But on weekends like this, when there was no work for me, I could see the appeal. I wasn’t a kid anymore, and I had the time and money to work on…anything, but it was the smell. The musty, sour smell of a home that had water damage, infestations, and stains on the walls and ceilings. As soon as I stepped foot in a building that’d been neglected, I traveled back in time until I was a powerless kid who could do nothing about my situation. Maybe if I’d grown into a man who had rectified certain things about my past, it wouldn’t affect me as much. But there was still one person I’d failed, one person I still let down every damn day.
Blinking away my fatigue from a restless, anxiety-filled night and a morning of getting booted off my own job site, I took the last turn to my new cabin. I let the stress drain away and tried not to remember that I’d be dunked into emotional turmoil the next day when Tulip arrived. Would she dress as pretty—normal! Not pretty. Would she dress as normal as she had last night? She’d still stuck out, dressed down for once, but I’d never noticed how silky her hair looked, probably because it was always in frizzy ponytails or swirling around her head as if she hadn’t ever met the business end of a brush. But that had been over ten years ago.
I was letting out a weary sigh when the cabin came into view, along with a dark sedan parked outside the garage.
What have we here?
My heart skipped. Could Tulip be here already? No. No, that’d be ridiculous even for her.
Then again, this was Crazy J.
I parked my truck off to the side but didn’t pull into the garage. In case this was an intruder or a squatter, I didn’t want to alert them any more than the rumble of my diesel already had.
I slipped out of the driver’s seat, leaving my bag in the cab until I got to the bottom of my mystery guest. I clicked my door shut and crept around the attached garage to the back of the cabin. I peeked in the window of the breezeway but saw nothing move. I inched open the door so it wouldn’t squeak and stepped inside. Nothing was out of the ordinary. I craned my neck toward the front door. A neon-pink tote bag that could probably light the dark lake nights sat on the floor.
College kids. Don’t they have their own resorts to party at? I must be getting old if the idea of a hot coed invading my getaway didn’t rev my libido.
Since I was a tall man, I crouched as much as I could and tiptoed into the house, thankful I was back in Nikes instead of steel-toed work boots. Soft humming came from the kitchen. A female. Nice voice.
I straightened. A guy like me could take on female squatters and any men they brought with them. This was probably only a couple who had gotten the wrong home.
But how had they gotten in? By jimmying the locks?
I clenched my jaw and ignored the thrill that I might have something to do, like replacing the knobs. Was it possible they’d trashed the bedroom and I’d have to replace the floors or something?
The humming grew until a few words became clear. Whoever it was had a pleasant voice. Hopefully, she hadn’t brought a male friend.
I entered the kitchen, my steps silent. I circled the fridge’s open French doors.
A rounded ass stuck out from the opening and I grinned. What a sight. The woman kept singing and I took a moment to sweep my gaze from her ass down her long, shapely legs. Yasss… The curve of her bare back stretched my grin. Narrow straps from her bikini top hung down as she stood up and turned around.
Tulip shrieked and jumped back into the fridge.
I yelped and leaped backward. The backs of my legs hit the island and I almost rebounded into her. But I clutched the countertop behind me to steady myself.
Jars in the fridge tinkled from Tulip’s impact. She gasped and spun around to steady everything. The twist in her torso drew my attention to the definition in her abs and the sleek lines of her back.
When she turned back around, I couldn’t take my gaze off the Bat-Signal emblazoned across her ample breasts.
Tulip was stacked.
“T-Tulip, w-what—” I winced and dragged in a deep breath. “What are you doing here?”
Guilt crossed her expression and she wrung her hands. “Can you never call me Tulip? Never ever?”
“Why?”
Her gaze darted to the wall and back before her expression screwed into mild disgust. “Lots of reasons. But just Tilly. Please.”
“Okay.” I stared at her. Wanted her to turn around and stick her ass out again. Wanted my hand to quit twitching to cup her cheeks.
She backed away from the fridge so the doors could close. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t think you’d be here until tomorrow and there were guys at my place and I’ve never been on vacation.”
“Wait, there are men at your place?” Why did that send a surge of jealousy through my system? As if she’d been pining away for me and shunning all others for the last eleven years.
“A few. They’re repairing hail damage, I guess. My landlady forgot to mention it like she forgets everything else. There was nothing else to do, I mean, in my price range, which is the library.” She clamped her mouth shut as if she’d said too much.
She came a day early because of nothing to do, and I came a day early for the same reason. I never would’ve thought we had anything in common.
That Batman swimsuit top, though… What’d the bottoms look like? With her ass, she’d give that damn bat wings.
“Are you hungry?” she blurted. I flinched. Her volume had risen a few notches.
Was she nervous?
No, not Crazy J. She was oblivious
