by Eva LeNoir
Anyone who wanted to be someone on the Forbes 500, became instant believers and prayed like monks to get the internship. Everyone thought they had the “thing” that would catch Hughes’ attention. That aside, Robert Hughes was known as a gracious and generous man who didn’t bite off the heads of the poor to feed his own kind. He was a noble bird of prey and Jaidyn was his eyas, his baby bird.
An eyas whose superb ass was front and center in my, now, tunnel vision.
“Everything okay, down there, Jaybird?” I asked, my eyes focused on the sight before me. A painful thud followed by a gasp and an “Ouch! Dammit!” from my favorite little bird, got my attention. I rushed forward, worried she’d hurt herself. This type of environment was not ideal for playing around and injuries were too often serious.
“Are you okay?” I asked her, my eyes searching for blood, and my hands for a bump on her head. With her golden curls neatly secured in a ponytail, it was easier to search out inconsistencies. My hands lingered a bit too long, giving me time to feel rather than see under the guise of well-meaning behavior. The truth was, she was fine, and I needed to find the strength to stop touching her. But still, she’d been careless, and I didn’t like it.
“Where’s your hard hat?” I asked, barely holding back a growl of disapproval.
Still, I wrapped a tendril of loose hair around my index finger and reveled in the silky sensation that traveled all the way to my cock.
“I was hot…” she answered, breathless.
“You’re all good.”
“I’m all good,” she breathed out, “thank you.” I knew better than to look up into her eyes, yet I did it anyway. The dilated pupils coupled with her slightly heaving chest told me I had the same effect on her. One of us needed to be the responsible party.
Releasing her lock from my hold, I flashed her my signature grin that all too often got me what I wanted.
“This is no place to be bumping your head. Stubborn as you are, you may ruin the framing,” I said, using humor as a shield from the carnal images her touch invoked, “Now put that hardhat on, don’t make me punish you for being reckless.
“Well, mister Bob the Builder. I’ll make sure to take that advice next time a creeper is staring at my ass,” she said, her sass making my palm itch. Slowly and methodically, Jaidyn bent back down in a seductive move that brought her ass mere inches from my aching cock. Trapping my lip between my teeth to avoid groaning like a sex-crazed teen, a thousand different scenarios flashed through my mind as she quickly straightened with a nail in her hand and a smile on her sun streaked face.
“There, I was looking for this,” she said, proudly, “before you showed up.”
“Right,” I cleared my throat and looked behind her where we were building an interior wall. The top and base plates were fixed to the ceiling and floor and about half of the vertical studs were in place. Presumably, Jaidyn was adding another stud to continue the pattern. “Did you measure out the sixteen inches between the studs?” I asked, looking around for the measuring tape.
“Why, whatever do you mean, sir?” Confused, I looked back at Jaidyn who was batting her eyelashes at me and using a type of southern-bell voice that didn’t suit her one bit.
Was she mocking me?
Leaning in, I brought my mouth to her ear and whispered, “Careful, little bird, I just might like being called ‘Sir’.” I felt the shiver run down her body and that single reaction had my cock begging to play. I itched to feel her skin, taste her mouth and bury my dick so deep inside her she would feel me for days.
But I had more self-control than that.
Reaching behind her, I plucked the measuring tape from the stool and leaned away, a proud cat-who-caught-the-Jaybird grin plastered on my face. With wide eyes and a parted mouth, it was safe to say I’d earned a point in this game.
I was going to enjoy the next two weeks playing the seduction game with Miss Jaidyn Hughes.
I just needed to remember that business and pleasure were two distinctly separate servings for my very hungry appetite.
At lunch, we walked back toward Jaidyn’s father who was sitting in the shade, a big grin plastered on his face. He looked much healthier than he had the first time we’d met. The symptoms were barely visible, his eyes were mostly alert save for his finger constantly tapping at his watch, and his shoulders relaxed like he was finally on vacation after a grueling year at the office. Jaidyn and I were both sweaty from the hot San Diego sun beating down at midday. Luckily, we had brought canteens of water to avoid dehydration, along with our caps and of course sunscreen. I’d be staying at the beach house for the next two weeks, working remotely on the days I wasn’t at HFH. It was refreshing and surprisingly productive to be working and surfing at even intervals.
“Hey, I have a question,” she started, trapping my attention with her throaty voice that did dirty, filthy things to me.
“Shoot.”
“Why do some of the people here have stickers on their hardhats? One guy had ‘Barrel’ written in the front?” Her phrase almost ending on a question as though she wasn’t sure how she wanted to formulate her phrase.
“Nicknames. Some of these guys work in construction so they have their professional hats with them,” I explained as we walked across the street to the main tent.
As soon as we reached Robert, Jaidyn’s demeanor changed. The carefree side of her, the flirty and mischievous girl that I was appreciating more and more, reverted to the ever-present nurse. The serious, worried woman whose shoulders bore the weight of her father’s illness.
I didn’t like it.
She was twenty-one, she should have been preoccupied with medical school and going out to clubs. Not worrying about her father twenty-four-seven.
She should be interested in fucking.
Preferably, me.
“Where is Calvin?” Robert asked, his gaze flickering my way before sliding back Jaidyn’s way, “I thought he was coming to help us out.” I was starting to hate that name on principle alone.
“Right. Um, Calvin had a big, important meeting with a senator,” Jaidyn said, fretting over her father’s temperature and pouring some water into a glass for him to drink.
“An important meeting, huh?” skepticism in his voice, he shooed Jaidyn away like the little hummingbird she was, fussing all around him.
“You know, Calvin. Always looking ahead to his future,” a forced laugh dancing around us.
“Too important to be here? And where is this meeting?” Robert asked, casually as though the answer bore no importance. It was bullshit. This was a calculated question and I was willing to bet he already knew the answer.
“Oh, um, he’s on Senator Craig’s, um, bmowt,” she mumbled, stuffing her mouth with cheese just as she was giving her answer.
Interesting.
“What was that, baby girl?” Robert insisted, as Jaidyn slowly continued chewing. I was having fun as the spectator to this quite interesting turn of events.
If I were a betting man, and let’s face it with Ethan and Luca as my partners in crime, betting was second nature to us, I would venture that Robert Hughes was not a fan of Calvin the douche.
“His boat,” she said firmly, clearing her throat as though it was normal.
“His boat?” I asked, head tilted, brow raised.
“Yes, a yacht, to be precise. He’s hoping to get an internship next year in D.C.” She almost sounded proud, but the slight note of disappointment came through loud and clear.
“Interesting,” Robert said and then dropped the subject all together.
We sat around in the shade; our lunches spread out on a picnic blanket like a Victorian painting. There were three meals and the fact that the third was probably prepared with Calvin in mind bothered me. That said, when you’ve grown up poor and practically on the streets, your instinct to survive never quite leaves you. That was why eating his lunch didn’t faze me in the least. After all, I was here with his beautiful girlfriend while he…was not.
/> Have fun on that yacht, asshole.
Reaching for a couple of strawberries in the middle of the blanket, the air crackled as my fingers grazed the inside of Jaidyn’s wrist. That soft patch of skin just below her lifeline that danced with every beat of her heart. My eyes instinctively searched hers out, needing to know if the mere touch of our skin had had the same effect on her.
And there she was, a stroke of color adorning her cheeks, eyes wide with shock and most impossible to resist, her bottom lip trapped between the perfect row of white teeth. I had to clamp down my jaw to avoid making a lewd remark about wanting to see if that’s how she looked when she came.
Instead, I took a deep breath and turned my attention to Robert who, to my surprise was keenly aware that something was brewing between his daughter and the man responsible for his bucket list coming to life.
“So, Marlon, that’s quite the personal service you’re giving us,” Robert said, a knowing glint in his eyes as he took a piece of melon from his plate. “Do you normally do this? Accompany your clients on daily excursions?”
He knew the answer, he just wanted to hear me say it out loud.
I was a lot of things, but a liar I was not.
Jaidyn beat me to the answer, “Dad, that’s none of your business. I’m sure Marlon does this type of thing all the time,” she looked to me expectantly as though she was certain of her answer.
“Actually, no. I have in the past, but it’s been a long time since I’ve even taken an entire client list on by myself,” I answered, with a private wink just for my little bird. “Besides one client who is near and dear to my heart.”
The silence was amusing if it not a bit disconcerting.
Jaidyn tilted her head to the side as though it could help her figure me out while Robert looked beyond my shoulder to where workers were getting back to their homes for their afternoon duties, a secretive smile curling the corners of his mouth.
“You two should get back out there. I’d hate for these fine young people to think I brought two lazy millennials with me.” His words carried no judgment nor accusation but what I could only guess was a true carefree moment, the likes of which he didn’t feel all that often.
When Jaidyn jumped to her feet to help her dad out of the chair, I beat her to it by placing a steady hand at his elbow and giving him leverage.
“Thank you, son. That’ll do,” he told me with a wink, “that’ll do just right.”
“See you later, sir.”
With that, I walked back to our house, a silent Jaidyn by my side, and tried all afternoon to figure out what Robert Hughes was saying between the lines.
Chapter 11
Jaidyn
The rest of the week was uneventful. We spent our first three days at Habitat for Humanity meeting new people and bonding over nail sizes and the right hammers to use in order to pound them in. I’d learned that Marlon had a mischievous side to him that brought out the sass in me. Right away, he’d engaged in conversation and had everyone laughing before the end of the first day.
There were a couple of young girls who were there as community service after starting a fire on the beach. Apparently, they thought it was a good idea to make a pit under the lifeguard station to protect it from the wind. No one thought of protecting the lifeguard station from the flames.
The problem was, not one of the three teens looked bothered about being there. Not with Marlon looking rather lip-smackingly hot in his sweat soaked t-shirt. In fact, I was afraid they might burn something down on purpose just so they could continue their community work.
They weren’t the only ones affected by his proximity.
“Morning, Jaybird.”
“Morning, Marlon,” I turned to see him sporting a grin that lit up his entire face, “I hope it’s not a lecture because I barely scraped my palm yesterday,” I said, laughing at the memory
Although he didn’t seem amused. I had tripped over someone’s drill that was haphazardly left on the flooring. I hadn’t fallen, catching myself on one of the wooden studs and scraping my palms in the process. I thought Marlon would rip the guy’s head off even after he’d apologized, profusely.
“Yeah well,” he started, his jaw tight with each word, “it could have been much worse.”
Secretly, I loved that he worried about me. In my world, I took care of everyone, managed their health, their emotions, their needs. It felt good to be on the receiving end.
“Come on, grumpy, let’s get to work before we get fired by our supervisor.”
The house was coming along quite nicely. It wasn’t finished by any stretch of the imagination but, as a team, we had made quite some progress. The inside walls were up so we could make out the different rooms, and the roof was almost finished.
Working side by side gave Marlon and me the opportunity to get to know each other. He told me about his partners, Ethan and Luca, whom he described with fondness and what sounded like true brotherly love. I deduced that the photo I had seen in his office a couple of months back must have been the three of them.
“Yeah,” he answered with a chuckle as he showed me how to sand down the imperfections in the wood. “It was our first date with the waves for all three of us, been in love ever since.”
Marlon turned to look at me when I didn’t respond. Standing there like an idiot, I watched him raise his arms above his head as he sanded a strip of wood up near the beams, a note of nostalgia ringing in his voice. His sweat soaked t-shirt, this time advertising another band, Slightly Stoopid, rising with each move and giving me a delicious view of his lower abs. With a natural tan adorning his tight muscles, I felt my mouth watering with every move he made.
“Like what you see, Jaybird?”
Blinking, I redirected my gaze to his overly satisfied grin and shrugged.
“I’m not blind, Marlon, I can appreciate art.”
“So, what you’re saying is,” he looked down at his stomach now hidden by his lowered shirt, “my body is art?”
Again, I shrugged. There was no denying it. Nearly every woman within view had been admiring him for the past week.
“Good to know,” he winked, turning back to his work, a barely there smile at the corner of his mouth.
As it stood, I was basically his assistant while he prepped the wooden frames before someone else would add the actual doors and windows to the house.
He’d explained all about the intricacies of carpentry, information he himself had learned from our supervisor, but my attention was otherwise occupied.
When the foreman of the day announced it was time to take a lunch break, I was more than happy to oblige.
It wasn’t until a few steps before reaching Dad’s preferred spot under the tent that Marlon placed his large hand on my forearm and stopped me from going any further.
“I forgot to give you this, earlier,” he muttered just loud enough for me to hear. He seemed a bit nervous, which was strange coming the from the most confident man I’d ever met.
Well, besides Calvin. Although his was more arrogance than confidence.
Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a rectangular slip of paper. My gaze went from his hypnotizing green eyes to the shy smile painted across his delicious mouth. So many different adjectives for this guy. He was a grammar teacher’s wet dream.
And mine, apparently.
As he turned the slip of paper around, I realized it was a sticker with the word ‘Jaybird’ printed in blue bold letters. My grin was immediate, and my eyes felt bright with excitement.
I had an official nickname, one Marlon attributed to me, and I was feeling like a kid at Christmas. I’d searched the meaning of Jaybird, one night, and found it was the cutest blue bird with a tuft of blue feathers sticking straight up on its tiny little head, hanging out in the eastern California forests.
Facing me, Marlon took a step closer bringing his body mere inches from mine. I could feel the heat emanating from his chest. He was close enough that the carotid artery running alon
g the side of his neck made my mouth water.
Jesus, I sounded like a vampire.
While I berated myself for having such ridiculous thoughts, Marlon raised his arms and, with the concentration of a professional athlete, stuck the sticker on the hard hat I was still wearing on my head.
Looking up at him while his gaze was set on his task, I breathed him in and felt like he and I were the only two people on this gigantic lot.
I stared at his mouth, the tip of his tongue sticking out of the corner, and wondered how he would taste. If he was a tender kisser or an aggressive, alpha kisser. Or maybe a combination of both.
“All it needs now is a graphic of a little blue bird next to my name,” I laughed, my eyes fixated on the man in front of me.
“Excuse me.”
I blinked at the sudden intrusion, momentarily dazed and a bit put out by the interruption.
Both Marlon and I turned our heads at the same time as he brought his arms back down to his sides.
There, standing in all his privileged glory, was the last person I expected to see. And just like that, all thoughts of kissing went right out the proverbial window.
“Calvin? What are you doing here?”
Chapter 12
Marlon
Who the fuck is this kook?
That was the first thought that crossed my mind when the blond Ken doll interrupted what I was sure was a moment of intimacy with Jaidyn.
“Calvin? What are you doing here?”
Of fucking course!
Calvin the cockblocking kook.
"I thought I'd drop in and see how you were handling the life of a worker bee," he told Jaidyn, who instinctively took a step back from me, making my inner animal want to wrap an arm around her waist and press her close to me, where she belonged.