The echo of our car doors slamming makes me cringe as I watch Sydney look around her. Andre’s property is a little over an acre and full of mature trees. The moonlight peeks through the branches, illuminating the rocky ground beneath our feet just as the porch light clicks on from our movement.
“This place is so cute,” she murmurs as I flick my head toward the door of the guesthouse and take a deep breath to calm my nerves. There’s no going back now, Javi. She’s fucking here. Let’s just hope she’s not judgmental and can understand the place is still a work in progress.
“Come on in.” I hold open the door for her as she steps inside and I flick the light switch to my right. The ceiling fan turns on in the living room, which lights up the entire open concept living area and the kitchen to the left of us.
“Wow.” Sydney looks awestruck as she steps in and moves straight for the couch, lowering her purse on the cushions before twisting her head around, admiring the paint, molding, and fixtures I’ve installed so far. “You did this all yourself?” Her eyes find mine again as I stuff my hands in my pockets, uncomfortable with her praise.
“Pretty much. Like I said at Home Depot, the place is my sister’s and her husband’s, but I’m renovating it for them.”
“I love the dark blue walls.” Her hand reaches out to touch them before she glances down to her feet. “And the dark hardwood. Did you make the design choices?”
I nod. “Yup. I picked out the tile too.” I tease as she smirks across the room at me.
“I vaguely remember that I found the tile you purchased.”
“Well, I was going to pick that one out anyway.”
“I see.” She moves into the kitchen and then finds the concrete floors beneath her heels. “I was about to kick off my shoes, but I don’t want to walk on concrete. You definitely need to get cracking on installing that tile, Javi.”
“Well, how about you sit up on the counter then.” I pat the granite that I installed last week. She eyes me skeptically before fully entering the kitchen and hopping up on the flat surface. Her heels comes flying off as she arches her feet and lets out a groan that awakens my dick. He was half-awake just watching her walk around my place, but after that noise, he’s fully aware and raring to go.
“Would you like some water?” I open the fridge and take out two water bottles, handing one to her without waiting for an answer.
“Thank you.” We both take a drink, stewing in the awkward silence. I’m not sure what to say to her. But the way she looks perched on my countertops makes me envision multiple ways that the evening could go. I’m a guy and that’s the first place my mind veers instead of focusing on why the woman is in my house to begin with.
“So, are you going to show me how to lay some tile, or what, Javi?” There’s a challenge in her voice that has my heart beating wildly in my chest.
“You’re not exactly dressed to do dirty work, Princess.” My eyes travel down her body, appreciating every curve and stretch of bare skin I can see.
Sydney looks phenomenal in workout gear, but seeing her dressed professionally does something to my libido that I’ve never experienced before. Scenarios of bending her over and hiking up her skirt play through my mind quicker than I can push them out. I turn around to adjust myself before she speaks so softly, I almost miss what she says.
“We don’t have to do that then,” she mutters and my neck coils in her direction again, catching a glimpse of her looking across the room at me.
The confident little vixen from before has diminished slightly, revealing a timidness in her eyes that wasn’t there before. This woman sitting high up on the counter is sparking a curiosity within me that I know I should ignore. I shouldn’t push to see what she suggests we do instead. I should just let her go, encourage her to leave, and go back to the way things were.
But the other part of me, the needy man I’ve been stifling for months is begging to see if the way she’s eating me up with her eyes means she wants me as badly as I want her. It’s the first time I’ve admitted it to myself, but I’m beginning to think that I’m not the only one coming to that realization.
I stalk across the space, landing in front of her as she uncrosses her legs and invites me between them. My body moves willingly as the heels of her feet dig into my ass and her arms move up from the counter and toward her neck.
“What is it that you want, Sydney? Why are you really here?” If what I think is going through her mind is true, I want to hear her say it out loud.
My heart lodges itself in my throat as I watch her hands slowly trail up her chest, landing on the buttons of her white, silk blouse as her fingers deftly pop the first button open. A prick of awareness shoots up my spine while my eyes find her aqua ones and there’s a heat mixed with fear in those bright blue orbs, studying me as her fingers release the next button.
“I want …” she trembles before clearing her throat, channeling more resolve,
