Page 32 of Pink and Country

To stay away from the handyman, I busied myself in the kitchen, making tea.

HN joined me, and his hands brushed my hips from behind for a nanosecond. The simple touch made my heart bounce in my chest and ignited my skin. I sucked in a shaky breath and swallowed a gasp, keeping my gaze down, not wanting my neighbor to witness the effect his closeness had on me.

8

Carter

D esmond stared at my sexy neighbor like he craved a piece of her. I noticed. Fuck him. Not under my watch. Hot Girl would be mine. Our mutual attraction had reached new heights, and suppressing the sexual tension between us now seemed impossible. Every fiber of my being crackled around her. Not touching her became less bearable each time we were near each other.

Now that I knew how she tasted and how she felt, I was hooked. I needed more. A lot more. Her scent was my drug, her lips my kryptonite.

If I didn’t stake a claim, Desmond would try to get into her pants. That I knew. I was a guy too, and I’d known Desmond for years.

He’d been my on-call handyman since the day I bought my first cabin in the area. With the small resort I’d created here, I needed someone I could trust to do all the small work and made sure everything stayed in order.

Desmond proved himself to be that guy.

The man didn’t care about my celebrity status or the money in my bank account. For all the work he did around here, he charged me next to nothing. Each year, I thanked him with an expensive bottle of scotch on Christmas Day.

Desmond’s wife died a couple of years back, and I’d seen him in action multiple times, trying to charm the ladies down at the dive bar where I hung out from time to time, on the outskirts of town.

Pink Hair had everything he had a boner for.

Petite and delicate, with curves to fill a man’s hands.

Enough edge to banter with me endlessly and sex appeal to bring any man to his knees.

Big, bright baby-blue eyes and a gorgeous smile that could melt Antarctica.

Pixie was dynamite in our little town.

Dangerous and mesmerizing.

Even Jack fell under her charm the other day. And he’s five, for God’s sake.

Fairy Girl busied herself in the kitchen, and my hands met with her hips before I could think about what I was doing. A sense of calm crashed on me like a wave on the shore. It felt like the natural thing to do.

My hands brushed her hipbones, and I wasn’t even sure she noticed. I pulled myself together before Bubble Gum could say anything, avoiding my eyes, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

I had this urge to be close to her but feared scaring her away, not in the mood for another one of her angry ramblings.

Go slow, Carter. Baby steps.

My lips itched to kiss hers.

“Okay, here’s the thing,” Desmond explained, disrupting my daydream. “I’ll be able to fix the back door. But there’s something wrong with the front electronic latch. Unfortunately, I don’t keep any in stock. I can order a replacement, but it’ll take a few days. Those things are tricky.”

“Can we still use the front door in the meantime?” Did I say we ? Fuck. I slapped myself mentally.

Baby steps, Carter. Focus.

“Sure, but I can’t guarantee it won’t act out again.”

Pixie stood beside me, her arms folded. “I’ll stay in. I have nowhere else to go anyway.” She shrugged. “I’ll jam the back door with a rock just in case if I go outside.” She swiveled on the balls on her feet and walked back into the kitchen. My eyes widened in awe. Nothing ever seemed to bother her. Except my attitude.

I bet something, or someone, had hardened her up. Made her tough. I saw it in her eyes. A few times already. A dark shadow. Sadness. Or fear. And resolve. I couldn’t decide. If only I could swallow her worries with one kiss. And then fill her with unfaltering happiness with every other one. I’d kiss her every day to make it happen.

“Okay, I’ll come back in a day or two. Will call you beforehand.”