by Erin R Flynn
“Cameras?”
She pointed in the corner. “There, one closer to the register, and one in back. All worked, four people they think were men from the build, wearing masks. They took what they could and smashed the rest. They didn’t take the safe, which is mine and back at my house now. They did, however, take all books here. Clearly they didn’t want our backorders receipt book—”
“But they were obviously looking for a book and grabbing fast,” I finished, getting the gist.
She quickly showed me around the back before moving to the register that was now empty and showing me what they’d had. It was basic and definitely could be better. This was just punching in prices, which could lead to people cutting prices for friends and whatnot.
I was definitely going to change her to a touch screen with prices set.
The door opened and she flinched and then went tense at what she saw. I looked as well and frowned when I realized she didn’t want to be around the two men who walked in.
“We saw your SUV parked out front,” the first greeted. “How’ve you been, sweetheart?”
Now I didn’t like them around either.
She chuckled. “How many of us are sweetheart this week, Louis?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t think you cared about being exclusive.”
“I don’t, but that’s not your business,” she replied.
“We’ve tried to take you out a bunch, Sia,” the other guy argued. “You’re always so busy.”
“I’ve told you nicely that you’re not my type, Ted. I’m not into boys.”
“But we’re so much more fun,” he promised. “You should give us a try.”
While I was a fan of her being into younger men—as I was one—these two clowns who were my age weren’t remotely in her league. Not that I was, but at least I knew that.
Ted glanced at me. “Besides, the big boy there is younger than you.”
“I’m sorry, and trust me,” I breathed so only she could hear. I leaned in closer to her and moved my hand to her ass so it looked like it was there. “I’m a security specialist. I’m here to protect Sia going forward. I’ve got her covered.”
“Is that right?” he challenged, giving me a wry look.
I moved my hand under her skirt and she gasped when my fingers brushed her lips. “She seems happy with my performance so far.”
She sounded like she swallowed a snort as she leaned over the counter so they got a better view down her shirt, which I did not like.
However, it was much more obvious where my hand was so I took that as a green light. She hummed her agreement with what I’d said as I teased her while they were right there.
“Are you reopening?” Louis asked, giving me a death look as I kept petting her. “We heard the owners want to let you out of your lease.”
She opened her mouth to reply but I pushed a finger into her and instead she let out a sexy whimper-type yelp. “Deon’s showing me some options today but I’ll email blast the list when I decide.”
“I do have a lot I want to show you,” I agreed. I gave them a bored look. “If that’s all, the sign does say closed and you didn’t even knock.”
“I do like your manners,” she praised me. “Always such a polite man. Women appreciate that.”
“I appreciate you,” I murmured, moving my finger faster. She gripped the edge of the counter and I knew she really liked it and not just playing for them. “I’ve got people reviewing the footage and I’ll get you some answers.”
I saw Ted flinch out of the corner of my eye and that was all I needed. I knew she was pretty sure they were party to whatever was going on.
Fuckers. I would bury them for hurting her.
Yeah, clearly that keeping it professional thing had worked out well.
I didn’t even look up at them when they didn’t move, focused only on her. “Have a nice day, guys. I was just about to have a delicious meal and your stalking her is over.”
“Again?” she teased before they could object to what I’d said. “Didn’t you just have one? I think you’re getting spoiled.”
“The taste is just so fucking good,” I told her honestly, smirking when she shivered.
“There are two of us though,” Ted said, sounding a bit like he was whining actually. “He’s our age.”
She glanced at him and snorted. “I wasn’t interested before, but now that I have the best cut of steak on my plate you think I’m just going to leave that?” She clucked her tongue when they opened their mouths to argue. “I know he is, but apparently I’m into the stern, intense vibe with the genius IQ and sexy glasses. I like taller and well defined, but he’s got it next level.”
“Right, but—” Louis tried again but she cut him off.
“Besides, even if I wasn’t, I’m not into boys who try to steal and say it was to get a woman’s attention when they get caught like she’s too stupid to know otherwise. And then offer her a chance to blow you both like that’s a stellar offer.”
“Seriously?” I asked, my hand freezing as I looked at the idiots. “Seriously? That’s what you went with?” I burst out laughing when they frowned, unable to deny it.
Sia flinched and blinked up at me. I didn’t blame her; it was very rare I full out laughed, but that had to be one of the stupidest moves I’d ever heard.
They even made my stupidity seem not so bad.
“So you can laugh,” she teased me.
“Yeah, rarely and mostly at stupidity and you’re never stupid.” I glanced at the guys to clearly say they were and cleared my throat, looking towards the door as a hint.
“We’ll see you around, sweetheart,” Ted said, grabbing Louis when he opened his mouth. “We’ll have to come on out and see you sometime when your schedule clears up.”
“You’re still banned from my farm,” she chirped. “And that’s not being revoked anytime soon as you keep saying ‘schedule’ when we both know you don’t mean work and treat me like an easy slut.”
Rage filled Ted’s eyes. “He’s got his fingers in you while we’re standing here and you’re going to tell us you’re not as you look down at us?”
“Get the fuck out before I bash your faces in,” I seethed. “I did it to stake my claim that you’re not fucking getting her. Now I’m going to hurt you for insulting my woman.”
They must have believed me because they about raced out of there, giving me death looks. Chicken shits.
5
Sia
“I’m sorry,” Deon said after the Harmon brothers hightailed it out of the store.
I pushed my ass up so his fingers went deeper. “Finish what you started and then I’ll spank you.”
“You got wetter when I threatened them,” he muttered as he pushed in another finger and started moving them again.
Well, I was at least glad that was his assessment and not that I did when he called me his. I honestly wasn’t sure which made my body react, but he was right and it did so I wanted the happy ending.
“It was hot. Hot enough I’m now having the fantasy of you fucking me all over my store even with the large bay windows.”
“Jesus, Sia,” he hissed, finger fucking me harder and faster until I came with a deep moan.
“I should make you kneel and lick up your mess, but you don’t deserve that.”
“Please give me credit towards when I do,” he about whimpered, begging so pretty.
“Beg some more.”
He did so I let him, enjoying every second of him knelt behind me. Damn, he was pushing some of my favorite buttons too.
He stood and turned me around, glancing at my lips and making me remember how young he was. He might be jaded and messed up but he was young.
“You’ve earned it,” I told him, tilting my head up to accept his kiss. He didn’t disappoint, and just like the last one it zinged throughout my body and made my nips even perk up it was so good.
Damn man finding more buttons.
“I am sorry,” he murmured.
“I get why you did it and their reaction was telling. There might be a slight problem when you move on from the job and are not around to threaten them but—”
“You’ll be protected long before then,” he promised, frowning as his brows creased like he’d said something he didn’t like.
Like what?
“When do you have to let them know for sure?” he asked as we headed out after he got what he wanted and I locked up the shop.
“They already want to know but they want me to sign an extra waiver that I’ll pay for damages even if my insurance won’t keep covering me. My rates have shot up with three claims in under a year. It’s sort of a joke that’s really not funny.”
“I can imagine. I’ll have my full proposal and idea with a test run of some of it before then to give you a few days to settle with it and let me convince you.”
I had some ideas how he planned to do that from the huskiness in his deep voice. I might just let him.
We swung by the condo he was staying at and it was a hike from my farm and in Nebraska winter. I was glad he wouldn’t be commuting that far with the late hours we were working. He left the keys in the mailbox and texted Meave he did and was out.
I would have thought he would have to wash linens but she had said it was their mess-up and blowing a favor to her. So she told them to clean up since he was only there a few days.
Yeah, annoying Meave didn’t go well for people but I always found it amusing.
He had me stop off for food at a sandwich shop on the way, asking me what I liked and taking note of what I chose. It was actually sexy.
A man who was diligent and paid attention was like my catnip in a world where too many people were selfish and had tunnel vision.
“What do you need to do this test run thing?” I asked him when we were almost home.
“Three tablets to start,” he answered as I opened the gate. “Eventually you’ll need Wi-Fi boosters and a few better computers but that’s what I need to start trying the program. That and about a half an hour with Jimmy and Carrie to teach it to them for the trial run.”
I mulled that over. “How would you expand it once we’ve got it down? There seems more to this.”
“There is,” he agreed. “I want the restaurants to email in the night before what they will be coming for. That gives Jimmy the chance at better management of the day.
“Say no one is really coming for oranges but you need oranges picked before it looks too suspicious or you could just always use more oranges. He can offer those people working for the places a pound of oranges for home if they pick for you.”
I pulled into the garage and shut off the SUV, mulling that as we headed inside. It wasn’t until we were at the island eating that I finally wrapped my head around it and could visualize how it would work.
“You’re saying we’re wasting potential. People are already there, let’s utilize them and help them better at the same time. And the more different people pick, the more I can hide.”
“Exactly,” he agreed. “You’ve got a complicated and genius dance going on here, and I’m sorry I didn’t see that immediately, but I want to streamline and make the moves a bit sharper.”
“Smart, very smart.”
He cleared his throat before taking another bite and chewing it. “Did you mean what you said about being into smart guys?”
“Yes.” I didn’t give him any more than that, waiting to see where his mind was.
“Will that help you forgive me when I’m rigid? I’ve had women say I’m not dorky cute smart or smooth sexy smart but too smart and standoffish.”
I frowned. That was horrible for someone to say. I stood and went over to him, taking his hand off his sandwich and moving it to tease my damp lips.
“Fuck whoever said that to you. A real woman is smart enough to keep up with a smart man, even if he’s smarter than her. Your personality is prickly but they had a hand in that too. I’m going to give you a different kind of hand.”
“You are so fucking sexy,” he breathed, his steel blue eyes completely glossed over with lust, which was a good look on him for sure.
“Wait until you see what I have planned for tonight,” I teased him, moving away and watching as he licked his fingers.
He liked the taste of me, which I’d had men say before, but he seemed almost damn addicted which was really hot.
We headed over to the brew house and got to work before people started arriving. He worked closely with the managers, discussing options now that he understood how things worked better.
There was more he had up his sleeve for sure—but I did know he was plotting a product discount if people helped harvest in the greenhouse or prep in the brew house.
I wasn’t sure how that would pan out, but he was focused on the range of products and how they worked. Well, that was better than dismissive and flippant for sure when I was going to trust him to handle so much.
Which was terrifying. Severely and properly terrifying when I barely knew him.
When we were done and everyone was gone, we headed back to the house to eat. I’d already ordered the tablets he’d requested since he had them marked with some holiday last-minute sales deal.
We reheated food from Travis and he spent dinner asking me to list everything in the greenhouses. It took me a minute to figure out why.
“You think they limit what they get because they’re busy and haven’t the time to realize what else we have. Or have added since they’ve started the deal with me,” I surmised.
“Yes. I talked to some of them and they weren’t getting mixed greens from you but delivered to the restaurant. The beer guys were talking yesterday about wanting to try new things and where to get the best passion fruit from and you have tons of passion fruits. So everyone’s too busy, so being smarter and getting it out in front of them will be good.”
“You’re very good at this, not just the tech side,” I praised.
He shrugged. “It’s systems management and operations, which is what I really like. After a childhood of crazy and nothing making sense, the one thing that helps me most is things making sense. My way isn’t always the best way, and I have trouble when people don’t listen or just won’t budge because of stubbornness, but everything can always be made better. Always.”
“I agree.” And I did. “It’s scary though to change it all over.”
He gave me a soft look. “It is, and someone who cares can make steps so it’s not so scary, and I get that as I’m self-employed too even if nowhere near you. It’s when people just ignore it all as being ‘techy nonsense’ that I blow. I never suggest robots rule the world, but your phone is tech people used to think was over the top and it has improved lives. Just listen.”
I nodded. “I tried to get that Amazon thing when it first came out to make lists for me. I liked the concept sort of like you were saying of making one list and better. It was a disaster. I blame me and the bugs of the first one that came out, but yeah, it’s hard.”
When we were done with dinner I showed him where he could stay and grabbed something from my room that would be his reward. Even with how locked down he kept himself I could feel his excitement leaking through.
But then he frowned when we headed downstairs. I smirked at him as we went out to the garage, grabbing our jackets as we did.
“So more work?” he asked once we were at the first greenhouse.
“Something like that,” I chuckled as I unlocked it and let him inside.
I locked it behind us just in case and moved over to one of the tables still set up. I set down my jacket and the present, hiding it again, and turned to him.
“The circles and wards bring the energy from that room right here. I figured why not skip the middle part and have fun here.”
Heat filled his eyes. “What’s my punishment? You said I could touch you and I was getting a reward?”
“You are,” I promised. “First, will you offer up your pleasure to Gaia? Offer up
what you do to me tonight to her and her bounty? You have a plan to give out more of her bounty to people and be generous while helping us, so will you handle that for her?”
“Yes, yes, I will. I will for you but I offer it to her,” he answered after a moment. “I will take care of it, I promise.”
“Good boy,” I praised, feeling his promise and desire to help. I slowly undressed for him, knowing he’d been dying to see all of me.
He wasn’t disappointed.
“Touch me, but don’t put anything in me, and your lips can only touch mine,” I told him after he had a few moments to stare at me. “Show me that you love my body. Offer that love up tonight.”
“I do, and you are so much more beautiful than I’d even hoped,” he breathed before kissing me. His hands started at my ass and moved up to my tits, and he groaned loudly as he massaged them. “They’re real. They’re seriously real. I hoped so but you’re so small and they’re such huge fucking perfect tits I didn’t think they’d be real.”
I preened at his praise. “The mouth on you is turning me on. You’re so intense and sincere it’s intoxicating.”
He took my guidance to heart, spending the next several minutes telling me exactly what he liked and describing the feel of me. He played with my nipples so much I was close to coming just from that with the way he kissed me like he was dying for me.
It was so naughty that he was dressed and I was naked in a place someone wasn’t normally naked even.
He loved it too from what he said, which was hot. I loved adventurous men for sure.
“Now, touch my clit now, Deon,” I whimpered, coming seconds after he did he’d wound me up so good. When it was done I lay on the table, my chest heaving. “Well, you certainly aced lesson one. Damn, that was good.”
“Good? I can do better,” he promised.
I smirked at him. “I bet you can and I want to experience that, but ‘good’ from barely touching my clit is way better than most. You don’t get world-rocking orgasms just from that. I still give you an A-plus.”