“That’s what Miss Nancy said too.”
Go Miss Nancy. “That’s because Miss Nancy is smart.”
The doorbell rang and Maddie took off obviously still eager to check Thomas out. She flung the door open and stopped dead in her tracks.
Mina sighed and headed to the door. By the time she got there Maddie was at least past the open mouth staring stage and smiling, but was still blocking the doorway.
She stood behind her and fought not to have the same reaction to the man standing on her porch in faded jeans. An almost fitted, navy long sleeved t-shirt he had pushed up over his forearms with thin pale blue stripes made his eyes look even more blue than usual. She knew from experience if she ran a finger along one of the stripes, she would feel the ridges of the muscles across his stomach. A light brown belt and its brushed silver buckle peeked out from the waistband of his jeans where he tucked the front of the shirt in.
You gotta say something.
She looked up to his face so she could invite him in, but got tongue-tied all over again. He’d trimmed is beard, cleaning up the edges so they set off the line of his jaw. His eyes were set on her, his smile bringing out the dimples that were clearly visible through his newly cropped facial hair. Her heart flipped in her chest.
“Hey.” His voice was smooth and soft. The small puff of vapor accompanying it caught her attention.
“Hi.” She herded Maddie away from the door to give him space to come inside. “Come in where it’s warm.”
He thumbed over his shoulder. “My mom asked if one of the kids could help her.” He grinned. “I guess she didn’t trust me not to go down and take her brownies with me.”
She turned to Maddie and found her still gazing at Thomas. “Honey, why don’t you go help Miss Nancy?”
“Okay.” Tearing her eyes away, she skipped down the stairs.
His eyes were still on her with an intensity that gave her butterflies. He stepped close to her in the entry way. He smelled different today. Woodsy. Earthy. He must have bought new cologne to go with his new clothes. It was a good buy. Made her want to press herself against him. Then again, everything made her want to press against him.
She turned to look at Charlie. He was still glued to the video game he’d switched on a half hour ago. Maybe she had a quick second to get her hands on him before--
“Hi honey! Dinner smells great. We are starving.” Nancy flung her arms around her, squeezing tight. “How are you doing?”
She hugged Nancy back, happy to see she’d recovered from this morning. “Good. A little tired. I tore out a bunch of carpet at the house.”
Nancy held her at arm’s length, her face serious. “You know sometimes you need to take a day for yourself. Relax and recoup.”
She grabbed Nancy’s coat and passed it to Maddie. “Looks like I might have plenty of time for that. Seems I’ve pissed Don off somehow.”
Thomas’ face turned serious. “Don Jenkins?”
“Yeah. I’m not sure what-”
“Hi Nancy.” Charlie appeared at Nancy’s side and gave her a sideways hug. “Is this your son?”
Nancy beamed at him, clearly in love with the freckle faced ten-year-old. “It is. This is Thomas.” She wrapped her arm around his waist. “Thomas, this is Charlie.”
“Hey.” Charlie looked at Thomas sheepishly then leaned into Nancy’s ear. “Does he like video games?”
Nancy smiled. “When he was your age he loved video games.” She leaned down. “I bet he’d love to play with you.”
Thomas gave Charlie a wink. “She’s right. I was pretty good at Mario Brothers when I was a kid.”
“I have Mario Cart.”
“Think you can beat me?”
Charlie craned his neck and looked up at Thomas straight faced. “Yes.”
Thomas laughed as he headed to the couch with Charlie. “You are probably right.”
As the boys got settled in Maddie grabbed Nancy’s hand, dragging her toward the stairs. “Come see my room.”
Mina headed back into the kitchen. She checked on the pot of grits, stirring to make sure nothing was sticking to the bottom. As she turned to grab the cheese from the fridge, she ran smack dab into the middle of Thomas’ chest.
“How do you keep doing that?” The man should have been a ninja.
“What happened with Don?” His face was serious.
“He’s just a pain in my ass.” She skirted around him to grab the cheese and began dumping handfuls into the steaming grits.
Thomas stepped against her back, his hands on her hips. “What did he do?” His voice was quiet in her ear, but had an edge to it she’d never heard before.
She stirred the grits, watching the cheese melt into the creamy mass leaving swirls of gold. Leaning back into the hardness of his chest, she let herself imagine what it might be like if this was how she made dinner every night, for him.
“Mina.”
His voice snapped her out of the fantasy. She didn’t want to talk about Don right now. She wanted to enjoy being close to him, the cedary scent of his new cologne hopefully rubbing off on her clothes so she would be able to remember it after he left.
“What did Don do?” The edge to his voice was a little more pronounced.
Why was he so worried about this guy? Not like Don even held a candle to him.
She sighed, relenting. “Don’s always seemed to have a thing for me I guess. He was irritated that I would never go out with him I guess. He was supposed to inspect the house I’m working on today and showed up forty-five minutes late pretty pissy at me and then just walked off.”
She stepped away from the warmth of his body, her daydream ruined by having to think about Don. Grabbing the salad from the fridge, she turned to find Thomas leaned back against the counter looking less than happy. His knuckles were white where he gripped the counter edge and it almost looked like his eye was twitching.
“It’s no big deal. Really.” She shrugged. “I’ll call the city tomorrow, tell them what happened and they’ll have to find somebody else to come inspect my stuff.”
“I don’t think you should do that.” He took a step closer. “Let me handle it.”
She started to remind him she was grown and had handled men way worse than Don. That she could take care of this.
But then he laced his fingers gently through her hair and held her face in his warm hands. “Please.”
He looked worried. He also looked determined. And gorgeous. Maybe she could let him feel like he was saving her. Just this once. He did know everyone in town. Maybe he could handle this better than she could anyway.
“Okay.”
“Mom. Is it ready yet? I’m starving.”
Thomas quickly stepped away as Maddie came bouncing into the kitchen. He gave Mina a wink and retreated to the couch joining Charlie where he was giving Nancy a quick tutorial on video game controllers.
“Almost honey. Why don’t you get out the salad dressing and put it on the table?”
Maddie snuck a look at the couch. “He’s hot for you.” She mouthed as she thumbed over her shoulder at Thomas.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Be quiet.”
Maddie came right beside her as she poured the thick stew into a serving bowl. “You don’t want him to hear us.”
Mina gave Maddie a serious look. “He won’t because there’s nothing to talk about.”
“There so is. He wants to do you.”
“Now you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Yes huh I do and so do you. You’ve done it twice. There’s proof.”
Damn sex-ed in schools.
“And he’s super-hot so you should let him.”
Mina turned to face Maddie, resisting the urge to strangle her. “This conversation is over. No more. Understand?”
Maddie sighed, obviously disappointed her extensive knowledge of the birds and the bees was unappreciated by her mother. “Whatever.”
There
came that strangling urge again.
“Yes mother.” Mina could feel the crazy eyes starting to take over her face. She did not need this tonight. Nothing was more terrifying to a man than a teenage girl, let alone a teenage girl with an attitude.
“Yes mother.”
“Thank you.” She shoved the bowl of grits at her. “Now put this on the table.”
**************************************
Thomas leaned back in his chair, resisting the urge to rub his stomach. It turned out spunky, smart and beautiful were not the best Mina had to offer. She was one hell of a cook. If he hadn’t already decided to do whatever it took to make her his, the dinner he just ate would have sealed her fate.
She smiled at him across the table as she stood to start clearing plates. “Good?”
Good did not begin to describe it. He was going to have to learn to pace himself or he would end up being five hundred pounds. “Really good. Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
He hoped she meant it because that was the plan. There were a few kinks to work out, but very soon every night would be like tonight. He watched as she walked into the kitchen, wishing he could find a way to get his hands on her. Make her feel like he did this morning.
His lusty thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. It took a second for him to remember who it was.
Mina looked to the door, obviously confused. Probably a little nervous after the last time someone unexpectedly rang her doorbell.
“It’s my cousin Rich dropping off the spare key to my truck. Sorry, I hope it’s okay.” He should have told her. He started to get up, but Nancy was faster, jumping up and heading to the door.
“I’m glad he had the spare. Better than having to get a new one made.” She was at his side, grabbing his plate.
The kids had already cleared their plates and were piled on the couch watching cartoons. He slid his hand up the back of her thigh as she reached across him for Nancy’s plate. She froze as he trailed his hand higher, cupping the fullness of her bottom with his palm as his fingers barely brushed between her legs. He could see her chest beginning to flush where it peeked out the neckline of her top.
He loved her reaction to his touch. He’d never been with a woman who was so responsive to him. The blush continued to her cheeks as she gave him a shy smile and moved away and back to the kitchen, leaving him empty handed.
Rich followed Nancy into the family room, keys in hand. “Hey buddy. I brought all the keys I had of yours. House spares are probably here too, won’t do you much good now though, huh?”
Thomas hoisted himself up and headed across the room to take the keys from Rich. “No they won’t.” By the time he made it to grab the keys, Mina was beside him.
“You must be Mina.” Rich grabbed her in a bear hug. Mina stiffened, probably a little shocked at Rich’s immediate show of affection. “You’re even prettier than Tom said.”
The instant he released her, Mina stepped away from Rich, back to Thomas’ side, a smile that didn’t reach her eyes plastered on her face.
Rich was a bit much for some people and clearly Mina was one of them. He’d have to tell Rich to tone it down the next time he saw him.
“I’m gonna get out of here. Let you guys enjoy your evening. Call me if you need anything else Tommy boy.”
“I will. Thanks again man.”
Nancy walked Rich out as Mina stared after them, a thoughtful look on her face. “He’s your cousin?”
“Yeah. My mom’s sister had him young.”
“It seems like you two are close.”
“More like brothers I guess. His mom took off after my dad died. My mom and grandpa raised us both.”
“What about his dad?”
“Not really sure. Aunt Carol said it was some boy she went to school with. Wouldn’t tell anybody who. My guess is he was older. Probably trying to protect him.”
“That would be hard on a kid.”
“Probably why he’s so… overenthusiastic. Always wants people to like him.”
“Maybe.” The thoughtful look remained on her face. “I’m going to finish cleaning up. Why don’t you go sit on the couch and prop your leg up.”
She hooked one finger in his and looked up at him. “I’ll have the kids help me and when we’re done maybe we could all watch a movie.” She stroked her finger softly down the inside of his palm before turning to head into the kitchen, calling over her shoulder, “Children of mine. We have a kitchen to clean.”
Both kids climbed off the couch. “Then can we have the brownies Miss Nancy brought?”
His mother smiled as she swung in behind the kids on their way to help. “Absolutely!”
He made his way to the newly empty couch and carefully situated his leg across the cushions. As he settled in, he couldn’t help but think about the last time he was on this couch.
That woman was going to give him a run for his money. Her dinner table wasn’t the only place he was going to have to pace himself. If this morning was any indication, it was going to take everything he had to keep from making an ass of himself when her took her to bed. He hadn’t been with a woman since Mary left and the dry spell left him a little out of practice in the control department. Hopefully it would be like riding a bike.
He watched Mina over the breakfast bar as she moved around the kitchen, teasing the kids and joking with Nancy. Her kids really were great, which was a testament to the kind of mother she was. Especially one stretched so thin.
Running a business and being a mother was hard enough. But Mina was the only source of income as well as the only parent. She had no family here. Everything fell on her shoulders and whether she realized it or not, she needed help.
Charlie would be a hard-headed testosterone fueled teenager soon. He would need someone to look up to. Someone to respect. Man to man.
More concerning was Maddie. She was dangerously close to boyfriends and dating and had never seen the way a man should treat a woman. She needed to see the way a real man respects and cherishes the woman he loves or she would be a prime target for an abusive dick head.
He wanted to make sure that never happened. Mina, Maddie and Charlie had been through so much and it was time for them to have what they deserved. A man who loved them. A man who appreciated them. A man who would always be there for them and always take care of them. He was hoping to be that man.
Mina turned and caught him watching her. For a second her eyes stayed on his, and he saw something he recognized in their depths. Maybe tonight felt the same way to her as it did to him. Maybe she realized her time of being alone was over too.
EIGHTEEN
Thomas leaned on his cane as he made his way up the cement steps leading to the yellow brick city building. Mina may think she could handle Don, but she had no clue what that man was capable of.
He stepped through the heavy metal doors and into the warmth of the building, pausing for a minute to let the heat soothe the instant ache brought on by the cold, and aggravated by the steps.
He made his way to the front desk, the woman attending it smiling as he approached. They had gone to school together, but right now her name escaped him. Hopefully he could get away without needing it.
“Thomas! Oh my God, how are you doing? Is your leg any better? It was so awful when I heard what happened. Good thing that lady was there to help you, huh? Oh my God and now your house. Just awful.”
Terri. Her name was Terri. Better known during their school days as ‘talk a lot Terri’. He was going to have to keep this moving or he would be stuck here all day and he had other, more important things to do. Like go see that lady who helped him.
“I know. Crazy.” He kept walking past her desk as he spoke. “Don in his office?”
“Oh, yeah. Gotta get stuff together to get your house fixed, right?”
“Yup.” Something like that.
He continued on, heading to the row of offices beside Terri’s desk. Hopefully he would find Don in one of them.
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“Hope everything works out.” Terri hollered down the hall after him.
So did he.
He was counting on catching Don in the office in the hopes the loose cannon of a building inspector would be better behaved. Thomas was in no shape to take on someone like him right now.
Hopefully that would start to change soon, but for now it was true. As much as he hated it, his injury limited him. But that would only save Don’s ass for so long.
Approaching the offices, he could hear Don’s annoyed voice coming from the first door on the left.
“That place wasn’t anywhere near ready for inspections of any sort.” A pause. “I don’t care what they said.” Another pause.
He was on the phone and it sounded like he was getting his ass chewed and Thomas was afraid he knew why.
“Where are you gonna find somebody else? I’m the only city inspector you’ve got.”
Thomas was more than a little shocked. He really thought Mina was going to let him deal with this.
“Whatever.” Thomas heard the receiver of the phone crash into the base. “Fuckin’ Paul.”
Mina hadn’t called. She’d told Paul. From what he’d heard, Paul treated her like his daughter and any man would raise hell if someone was messing with their daughter.
Thomas would have raised hell too if he hadn’t seen firsthand how Don reacted to situations like this. Not too long ago, he’d spent a night in lock up for slashing the tires on a woman’s car after she turned him down in the bar. That was mild compared to what Don could do to Mina. Slashed tired were a whole lot easier to deal with than a ruined business.
Thomas had to try his best to get this situation under control before things got worse. Unfortunately after the conversation he just heard, he was pretty sure it was already out of control.
He stopped at the open doorway of Don’s office. The building inspector was in his chair turned away from the desk and the door staring out the window at the back of the room, tapping a pen against the arm of his office chair.
Run (Never Waste A Second Chance Book 1) Page 14