Page 34 of The Haunting Plot

“Here, let me help.”

The second her hand slips between the elastic and my skin, my dick twitches, thinking it’s go time. She manages to get them up another inch and gestures for me to turn around. And I do, gladly. I do a lot of squats, so my ass is probably my best feature.

“Holy shit. How do you fit that thing in normal pants?” She tugs the elastic up until it’s resting right under my ass.

I swear on my life if she touches my ass I might come in my pants.

“Well, I don’t think these fit you.” She backs away from me, and while I instantly miss her warmth, I don’t think my dick could have taken much more.

I look at my watch. “We’ve got two hours before the bus drops all the kids off. I should be able to finish cutting wood by then, but I’m gonna have to Pooh Bear it.”

“All the kids? Are your kids coming here?”

“Yeah, it’s my day with them. I figured it’d be easier than me stopping to go get them. They’ll come here, then we can get out of your hair if you want.”

“No. If Tommy is coming, Jonah will want him to stay. If he leaves, it may cause a meltdown.”

“Sorry, I can be kind of impulsive sometimes. I shoulda checked with you.”

“We’ll figure it out. Maybe it’ll motivate Jonah to do his homework.” She looks me up and down. “So what’s the plan?” There’s an edge to her tone that makes the hair on my neck stand.

“What do you mean? For the kids?”

“No, the plan. For all this.” She waves her hands in the air like I’m supposed to know what she’s referring to.

“For the renovation?”

She starts pacing. “For everything. I need a plan. I need to know what’s coming and what to expect. I gave you a list of things that need to be done, and you keep flitting from room to room, starting projects and not finishing them. It’s chaos. I need to know what to expect.”

It clicks. “Because it helps you know how to prepare?”

“People assume I’m controlling, and I won’t say that’s never the case, but knowing what to expect is necessary, otherwise my anxiety is on high alert. Structure and routine help calm the chaos.”

“What happens when the plan derails?”

“That’s fine. Once I know the plan, my brain has already whipped up dozens of contingency plans.”

“And when you’re calm, you can keep Jonah calm.”

Her eyes soften, and she nods.

“How about this? I’m gonna finish cutting two-by-fours so I can put up the saw before the kids get here. I can help them with homework, and then there are a few kid-friendly tasks they can help me with so you can keep writing.”

She blinks slowly. “You’re going to manage four kids by yourself?”

“You don’t think I can?”

“What about the rest of this project? What’s the plan?”

“I’ll come over on my off days and work on the loud parts while the kids are at school. Barring any major fires that pull me away, I can come over after my shifts end, and I’ll text you beforehand to give you a heads-up.”

“How long do you think all this will take?”

“I should be able to finish everything by Halloween.”

“So six more weeks of being inconvenienced,” she says softly as if she’s talking to herself. “And the pranks?”

I grin. “What about them?”