Build a Love (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (2 page)

“You’d like to start this as soon as possible, I imagine.”

“Yes, please.”

The smirk got a little bigger.

“I read you wanted a powder room put in as well, big enough to be a change room and have a toilet and hand basin.”

“Yes.” He was really irking me now.

“Okay. I think I have the idea.”

“Good. When can you start?”

“It is Wednesday today, so how about next Monday? We have approval so we can start the foundations. I just needed to get a feel for the build now that I am taking over the site management.”

It sounded like his needling me was over. He moved back to where I had been standing. I could smell his cologne, very musky and masculine.

“How long will it take?”

“Providing the weather is kind, about six to eight weeks.”

That would work out well. I had cleared my commission work for the next ten weeks. Only had a first sitting for a portrait then and a week later a sitting for a nude, which I was hoping could happen in my new extension. My other work as an illustrator would continue, actually, it would give me a chance to get up-to-date with that.

He spread out the plans, pulled on a pair of reading glasses and asked me to check they were correct. I pulled on my glasses, leant over the desk and could feel him close beside me as I read them.

Pointing to the back deck I asked, “Can you go down on here?”

I looked at him and I think that smirk was back.

“You want me to go down on there?”

I think I blushed when I realised how he had taken my words. I tried to set him right.

“I just wondered if you could take the decking down along the side of the house. It could link up with the old deck I have in the back of my house.”

“Oh, I see.” He was definitely smirking. “Yes, we can do that.”

He moved to where I wanted the storage area.

“There’s a cabinet to be placed in here. To replace this old one. Very deep with drawers. You want the bottom two drawers to be deeper. Wouldn’t it be easier for you if they were all similar in size or if you had the deeper ones at the top? Easy to reach for you.”

There was an old set of map drawers I used, so I got down on my haunches in front of them. He followed me over. I looked up at him, my hand on the bottom drawer.

“When I go down, sometimes it gets hard and I have to pull a lot.”

His face contorted as if he was holding back a laugh. I was puzzled until I realised what I had said and how he had taken it. I blushed, especially when I realised my face was at crotch height and, unless I was very mistaken, there was an interesting bulge that was growing somewhat.

“The drawers, they get hard to pull. I thought if they were deeper, I would be able to pull them easy, plus I could fit more in. I prefer to store things in the bottom ones that I don’t use as often.”

Still grinning he replied, “Oh yes, I see.”

Great! This was not going well. I went to stand and he held his hand out for me. I did not want to appear rude so I took it. He pulled me up close to him and held onto my hand a little longer than necessary.

“Okay. I’ll just write all this up so it’s clear.”

He looked around for somewhere to sit. The two office chairs were covered in piles of papers, I was trying to move things before the work started. There was a chaise longue that I used, often with my nudes, that was clear except for a cushion so he sat there. Bryan pushed the cushion closer to the end and I gave a start when I saw something purple sticking out.

I groaned softly.

I remembered I had come in here with my friendly rabbit last night. I love lying on the chaise, I was intending to relax and play when the phone had rung and I had tossed it on the chaise. I sent a silent prayer up “please don’t move the cushion again” and tried to look relaxed.

Bryan was writing and had not heard, or took no notice of, my groan. He finished writing and looked up at me.

“Can you check this, please?”

I watched in dismay as he reached for and picked up the cushion, throwing it on the floor. There in all its glory was my purple rabbit.

Please floor, please open and swallow me up!

He looked at the rabbit, then me. Picking it up, he handed it to me.

“You may need this.”

I grabbed it off him and tried to shove it in the drawer of my work desk. Instead, it caught on something and as I tried to jiggle it in the damn thing switched on. The more I tried the worse things got. In the end, I ripped it out of the drawer, turned it off, dashed into the main house and threw it on the counter.

Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I walked back into the studio. He was almost bent double with laughter. I have never been so embarrassed in my life. Bryan looked up at me and tried hard to look professional. I gritted my teeth and asked him if there was anything else he needed from me.

“No, but I’m available if you need anything from me.”

My blush got deeper as I realised what he was offering. He stood and my eyes were drawn to the bulge in his pants. I pulled my eyes upward and saw he was watching me.

I was so flustered, I wanted him out—now! Turning, I led the way through the door. I could feel him behind me. We reached the kitchen, the rabbit sitting there in all its glory. I rushed passed and went to the front door.

“It’s been very interesting meeting you, Ms. Kempton. I’m really looking forward to working with you. I’ll um…I’ll see you on Monday morning about seven-thirty or eight o’clock.”

I cleared my throat and shook his hand. “Thank you, Mr. Garrett.”

The smile on his face was so wicked, I just knew exactly what he was thinking and what his words had meant.

He nodded his head and walked away. I slammed the door and leant against it. Oh hell, that was so embarrassing and, if I was honest, a turn-on.

I walked back to the kitchen. The rabbit looked so innocent lying there. Well I would show it!

I recalled that delightful bulge in the front of Mr. Bryan Garret’s jeans and the sexy glint in his eye. There was no doubt I was attracted to him and unless I was very wrong, he was attracted to me. However, I had no intention of acting on it, there was no way was I getting involved with any man. A quick fuck was all I was interested in and certainly not with someone I would be seeing on a daily basis over the next month or so. But that didn’t stop me from thinking about him. He was so cute and the sort of man that I could learn to quickly love, if I ever allowed myself.

I was leaning against the kitchen counter thinking about him and imagining that bulge. If I closed my eyes, I could still hear his sexy voice asking me if I wanted him to go down. I was rubbing my hands across my boobs, and even through the T-shirt and my bra I could feel my nipples getting hard. With my other hand, I undid and unzipped my jeans.

I would make that rabbit pay for what it did!

I pushed my hand in between my panties and my skin and was just running my fingers between my wet slit when the doorbell rang.

Fuck!

Fumbling, I quickly did the button up on my jeans. I tried to smooth down my T-shirt, my damn nipples were sticking out like headlamps. Moving down the hall, I opened the door to see Bryan Garret.

“Sorry I left my reading glasses in your studio. I wonder…” He stopped and looked down at my nipples, his eyes then dropping lower, and he looked up grinning

I quickly looked down and saw not only were my nipples all but shouting, I had forgotten to zip up the fly on my jeans and it was gaping open. Mr. Sexy Garrett got a good eyeful of my lacy red knickers and bare skin.

I ran my hand across my forehead, tried to act natural as I turned and zipped up my jeans. Leading the way back, I stood in the kitchen as he walked into the studio and picked up his glasses from the chaise longue.

Bryan returned and stood in front of me, his eyes smouldering as he whispered huskily, “I can do a much better job than a piece of plastic.”

I know I licked my lips. He put one hand on either side of me on the counter. He was so close, I would only have to stand on my toes to kiss him. I tried to ignore him, tried to pretend I was not attracted as I put my hands on his chest to push him away. It felt rock solid, so wide and hard.

Instead of moving away, he bent his head down and kissed me softly.

Damn. I was doing so well in resisting up until then.

He pressed the advantage and deepened the kiss, trying to force his tongue between my teeth. For a moment I kept my teeth clamped shut, but my body had its own idea and I opened up. His tongue dove in before I could change my mind. That kiss was heavenly. It had been so many years since I had let a man kiss me.

He could certainly kiss—my tongue and his were in a wrestling match. I had his shirt bunched up in my fists on his chest. I felt his arms go around me. I was fighting a losing battle and gave up. Returning his kiss, my tongue pushed passed his into his mouth. I could feel my panties were drenched.

Finally, we broke apart, both breathing heavily.

He reached down to my jeans.

Shit!

What was I doing?

I would be seeing him every day, so I couldn’t let him get to me. What was I doing letting him kiss me?

I pushed his hands away, then pushed him.

“Stop! Please stop.”

He looked quizzically at me, my mouth may be saying no but it was obviously to anyone that my body was saying yes.

“Are you sure?”

I groaned breathlessly, “Yes.” Whispering, I said, “Yes, please stop.”

He stepped back, his eyes on my face.

“Sorry.” He cocked his head and continued, “I don’t think you really want to and I know I don’t. But I respect the word ‘stop.’” He gave a grin. “I really want to get to know you. I’d love to take you out, learn all about you.”

I shook my head. “No. That will never happen.” I was getting agitated, I could feel myself starting to panic. “Just go, get out now!”

“Are you sure?”

“
Yes!”
I screamed at him. Any minute I would be out of control completely. “
Get out
!”

Bryan looked at me in surprise, taken aback by my over-the-top reaction. He nodded, then walked away down the hall. I heard the front door open and closed as I sank down to the floor, my eyes filling with unshed tears as I went into full meltdown.

I have no idea how long I sat on the floor sobbing. I cursed myself at how weak I was. I had almost broken my cardinal rule not to ever get involved with someone again. I wondered how I was going to handle seeing Bryan every day for the next few months.

While I was feeling horrid, the phone rang. I climbed to my feet and answered it. It was my agent and best friend, Vince. He was ringing to let me know he had another book illustration for me and to tell me the last lot I had done went down a treat with the client.

He could hear the tension in my voice and asked what was wrong. I had no intention of telling him but it all came spilling out.

He roared with laughter when I got to the part about the rabbit, gasped in delight when I told him how I had been caught with my hands down my pants literally, and then crooned when I told him about being kissed.

“Please tell me you didn’t send him away!”

“Of course I did, Vince.”

I remembered how I had screamed at him. “I actually sort of kicked him out.”

My tears were falling again, “I panicked Vince. I…he…My only problem is how to react over the next few months.”

“Girlfriend, you are crazy! You need to get back on the horse and go for it.”

“Vince, I can’t,” I wailed.

“Of course you can. Not every man is like that shitface Elliott Farris! You need to stop living in the past and try living now.”

“Vince, you don’t understand.”

“You think I don’t understand? Who’s been holding your hand all these years? Anyway, what’s to understand? You’ve locked your heart away because a creep hurt you and abused you. You can’t keep thinking every other man you come into contact with is going to do the same thing.”

I knew Vince was right but I was too scared to risk anything.

“Sweetie, take the advice of an old queen. Forget the past. You’re thirty-eight years old, you are amazingly beautiful, you have a great personality and yet for the past twelve years you’ve lived in the past. You’ve become an ice maiden, not letting anyone touch your heart. You’ve let that arse-hole take away your future. Do you realise he is still controlling you because you let him?”

“I’m scared,” I whispered, “I am so scared.”

I could hear Vince’s empathy down the phone. “Oh my sweet. I know you are. Everyone is when they take the chance on meeting someone, but you’re such a strong woman in everything but this. Just for me, take the risk. I hate seeing you spending all your life alone.”

“I honestly don’t know if I can, Vince, I just don’t know.” Even to my ears, I could hear the pain in my voice.

“Okay, sweetie, it’s okay. Just think about it for me.”

“I will. You’re a good friend, you and Andy. Thanks for being there.”

“You know we love you. You’re still coming over on Saturday?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. Not every day my best friend’s boyfriend turns fifty.”

We ended our call on a high note but I was feeling down as I hung up and went to sit on the couch in the family room. I was letting the horror of the past stop me from moving forward but I had no idea how to go past it.

Twelve years is a long time to live in fear, but I still did.

Just over twelve years ago, I met someone who I thought cared for me. Someone I thought I could learn to love and trust. Instead, it was a nightmare. After the first month of dating, he had turned abusive. I dumped him as quick as I could. But he didn’t accept that I had left him, he would turn up on my doorstep. He would arrive wherever I was, threaten me and, if I was alone, he would hit me. I went to the police and they arranged for an Apprehended Domestic Violence Order be issued against him.

The restraining order made no difference, he would ring me, stalk me, and haunt my life. The police tried to find him but they never could. Over the next couple of weeks, they played this cat and mouse game with him. Each time they thought they knew where he was, he managed to elude them.