Charity For Nothing: The Virtues Book III (30 page)

“Good night, Dom,” she murmured and I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I liked the sound of my name on her lips, even shortened as it was. Something, for the most part, that was uniquely hers.

***

The next morning was almost a new ritual, we got up, Charity made us coffee, we talked for a bit and I left for work. I finished up the edging and brushwork on that house, painting the trim around the windows and doorways, as well as up under the eaves, then headed home to meet up with Lightning and Gator to deal with demolition on the bathroom. Gator was waiting in my driveway with his pickup truck and I parked on the street, hitting the switch for the garage door.

“Aw, shit,” I called out, coming up the drive, “I totally forgot that I was holding Charity’s Jeep hostage over here.”

“You got the key?” Gator asked.

“Nope, but if I’m lucky…” I went in and tried the handle, “Ha! Unlocked and it’s a stick, we can push it.”

“Sweet.”

We got vehicles swapped, and Gator’s Toyota pickup backed into the garage. The bathroom was across the hall and adjacent to the doorway leading into the garage, so that worked out for us.

“How far you thinking about tearing down?” Gator asked, standing in the door way with me.

“All of it, man. I was thinking vanity, sink, shower wrap, floor… Toilet is meh, floor is just shitty linoleum from whoever owned the house before. I figure if I’m gonna do it, I might as well do it right.”

“I hear that.”

“Yo, Nothing!” Gator and I turned back towards the garage.

“Yeah, Lightning! In here.”

“Hey, what’re we doing,” Gator saved me from having to repeat myself by repeating it for me. Lightning looked the bathroom over.

“You know this is all still in pretty good shape, man. Why you doing this?”

“Don’t want to bring Charity back over here, you know? Want to fix it. I can’t take the memories out of her head but I can change the whole room, you know? Make it so they aren’t as biting.”

“You’re really gone on Hope’s sister, ain’t you?” Lightning asked, his wide grin taking most of the bite out of it.

“Shut up,” I said, and he laughed.

“Alright, let’s do it,” he said and the three of us got to take some frustration out on ripping my bathroom to shreds.

We got the vanity out, the shower wrap, and ripped up the floor in short order, and I was kind of glad we did when Lightning let out a low whistle. I saw exactly what he meant.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

“Blessing in disguise,” Gator said bitterly.

“Yep, now we just need to find the leak,” Lightning started looking and I started poking at the subflooring.

“Son of a bitch, this is all going to have to be replaced. Goddamnit!”

“Who’s going under the house?” Gator asked.

“Since you volunteered, you are,” Lightning said and Gator shrugged.

“I’ll get a flashlight.”

The good news was, the joists under the house were still sound, the bad news? All of the subflooring needed to be replaced. The leak was a pain in the ass to locate, but it was a relatively easy fix too. It was just going to have to be done another day, we were out of time and daylight for today.

“Same bat time, same bat channel?” Lightning asked.

“Yeah, but not tomorrow, day after tomorrow works though. I’m going to have to get some houses done if I’m gonna be able to afford this.”

“Fifteen bucks an hour under the table and I’ll come help you paint,” Gator offered.

I considered it, and nodded, “You’re on.”

“Sweet! See you at the Captain’s house.”

“Six o’clock,” I said and his face fell. I laughed, “You wanna work; you get your ass up.” He gave me a salute and we went out to switch the cars around.

“Let me know how much I owe you for dumping this crap,” I told Gator, giving Lightning a handshake.

“Don’t worry about it, man. I got a guy at the transfer station, he lets me dump shit for free.”

“Awesome! That’s a big help.”

“Yeah, my old man was good for something, who knew?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Trash collector, my guy might as well have been my uncle all growing up.”

“Ah.”

“Anyways, see you tomorrow, might want to get home to your little missus,” he jibed.

“Yeah, fuck you. No wedding bells in our future yet, I need to make sure she can deal with me for real.”

“Probably a good idea not rushing it this time,” Lightning observed. I nodded, my mood crashing and smoldering a bit. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by that, honest,” he grimaced, “Just put my foot in my mouth hard, didn’t I?”

“It’s okay, you’re not exactly wrong, dude. It’s just still a new truth for me and the truth’s a bitch.”

He nodded and we parted ways, I made a mental note to get Charity’s keys from her so I could bring the Jeep back to her. I didn’t want her over here until I finished the house. For some reason it was important that I keep this a surprise. I felt a little bad, almost like I was lying, but I think it had more to do with keeping anything from her after promising that we were done with that. Still, I convinced myself that this was different, and it was.

I left the bike and her Jeep in the garage, and locked everything up tight. It’s was high past beer-thirty in the afternoon and I just wanted to kick my boots off and chill in the sand with a cold one. It was that kind of an evening. I was hoping Char was up for watching the sunset and having a drink. I was after low-key, and I think all of us could use it after all the ridiculous excitement of the last few weeks.

When I pulled up to the house, it was to an empty driveway, when I let myself into the place, it was full on empty; a rare occurrence as of late. I went to the fridge and pulled out a couple of beers, cracking one open, and saving the other in the event I ran across Charity. I started upstairs in the bedroom, but no dice, so my next logical stop was out back. I found her lounging in the sun down the beach a ways on a lounge chair covered by a towel. Not going to lie, I was kind of tickled at the empty one beside her but didn’t want to get too excited. Faith might be out here, or Hope, and it might belong to one of them.

“Hey, stranger!” she called to me and she patted the towel on the lounge chair next to her, “Saved you a spot.”

I handed her down the open beer I had yet to drink from and she smiled, “Brought you a drink.” I cracked open the second one, using the hem of my shirt to twist off the cap, and dropped onto the towel and chair next to her, leaning over for a quick kiss.

“How was your day?” she asked and it warmed me from the inside even as the sun toasted my shoulders through my shirt.

“Same shit, different day,” I said, taking a mouthful of beer. I picked at the laces on my work boots and toed them off, stripping off my socks and stuffing them down into them. Felt damn good to dig my toes into the sand to either side of my seat.

“Looks like it was pretty adventurous to me. What’d you do? Some interior painting today?” I looked down at myself and some of the plaster dust from my bathroom.

“Yeah, doesn’t come along very often, but when it does, it’s nice to be in out of the sun.” I felt a pang about how easy the lie came, but I really,
really
wanted to do this for her.

“What about you? Anything on the job front?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Put in six more applications today, received a call back from a plastic surgeon’s office but I
really
would rather help people who need it, you know? Somehow dealing with Muffy and Stuffy who just want bigger titties just doesn’t seem like the right job for me.” I laughed a little and she sighed, “I know! I’m being a judgy little bitch, and I probably can’t afford to be too picky…”

“Hey, no, I get it,
trust me,
I get it. Still, why don’t you go do the interview anyways, it’ll be good practice for the ones that count, and if they offer you the job, you can always take it until something better shows up, or if something better shows up first, you can always turn it down.”

“You are a wise master of adulting,” she said and held out her bottle. I clicked the neck of my beer against hers and snorted.

“Yeah, I could argue that point and so, probably, would the rest of the guys.”

“Meh, fuck what they think, my opinion is the only one that matters,” she said it so deadpan and she gave me a dazzling smile before taking a drink of her beer I had to laugh.

“So,” she said after my laughter died down, “What do you want to do?”

“Actually, this right here. It was a long day, and I was really just looking forward to a chill evening on the beach, catching the sunset with you.”

“Sounds good to me,” she declared and we lounged, talking while the sun dipped lower in the sky.

“Where is everybody?” I asked and she looked back over her shoulder at the house.

“Hope had Cutter take her to the airport; she should be back the day after tomorrow. She headed out to do an assessment, or whatever it is she does, up north somewhere. Marlin took Faith with him on some kind of fishing trip, and everyone else; who knows?” She waved her hands in the air, “Cutter and Pyro are doing whatever their thing is, so I just came out here after my daily job search to relax and wait for you.”

“Hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“Nope, you were right on time,” she said and her smile made her glow. “You getting hungry?” she asked.

“Yeah, I could eat, what’d you have in mind?”

“I raided the fridge and freezer; the chicken should be done marinating soon, so no worries, I got this.”

“You’re making me dinner?” I asked, kind of surprised.

“You worked all day, I didn’t, seems only fair.”

“I think I love you,” I said, spur of the moment, out of the blue, and immediately wished I could take it back, afraid it might weird her out, but not regretting it at the same time.

She held out her beer for another cheers, “That makes two of us, Dom. That makes two of us,” she said and I could definitely drink to that, relief flooding my system.

Chapter 39

Charity

I could get used to this whole domesticated bliss thing. I mean seriously, it was nice to watch the sunset, talking over a couple of beers and it was even nicer that he brought in the chairs while I got to work in the kitchen fixing dinner. Still, it felt a little like we were just playing house with it, you know? With this place not being either one of our houses. Still, as much as I hated to admit it to myself, I wasn’t exactly in a big hurry to go back to Dom’s place. It seemed like whenever I went over there, it was something else. I was even reluctant to go back and get my Jeep, which was just downright silly. I mean, eventually I was going to need my car; I just didn’t need it right now.

“What ‘cha thinkin’?” he asked when I’d been quiet a little too long, moving around the kitchen.

“I was thinking I should pick up my Jeep at some point, I can’t just leave it in your garage forever. I’ll need it eventually, I just don’t need it right now.”

“That reminds me, I meant to grab your keys from you so I could bring it back. Perfect opportunity tomorrow, Gator’s going to be helping me out the next couple of days.”

I stilled and looked at him, “I don’t want you to think that I don’t want to come over ever again,” I said softly.

“I don’t, but I get it, seems like any time you come over shit goes sideways.”

“Were you seriously just reading my mind?” I asked grinning.

“I was about to ask you the same thing out at the beach,” he said, “That was exactly what I needed.”

“Hmm, maybe we’re meant for each other?” I ventured and he got up from his place at the table and came over to me, pulling me into his arms.

“Sorry I was being a stubborn asshole at the start,” he said voice low, turning up the heat that was blooming in my bikini bottoms.

“You’re making it up to me,” I murmured, just as his lips descended onto mine. We kissed, long and slow and I was glad I hadn’t gotten around to turning on the stove yet. I was the one who pulled back first to look him in the eyes.

“Somehow I doubt that Cutter would appreciate if I fucked you in his kitchen,” he said and I laughed.

“Read my mind again,” I said.

“Guess we’re just on the same wavelength today,” he lifted a shoulder in a shrug.

“I guess, maybe,” I agreed.

I cooked dinner without any further interruptions from groping or making out, and I have to admit, that made me just a little bit sad.

Dom helped with the dishes, and it was pretty quickly evident why. As soon as the dishwasher was loaded, soap pack and all, and no sooner had I twisted the dial to start it, Dom had me yanked back into his arms. He twined them around my waist, standing behind me, his mouth playing along the side of my neck until he found that spot to make me shiver.

“Hmm, time for dessert,” he murmured and I laughed lightly. I took a step forward to turn around but he pulled me back, nipping my shoulder. “C’mere,” he said and I cuddled back into his arms.

“I’m right here,” I said, “Not going anywhere.”

“Good,” he turned me in his arms and his lips found mine. I cupped his face in my hands and kissed him, long and deep until we both lost our sense of self and simply became ‘us.’ It was only a natural progression from there that led him to picking me up, one arm behind my back the other beneath my knees. I marveled at the sheer power of his body when he did things like this. He didn’t strain much, and it almost felt effortless, the way he took the stairs and hall in long determined strides.

He set me down in my bedroom, his hands warm and careful where they caressed my skin, holding me close, pressing my body the length of his. He unraveled the tie at my neck, holding my bikini top on, and slipped the knot free at my back next, letting the lycra fall to the floor. I pulled off his paint and dust splattered tee off over his head, and admired the coil and bunch of his musculature beneath his tanned and golden skin.

He worked the knot of my sheer wrap free at my hip, while I went to work on his belt. For long moments it was the whisper of cloth and the soft sigh of breath when we each liked what the other was seeing. It was a feast for the senses, both sight and touch, and I was almost slightly disappointed when it ended, but not for long.