by Autumn Skye
“I’d love that.”
“So, what are you waiting for? Go change. We have a house to see.”
Chapter Eight
Lily
It was only a dress, but I had reservations about her having bought it for me. On some level, it felt like a payment for the previous night, or perhaps an obligation to repeating that night in the near future. Nothing she’d done or said indicated that she thought of me as someone who could be bought. Truth be told, my family probably had as much money as she had. The only reason I struggled was that I refused to run to my mother for a handout. It always came with a disappointed speech and a reminder that it wasn’t too late to go back to school and get a real career, which I would have done to begin with if I hadn’t been in such a hurry to move out of her house and get the hell away from her. I was such a fucking cliché, the poor little rich girl, but clichés existed for a reason. They were often true. My mother was a shallow overbearing woman who made me miserable and my big rebellion had been not to become a doctor or lawyer, or anything that might make her proud. I was happy being a nobody, too. Another cliché, but money does not buy happiness and can lead to one hell of a sad life if you let it rule you.
Danielle, while clearly wealthy, didn’t come off as anything like my mother, but I was still uncomfortable with her buying me gifts. Though, if she meant it about letting me help decorate the house, I was on board with that. Was I ever. I hadn’t seen the inside yet and already I had a vision of what the house should look like when it was fully rehabbed. Naturally, I did. I’d spent hours creating my own dream house in my mind, and the inspiration always started with an old Victorian.
I jumped out of the SUV the second Danielle rolled to a stop after pulling into the driveway. She laughed at my childish enthusiasm, coming to stand next to me at the cracked sidewalk.
“It’s an eye sore, like I said, huh?”
“No, it’s incredible,” I said. “The wrap around porch is going to look amazing with a little paint.”
“With a lot of paint,” she corrected me.
“Come on, you must have some idea how awesome this house is or you wouldn’t have sunk so much money into it. If it isn’t too personal, how much money did it cost?”
“That’s not personal. It’s business and the answer is five hundred grand.”
“That’s a steal for this amount of square footage.”
“It’s a good deal if I can rehab it for no less than three hundred thousand and sell it for one-point-two million. To pull that off I’ll have to do a lot of the work myself and only contract the hard stuff.”
“Do you know much about rehabbing?”
“I can Google and now I have you to help,” she shrugged. “Other than that, I did my house in Corpus. It turned out all right.”
“What happens if you lose money?”
“Then I learn a very expensive lesson. But before I think on it too long and panic, let’s go have a look inside.”
We stepped onto the porch, floorboards creaking beneath are feet. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, moving aside so I could enter first. Inside, the air was musty and with the shutters closed it was too dark to see. She flicked on the light switch and I looked up at the crystal chandelier that bathed us in golden light. It was fashioned in old world style and surely an antique.
“Wow, that has to stay.”
“Don’t you love it? I’d never find another that would fit the ambiance so perfectly,” she commented. “I wish I’d gotten as lucky with the rest of the place. There’s so much to do I need to get started on the renovations immediately if I hope to turn a profit sometime in the next century.”
She did love to exaggerate. I didn’t think the house was all that bad. It needed paint and the mahogany wood floors would have to be refinished, but it was all doable.
“Have you had a contractor take a look yet?”
“Yes, before I bought it. The foundation is actually in fairly good shape. It needs reinforced here and there and I’ll have him put on new siding. I should probably hire a landscaper as well. The lawn is a pitiful sight Thankfully, the plumbing is in good condition.”
“It might seem like a lot, but I bet we could have this house looking good in no time.”
“We?”
“You did say you wanted my help.”
“Yes, I did. I just didn’t expect you to take me so literally, not that I’d reject any help you could provide.”
“The living space is huge. It’d be a strong selling point. Can we see the rest?”
“Well, the dining room is straight ahead and the kitchen is just after that. After you,” she said, extending an arm and giving me one of her mischievous winks. She always seemed to be bubbling over with laughter. I hoped I would catch some of her mood. Even I was aware of how much I needed to lighten up.
“What do you think so far?” she asked when we reached the kitchen.
“Hmm. The dining room is enormous, but the kitchen is cramped. I think maybe if you knocked out the wall and moved it back it would give the kitchen a more spacious feel and the dining room would still have plenty of room.”
“I thought of that, too. I asked the contractor about it and he said it’s not a supporting wall, so I’m thinking I could do it myself.”
“You’re going to take a sledge hammer to the wall?”
“What? I’m not afraid to break a nail. Besides, if you’re really wanting in on this job, I could hire you to assist me.”
“Except that I already have a job.”
“This one is flexible. You can drive down on the weekends. I pay well. I’ll make it worth the trip,” she bantered.
“Seriously?”
“I couldn’t clean this place myself much less redesign it. To be fair, I suppose we could work out a commission on the final sale. You say flipping houses is your dream job. This could be your start.”
“It always seemed more like a fantasy job.”
“Here’s your chance to turn fantasy into reality with no risk to you. Dreams come true when you get off your butt and make them happen.”
“Shouldn’t I pitch you my ideas before you make me an offer?”
“That’s probably the way most people would advise me to do it, but I have a good feeling about you. How about if we set a trial period. We’ll work together for a few weeks and if it doesn’t work out, you can quit, or I’ll fire you, whichever.”
“That would mean we’d be spending a lot of time together.”
“Got a problem with that?”
“No, not at all. I’m just wondering after last night how much is business and how much is pleasure?” I blurted out.
“A little of both is what I was hoping for,” she answered.
“I can live with that.”
What choice was there but to let this play out and see where it took us? The only other thing to do was to walk away, get in my car and drive back to Houston, keep the memory of my one-night stand and turn it over in my mind once in a while. I had a feeling if I did that it would haunt me for some time to come.
“Good, because I meant it when I said I like you, Lily. I like you a lot.
“I like you, too.”
“Then it’s settled. Ready to check out the upstairs?”
“Yes.”
I followed her up the winding stair case. The banister was made of mahogany and was loose, wobbling when I placed my hand on it. “It would be fantastic if we replaced this with an iron banister, something decorative,” I remarked.
“Great idea. Maybe we should put up a matching gate at the front entrance. It would give the place more of a gothic feel. This house has a lot of character. I don’t want to lose that.”
At the landing, we took a right and entered the master bedroom at the end of the hall. It was built strong with Cherrywood flooring and ivory baseboards. There was an adjoining bathroom and a closet that probably would serve better if it was expanded and converted into a walk-in. Above all else, the French doors leading out
to the balcony were what caught my eye. I opened them and stepped out to take in the view. The lawn was in dire need of landscaping considering the overgrown grass and tall weeds. I glanced to the right, holding a hand up to my forehead to shade my eyes from the Texas sun. It was already burning so brightly I could feel it’s heat on my skin even through my clothes.
“You can see the lake from here,” I noted.
“Yes, imagine a couple standing out here sipping wine, relaxing after an exhausting day.”
“It’d be so refreshing.”
“And romantic,” she added, reaching out to take my hand.
“Definitely romantic,” I agreed, feeling a wide smile spread across my face.
She pulled me to her and gave me a quick kiss on my lips. Immediately, I felt a wetness between my legs. My body was out of control being near her. I wasn’t comfortable with that, but I didn’t pull away, either. Images of the two of us together the previous night flashed in my mind and I somehow new there’d be many nights that I would fall asleep with my arms wrapped around this beautiful woman. I didn’t know how many nights exactly and I was afraid they wouldn’t be as many as I’d like. The void she’d begun to fill in me would no doubt be even emptier when she was gone.
Chapter Nine
Danielle
Now I had my first hired help, sort of. Lily was much more than that, but I wasn’t sure what to call her just yet. It felt more like I’d picked up a kindred spirit than a business associate. I was feeling less anxious about my chance of succeeding in the flipping business and if I did fail, I wouldn’t do it alone. Some of my fear over the risk I was taking was alleviated. The irony lied in the fact that now that I had an assistant to help me get this project moving, business was the last thing on my mind.
“Want to lie out by the water and work on a tan?” I asked her when we got back to the lake.
“I could use one. I’m so pale,” she said.
We changed into our swim suits and headed out to the shore, spreading two beach towels out to lie on. I propped myself up on my elbows and stared out at the water. “It’s so pretty here.”
“It is, and to think I didn’t want to come. I’m glad Farah fought so hard to convince me I needed to get away from the city.”
“She sounds like a good friend.”
“She is and she was also right. I needed this.”
“I needed you,” I told her, my voice barely above a whisper, one of my hands caressing her shoulder tentatively, hoping she’d give me the response I was after. Memories of us together were fresh in my mind, but it had all happened so quickly. I couldn’t wait to have her again, but I needed her to show me a sign that she was ready for more.
She gazed at me with a hungry stare. I could see the lust on her face. Its intensity matched my own. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, jumping into a relationship so soon after Jared, and maybe that meant I wasn’t being fair to her, but I couldn’t resist kissing her full, pouting lips. Just one night with her and already I’d pulled her deeper into my life, going as far as making her a part of my business, when perhaps I should have been pushing her away. A relationship was the last thing on my mind before I met her, yet I couldn’t let her go. I couldn’t even set any real boundaries. I hadn’t told her I wanted more than a good time, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to tell her I wanted less, had I?
Wasn’t she partly to blame, though? She didn’t make it easy. Her mouth opened and I could sense her eagerness to have my tongue slip inside. She gave a delicious moan when it did. I responded by taking off my top and lowering myself onto my back, pulling her down on top of me. Her face was flushed with a passion I hadn’t seen in years, or ever. I couldn’t recall anyone looking at me so ardently. She almost didn’t seem the same young woman who’d shyly peeked at me as I’d stood in this very spot the night before. I cupped one of my breast in my hand, an offering to her, and my nipple disappeared between her lips, hardening as I felt myself grow wet, quivers of excitement churning in my belly.
It was strange because I’d felt that I was the one in control until then. Now, in a matter of seconds, she had me weak and helpless, unable to resist her demanding hunger. I didn’t want to fuck her. I wanted to be fucked, to be taken over by the ecstatic fire that burned in her. The sound of her whimpering with desire as she closed her lips around my other nipple nearly sent me over the edge right then and there.
“Oh, you want me, don’t you baby? It’s okay. You can have what you want, Lily. Just take it.”
I would have gone on coaxing her, even begging her to satisfy both of our carnal, nearly primal urges, but her lips came down to crush mine, cutting off my words. She rose up to kiss my lips and then let her tongue move down my body until her head had found its way between my legs. She planted soft butterfly kisses on my thighs and I saw her struggle for restraint.
“Do you want to taste me?” I asked, my voice sounding husky, laced with desire.
I watched as something came alive in her, something wild that she’d suppressed too long. I had to be careful with this one. I had to do right by her. I knew she could be easily hurt if I wasn’t. The right thing to do would have been to pull away, let her go, but again I couldn’t. My body betrayed my conscience.
I felt her fingers move the crotch of my bikini bottom to the side and then her hot breath on my mound. My own breathing was coming in short gasps as she hesitated and I realized she’d never done this before, tasted another woman. The look on her face told me she wanted to, though, so much that she wouldn’t be able to refrain.
Sure enough, her lips grazed my slit, which was wet and slick with my essence. Spurred on by my moans of approval she let her tongue dip into my folds and move over my sensitive nub.
“Ah, Lily, yes!” I hissed at her, then lost all capacity for words when her mouth engulfed my clit.
I threw my head back and let her do as she would, my nectar flowing out of me and into her mouth, which seemed greedy to catch every drop. Perhaps she wasn’t so fragile after all. She appeared to know exactly what she wanted and how to glean it from me. She soon had me writhing with the yearning for release.
“I’m coming,” I wailed.
She continued to lap at my juices as I mewed and sucked in deep breaths of air, my hips thrusting up, silently pleading with her not to stop until I went limp, spent and euphorically lethargic.
She came up into my arms and we shared another deep kiss. I clung to her and came to terms with my own weakness. Whatever iron will it would take to stay away from her, I simply didn’t have. She wasn’t going anywhere, not for long anyway, and neither was I.
Chapter Ten
Lily
Over the next two weeks Danielle and I spent most of our time in each other’s embrace. We couldn’t keep our hands off one another and completely stopped pretending otherwise. When we weren’t bringing each other to one shameless orgasm after another, we spent long hours discussing our plans for the house. I browsed the internet to shop for the supplies we’d need to begin rehabbing, while she was on the phone with contractors who would do any work we couldn’t handle ourselves. It impressed us both with how quickly I managed to throw myself into the project. Someone would have thought it was my home and I’d just won the lottery judging by the painstaking details I took in planning the restoration of that decaying yet fanciful old house. We went back inside several times where I took photos on my phone. We chose the color schemes of each room, beginning with the main rooms like the living area, kitchen and bathrooms, and then working our way through the rest including the bedrooms, sitting room that would double as a library, and attic. We were like kids set loose in the toy department. We worked seemingly endless hours. Danielle and the promise of her intimate touch were the only distractions that could draw me away from my goal to transform the house into a wonderland no buyer could refuse.
“We could use a break. We’ve been holed up here working for what feels like a century,” Danielle said one afternoon.
&nb
sp; I rubbed my eyes, which burned from spending half the day sprawled out on her bed peering at the computer screen. I hated to admit it, but she was right. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of time before I had to head back to the city. I was determined to make as much progress as possible.
“What did you have in mind?”
“A trip to Corpus, a day on the beach.”
“Isn’t Galveston closer?”
“We’re at the halfway mark between the two, actually, but Corpus gets my vote.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you haven’t seen my house yet. It’ll be my chance to show you what I can do.”
“That’s right, you own a house in Corpus.”
“Yes, it’s my hometown. I was born and raised there, but it isn’t just any old house. It’s my masterpiece. I put a lot of time, effort and love into it.”
“What sort of house is it?”
“It’s on Ocean Drive.”
“It’s a mansion, you mean,” I said. That’s about all there was on the upper-class Ocean Drive, a strip of road that led downtown to the bay area.
“I guess you could say that. To me, it’s just home.”
“I love Corpus.”
“Then we’ll go,” she said with a note of finality.
I’d been to Corpus a time or two, enough times to know Ocean Drive was where the money lived. My mother’s cousin lived there and we always rented a bungalow off the street near downtown when we visited. Corpus was a full-sized city with a down home feel to it. It wasn’t really a place a Houstonian bothered to visit unless they knew someone who lived in the area, but I’d always enjoyed our trips there. Even Ocean Drive was a bit too quaint for my mother’s taste, however, so I don’t recall going very often when I was growing up. It had been years since I’d been to Corpus and I was excited for the change of scenery. Really, at that point, the idea of traveling that much further away from Houston made me feel less anxious about the fact that I’d be going back there very soon. I did love Houston, my home town, but small-town life was growing on me. Or maybe it was Danielle who was changing my perspective. Maybe it was more likely I simply wanted to be wherever she was. Either way, a drive to Corpus sounded good to me.