3. Jenson
3
Jenson
I watch her arse sway as she walks through the French doors and back in the direction of her parents’ house.
My mind drifts back over our short time together. Her reaction to me was impossible to miss. The catching of her breath when I first touched her, the darkening of her blue eyes and the unmissable tightening of her nipples that had my imagination running wild. With her soft floral scent surrounding me, I could almost imagine what it might be like to strip her out of the few clothes she was wearing and run my hands over more than just her grazed knee.
“Daddy, do you have to go to work today?” Amelia’s words barely register, my mind still in the gutter.
“Huh?”
“Are you going to work today?” she repeats slowly like I might be hard of hearing.
“Oh, yeah. Auntie Kaylie will be here soon.”
“Aww, but I thought you were going to take me swimming.”
“Not today, baby.” And definitely not when my cock’s still feeling the effects Leah had on it. “Maybe at the weekend.”
Her soft pink lips curl into a pout and she lets out a sigh. It only lasts two seconds at best before she jumps up in excitement. “Can we invite Leah?”
“Erm, I’m not sure she has time for swimming dates with you, madam.”
“But... can you at least ask?”
I should say no, it would be the most sensible thing to do, but as her hazel eyes bore into mine, I don’t have it in me. “We can ask.” Her little face lights up and her fists clench as she hisses a little ‘yes’ in celebration.
The image of Leah in an itsy bitsy bikini pops into my head and I will it to go back down. It’s never going to happen.
“Can you go and get your teeth brushed please so you’re ready for Auntie Kaylie?”
“Okay, Daddy.” She skips out of the room with her princess doll swinging from her hand and my heart aches.
Seeing her with Leah this morning just goes to prove how much she needs a mother. My sister does a great job babysitting whenever I need her to, but it’s not the same thing as having a female in the house. I hate to think I’m letting Amelia down in some way when my sole purpose in life right now is to make her happy.
With Amelia happily playing in her room, I quickly walk into mine to change ready to head into work. I trained as a chef straight from school. Cooking was the only thing I’ve ever wanted to do. I remember begging my mum and dad for a little play kitchen when I was a kid and I’ve been obsessed ever since. The Grill was my first job as head chef. I was younger than most of the other guys and a lot of them made it very clear how they felt about a ‘kid’ coming in above them, but thankfully my skill spoke for itself and they soon accepted my position. Fast forward a few years and The Grill is now called InHale and I’m no longer the head chef but the owner. When my old boss told me about his plans to retire, I saw it as a sign and after a good few meetings at the bank, along with some early inheritance from my parents, I was able to achieve my dream. It’s been hard work, really fucking hard work, but it’s been totally worth it. Although it meant that I was essentially hanging up my chef’s hat, it also meant that I could leave behind the unsociable hours and be around for Amelia. When she was first born, I’d miss putting her to bed at night and still be sleeping when she woke first thing in the morning. I hated it. But now, being the boss means that I can be much more flexible. I’ve employees who I trust to keep the place going in my absence, so not only do I have a job I love and pays well, but I’m also able to spend as much time with my daughter as possible.
I’m just buttoning up my shirt when the doorbell rings throughout the house.
“Auntie Kay’s here,” Amelia squeals before the sound of her little feet thundering down the stairs fills my ears. She really loves my sister, much to Kaylie’s delight. While I spent my time pretending to make meals out of plastic food, Kaylie was nurturing her dolls and nothing’s really changed for either of us. She’s now a primary school teacher so while she seems to be forever single with no chance of a family of her own anytime soon, she still manages to surround herself with kids most of the time.
“Mornin’, Kay,” I say when I find her barely inside the house with Amelia chatting away about something she saw on TV last night.
“Will you at least allow Auntie Kaylie past the door before you make her ears bleed?”
“Daddy,” Amelia huffs, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed in my direction. “Auntie Kay was the one who asked me about it.”
“Okay, sorry,” I say, backing towards the kitchen with my hands up in defeat.
The sounds of them chatting filters through to me as I collect up all the samples I made last night. I’m currently knee deep in our autumn menu planning. The restaurant has always done well, but since we had a very well-respected critic give us rave reviews in the earlier part of the year things have gone from strength to strength. However, menu planning that I used to find enjoyable has suddenly turned into something full of stress and pressure. We’ve now got a reputation and I’d like to keep it for the foreseeable future.
“So... how are things?” my sister asks, walking in and immediately going for the coffee machine.
“Things are... good.” My words falter slightly as I’m reminded just how good things were only this morning while I had my hands on the girl next door.
“I can’t believe you let her have pancakes for breakfast again,” Kaylie scolds like I’m the child.
“What? They’re her favourite and it’s the holidays. Mum used to make us pancakes in the holidays.”
“She’d also insist we had fruit with them.”
“And how do you know Amelia didn’t?”
“Because she already told me she had raspberry sauce and chocolate sprinkles.”
“Remind me to be this annoying when you have a child of your own.”
“Chance would be a fine thing,” she grumbles, pulling the fridge open to find the milk.
“It’ll happen, Kay. You’ve just got to wait for the right guy to fall into your lap.”
“Yeah that plan’s not really working out for me, if I’m being honest.”
“It’ll happen,” I say again, confident that there’s someone out there for her. As much as I love her spending all her spare time here babysitting, I hate to stop her living her own life. “Why don’t you go out this weekend?”
“Don’t you need me to look after Amelia Friday and Saturday night?”
“I’ll sort something.” I’ve no idea how but I need to start thinking about her life as well as mine.
“Are you sure?” I can see in her eyes that she wants me to say no, that really she’d rather be here hiding than out trying to find a guy, but I won’t allow it.
“Yes, positive. Call up the girls and get a wild weekend planned.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever had a wild weekend in my life.”
“Well there’s no time like the present. If you need a table to kick off the night, let me know.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll only be a few hours,” I say, picking up the pile of tubs and paperwork from the counter.
“Let me take those.” Kaylie takes the files from the top and follows me towards the door.
“Thank you.” Turning towards my sister, I take the files from her hands and place them in the boot along with the tubs. I’m just shutting it when a van pulls up on next door’s drive and a guy gets out. I watch as he goes to knock, but the door’s pulled open before he gets a chance. Leah’s still in the skin-tight vest and almost non-existent shorts. Even from behind I see his head drop to check her out. My blood boils and an unwelcome feeling that I don’t want to acknowledge twists my stomach. I’ve spent less than an hour with her, there’s no way I should be feeling like this knowing she’s about to let a man into her house.
Just before she goes to step back to allow him to pass her, our eyes connect over his shoulder. Electricity like I remember all too well from this morning passes between us and I feel it all the way down to my cock. My fists clench as I fight the need to go over and ensure that whoever he is keeps his hands to himself. My teeth grind as she smiles at me and closes the front door.
“Is everything okay?” my sister asks sceptically.
“Perfect,” I seethe through gritted teeth.
“Your new neighbour’s hot.”
Turning towards her my chin drops. “Maybe that’s why you don’t have a man, if you spend your time checking out girls?”
Jutting one hip out, her eyebrow quirks up. “Just making an observation in case you hadn’t noticed. I’m not the only one standing here who’d benefit from a little attention from the opposite sex.”
“I’m not standing here having a conversation with you that involves the word sex. I’ve got work to do.”
“Don’t you always.”
I go to respond but deciding it’s pointless, I head for the driver’s door instead. I start the engine and begin backing off the drive as my sister heads towards the house. Reversing off, I tell myself to keep my head down, but just as I put the car into drive my eyes find their way to Leah’s large bay window. I immediately find her staring right back at me. The man she let inside is standing in front of her talking away but there’s no way she’s listening to him. The moment she realises I caught her, she drags her eyes away, but not before I catch the blush that covers her cheeks.
My fingers tighten around the wheel as I fight an urge to pull back on the drive, march into her house and take exactly what I need.
Sucking in a large breath, I pull my eyes away and slam my foot down, ensuring my car takes me away from temptation as fast as possible.