Six.
Duke
Maci shimmies off her coat and tucks it in the backseat before slipping off her boots. She delicately folds her feet beneath her in the passenger seat, taking her hot tea between her hands and holding it close to her chest. “So, where to?” she says with a smile, blowing on her steaming drink in a way that does things to me I’m not proud of.
Focusing my attention on the road, I shift my thickening cock as subtly as I can. “We’ll be making the rounds first.”
“Rounds?”
I grin. “Snow plowing.”
“Ah, gotcha.”
I back out onto the road and head east. The jolt of a pothole jostles her drink in hand causing a few drops to fall on her pants. I chuckle when she swipes it with the sleeve of my sweater.
“There are napkins in the glovebox,” I tell her.
Her caught expression is both hilarious and adorable. “Sorry,” she says. “You probably don’t want me using it for clean-up purposes.”
“Use it however you want.” I grin. “I’m just letting you know.”
She smiles, taking a sip of her tea as we head toward the property.
My phone pings with a text and I tug it free from my coat pocket, handing it to her. “Can you check that for me?” I spare a glance in her direction and note her surprised expression.
She gingerly takes my phone, clearing her throat as she swipes the screen to open. “No password?” she asks under her breath.
I shrug. “Never needed one.”
Her gaze trails over me for a moment before refocusing on the screen. “It’s your mom. She said the plow fell off your dad’s truck, and she wants to know if you can come get her out of the driveway so she can go to the store while he messes with the hunk of junk.”
Of course, it did. “Tell her I’m heading to the property to plow for Levi to get up there, then I’ll swing by.”
She taps on the screen. “Is that spelled L-E-V-I, like the jeans?”
I chuckle at that. “Yeah.”
“I might be from Oklahoma, but I’ve never heard that one,” she muses, hitting send and setting the phone on the center console. “Who’s Levi?”
“One of my brothers.”
She raises a curious brow. “How many siblings do you have? You mentioned a Rhett earlier.”
“Well, let’s see…there’s my eldest brother, Butch. He’s the grumpy prick you saw outside the coffee shop,” I start as she laughs. “He owns Montgomery Logging. Been doing pretty well for himself the last few seasons. I’m the second oldest. Then there’s Beau, he’s a few years younger than me. He’s enlisted in the Army currently, and has two vacation cabin rentals on the mountain for extra income. And Rhett, he just turned thirty this year. He and Levi own and operate Montgomery Lumber Construction together.”
“Wow, you’re all entrepreneurs,” she says. “Your parents must be proud.”
I snort. “Think there’s a difference between being an entrepreneur and not wanting to work for some other asshole.”
She giggles. “True.”
“And last we’ve got a younger sister, Lily. She’s twenty-five with a three-year-old son named Parker,” I add. “She’s living at home with our parents while she tries to get her modeling career started up again, or whatever—no one knows what the hell she’s doing half the time.”
“Four brothers and a sister. Oof.” Maci cringes. “Your mother must be a saint to raise six kids.”
She is. “That too many?”
“I mean, for me, yeah.”
“How many do you want?” I ask without thinking.
“Well, I’d love three. That’s kind of the dream, anyway,” she says. “What about you? Do you want kids?”
I simply nod, not having the words on that one.
I did. I do. It’s complicated.
“How many?” she presses.
“I’ve never put a number on it,” I admit. “However many my woman would want, really.”
“Well, I hope you at least have a max.” She laughs. “I’m sure one of your parents put a cap on it at some point.”
I chuckle deeply. “Yeah, I think they were aiming lower, but Ma wanted a daughter. Of course, sixth time was the charm.”
Shaking her head, she says, “Five older brothers, I can’t imagine.”
I grin. You’d think, from the outside looking in, that Lily got the short end of the stick. Not the case. She’s the baby and the only daughter—she’s had our parents wrapped tight around her finger since day one without even trying.
“What about you, any siblings?”
Maci rolls her eyes. “I have an older sister, Tami. She’s a real bitch.”
“That bad, huh?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” she adds dramatically. “She might as well be Satan’s bride with the felon of a husband she chose for herself. He stole my car once. Had everyone convinced I said he could borrow it—obviously, I didn’t. Yet, my entire family adores him. It’s mind-blowing, if you ask me.”
“What, uh, about you?” I force myself to ask, desperate to know. “You divorced? Doing the whole single mom thing.”
“No, I’ve…never been married,” she confesses, and my brow furrows. How the hell is a woman like her not hitched by now? “And yes, I’m doing the whole single mom thing. My ex didn’t want anything to do with me or the baby. So, yeah, it’s just us.”
“I’m sorry,” I say, internally stewing over her ex wanting nothing to do with his child. What kind of man does that?
“Don’t be.” She waves me off. “I don’t have to worry about him anymore. Me and my baby can have a fresh start.”
“That’s a good way to think of it.”
I slow as we reach the worn driveway leading to my property. I drop the plow and turn to start clearing the way. We hit a few bigger bumps, jerking the truck around. Maci yelps in shock, followed by a burst of laughter. I grin from ear to ear seeing her holding onto the door and console to stay in place.
“Hold on,” I chuckle, continuing up the long, bumpy drive to the finished pole barn that’ll act as my home garage alongside the half-built house. Rhett and Levi were able to get the foundation set, the frame of the house built, sheathing done, and the roof put on, all before the first snowfall of the season. Getting that far in the job when they did, left them able to work in the meantime on the inside.
“Whose house is this?” Maci asks, leaning forward to look up at the bare bones of a two-story house that’ll hopefully end up being a three-bedroom, two-bath with a wraparound porch.
“Mine,” I say, throwing the truck in park. “Rhett and Levi handle renovation projects, add-ons, and basic home builds.” Pointing down the road. “Butch lives up the road with his fiancée. Roughly five miles past that is my folks’ place. And down the road from them is where Beau’s property starts. I’m renting one of his cabins while I wait on the build here.”
Maci is quiet for a long moment. “So, you’re pretty close with your family, huh?”
“When they’re not up my ass half the time, yeah,” I scoff. “My parents hold Sunday dinner every week, but we see each other often. Hang out a good bit. You close with your family?”
Her face scrunches in a slight cringe before she quickly masks it. “No, um, like I said, it’s just me.”
I nod. Getting the feeling I might be upsetting her, I change the subject. “Did you want to see the place?” I ask. “I usually do a quick walk-through, make sure no critters are taking up residence.”
Her eyes light up, a beautiful smile on her full lips. “I’d love to.”
“All right.” I grin. “Just be careful getting out. This part of the driveway has a slope and—You know what, wait, I’ll come around,” I tell her, hearing her faint laughter as I get out and close the door behind me.
I stride around to her side and open the door. She pulls her jacket on, a humorous glint in her eye. “You know I’m not made of glass, right?” she teases.
I reach my hand out to help her down. “You are to me,” I say, my heart stuttering at the admission. “I don’t know what kind of falls a pregnant woman can take, but I don’t plan on finding out.”
She smiles, placing her delicate hand in mine. I keep hold of her hand, loving the fit, the feel, the beat of her pulse against mine. We walk hand in hand up the slight slope to the front steps. I release her hand only to grab the snow shovel propped against the railing.
“Does the porch go all the way around?” she asks, watching me shovel off the steps.
“Yeah,” I grunt, setting the shovel off to the side and reaching for her hand again. For a split second, I think about dropping my hand. After all, the porch is covered, and the steps are clear. There’s no reason for me to hold onto her.
Maci doesn’t seem to question it, though. She takes my hand as we ascend the steps and I open the front door, gesturing her ahead of me. A wave of curiosity hits me at showing her my future home—the layout, the plan. I shouldn’t care what she thinks. She’s a perfect stranger, stuck here by the fault of her car.
She’ll be gone before I know it.
Why does that sound so…painful?
I go through the motions of showing her the entire place. Explaining the divisions of the rooms by the bare framing for the walls, the open concept I’m aiming for on the first floor. She engages in everything I say, asking small questions, and commenting on how amazing the view is from the kitchen that faces out over the mountain and surrounding forest.
“So, yeah. That’s it so far,” I finally say once we return to the entryway.
Maci turns away from admiring the stone fireplace in the living room. “Thanks for giving me the early tour.”
“Anytime.” I grin, gesturing to the door. “You ready?”
She takes my hand as I lead us out the way we came. Closing the door behind me, I glance up to see my brother pulling in beside the barn. Her grip on my hand loosens when she sees him, but I hold tight. Half not wanting her to slip, and the other not wanting to let go.
The majority being the latter.
Levi hops out, beaming his signature boyish smirk and looking like an idiot for not shaving that damn mustache yet. “Hey, bro. ‘Bout time you plowed this,” he says, then points to Maci like he’s five. “Who’s this?”
Levi and Rhett look a lot alike. Similar to Butch and I, they might as well be twins. Standing a few inches shorter than me, he’s lean and broad, built for construction. He’s growing out his hair and going through some ‘mustache only’ phase—looking like a seventies porn star if you ask me.
I shift my gaze to Maci pressed closer to me than she’s been all day. My chest puffs out. “This is Maci,” I say, not bothering to expand any more than that. “Maci, this is my younger brother, Levi.”
Levi extends his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
She shakes his hand with a cautious smile. “You, too.”
He lifts his chin to the house at our backs. “I didn’t know you were finally letting people in to check the place out,” he says, sending me a slick wink. “What’d you think so far, Maci? Think Duke will fire us?”
“It looks great,” she says. “I’m in love with the windows.”
“Yeah, those were a bitch, but Duke insisted on the bigger ones with better insulation.” My brother nods. “Better watch out, he’s a tyrant to work with,” he adds on a chuckle.
Maci peers up at me, biting her lip to keep from smiling too big. “He’s pretty bossy, that’s for sure.”
I grin, squeezing her hand before turning my attention to Levi. “Did you talk to Rhett about those two-by-fours yet?”
“Yup, talked to him a few minutes ago. He needs you to sign off at the lumber yard before they close at two. Said he was at Whitetail Motel fixing a heater.” He checks his phone. “Ma said you were stopping by to plow. Guess Dad’s beater plow is done. About time, that thing is like a hundred years old.”
I rub my chin. “Yeah, I better get over there.”
Levi pulls out his keys and heads for the barn, yelling over his shoulder, “It was nice meeting you, Maci. I’ll see you later at dinner, bro.”
We’re back in the truck and hitting the road toward my parents’ house a few minutes later. “Sooo, does your brother do porn or something?” she asks.
“Fuck, no.” I boom with laughter. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who sees it, though. He says it’s in right now. Whatever that means, but I don’t see it.”
Maci giggles. “I mean, it kind of is? But I’m not so sure it’s the way to go for him.”
“I’ll let him know you said that.”
“No, you won’t,” she gasps, swatting my arm playfully. I throw my head back with a laugh. “Duke, don’t you dare.”
I chuckle deeply at her forced pout and the lingering play of a smile on her lips. Goddamn, even when she’s pouting, she’s stunning. “All right, all right,” I give in. “I won’t say anything…while you’re still in town.”
She laughs. “Well, don’t hold your breath. I might be here a while.”
I grin from ear to ear, liking the sound of that more and more by the minute. Maybe she’ll even be willing to give me a chance…
Wait. Do I want a chance?