by Lynn Burke
I allowed a daydream to form. Fireplace. Snowed in. A night with the hottest man I’d ever laid eyes on. Running my hands down the muscles I’d enjoyed the summer before while he mowed our lawns. The pecs and abs. That luscious V disappearing beneath the band of his shorts.
Damn. I shifted on the couch hoping to ease the growing ache within me.
Rustling of clothing sounded nearby, and with a sigh, I opened my eyes. Theo had set two mugs on the coffee table and bent over the fire, jeans hugging his tight ass and muscled thighs.
Pooling drool required a gulp. I glanced away before he turned and caught me staring.
Theo
“Wish I had a fireplace,” Charlene said from behind me.
“One of my must-have’s when house hunting a few years ago.” I turned to find her huddled under the blanket in the corner of my sectional. Redness rimmed her heightened-by-tears blue eyes. “I never noticed how beautiful your eyes are.”
A smile tugged on her down-turned lips, and unlike her usual strong eye contact, she glanced away. “Thank you.”
“So what do you think of all this snow?” I lounged on the opposite end of the couch, arms sprawled along its back.
“I love it, but I can’t stand shoveling.”
“I’ll take care of your walkway in the morning.”
“That’s all right.” She grimaced and stared at the fire. “I have to be at work at six.”
“What?” I grinned. “I can’t get up early on a Sunday?”
Charlene turned toward me with a piercing gaze. “You usually get in around three a.m.”
“Yeah.” My brow furrowed as I thought of Zane. It was my turn to stare at the orange flames. “That won’t be happening again anytime soon.”
“How come?”
I sucked imaginary food from between my front teeth. “My best friend went out and got a girl.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Nah.” I shifted and stretched my legs out. “I’m happy for him, but now I’m left with nothing to do on the weekends.”
“What? You can’t have a life without him?”
I couldn’t help my smirk. “Life is just … more enjoyable with my cousin around.”
She tugged the blanket up higher around her neck. “All I do is work and study,” she said. “Count your blessings you have time to party—with or without your cousin.”
“We didn’t party.”
“No night clubs and ladies?”
“Oh, there were ladies all right, but you don’t need to know all the sordid details.”
“Sordid, huh?”
I wasn’t one to hide what I enjoyed doing with women, but Charlene was still a kid, studying and trying to find her way in life. My smirk widened. “Not that interesting. Trust me.”
She mumbled something that sounded like a sarcastic “uh huh,” as she finally turned her focus off me.
“So, how is work going?” I asked.
“It’s all right, I guess.” Her brow furrowed.
“What’s the frown for?”
A heavy sigh lifted her chest. “Both of my parents are in the medical field, and they encouraged me to set similar goals. Top of the class and keeping a 4.0 got me a full-paid scholarship by them—and residency at Boston Children’s, but…” She shrugged.
“Do you want to be a pediatrician or was that your parent’s idea?”
“Mine.” Her blue-eyed gaze landed on me, steady and piercing. “I set my own goals and nothing in hell will stop me from attaining them.”
“Shit.” I chuckled at the determined fire in her eyes. “Wish I had half your drive.”
She snorted and tightened her hold on the blanket around her neck. “It’s not that great, trust me. Some days I’d give anything to shut my mind off. Relax and just … live like a normal person.”
I knew a few great ways to shut a woman’s brain down—make them feel, nothing more. For the first time, I peered at my little neighbor, wondering…
“What goals do you have for yourself?” she asked, pulling my thoughts away from the crimson ropes in my bedroom closet.
My thumb bounced on my thigh while I contemplated my future, something I rarely did. “I’ve always lived for today. Tomorrow has enough worries of its own.”
She continued to peer at me as though trying to figure out my inner workings. “That’s all fine and well, but don’t you have dreams and wishes?”
“Sure.” Her intense scrutiny had me shifting on the couch. “Marriage someday. Kids.” I got up to check on the hot chocolate and chuckled. “You remind me of my sister.”
“In what way?”
“She loves to ask direct questions—hard ones that make my brain want to shut down.”
“She sounds like my kind of woman,” Charlene said rather than apologize for prying—not that I expected or wanted her to. I’d never admit it to my sister, but I liked how she challenged me.
I huffed a laugh. “You two would get along great.” I used a mitt to pull the pot out of the coals and set it on another holder atop the coffee table. “Marshmallows?” I asked while using a ladle to fill the two mugs.
“The more the merrier.”
“That’s what I always say. Watch, it’s hot.” I handed her a cup and sat down beside her with one of my own, a pile of mini marshmallows threatening to fall over the rim.
She touched the cup to her lips, and I stared. A perfect bow on the top and full—how come I hadn’t noticed her lush mouth before?
Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she moaned her approval, melted marshmallow foam coating her top lip.
Well fuck me sideways.
I hadn’t known she had a sexy side. My cock took interest, and I turned away, putting my wayward thoughts back in order. Charlene was … well, Charlene. My friendly, way-too-young-for-me neighbor.
“This is the real deal.” She smacked her lips and sighed.
I air toasted her. “Got that right, kid.”
“How the hell do you know how to make real hot chocolate with cocoa and milk?”
“I had the best grandmother in the world.”
Her eyes moistened again. “So did I.”
We sipped in silence while I fought down the urge to watch her lips caress the mug’s rim.
“Why do you always call me kid?” she asked a few minutes later.
“Cuz I’ve got at least a dozen years on you if not more.”
Hands clasped around her steaming mug, Charlene raised the hot chocolate and sipped again without breaking eye contact. “If I had to guess, I’d put you at thirty-two max. That gives you only a few months bragging rights, not years.”
My eyes widened as I settled back into the couch. “You’re shittin’ me. There’s no way you’re in your thirties.”
“Thirty-one.”
I studied her dark hair. The pale skin around her eyes and lips. Her slender, smooth neck and hands. “You look like you’re fresh out of high school.”
“Good genes I hope to appreciate someday.”
“Damn right.”
A full-out smile lightened her face and erased all signs of her earlier tears. The kid—woman—from next door was actually pretty hot. “So tell me about growing up in Florida, you old fart,” I said.
Her laughter filled my living room.
Best damn sound I’d ever heard.
****
Three hours later, the power still hadn’t come back on, and Charlene’s eyes drooped. Eleven o’clock on a Saturday night, and she wilted like Mom’s tomato plants without rain. Dark smudges lay beneath eyes still shadowed by exhaustion and what I guessed to be depression.
While I’d enjoyed getting to know more about her, the stories she told reaffirmed my belief she worked too damn hard. When she drifted off to sleep, still curled in the corner of my couch, I sat and watched her for a while. Her brow furrowed as she shifted.
She needed a good night’s rest and a dozen or so days off. Not that she’d take a single one even if given the oppor
tunity. While I admired the shit out of her, she was just too damn focused for her own good.
I lifted her off the couch into my arms. She weighed next to nothing and smelled like a ripe southern peach. My cock took note with a little twitch, but I frowned him down.
It’s Charlene, you greedy bastard. Charlene.
She didn’t so much as crack an eyelid as I carried her up the dark stairs. I’d opened the large grate over the fireplace earlier in the day, so my bedroom above the living room would be warmer than her own. I laid her on my un-made bed and pulled the comforter up to her chin.
My LED alarm clock threw off enough light I could see her brow smooth as she snuggled against my pillow. A sigh parted her lips, and I stared again. I wondered if she tasted as good as she smelled—all sweetness and sunshine.
With a shake of my head, I left her alone and headed outside into the cold to cool off the sudden interest my cock had taken in my neighbor.
****
Took me a long fuckin’ time to realize the dinging annoying the hell outta me was my cell. Still half-dead to the world, I reached over to the coffee table and felt around, knocking over one of the empty cocoa mugs.
Charlene.
I scrubbed a hand down my face and sat up, grimacing at the crick in my neck from sleeping on the couch. “Morning.”
“Hey. Sorry to bother you so early.” Her breathless voice stirred my morning wood to life.
Eyelids half-mast, I glanced at the windows. No light filtered around the blinds. “What time is it?”
“Five-thirty-ish.”
Too fucking early. “You still upstairs?”
“No. I left a half hour ago to get ready for work, but my car won’t start.” Panic laced her voice. “I have to be at Boston Children’s in a half hour. I’m sorry to bother you, but—”
“No. No.” I threw off my blanket, realizing the heat had kicked back on during the night. “Not a problem. I’ll be out in two.”
I disconnected without waiting for her reply and threw on my coat atop the clothing I’d fallen asleep in. I probably didn’t smell too great, but Charlene wouldn’t give a shit about anything but getting to work on time.
If I had her dedication and driven spirit, I’d have been more than a mere regional manager in the Risso Family business. I tripped over my boots in the entryway and let out a string of curses over my stubbed toe before tugging them on.
At least I’d shoveled our entryways while she’d slept. Keys in hand, I pulled my door shut behind me and stepped out into the fresh three inches that had fallen while I’d slept. “Hey.”
Bright blue eyes latched on to me as I neared her floodlight lit driveway, and I grinned.
“Are you always this happy?” she asked with a frown, her foot tapping.
“Pretty much, yeah. Come on.” I motioned her toward my Cherokee. “I’ll drive rather than give you a jump. Save five minutes.”
Charlene grumbled something beneath her breath and hurried after me.
We settled onto the cold leather seats, and I blasted through the mound of snow the plows had left in front of my driveway.
“Thanks for last night.”
“Not a problem.” I pulled up to a stop sign and turned left.
“You didn’t need to give me your bed. I could have slept on the couch.”
“Did you get a good night’s sleep?”
She sighed. “Like a baby.”
“I sleep like the dead regardless of where I am. My cell rang a few times before I realized I was even alive.”
“Well, thanks all the same.”
“Welcome.” A sideways glance revealed she shared my smile. “I’ll bet you had perfect attendance in school and never showed up late to a single class,” I said, taking the entry ramp for southbound Route 1.
“I missed a day once in the sixth grade because I had the flu.”
I laughed, and she shot me a glare, dark bangs swishing over her arched brows. “Broke my perfect attendance and blemished my record. It’s not funny.”
“Sure as hell is.”
“Is not.”
“Is to.”
Her gaze narrowed, she turned to glare out the windshield.
I continued to grin and started humming the Disney movie theme song my nieces always sang at the top of their lungs.
She huffed. “Let it Go? Seriously?”
“Yeah. You need to let go and live a little.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes as I sped south. I hadn’t realized I hummed again until she all but growled at me. “Yeah, I got the hint the first time.”
“Sorry.” But I wasn’t. Not really. Maybe I’d ask her out on a real date. Take her to dinner and show her a good time, teach her how to have fun and laugh. My mind wandered to the after hours and having her at my mercy, a definite way to make her mind shut the hell up and let her fly.
No.
I cleared my throat and focused on the road. Charlene Tucker didn’t need any male diversion in her life—especially someone as carefree as myself. I’d only fuck up her charted course to become a pediatrician.
I sure enjoyed her company and spirit though. I cast a quick glance at her profile—pert nose, full lips, heavy bangs covering her brows. Not only cute, but I liked her challenging, pointed looks and questions.
Sure as hell would be fun to tame her with my ropes and make her beg to come.
No. I tightened my grip on the steering wheel. Definitely not.
Inspiration struck like a bolt of lightning. I could be a kindly neighbor and help her let go and relax. For a few hours anyway, keeping her long-term goals safe and sound from too much distraction. “Got any plans for tonight?”
Charlene
My heart skipped. Like literally stumbled in beating. “I’ll probably end up pulling a double again because some lazy ass will say they can’t get to work due to the snow. I should be free after two or so tomorrow.”
He nodded once and flashed his white teeth in a wide grin. “Perfect.”
A few seconds ticked past as my heart thumped in my ears. I couldn’t stand waiting for an explanation. “Why?”
“I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh?” The coy smirk replaced his smile, and my breathing grew shallow.
“The opportunity to forget reality for a while, to live and just feel.”
I wet my lips with the tip of my tongue, my mind racing. “What exactly did you have in mind?”
He met my gaze, his dark eyes as friendly as ever. “Trust me?”
“Yes.” I didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Good.”
I waited all of two minutes for him to explain before huffing and angling toward him. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“What’s the surprise?”
“It won’t be a surprise if I tell you.”
“Fine.” Toes tapping and pulse thrumming, I turned to peer out the windshield. My brain exploded with ideas, as awash with the sunrise, Boston’s snow-covered skyline came into view.
A peek out the corner of my eye revealed a smiling Theo, relaxed and carefree. What the hell did he have up his sleeve?
It sure doesn’t line up with what’s in my mind, I thought as two snow plows rumbled past going northbound. Bummed, I focused forward again. Damn it all to hell.
****
Work sucked as usual, but at least a cab got me home before eleven so I could sleep in my bed. Theo’s house sat dark. I should have asked him where he escaped to every weekend. After our conversation about his cousin finding a girl, I figured he’d be home for a change. Not that I’d expected a repeat of the night before, but the thought that might be his surprise had crossed my mind more than once.
An envelope lay on the mud trapper mat inside my door. It was Sunday. I shouldn’t have had anything dropped through the mail slot.
I tore it open and scanned down through the invitation to enjoy a day at a local spa—hair, nails, wax, and massage. I flipped the card over.
Relax and forget about life’s goals for a few hours. -Theo
A heavy sigh slipped past my lips. Reminding myself to be thankful for his thoughtful gift, I trudged up to bed.
I’d dreamed of a date, or at least something involving both of us even though he’d shown zero interest the night before. Hell, not a single sexual innuendo had come out of his mouth in over three hours. Nothing to give me the slightest thought he might be swayed if I chased after him like I wanted to.
Chase. I paused for a second at the top of the stairs.
Maybe he needed to be chased. Maybe he needed to hear what I dreamed about. My mind took hold of the idea and calculated a plan as I readied for bed. I longed to fulfill the vivid fantasies I had about him and ease my pent up sexual frustration so I could get my thoughts back on what was important. Perhaps that’s exactly what I needed to regain my focus and drive.
Yep. I smiled as I collapsed onto my bed. Time to get what I desired. No matter the embarrassment, no matter the effort or cost. I wanted Theo Risso, and by God, I’d have him.
He’d be no different than any other goal I’d set for myself. Accomplish, check it off, and be a much happier and satisfied woman afterward.
****
I’d never relaxed so much in my life. My massage ended, I lay face down on the table, enjoying the languid state of my muscles.
The masseuse covered my nakedness with a sheet and kept the hypnotic, low music playing and lights dimmed. “You’re welcome to take your time dressing.”
I floated in nothingness as she left. Mindlessness. Sated except for the sexual twinge I hoped Theo would relieve soon.
I’d thought about inviting him over for dinner, but nixed the idea before it morphed, seeing as how I couldn’t even make a grilled cheese without burning the damn bread. Instead, I’d invite him over to share a bottle of wine in thanks for giving me one of the most relaxing days of my life.
Sexy clothes, hair down, makeup … and if he didn’t get the hint on his own, I was more than capable of taking matters into my own hands. I looked forward to it.
I rolled off the massage table, my smile set. Mission get-Theo-into-my-bed a go.