Chapter Two
Clint
My God! Bella is curvier than the last time I saw her. Fuller hips, larger breasts, rounder ass. Hell, I think even her lips are bigger.
How the hell do your lips get bigger, and why am I noticing?
My cock aches in my jeans as my eyes dance around her frame, looking for answers.
This whole thing is sick. It’s sick and I need to stop. If I remember correctly, she’s probably twenty-four years old.
Twenty-fucking-four!
I’ve never been a fan of those pervy assholes who go after younger women. It’s sick, like they’re trying to recapture their youth or prove something to themselves. They strut around town, puffing their chests out like their twenty-five again, like they’re terrified of becoming irrelevant.
It’s pathetic.
A real man doesn’t need a woman half his age to feel relevant. He doesn’t need wide eyes and inexperience to boost his ego.
I shake my head and redirect my vision toward the picture window that overlooks the lake. The view out of that window is much safer than the one in my doorway.
“Thanks for the rescue,” she says sweetly, forcing my eyes back toward her again. “Two more minutes and that lake monster would’ve had me.”
My pulse quickens as I try not to stare.
Jesus Christ! Why does she have to look so good? Why does she have to be so cute? Rambling on about a lake monster in a few feet of water. Squirming in my arms as I carried her up the walk? Dripping wet in my doorway in a white T-shirt and tiny, pink shorts.
My fists clench, and I force myself to turn toward the linen closet, grabbing her a towel. “You know, you’re lucky I saw you when I did. Plenty of people drown in that lake. And if you don’t know how to swim, you shouldn’t be canoeing alone, or at the very least you should’ve worn a life vest.”
She narrows her brows and takes the fuzzy, white towel from my hands. “If you remember, I could touch.”
I shrug. “And I imagine you, of all people, can see how people drown in shallow water all the time.”
“Supervised baths going forward then, I guess.” She grins and pushes the towel through her hair and over the top of her body, the shape of her breasts clear through the white top.
I look away again, trying not to envision watching her bathe as I head toward the fridge to shove my fucking head inside. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“No, but damn, you have this place stocked. Are you living here while you renovate?”
I hold my head in the fridge until my breath fogs against the plastic containers of leftover takeout, until I feel the tension in my shoulders loosen, until I think I can look back without thinking perverted shit.
“Got the power on,” I grab a water bottle out of the fridge, “and got this gorgeous view. So, I figure I’ll stay here while I work. I’m trying to get everything accomplished in three weeks. We’ll see how easy that is.”
I hand her the bottle of water, forcing myself to envision the girl I knew a few years ago that was still in college. The girl that did sorority pledges and was on a debate team. It was obvious that girl was too young for me. I mean, it’s still obvious, just not as obvious.
What the hell am I even thinking?
“Three weeks? How the heck are you going to do all this in three weeks?” She glances around the cabin, studying all my work with narrowed brows. “You’re doing, like the whole thing?”
“The whole thing,” I say, nodding as the water drips from the faucet. I need to fix that still. “My buddies Rhett and Reed have been over to help every time they’re free. We have a small construction company we run between Whiskey Falls and Rugged Mountain. Odd jobs mostly.”
She tips her head back slowly as though she’s thinking over my words. “Sounds like a lot of work.”
“Yeah.” I nod and glance around the space, letting my eyes sweep over everything just to keep them busy. The wood floor. The large picture windows. The light that cuts across the table.
Again, why the hell am I noticing her? She’s young, very young, twenty years younger than me young.
It’s sick that I’m noticing her nipples, her shape, her anything, especially considering she’s my ex-fiancé’s sister.
That fact alone should have me slamming the door and forgetting her name.
It should have me running for the fucking hills, admitting myself to a mental hospital, joining a fucking monastery to repent for my soul.
She hands the towel back toward me, her hair falling down over her shoulder, wet and stringy, that white T-shirt still clinging to her full breasts, her nipples hard and poking through like they’re demanding my attention.
What is going on with my brain today? She’s too young, too sweet, and not to mention… she’s my ex-fiancé’s sister! I should see a doctor soon. I must have had a stroke, because that fact alone should have me slamming the door and forgetting her name.
“Right,” she sighs as she drags her pretty brown eyes around the room. “I bet family reunions bring in big bucks for rentals around here.”
I shrug. “Not sure. I’m going to sell the place after I get it renovated. Someone else can deal with the drama of renters.”
“Oh!” she perks before sighing as though she’s relieved. “That makes sense.”
That was odd.
She takes a look around at the details of the moldings, like she’s an inspector looking for poor angles. “I like what you’ve done here. Is it new? We have a place that my grandparents left that we’re considering selling. What you’ve done here is incredible.”
“Those were already here. When we refinished the floors, they had to come off, so we just put a fresh coat of paint on them.”
She nods intently. “That’s good. You want to keep the charm of these old houses. So many times people buy a place like this and just tear everything out that makes the place special.”
“Isn’t that the truth? Enough about me, though. What about you?” I nod toward her once, keeping my eyes on hers. “You get that teaching job you wanted back in the day?”
“Yeah, actually! I teach preschool at Mountainside Elementary. I love it. The kids are great and I get summers off, so… living the dream.” She smiles again as she says, “June told me that I owe her my life after the call she made to the superintendent to get me the position. I don’t think I would have gotten it without her. ”
June was always the type to do a favor in return for eternal servitude. It’s sort of her style and one of the things that stressed me out the most. The woman wouldn’t help a chipmunk escape a snake without requiring its undying loyalty.
“I’m sure you’d have gotten the job on your own too.”
“I don’t think so.” She shakes her head. “I was a first-year teacher, and there was a list of people desperate for the job, but the superintendent owed June a favor,” Bella laughs. “She keeps a ledger of these things.”
“Still, I bet you could’ve gotten it.”
“What makes you say that? For all you know, I could’ve failed all my classes throughout college.”
“Did you?” I cross my arms over my chest, avoiding the sight of her body at all costs.
She tilts her head slightly. “No, but I could’ve.”
“I can just tell by looking at you.” Here I go! Slow it down, man, or you’re going to lose control! “You’re a smart girl, and I’d bet kids love you.”
“Yeah, because I act like one. I don’t see any other grown women out there in the lake freaking out over a pretend monster.”
“Well,” I cock my head to the side, “I saw a grown man scared of Bigfoot on a walk last week, so maybe cut yourself some slack.”
“Really?”
“Yup. I was up on Echo Pass hiking, minding my business, and I ran into this city guy who came barreling down the trail like he was being hunted. His face was all red, and he was panting like he’d been running for an hour.
He grabs me and starts rambling on about this big, hairy thing he saw stalking through the trees.
” I huff out a laugh. “The man was convinced he saw Bigfoot. That there was no denying that a big, hairy, upright figure was in the woods. I tried to convince him that he probably saw one of those reclusive lumberjacks that live up there. You know the type, dark flannel, beard that goes to their chest, but he wasn’t having it.
His mind had decided it was Bigfoot, and no one was going to tell him otherwise. ”
Bella chuckles. “Well… maybe I’ll stay away from the trails just in case.” She turns back toward the door. “Thank you for helping me today. I’ll tell everyone I know what a hero you are.”
“Please do.” I grin, holding the door open above her head. Even doused in lake water, she smells like wildflowers in bloom. “I have a hero complex that can never be satisfied.”
“And you’re not shy.” She grins and glances down at my boxers.
Oh fuck! I’ve been so distracted by her that I spaced on the fact that I’ve been standing here with no pants on.
Did she see my cock rising to attention as she was toweling herself off? Was I tucked behind the counter when that happened?
Fuck my life!
She turns to walk away, the sweetest smile on her face as her hair flips back.
I study her movements as I draw my hand over my beard, tugging at the gray that’s rapidly taking over my chin. “Be good, little girl. No more lake monsters, and no more swimming alone. Okay?”
“No more lake monsters,” she repeats, ass jiggling as she walks back down the dune toward the beach.
I step into the house, hiding my shame from the world as I watch her out the picture window, my cock growing harder and harder with every move she makes. There’s a turquoise lake, white-capped mountains, a cloudless sky, and yet I ignore it all in favor of her thick frame and bouncing curves.
For a moment, I remind myself that she’s twenty-four, my ex’s baby sister, and a woman I shouldn’t have interest in, though that doesn’t seem to matter as I imagine twisting my hand into her long blonde hair, bending her over, and spanking that jiggling ass for going into the water alone.
None of those concerns matter when I tuck my hand into my shorts and stroke my cock, or when I come hard like a fucking pervert watching her bend over, or when I’m growling out in pleasure at thoughts of what that tiny, little pussy must feel like.
I hope that little girl never comes around again, ‘cause if she does, I’ll be the one giving the teacher her lessons.