Janie ignored everything else he said and focused in on two words, “Your woman?”
He shook his head. “You know what I mean...in the figurative sense.”
The disappointment on her face was shielded by her staring out the window. “All I had to spare was $1500, so I had to get him down to my manageable half of the deal.”
Something else was bothering Ethan, but he would get to it later. “Janie, I will need my accountant to go over your books. You will also have access to mine.”
She shrugged, “No need. I clear about $45k a year after I pay Meg, Jem, and operational costs. I have about five grand to put into renovations. I put aside $300 to move all of my inventory and another grand to fix one of the upstairs rooms for me an apartment.”
She went into her purse and pulled out a check for the five thousand. “It’s all I have, but I’m willing to work hard to get things ready. We’ll have Holden on the weekend, but Jem and Meg will have to mind the store while we work on the new space.”
Ethan spoke to her in a flat tone, “So, we have a ten thousand dollar budget?”
“We are going to have to make it work for ten to get everything set up and ready. I do not want you to invest any more than I can as we are partners. I know your store probably makes four times what mine yields in a year, but I sell comic books. My business will bring teens and kids into the store, something you don’t currently have. I will pull my weight. You won’t have to carry me,” she told him.
“Fair enough,” he told her.
Ethan’s initial assessment remained the same. Janie was an amazing woman. He was about to find out just how amazing she actually was.
One of the great things about living in a small town was the convenience of having everything so close. The Mayor’s office, located in the center of town in City Hall, also housed the major utilities departments. One phone call from the Mayor and the electricity and water were turned on before Janie and Ethan even left the building. While inside of City Hall, a new business license was also purchased for The Roxy-Books, Comics, and More. The last stop was to the bank to deposit funds and open a joint account.
At the end of the two hours, Janie felt like she had gotten married. She even told him so, “This is an odd feeling. We have created this new life together like some kind of newlyweds starting the next chapter of our relationship.”
The goosebumps on Ethan’s arms agreed with her; his mouth chose to stay muted as they drove to their new building. Frank, a high school friend of Ethan’s, who worked for Venture’s Waterworks Department, was coming from around the side of the building.
“Hey, Ethan! Yous the new owner of this building?” Frank asked him, the New York accent still heavy.
“Yes, Janie and I signed all the paper work this morning,” he told Frank with pride.
“Yous got a good deal here. My brother-in-law Bob and me did the pipes on this joint a year or so before they closed. All new PVC...so the pipes are good. I think Frank even put in new filter systems for the catering kitchen upstairs,” Frank told them.
All Janie heard was kitchen. She grabbed the key to the door that dangled freely from Ethan’s hand, ran over to the building, and opened the front door. “I’m so excited!” Janie exclaimed as she opened the door and stepped inside the darkened room. Her hand made contact with the light switch and flipped it up, and the Roxy was alive.
Frank was still outside with Ethan as he handed him his card. “If yous guys need some repairs and construction done, we have the team of guys to come in and get it done right and on budget.”
“I appreciate that Frank; thank you,” Ethan told him. His mind was on Janie in that building.
He walked inside and gazed up at the ornate ceilings. The balconies were beautiful as well as the sturdy Corinthian columns which upheld the second floor decking. Janie’s hand slipped into his as emotions flooded her.
“Ethan, this is ours,” she whispered.
Before he could respond he heard a loud gust of air being exhaled by someone very pissed off. They both turned to see Kate standing behind them, and she was without a doubt very furious. Ethan wasn’t far behind her feelings.
The second drawback to living in a small town was that everyone knew everyone’s business; whether it concerned them or not. Nosiness was transcended in small towns to interference that was disguised as caring for the welfare of your fellow man. Ethan had no doubt that someone, who considered themselves to be Kate’s friend, called to let her know that he had been in City Hall with Janie.
“This is bullshit! I am calling bullshit on the two of you! Did you pick up a marriage license while you were at City Hall as well?” Kate wanted to know.
She looked like a crazy person standing in the doorway. Her eyes were bugged, her hair was askew, and she was frothy about the mouth.
“Kate, what are you doing here?”
“I’m calling bullshit; that is what I am doing here. You can’t expect me to seriously believe you met Goldilocks last week and now you have a shared bank account, bought a building, and started a new business all in less than seven days? I am not so dumb to believe you when you say you just met! It takes you two weeks to decide how many copies of a best seller you want to order...and this? All of this in less than a week? It’s bullshit!”
Janie stepped forward, “No what is bullshit is you being some sort of crazed stalker!”
Her words incensed Kate even more. Kate’s eyes were red as she charged towards Janie only to be caught in Ethan’s arms. His voice was loud and firm when he looked at Janie, “Stay out of this, Janie. This is between me and Kate. You get started taking a preliminary walk through on this floor, open those drapes, and let some light in here.” There it was again; his authoritative voice.
He looked at her once more and Janie had not moved. “Now Janie!” This time there was power behind his words followed by a firm stance that demanded obedience.
Ethan didn’t know what to make of the expression on his partner’s face as she walked away slowly. That, he would deal with later; right now his arms were full of a wild cat that he had to calm down.
“Kate, there are some big developments about to happen in Venture. In order for our businesses to survive what is coming, we had to combine forces. We purchased this building for the cost of the back taxes, but this is a logical step for what was next for both our stores. We get the expansion and also get the benefit of an equal partner to free up some of time so we can actually have a life,” he told Kate.
She was still in his arms, leaning against his chest. “Ethan, I would have helped you build this. I would have helped you grow your business.”
He held her close and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I know you would have, but my bookstore isn’t your dream. Asking you to do that would not have been fair to you.”
“Do you love her Ethan?”
“Who... Janie?” he asked.
“Yes...her. Are you in love with her?” Kate asked again.
“No, I am not,” he answered truthfully.
Kate’s next question hit him like a slug to his chest. “Did you ever love me, Ethan?”
He cradled her body in his arms, stroking her hair, or least trying to push it down against his chest as it stuck up and out in all directions. “I will always have love for you Kate.”
“You were never in love with me were you?” She asked.
Again he was candid, “No, Kate, I was not.”
Janie watched from the shadows as he comforted his ex with kind words. Embarrassingly enough, she had eavesdropped on how tender he was with her as he let her down and showed her out the door. She had not moved when he closed the front door and called her name. It was difficult for her to reconcile what she was feeling so she gave into everything that was effervescing to the surface. She didn’t care if it was appropriate or not, she wanted him. Janie craved the touch of Ethan in the worst kind of way and she was going to have him even if it meant giving herself in lust on the dirty, dusty floor.
Janie’s skin was rosy as she walked to the center of the cavernous space to respond to Ethan’s call before her surrender to him.
“Are you okay, Janie? Your skin is so flushed; do you need some water?” He asked.
Her breathing was uneven as her fingers touched the fabric of his shirt.
“No,” she answered huskily. “What I need is you.”
Chapter 14. Adding More Tension...
“Whaaaa?” Ethan said, his mouth slightly ajar. “Janie, we have a lot to get done today. It is already after one, and I am starving.”
Instead of answering him, she moved even closer, limiting the distance between them as her breath came out in shallow pants. Hesitant fingers touched the material of his shirt, pressing into the cotton, feeling the sinew of his muscles underneath. There was no fat or flab on his body. He wasn’t squishy like the nerds who liked to hang out in The Comic Book. Ethan didn’t smell like pepperoni pizza, Doritos, and a diet of too much sugar.
He smelled like a man.
A grown ass man.
“Janie, let’s do a preliminary walkthrough, grab something to eat, and then come back to really walk the space to determine where we want to place what,” Ethan said. He really was noticing the peculiarity of her actions. “Seriously, are you okay? Your face is really flushed.”
Her fingers were making a trail across his abdominals, toying with the tight weave of the cotton of his polo shirt. She looked at him with desire in her eyes, telling him, “...I mean, I have read about women who have been overcome with these types of feelings...seriously, I thought it was all in jest, until you went all alpha male on me...and my body...wow...I am so turnt up right now, Ethan.”
Her arms went around his waist as she pressed her body closer to him, “You smell so good.”
“Janie, what in the hell is wrong with you?” Ethan asked as he tried to pull away from her.
“I want you, Ethan. Take me! Take me right here on this dirty floor!” she told him as she reached up and grabbed hold of his head, pulling his face down into her breasts.
It was an odd reality as Ethan found himself pulled into her energy. “This is not funny, Janie; stop it. I am a man. There is no on and off switch. The laws of gravity are slightly altered when it comes to men. What goes up requires some form of friction to come down,” he told her as he pulled his face from in between her breasts with his eyebrows arched, hoping she would understand his analogy on male anatomy.
Janie’s grip on his head increased as she sidled her body closer to his, and her right leg, slightly bent at the knee, slid up his left one while her tongue trailed down his neck.
“Damn!” he said as his hands came under her hips to take two handfuls of her bottom. His head lifted slightly for his mouth to make contact with hers and his tongue slipped between her lips. Janie moaned loudly into his mouth as Ethan hefted her off the floor into his arms. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he carried her to the nearest solid object he could find - a dusty table.
Ethan wanted to stop but she wouldn’t allow him.
“Touch me, Ethan,” she begged him.
His mouth moved to her neck, kissing her as his hands moved her skirt above her thighs. In Janie’s world, she had never felt this way about a man. Since the age of 16 working in the comic book store, the only men she ever came in contact with were guys excited about the release of a limited edition poster or graphic novel. Those men were collectors of cards, players of games, and unkempt Peter Pans. Ethan was very virile and classy and reeked of something underneath the nice guy façade, which reverberated in her reproductive channels as him being a pack leader. Her body was screaming to mate with him. She followed the urge.
Ethan’s fingers slipped under her skirt to make contact with the damp cotton that covered what his body craved; a place to create some friction. Pressure was applied with his index and middle finger to the center of the flower, spreading open the petals.
“Oh! My! Goooooodness!” Janie cried as she threw her head back as her knees came up to her chest, giving him more access.
His mouth found hers once more as their tongues dueled and his fingers made small circles in the cotton fabric that served as a barrier between him and the receptacle of resistance his body needed for relief. He would have none. Three more rubs with his fingers and Janie convulsed, twitched, and drooled out of the corner of her mouth.
“Janie?” he asked in disbelief. Did she...?
She was breathing hard, gnawing on her bottom lip with her eyes closed. Her nectar had saturated the pink cotton panties and Ethan looked at his wet hand.
Janie’s eye lids were heavy. “I’m sorry; I couldn’t wait. I will help you though. What do you need, my hands, my mouth...” she asked as she reached for his belt buckle.
It wasn’t right. This was neither the time nor the place for him to be with her and he would not have her debase herself in a filthy building on her knees to pleasure him.
“I will be okay; besides, I was not prepared for anything more, but I would like one thing” he said to her. His lips pressed against her cheek then found her mouth again, kissing her softly.
She watched him coyly, wanting to give him anything he needed. “What would that be?”
He licked his lips, “...a taste...”
His eyes were smoky as he watched her face. Her knees, which had been closed after achieving her ecstasy, opened for him. The wetness of her underpants held the aroma of her ambrosia. Blue eyes met his brown ones as she watched his hand slip in between her thighs, gently pulling aside the cotton as he inserted his finger like he would into a bowl of batter. He scooped up a finger full of the nectar, bringing his hand up to his face, inhaling her scent like a bloodhound on the hunt. His tongue snaked out and curled around his finger as he loudly sucked at the liquid which covered his digit.
“Well, hell...” Janie said as she reached for her panties.
He stopped her, laughing out loud. “I’m hungry. Let’s get some lunch,” he told her.
“You can drink your fill right here- Janie would like that a lot,” she said to him with a smile as she pulled her skirt up higher.
“Another time, Janie,” he said as he adjusted himself in his pants. He hoped his discomfort would end soon. He had no desire to walk across the street and scare the crap out of Bitsy. He could see it now: Yes Bitsy, I would like a BLT to accompany my raging hard-on.
His fingers massaged his eyes. Between Kate, Janie, and the new business, he didn’t know if he was going to be able to endure until the grand opening. He watched his business partner, her step full of spring, as she made her way across the street. She was as carefree as if she had not just half seduced him or was walking around with orgasm-soaked panties.
He exhaled and looked upwards toward the afternoon sun. “I am not going to survive this...”
Chapter 15. Evolving the Characters...
The next two months were the longest of Ethan’s life. The harder he tried to avoid being alone with Janie, the more he craved the feel of her in his arms. The taste of her called to him when he lay quietly in his bed at night. The strawberry and peach smell of her hair clung to the hairs in his nostrils, bringing the scent of her home with him. The bright side of the whole affair was that by the time he made it home at night, he was too exhausted to think of anything more than sleep.
The Roxy was a dirty place with so much potential that he was grateful for the blessings, and there were many. Janie was very blessed that school was out for the summer, which freed up Jem to help Meg manage Janie’s store. Henry and Hester were also a major help to Ethan as they rotated days in the shop to work alongside Marta. This gave Ethan and Janie nearly 12 hours a day to work on the Roxy.
Twelve hours a day to smell her hair.
Twelve damned hours a day to watch the sweat bead between her breasts.
Twelve, long, thirsty hours of seeing her in those shorts; twelve hours of looking at those thighs, imagining the feel of them again around his hips.
Twelve hours to feel like a horny pig for looking at her and watching her when she was not looking.
He was staring at a spot on the floor, one hand on the rented buffer and the other hand holding the wax. He had rented the buffer to take out the imperfections in the wood floors, but in the interim, the work was showing more imperfections in his character. After smoothing out the rough spots on the floors and stripping the old wax away, he was ready to put down a new layer of polish.
I know something else I want to wax.
He had not moved from his spot in almost eight minutes when Holden walked up behind him. It was another blessing that on Saturdays Janie’s brother stopped by to lend a hand. Holden was great at repairing almost anything that was broken or dangling and at constructing shelves. It also helped that he was a certified electrician. Ethan gladly paid him whatever meager amount he requested to aid them with repairs.
“So, how bad do you have it?” Holden asked him.
“How bad do I have what?”
Holden, who rarely smiled, gave a half smirk, “How bad do you have it for my sister?”
During the past month and a half, he had been avoiding her, minimizing the time they spent in close confinement with each other. Their conversations centered on business choices and decisions, nothing personal.
“Holden, I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Really? And staring at a spot in the floor for nearly ten minutes is normal for you, especially considering the raging piece of wood that is keeping you company.”
Ethan looked down at the front of his pants and exclaimed, “Danggone it!” He tried to turn his back.
“No need to try to hide it; Janie already saw it. She was grinning like an idiot, which is what made me wonder what she was looking at,” Holden told him.
Ethan untucked his shirt. “It is not like that, man. I have not been unseemly with your sister,” he vowed.
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