adjoining room in a hotel.”
“I suppose. The daughter moved out, and rather than fill in the wall, they put the armoire there.”
“Oh.”
“Lou tried to move it, and I was going to fill it in for her. But that thing is heavy?—”
Casey nodded. “I know.”
“Anyway, when I bought the house, once you were gone, I planned to knock down the whole wall, so I just left it. At one point, the door became a little warped and didn’t shut in the closet.
I found it annoying, and I trimmed it so it sat flat and would stay closed.
” I sighed. “I didn’t expect my pixie of a tenant to move the huge-ass closet and find the door. ”
I studied her, the color gone from her cheeks, leaving her pale. Most of my anger had drained away as well, but I was still annoyed.
“But of course you did. Break and enter seems to be your thing.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
I turned and looked at the closet and the mess. “But you did.”
Just then, Miller appeared from the closet, Barney following him. They looked at us, then Miller headed upstairs, Barney hot on his heels.
“Great. Now he thinks it’s a door for him and his cat friend,” I groaned, dropping my head into my hands.
I expected Casey to laugh, but she didn’t.
I looked up, seeing her watching me, looking contrite. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean…” Her voice trailed off, and she cleared her throat. “I thought I’d move it and surprise you with my ingenuity.”
I lifted my glass. “Well, you got the surprise right.”
“I got one too.”
I shut my eyes. “I’m human. A male. We see great tits and we react. It’s just nature.”
“Well, your nature is impressive,” she muttered.
I had no idea how to respond, so I grunted. And reminded my cock to stand down. He liked the compliment.
She was quiet for a moment.
Then she spoke. “You think my tits are great?”
I stood, pressing a hand to my eyes. “Casey, go home.”
She rose from the sofa. “I was just asking. I mean, you made a statement. I was clarifying.”
I stepped closer, looking her in the eye. “You just broke through the wall into my home. You saw me naked, and yes, my cock was hard. You have great breasts. I reacted. Mostly because you caught me off guard.”
“So if I told you I was going to take off the shirt and show you my breasts now, you wouldn’t react?” She frowned. “Because you’d be forewarned, or because they aren’t that great?”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Give me strength,” I muttered, then took her arm, propelling her toward the closet. “Home, Casey. Go home. I’m tired, hungry, and exhausted. I can’t deal with you right now.”
She pulled at her arm. “I need to get Barney.”
“I’ll shove the furball through the door in a bit.”
She frowned but left, shutting her door behind her. I stared at the mess of the closet, then shut both doors that connected us and headed to the kitchen. I stopped when I heard a knocking sound.
She wasn’t already back, was she?
I returned to the closet as she knocked again, this time louder. I flung open the door with a growl.
“What now?”
She handed me a container. “Your lasagna. You said you were hungry.”
I was annoyed, but I wasn’t stupid. I took the container. “Good night, Casey.”
“Good night.”
Ignoring the hurt look on her face, I shut the door and headed back to the kitchen. I popped the container in the microwave, the scent of tomato sauce and spices filling the air.
I poured some water and sat down, taking a bite. The hot cheese and pasta were delicious. A little spicy, flavorful, and garlicky. I ate steadily, practically licking out the container. Part of me wanted to go knock and ask if she had more. But I decided not to.
I headed upstairs, picking up the cat and ignoring Miller’s hurt look as I carried Barney downstairs. I opened the door, shooing him to his own side, then shut everything again without saying anything to Casey.
I poured myself another scotch and sat on the sofa, resting my head back on the cushions. Miller came downstairs and jumped up beside me, resting his great head on my lap. I absently stroked his silky fur, letting myself relax and wind down. It had been a busy, eventful day.
The wind chimes, building—and Casey, my pain-in-the-ass tenant/break-and-enter artist.
The entire event went through my head. The crashing, the yelping, her bursting through the door.
Her breasts, my reaction. Her comments.
The Dark Knight rises.
Suddenly, I was laughing. I had to grab a pillow to muffle my shouts of amusement. I laughed so hard, tears sprang to my eyes, and I had to wipe them away. From the moment she’d arrived, she’d turned my world upside down. I never knew what to expect with her. What chaos she’d cause next.
Keep an open mind , Lou had asked me.
I was pretty certain not even Lou would know how to handle her Pixie now that she was grown up.
I wiped my eyes again and finished my scotch. I glanced at the door, tempted to go and talk to Casey. Let her know I wasn’t angry. But we had to set boundaries.
Except I started to laugh again and knew I needed to wait.
I refused to encourage her. Up until now, everything had happened by accident. If she thought it amused me, God only knew what she’d do.
I wasn’t sure I would survive it.
I woke up early the next morning and got ready for the day. I headed out, meeting Mark for breakfast at the local diner.
I slid into the booth, accepting coffee from Shannon, our regular waitress. “The usual for you two?”
We said yes, and she headed to the kitchen. Mark and I exchanged greetings, and I asked after Linda.
“She’s good.” He grinned. “Cal had a few stories about you.”
I rolled my eyes. “A misunderstanding.”
“He said you were rather protective of your little tenant.”
I shrugged, taking a sip of coffee to buy myself some time. “I promised Lou I’d look after her.”
“She met him and Lori and a group of their friends the other night at Dusty’s.”
Dusty’s was the local bar. Decent food, cold beer, and always filled with locals.
“Oh, she didn’t mention it.”
“Cal said one of his friends liked her. Thought she was cool. And she agreed to meet them Saturday for karaoke.”
I had to tamp down my reaction.
Casey was going on a date? With a friend of Cal’s?
My gut churned at the thought.
I took another sip of coffee, this one bitter in my mouth.
“I hope she has fun,” I muttered.
Breakfast came, and it took everything in me to eat it. It tasted like ash. Mark and I talked about the station, a project he wanted to build at his place he wanted my help with, and we chatted about the new probie.
“Wet behind the ears,” I said, pushing my plate away. “But decent.”
“He’s got a good attitude,” Mark agreed. “Wants to learn.”
“He’s on our rotation next. We should work with him. I had a veteran take me on when I first started. Taught me a lot,” I mused, thinking back to when I first became a firefighter. “His lessons probably helped save my life more than once.”
Mark drained his coffee. “Good idea. We’ll stay busy too.” He stretched. “Any plans today?”
“Cleaning a closet,” I murmured. “And Casey needs help—she moved that old armoire, and now it’s on rollers and she can’t get them off since the piece is tight to the walls.”
“How the hell did she move that thing? We tried.”
“She got some furniture lifters.” I shook my head. “She didn’t like where it sat, so she moved it.”
“Stubborn.”
“You have no idea.”
“You like her,” he stated.
“She’s nice.”
He leaned forward. “You like her.”
I met his eyes. “She’s great. But I don’t do relationships. Especially with someone living that close.”
He grinned. “Who said it had to be a relationship? Friends with benefits, or neighbors with benefits, can work. You said she only planned on being here a year or so.”
Hearing him say that out loud bothered me. Why, I wasn’t sure. My life would be a lot quieter once Casey moved on.
As for the friends with benefits, I didn’t know if Casey was that sort of girl.
Or if I wanted that.
“Too complicated,” I objected.
He shook his head. “Only if you make it that way.”
His phone rang and he chuckled. “Speaking of complicated, my wife needs me again.” He slid from the booth. “See you at the station.”
I lifted my hand in a mock salute, and he strode away.
I got another cup of coffee from Shannon, my mind racing.
Friends with benefits. Casey and me.
Her in my bed, those breasts on display for me. That lush ass of hers wiggling as I played with her. She didn’t seem offended last night when my dick was in her face. In fact, she seemed quite fascinated. Then I shook my head. It was a bad idea.
Lou would kill me. She asked me to watch out for her.
Not fuck her senseless the way I wanted to.
I drained my coffee, putting the idea out of my mind.
Tenant.
Casey was my tenant. A pain-in-the-ass one at times, but just my tenant.
That was all.