Chapter 5
“Mom,” I sighed in exasperation. “Dad and I already worked things out. I have the next eight weeks off.” After nearly ten years without a vacation, I needed a break. “If she already called Dad and he said we couldn’t right now, then we can’t.”
Jesus. Did the woman not ever listen? I told her months ago about my time off. I swear, I loved my mother, but there were times I wanted to strangle her. What the hell was she thinking telling some friend of hers that I’d…
“This isn’t another setup, is it?” I eyed her as she moved around her country kitchen, putting my siblings’ lunch bags into their backpacks, cleaning up the mess they left on the table from breakfast.
I narrowed my eyes on her face, watching for any sign this was a repeat of last year. You’d think with three other kids she wouldn’t have time to play matchmaker in my life. You’d be wrong.
“No!” Her head snapped up. “No. This is strictly professional. Jerome went out last week and she’s been hit with a dozen violations.
Louise thought it wouldn’t hurt for you to just take a look.
But if it’s a no, it’s a no. I honestly wasn’t even going to mention this to you, but she mentioned Rowdy may be able to do it, and you know how he is. ”
Rowdy.
My teeth clenched until my jaw hurt. Rowdy-fucking-Denton. The little weasel.
Rowdy Denton had been a pain in my ass since we were kids.
Because he was three years younger than me and Wade, we thought he was an okay kid when he came to school.
Sure, he followed us around, constantly tried to play with us, and was a general nuisance.
But he seemed like a sweet kid, even if we thought we were cooler because we were older.
Hell, if he was still that kid, we’d probably still be friends with him.
Only he wasn’t.
By the time we were in high school, Rowdy was making shit up left, right, and center. Then there was competing with me for everything.
When I restored an old 1957 Camaro to enter into a classic car restoration show, so did he. I went into construction with my dad, so Rowdy opened his own construction company. If I did it, Rowdy either did the same or came as close as he could.
Personally, I didn’t give a shit what he did.
He could do what he wanted. No, my issue came when I found out he and his mother were lying to the judges of that car show; they were lying to potential clients, and they tried to have me disqualified as a restoration specialist, claiming Dad did the work and I didn’t…
yeah, that was when I started giving a shit about this little competition.
I should have been happy, though. He was shit at his job.
More often than not, Dad and I picked up work after he mangled someone’s house.
But that bugged the hell out of me, too.
I hated that I had to charge people who already were charged a whack to fix what should have been done right in the first place.
Rowdy lived the cliché of the charlatan contractor.
Ah, fuck.
“Fine. I’ll go check out her place.” I gave in, knowing if she was one of Mom’s friends, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Rowdy screwed her over. “But I’m not promising anything.” Yeah, right. This was going to suck.
Mom gave me a smile, zipping up the last backpack. “Thanks, Ty. And really, just take a look. I didn’t promise anything, so take a look and walk away. No big deal.”
“What’s the address?”
“Delilah! Scarlette! You’re going to be late!” Mom went to the doorway, yelling up at my sisters. She tossed “It’s Winterbourne Manor” over her shoulder when the girls didn’t answer.
Winterbourne Manor.
As in the house where the brunette I couldn’t get out of my head lived? The woman who had haunted my dreams ever since I saw her in her black leggings, an oversized T-shirt, sock feet—which I found adorable for some strange reason—lived? She was Mom’s friend?
Suddenly, I wasn’t so sure I was upset about a delayed start to my vacation.
***
“Who are you?” The little boy with short brown curls gave me a once-over after answering the door. Okaaayyy…I thought he was supposed to be in school?
“Uh…I’m here to see your mom.”
“State your business.” The boy stood his ground, face set in a suspicious scowl.
My lips twitched at the way he guarded the door like he wasn’t half my size. “I’m—”
“LACHLAN AARON LEBONAIRE! How many times do I have to tell you not to open the door without my permission?!”
Fuck. The sound of her soft Southern drawl, even as she yelled at her son, hit me like a baseball bat to the head. It was just as potent as it had been the first night I’d seen her. My cock twitched in interest.
Then she appeared.
God damn, she was gorgeous.
Everything I’d told myself on the drive over here fled my mind as I stared at her.
While she gave her son hell reminding him about safety and that he couldn’t just open the door, I studied her.
With her hair in a ponytail, her face devoid of makeup except for maybe some mascara, I could see the smattering of freckles over her nose and cheeks.
Her green eyes seemed to sparkle despite the low lighting of the doorway.
The loose shirt she wore said “LIVE. LAUGH. TOASTER BATH.” with a cartoon bathtub filled with bubbles and a toaster on the edge but wasn’t loose enough to hide the fullness of her tits.
Her thick but toned legs were revealed in a pair of jean cutoff shorts, and I swallowed hard.
She was the physical manifestation of every single wet dream I’d ever had.
And just like that, my erection was testing the strength of my jean zipper.
“I looked out the window!” Lachlan argued.
“We’ll discuss this later,” she warned him. Then, giving me her attention, she froze. “Uh—Hi.”
You know how in the movies there’s the moment when the main characters’ eyes meet for the first time and everything seems to freeze, the world narrowing to just them?
It didn’t just happen in movies. I could hear the thump thump thump of my heartbeat in my ears, and it was a good thing no one was asking me my name.
“Mom?” Lachlan gave her a strange look.
Blinking rapidly, she startled, her cheeks turning an enticing shade of pink that made me wonder what other parts of her turned that color. “I’m sorry. I’m Ph—How can I help you?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m here to help you.” Mentally, I winced. Way to make things awkward. “I mean, I’m Ty. My mom is Cady-Jo.” Again, not really an explanation either. Jesus, what the hell was wrong with me? “I’m one of the owners of Brockmann Construction.”
“Oh!” Recognition lit up her face.
I was grateful she was able to figure out what I was saying from those fragments.
“You’re the contractor?” Lachlan’s eyes lit up. “How long will it take for my airport to be up and running?”
She let out a deep sigh. “Mr. Brockmann is here for the issues with our house. You’re not getting an airport.”
“Damn,” he muttered.
I leaned against the doorjamb. “There’s really not enough room for an airport, pal.”
“I know,” he sighed, making his mother chuckle before she sent him up to his room to get ready for school.
Once again, my resolution crumbled in the face of her laugh.
It flowed over my skin and had my dick jerking in her direction.
I had to remind myself that I was there to do a job and that she was Mom’s friend.
At the thought of my mother, my cock stopped trying to break out of my jeans, and I was pretty sure it would crawl up inside me any moment. Finally.
“Sorry about that.” She smiled sheepishly. “He’s living his best airplane life era right now.”
“It’s all good. I went through a car phase, so I get it.”
“I could handle it when he was into cars. His obsession is currently with building airplanes, not just flying them. He tried to actually source airplane engine parts online last week…” Her mouth closed as she rocked back on her feet.
“I’m so sorry! I’m rambling; it happens when I’m nerv—I’m—I’m Phoebe.
” She extended her hand. “Phoebe Lebonaire.”
Nerv? Was she going to say nervous? I perked up, liking the idea.
Taking her small hand in mine, I was startled by the strength in her grip. “Ty Brockmann.”
I had to fight the urge to run my thumb over the back of her fingers and see if they were as soft as her palm. I let her hand go quickly before I could give in.
“Thank you for coming. Your mom was really very kind to ask you.”
“Shall we get started?” I asked, wanting to get down to business before I forgot all the reasons why I needed to keep this quick.
“Of course!” She waved me inside, leading the way to the kitchen. “I didn’t know exactly what you’d need, so I pulled everything out.”
Following her, I catalogued every single detail of the house from the bulging wall that should be straight to the way the floorboard shifted beneath my feet.
I also couldn’t help but catalogue the soft sway of her hips, the way her rounded butt curved in those shorts, the hem tickling the backs of her thighs.
I wondered if she was ticklish there…Jesus, fuck. Stop. Just stop.
Mom’s friend. Mom’s friend. Mom’s friend.
“So I have my home inspection report and then the report from Jerome…”
“I’ll start with Jerome’s report.” Home inspectors were notoriously shit, and if Jerome had found violations, I knew her home inspector had fucked up.
Our fingers brushed as she handed me the papers, and I held my breath to keep from reacting.
What was it about this woman? Sure, she was hot.
Sure, there was some kind of ethereal beauty about her, a vulnerability that put my protective instincts into instant overdrive, but the more I thought about why I was here, the more I realized I needed to keep a professional distance.