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“Place needs a little work, but it will shine up like a new penny,” Pappy muttered behind her, taking in her house for the first time.
The little two-story two bed, one bath was on a lovely tree-lined street. Yes, it was in desperate need of new paint and a front porch, not just steps, if she was being honest. But she was proud of her house. It was home. The home she scrimped and saved to get enough to add to the divorce money. The home she worked hard to keep. It had seen some bad times, but there were a lot of good times that happened inside those walls. Reese had almost enough to replace another window, but she had a feeling that money was going to go to living expenses now that she was unemployed. Thankfully, she had already started saving for the next window. It was a small cushion, but, fingers crossed, it wouldn’t be long until she found another job.
The small garage was in the same shape as her house. Reese wasn’t as worried about it. She didn’t care if the cold came through the windows in the winter. There was nothing in the garage that needed to be kept warm. There was nothing in the garage most of the time. The only things she stored in there were her car and the little push mower she used to mow her grass.
“Yeah,” she replied absently.
Reese refocused on the garage. She knew it was empty. Long ago, she sold everything of value to help keep a roof over their heads. There was only empty space left. Peering inside, she saw Mav talking to a man with hand tools spread out between them on a makeshift workbench. She had no idea where any of it came from, and just like the man standing there, they weren’t staying.
The dark-haired man towered over Mav with ink poking out from under the sleeves of his t-shirt that stretched taunt in an attempt to contain those broad shoulders.
“God bless that cotton,” Reese whispered to herself.
The baggy jeans did nothing to conceal the fantastic ass underneath. In a moment of temporary insanity, Reese fantasized about ripping his shirt off to get a closer view of what was inked on his skin. Then maybe run her tongue over each and every line. Fingers crossed those lines went further south.
The things she would do rolled around in her head until she remembered she didn’t have the time or the energy for another man in her life. She was a mess. She needed to get Mav on the straight and narrow. Pappy was here, and she hadn’t gotten the reason why out of him yet. The only thing she knew was it wasn’t going to be good. Then there was the fact she was unemployed. She simply didn’t have the time for a man-man in her life, even if he looked better than her best dream with that dark hair and those muscles.
“What the hell is going on here?” Reese demanded, pulling herself together.
Mav wasn’t even a full day out of school, and here he was talking to some strange guy in an empty garage. Hell, it wasn’t even lunchtime. So much for the straight and narrow. She had already sprung Pappy from the police station, and it looked like Mav was walking into trouble again. Between the what-ifs and today’s new challenges, life wasn’t looking up anytime soon.
“I’m Cash. I moved in next door,” the man smiled at her. His eyes went from her head to her toes and back again unashamedly ogling. He extended his hand to her.
Reese propped her fist on her hip. She didn’t reach out to shake his hand, only glared at him. How could Adonis not understand it was a bad idea to talk to a kid he didn’t know? Has he never heard of stranger danger? Yeah, Mav was fifteen, but he was her baby, and Reese had no idea who this man was.
“I was unloading boxes from my truck, and I saw your son working on what is left of this car. From all the cussing I heard, it wasn’t going too well for the kid, so I offered to help.” He was still extending his hand, looking at Reese with more interest than he should in front of Mav, waiting for her to respond.
When she didn’t accept his gesture, he slipped his hand back into his pocket. “So that you know, I have family in town that can vouch for me. I bought the garage in town, and my dad owns the diner on Main Street.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the kid he offered to help shaking his head, trying to tell him something, but Cash had a feeling it was too late. Whatever he said or did was not going to end with a thank you from the captivating woman in front of him. By the looks, he would be lucky to escape with his balls still intact, but it could be worth the risk if she were the one to do it. After she was done telling him what he did wrong, maybe he could convince her to have dinner or drinks or hot, sweaty sex in the middle of the driveway.
“Mav, why don’t you take Pappy inside.” Reese crossed her arms over her chest, staring down the man in front of her.
Cash wasn’t sure if this woman knew what that gesture did to her tits. In that sad excuse for a tank top, he wasn’t at all sure they weren’t going to pop out the top. It wasn’t like he was going to complain. She was hot in more ways than one. His neighbor was stacked. Tall with long blond hair and sharp blue eyes that were ready to cut him down to size. Cash couldn’t help himself. He grinned at her. His new neighbor was his favorite kind of woman, hot and feisty. She was just too damn cute for her own good standing there all mad, glaring at him. He had no idea he liked a feisty woman, but she did it for him. Her body was just a bonus.
“Son, I don’t know what you just said, but I don’t think she will be rolling out the welcome wagon for you,” Oliver smirked. “Might want to keep your eyes to yourself before they go from calling you Cash to calling you dollar.”
“Pappy,” Reese growled, flush creeping into her cheeks at the same time. “Why don’t you go on inside, and Mav will show you where to put your stuff.”
“Where is he going to put his stuff?” Mav asked.
“I don’t know,” Reese ran a hand through her hair. “Just go inside.”
“Will you be alright?” Mav edged closer to his mother and away from the man who offered to help him.
“Your mom will be perfectly fine,” Cash assured him before Reese could open her mouth.
Reese nodded.
“Let me know if you need help with the piece of shit car,” Cash told Mav, still ignoring Reese’s scowl. If she didn’t quit looking at him like that, he would have to adjust the tightness growing in his pants. Doing that in front of her son and her grandfather was probably not his best idea.
Mav nodded his agreement before disappearing with Pappy following close behind.
After the door clicked closed, Reese let him have it. Hot neighbor or not, he needed to go. She had had enough of the Jacob’s men to last a lifetime.
“What are you doing? Did Mr. Jacobs send you? Are you here to see what I have so he can sue me for clocking him this morning?” Reese spouted question after question while Cash watched with amusement.
“What? Are you here to cop a feel too? Maybe it is a genetic thing. Well, I can tell you right now, you grab my ass, and I will blacken your eye too. I may have had to put up with that kind of treatment from your father because I needed a job, but I can assure you, I don’t need a damn thing from you. You can walk your ass back across the street and stay there. We don’t need your help with a damn thing.”
