The Landscaper (Working Men Series Book 6)

by Ramona Gray

  A month after that disastrous night, Isabelle was gone. She was living in Florida with her parents and had cut me out of her life completely. Hell, she’d even unfriended me on Facebook. I’d asked Asher a few times how she was doing but couldn’t exactly ask for more detail when he gave me general answers. He would have wanted to know why I was so interested in his baby sister and who she may or may not be dating in Florida.

  I drove all memories of that night out of my head and busied myself with fucking any woman I could. I told myself that it was because I had a high sex drive, and not that I was overcompensating for not getting to sleep with the woman I really wanted.

  The news that Isabelle was coming back to town thrilled me more than it should have. Except… she’d been ignoring me since she’d returned over a month ago. I’d tried not to let it bother me, tried to pretend that she was just busy at the shelter like Ash said she was, but I knew the truth. She still hated me for rejecting her and she always would. I’d become convinced that we would live in the same town for the next twenty-five years and I’d never see her once. Her avoidance game was…strong.

  It was for the best, I knew that. I tried to tell myself that I could just be friends with her, but even just the thought of being around her made me want her naked and under me where she belonged. It was a good thing that she was avoiding me. Only, I hadn’t counted on her crashing into my back yard in the middle of a thunderstorm, crushing my rose bushes and destroying my barbeque while being tethered to a big, smelly dog.

  I didn’t realize the shower had stopped until the door opened and a cloud of steam rolled out. Isabelle, her slender body wrapped in a towel, made a squeak of surprise.

  “Knox? What are you doing?”

  I immediately looked away from her warm, wet body and held out the clothes. “Uh, sorry. Just bringing you some clothes. Throw your wet clothes in the washing machine if you’d like. You know where it is. I, uh, I’ll just start dinner.”

  She took the clothes and I hurried to the kitchen without looking at her again. My heart was pounding, my dick was hard as fucking steel, and I was this close to picking Isabelle up and carrying her to my bedroom. All the dirty things I wanted to do to her were reverberating through my head and I was in deep fucking trouble.

  I was just opening the fridge when there was another huge boom of thunder that shook the house. The wet dog at my feet let out a startled yelp as all the lights in the house went out. I muttered a curse and shut the fridge door before shuffling toward the table. I tripped over the dog, he yelped again, and I muttered another expletive before patting his head.

  “Sorry, boy.”

  The lightning flashed, lighting up the kitchen. I grabbed my phone from the table and turned on the flashlight, just as Isabelle walked in with her own phone in her hand.

  “Hey, you okay?” I asked.

  “Fine.” She looked pale in the weak light of my phone.

  “You sure?”

  “Yes. Do you have candles? I don’t want to waste my phone battery.”

  “Yeah, hold on.”

  I snagged candles from the junk drawer and found matches in the cupboard over the stove. I lit the candles and set them on the counter before turning to Isabelle. “Looks like my dinner plan won’t work, but….”

  “What?” She crossed her arms nervously over her chest.

  “Where are the shorts?”

  She stared at her legs and pulled at the hem of my shirt. “They were too big, they kept falling down as I walked.”

  I turned away and stared blankly out the window over the sink, willing my dick to stop trying to push through my fucking jeans. Isabelle was standing in my kitchen wearing nothing but my shirt. If I wanted to, I could put her on the counter, lift the shirt and bury my face in her pussy. I’d finally know how she tasted, what she sounded like when she had a tongue licking her clit.

  My cock surged against my denim until the pressure hurt. I squeezed my hands around the edge of the sink as lust consumed my entire body. I needed to leave. I needed to go to my fucking bedroom and rub one out like a horny teenager, before my need for Isabelle took over the last rational thought in my brain.

  I turned toward her, hoping the candle light was dim enough that she wouldn’t notice the way the front of my fucking jeans was tenting. I didn’t have to worry. She’d turned her back to me and was petting the dog. I stared at her ass in the dim light and groaned under my breath. “Isabelle, I’ll be right back. I just need -”

  The loud boom of thunder directly above us drowned out my voice. The house shook, and the dog jumped up and put his big paws on Isabelle’s chest. She staggered back, and I caught her around the waist as the dog’s weight drove her backwards. She sagged against me as I pushed the dog away.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” She studied the dog who had returned to sitting on his haunches. “You okay, puppy? Did the thunder scare you? It’s okay, you don’t…Knox?”

  “Yeah?”

  She twisted her head and stared up at me. Even in the flickering candlelight I could see the surprise on her face.

  “Isabelle, what’s wrong? Why are you…shit.”

  I was still holding her soft body against mine and, sweet fucking Christ, not only could she feel my erection pressing against her ass, but I was rubbing it against her like I really was a horny teenager.

  I immediately let go of her and shuffled back. She turned and stared at me as lightning lit up the kitchen. The dog was wandering out of the kitchen and I tried to follow him, stopping when Isabelle dodged to the right and blocked my path out of the room.

  “I have to go, Isabelle.”

  “You want me,” she said.

  “No, I don’t.”

  Smooth, you fucking wanker.

  “You do.” A combination of shock and delight was crossing her face. “You’re attracted to me.”

  “I’m not,” I insisted. “What you thought you felt wasn’t what you thought you…felt.”

  At least I was keeping up with my streak of saying stupid things.

  She grinned at me, a predatory grin that made me hornier than fucking hell. Her gaze dropped to my crotch and the grin widened. “No? So that wasn’t your erection poking me in the ass?”

  “Isabelle, I…”

  “You want me, and I want you,” she said in a low voice. “I want you so much, Knox.”

  “Please don’t,” I whispered as she drew closer. I shuddered when her small hand traced my stomach through my shirt.

  “Don’t what?” She asked. “All this time, I thought you found me repulsive, thought you couldn’t stand to touch me. I was wrong, wasn’t it?”

  Her light blue eyes stared steadily at me and I groaned when she traced the waistband of my jeans. My hips jerked forward, and she stared up at me before stepping so close I could feel her stomach pressing against my dick.

  “Answer me, Knox.”

  “Yes,” I rasped. “Yes, you were wrong.”

  Her nostrils flared, and she smiled as more thunder rattled the windows. “You want to fuck me.”

  I groaned again. “Isabelle, you need to go to the guest room and stay away from me.”

  “Why?” One slender finger traced my flat nipple through my t-shirt and precum dripped from my cock.

  “I can’t be around you,” I said in a low voice.

  “What if I’m tired of staying away from you?” Her arm slipped around my waist and she kneaded my ass.

  “I am five seconds away from tearing that shirt off of you, bending you over the table and shoving my cock into your pussy. Do you understand?” I growled at her. My need for her had grown to a fevered pitch, and I meant every word I said.

  She didn’t say anything, and I reached down and stroked her wet hair with the tips of my trembling fingers. “Last chance, Isabelle. Leave now or I will fuck you.”

  She didn’t move, and I succumbed to the madness growing inside of me as lightning flashed across the sky. Isabelle didn’t say a word when I
grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her body. I stared briefly at her naked body, but my urge to fuck, to take, to claim, was overpowering in its intensity. I grabbed her arm and turned her roughly, shoving her up against the edge of the kitchen table. I placed my hand in the middle of her back and pushed her down until her cheek was resting against the smooth wood.

  I kept her pinned with one hand and shoved her legs apart with my thigh as I unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans. I pushed them and my briefs down my legs, leaving them around my ankles as I stepped between Isabelle’s legs. Her thighs widened, and I had enough goddamn restraint left to cup her pussy and make sure she was ready for me. She was soaking wet. I muttered a curse before gripping her hips and lifting her a little higher.

  Without speaking, I pushed my cock up against her wet pussy and groaned when the head slipped into her tight hole. She moaned, and I squeezed her hips and pushed forward into her incredibly hot and wet pussy until my cock was completely sheathed.

  “Fuck, sweetheart,” I groaned. “Your little pussy feels so good.” I rubbed her lower back before stripping off my shirt. “You okay, baby? You need a minute?”

  “Knox,” she lifted her upper body and braced her hands against the table, “shut up and fuck me.”

  I grinned and gripped her perfect ass before pumping in and out of her. She met each of my thrusts with unbridled enthusiasm, and when she tossed her long dark hair out of her face, I gathered it in a loose ponytail in one hand and pulled. She cried out, her back arching as I leaned over her and kissed her shoulder.

  “You’re so fucking tight. You make me so hot, I’m ready to blow my load already.”

  “Oh God!” She reached down to rub her clit and I knocked her hand away before sliding my hand between her legs.

  “You need your clit rubbed, baby?”

  “Yes.” She wiggled on my cock and I groaned before rubbing her swollen clit. She bucked against me, squeezing her pussy around my cock, and I muttered a curse before slapping her ass with my other hand.

  “Fuck, you’re gonna make me cum if you keep squeezing like that.”

  “Make me cum,” she begged. “Please, Knox.”

  “Whatever you want, Isabelle.” I rubbed her clit, circling around it and tugging on it every few seconds while I fucked her hard and fast.

  She made a soft squeal, her body stiffened, and she pounded on the table with her tiny fists before screaming her release. Her body shuddered and swayed beneath me as her pussy gripped my cock and held tight. I made one final thrust, my hand tightening on her perfect ass, as I filled her pussy with my cum. I pumped rapidly, going nice and deep. She gasped and shoved her ass back against me, taking everything I was giving her.

  “So good,” I moaned before leaning over her and resting my forehead between her shoulder blades. She had collapsed against the table and was panting harshly. I kissed her soft skin and rubbed her side.

  She wiggled her hand beneath her body, and I jerked all over when her fingers brushed over my softening cock.

  “Shit, Knox, did you cum in me?”

  I immediately pulled out of her, shame souring my stomach as she straightened and turned around.

  I yanked up my briefs and jeans and buttoned them. “I’m sorry. I – I fucked up.”

  She studied me silently before bending and grabbing her shirt from the floor. As she slipped into it, I said, “If you’re pregnant, I’ll be there for both you and the baby. I promise, Izzy.”

  She scowled at me, “Don’t call me Izzy. I’m on the pill so I’m not worried about getting knocked up. But I know you’ve slept around so…”

  For the first time in my life, I regretted my whoring around. “I’m clean. I’ll show you my medical records.” I grabbed my phone off the counter as Isabelle picked up hers.

  “Thanks, I’ll show you mine as well.”

  “You don’t have to. I’m not worried about it,” I said.

  Her laugh was a little bitter. “You aren’t the only one who sleeps around, Knox.”

  My fingers paused over my phone and Isabelle shrugged. “What? You think you’re the only one who likes to fuck?”

  I cleared my throat. “No. I just…”

  “Just what?”

  “Nothing.” I pulled up my medical records and handed the phone to her. She gave me hers and I scanned her records quickly before setting the phone back on the table. “Who have you slept with?”

  “Seriously? You want me to name every single guy I’ve been with since I moved to Florida?”

  “No. Just the ones since you moved back.”

  She handed my phone to me. “That’s none of your business. Now,” she paused and waited for the thunder to end, “are we going to your bedroom or not?”

  I hesitated before shaking my head. “Isabelle, what just happened…it can’t happen again. You know that.”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “No. I want you, obviously, but I can’t be with you.”

  Her cheeks flushed, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why not?”

  “If your brother found out what we did, he’d -”

  “I’m an adult,” she snapped. “It’s none of his business who I fuck.”

  “If he finds out that we slept together, he’ll beat the shit out of me. He’s protective of you.”

  The look she gave me made me feel about two feet high. “So, you won’t be with me because you’re afraid of my brother?”

  It was so much more than that, but it was better for both of us if she believed it was because of Asher. The truth was much worse, and if she knew, she’d never look at me the same way.

  “He’ll cut me out of his life, Isabelle. He’s my best friend, and I don’t want to lose him.”

  Her lips pressed into a thin line before she gave me a short nod. “All right.”

  “Can we still be friends?” I sounded like an asshole, I know, but I wanted Isabelle in my life.

  Why, so you can watch her date a bunch of other men who aren’t you?

  “I don’t think so,” she said. “I want you as more than just a friend and being around you is painful if I can’t touch you or be with you. It’s better if I don’t see you.”

  “It’s a small town,” I said, “you can’t avoid me forever.”

  “It’s been working out okay so far.” She gave me a small smile. “Thanks for giving me a place to crash. Good night, Knox.”

  “Isabelle, I -”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t sneak into your bedroom like I did before. I’ve,” she paused, “matured a little since then. Good night.”

  She left the kitchen and I heard her and the dog head down the hallway before the faint squeak of the guest room door. The storm was starting to diminish, and I sank into the kitchen chair, staring numbly at the table. Already, fucking Isabelle seemed like a distant memory, like it was nothing more than a feverish dream.

  I clenched my hands into fists before blowing out the candles and heading to my own bedroom. I’d been out of control earlier, my need for her so intense that I’d acted like a goddamn rutting wild animal. I chucked my clothes in the hamper and slid naked into the bed, staring up at the ceiling. I wished to God, I had taken my time with her. Wished I had carried her to my bed and spent the rest of the night kissing her, and touching her, and making her cry my name as she came repeatedly.

  I groaned and rolled to my side. I’d spent years dreaming about fucking Isabelle, and I’d ruined it by being impatient and selfish.

  So, go to the guest room and fix it. Ask Isabelle to let you fuck her again.

  I punched my pillow into a better position. I couldn’t. It was a mistake to sleep with her in the first place. I couldn’t ever lose control like that again.

  Chapter Three

  Isabelle

  “You seriously just snuck out this morning? I thought the road was washed out.” Mia brushed the crumbs from her banana bread off her ample chest and took a sip of coffee.

  “The storm didn’t last a
ll that long, I took a chance that the road was drivable.” I took my own sip of coffee and waved at my brother’s girlfriend, Luna, when she came out of the back room of the coffee shop.

  “Was it?”

  “Mostly.”

  “That was really dangerous, Isabelle,” Mia said.

  “Yeah, I know, but I couldn’t be there when he woke up. I just couldn’t, Mia.” I glanced around the coffee shop before lowering my voice. “I finally got the chance to sleep with Knox and it was terrible.”

  “Sometimes two people just aren’t compatible in bed.” Mia lowered her voice as well.

  I gave her a startled look. “What? No, that isn’t what I meant. The sex was fantastic, Knox made me cum harder than I ever have in my life. It was after that was so awful. It was awkward and weird, and I could see the regret all over his face. Not to mention that it was pretty humiliating to have Knox choose my brother over me.”

  “They’ve been friends since high school, and you’ve been gone for a while,” Mia said tactfully.

  “I know, I just -”

  “Hey, Isabelle.” Luna, a Mugs apron tied around her waist and her dark hair in a braid, joined us. “How are you?”

  “I’m good. Luna, do you know Mia?”

  Luna smiled at my best friend. “I don’t think we’ve formally met. You’re a paramedic, right?”

  Mia nodded. “That’s right.”

  “Luna is dating Asher,” I said.

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Mia said.

  “You as well. Some storm last night, huh?” Luna turned to me. “I stayed over at Asher’s, but I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “I spent the night at a friend’s,” I replied. “I finally caught that stray dog last night.”

  “No! Good job, Isabelle. What did you do with him?”

  “Took him to the shelter this morning.”

  Luna glanced at my arm. “How’s the dog bite on your arm by the way?”

  “All healed up.” I flipped my arm over and showed her the scars on my inner forearm. “More scarring than I expected though.”

  “Guys dig scars, right?” Luna said with a grin. “Which is a good thing, because I have about a billion. Anyway, I’d better get back to work. See you later.”