Actually, the problem is that I know exactly why I wanted her back here. I was never much of the player type before I got married. Unlike my ex, I never cheated or stepped out. And then after Satan tried to take everything I had, I just kind of dipped out on the whole dating thing. I lost interest, and for a long time there, I wanted fuck-all to do with women. Any woman.
Thing is, I’m a thirty-four-year-old, healthy, straight, red-blooded guy. But I haven’t been with a woman since my divorce, and that shit was five years ago. And honestly, it’s becoming a bit of a problem.
I don’t exactly advertise that, either. I mean shit, some of the guys who work for me would have a field day knowing I haven’t been laid in close to six years. I get offers. I’ve been set up on blind and not blind dates. But nothing’s ever pulled my attention. No woman has ever made me want to step out of that celibate hole I’ve been living in since Satan tried to fuck me in the ass without even a courtesy spit.
No woman, that is, until yesterday, when I woke up naked and looked up to see a fucking angel standing in the doorway. Granted, she was looking at me with a mix of horror and fear. But even so, something flipped in me.
Hurricane Tansy just blew into my life, and something tells me shit’s about to get shook the fuck up. Thing is, I’m not so sure that’s a bad thing.
I’m still standing there like a jackass drinking in the way her jeans form to her goddamn perfect ass, when she looks up.
“What?” She frowns and jumps to her feet, turning to brush a non-existent something off of her butt. “Something on me?”
I clear my throat. “Nah, you got it,” I lie.
She grins at me. Her face is a little flushed, since we’re both on our third beer. Yeah, drinking with Tansy: add that to the growing list of shit I should not be doing.
That brings me back to the whole thing with getting her to stay here. Yeah, I need help with Chance, and she’s the perfect candidate for the job. But wanting her to come back to stay out here has fuck-all to do with the job.
It’s got to do with the fact that I want her out here. I want her around, near me. I want to be able to glance out the window and spot her out in the backyard.
I groan. Fact is, I just plain want her.
It’s not even just in a “haven’t been laid in six years” way, either. Again, without sounding vain, I’ve had offers. A lot of them, actually. And I’ve had plenty of opportunities to “clear the pipes” so to speak. So it’s not like my interest is piqued with Tansy because the first pair of legs to saunter past my eyes in six damn years.
It’s something more specific than that. Hell, if I can place what it is, especially since I’ve known her for all of twenty-four hours. But whatever it is, it’s got a hold of me, and I don’t see it letting go any time soon.
The smell of steak hits me, and I startle. Shit, almost burned it. I rip my eyes away from her and start tending the grill again. But then I remember why I looked up in the first place.
“You eat meat, right?”
“Nope.”
I frown. “Fuck. Really?”
Tansy grins at me. “Yeah, I’ve been watching you prepare two steaks for the last forty minutes and just sitting on that info.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m telling you, if the vet thing doesn’t pan out, there’s a career in stand-up out there for you.”
She laughs. “Think so, huh?”
“Well, ‘career’ suggests people would actually pay money to hear your lame jokes. So, maybe not.”
She hoots out another laugh, her whole face smiling and blushing. Fuck, just seeing that gets my heart racing faster. To say nothing of my dick harder.
“Maybe you could be my opening act?” She winces. “Oh, shit, sorry, I just remembered I’m supposed to be looking for someone funny to be my comedic opener.”
I chuckle as I shake my head and kill the rest of my beer.
“And yeah, I eat steak.”
“Good, cause they’re done.”
“Anything I can do to help?”
“She says, as the meal ends it’s preparation.”
Tansy giggles again. She glances at the little patio table outside that already has plates, silverware, and the garden salad I tossed up.
“Or… not.”
“You could grab us two more beers?” I grin as I pile the cutting board with both steaks and the pile of grilled veggies.
“Oh, I think I’m—” her mouth shuts. She wets her lips, and out of the corner of her mouth as I kill the gas on the grill, I see her eyes slip over me.
“Two beers, comin’ up!”
I serve up both the plates at the table as she grabs two cold ones from the cooler and then joins me.
“Bon appetite.”
“So, this is the nightly routine, right?”
I chuckle as she grins at me.
“I mean, Colt, I refuse to pay these kind of rent prices if I’m not getting wined and dined with steak every night.”
“Yeah, what a rip-off,” I grunt. “Landlord must be a real dick.”
She blushes when I say the word. It’s just enough to get me remembering exactly what she saw yesterday morning.
It gets me wondering if she’s still thinking about that, too.
We start to eat, and Tansy groans when she takes her first bite. “Okay, shit, that’s really good. I could get used to this for the next, well…” she blushes. “However long I stay here.”
I wince a little inside. Shit, that’s right. I haven’t exactly mentioned the full situation to her yet—the fact that in a month, Satan is coming to reap what I’ve sown. Part of me feels like
