**
Trish shuffled into the gym, followed by her three kids. Her day hadn’t gotten any better after leaving the college. All of her fears were becoming a reality, thanks to that damn house turning out to be a money pit. Upon further inspection, she found out there were major issues with plumbing, flooring, roofing, and God only knew what else. She was starting to see why the house was labeled a short sale. She had played the game long enough to know there were no take backs. The offer had been called into the bank, so there was no turning back. She had been making money hand over fist since first starting this business venture. She obviously had gotten a bit too cocky. She just hoped this bump on her ass would be a small one.
Trish felt his eyes on her long before she even realized he was in the gym. She glanced over toward the punching bags to find him there, watching her. She knew that she should look away. Encouragement and want were clearly written on her face
,
but at that moment she was too tired and frustrated to care. Brayden had always been cute, but that word wouldn't do justice to the man who was hitting the punching bag. Maybe handsome, fine, tasty, or luscious, but definitely
not
cute. He had just the right amount of chest hair on his muscular chest that disappeared just over his ripped abs
,
only to reappear as a thin dark line across his lower stomach. Her eyes followed the trail until the hair vanished under the black shorts that hung low on his hips. She eyed the veins that were visible due to the strain of his workout. Her gaze lingered on the deep cuts he had developed on his muscular torso that women coined as an “Adonis Belt”. His naturally tanned skin was void of marks, except for the gray and black tattooed image of a male angel embracing a woman that dominated his strong back. She wondered if the non-threatening angel was Heavenly
,
or maybe a demon in disguise.
All you have to do is give him some play to find out,
the voice in her head pointed out as she shifted in her chair.
She quickly looked back down at the papers sitting in her lap. She didn't like where her mind was taking her. The fact that it had been taking her there more frequently bugged the hell out of her. It wasn’t as if she didn’t get attention from men wherever she went. However, it was no one that she really wanted to give her time. Either the men weren’t her equal financially—and she definitely wasn’t interested in financing their hustle—or they were the type that she would never introduce to her children. They would be strictly friends with benefits. That option was one that she had been entertaining more and more lately, but it was also a frightening one to say the least. Whereas George had been spreading himself thin and wide with any woman willing to give it up, Trish had always been faithful to him. The idea of having sex with another man was a bit unsettling, but it was something she knew she was going to have to get over sooner or later. Of course, she knew she didn’t have to sleep around, but the concept of never having sex again was one that she and her assortment of vibrators weren’t quite ready to commit to for life.
So why not give that man a chance. You know you want to,
said the voice in her mind.
It was true, but Trish had never—
“You know...you don't have to pretend to be so engrossed in those papers to try to put me off.”
The sound of his voice startled her. Trish looked up into his damp face. She hadn't even noticed he had left his workout on the punching bag to start their weekly act. She tried not to smile as she leaned back from him while he pulled up a chair next to her. She could already feel the excitement of talking to him begin to lift her spirits.
“You smell,” she informed him as she wrinkled up her nose. Usually the smell of sweaty men bothered her, but she found herself aroused by his scent.
“Well, you know you aren't doing it right if you don't work up a sweat,” he said in a way that let her knew he was talking about more than exercise.
Damn, he's slick,
she thought.
“My friend over there was asking me about you,” he sneered, gesturing with his head to one of the coaches that was working with their children.
“And what did you say?”
“I told him I'll hit him with a barbell if he tried to talk to you,” he answered matter-of-factly.
“I don’t know if I should thank you for that, or if I should be upset about you keeping me from having fun.”
His eyebrow went up as a warning for her not to test him.
“You are so different from school,” she laughed.
“And you've only gotten better with age, Trish. So, when are we going to stop this cat and mouse game? My legs are starting to hurt from all of this chasing,” he sighed as he toweled down his face.
“Oh my God, who the fuck blew all that smoke up your ass? You've got too much swag for me. I can barely breathe from all the stuff you’re saying.”
“And I hope you can do more with that mouth than get flip,” he teased while he stared at her lips. “I can understand why you would be a bit frightened, because I’m a man that knows what he wants. But I promise you, it’s not a game. I’m more than able to follow through with everything I say.”
“Wow, Brayden. I just noticed you lost that st…st…stutter from school. I'm sure that set your parents back a pretty penny,” remarked Trish, each word dripping with sass.
He threw his head back and laughed. Even though that had been a sore spot for him when he was younger, the fact that she mentioned it didn't really piss him off. Now, if it had been someone else, he doubted he would have laughed it off so easily.
Trish blinked in amazement at how he actually got more handsome when he laughed. Straight, white teeth flashed as his full lips thinned when he opened his mouth to laugh. The faint hint of a five o’clock shadow could be seen on his chiseled jawline. His laugh was deep, just like his booming voice. It was that deep,
Barry White
voice that had caused her to fall for him, secretly, in school. Of course back then, his voice didn't match his youthful self; but now, he had matured into the jaw-dropping man before her. His style fit him perfectly. It was a mixture of refinement with a bit of roughness that showed he still liked to get his hands dirty. There was no flash to him, but the way he carried himself spoke of his successfulness. She watched his movements as if in a trance when he reached up and pushed the damp hair out of his face. His hair was cut with tapered sides and back with the middle and front longer.
“Damn,” she whispered under her breath in awe.
He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her. “What are you thinking?”
“You are fuckin’ handsome,” she let slip before she caught herself.
Brayden immediately saw the shock on her face. He knew she had let her guard down during their playful arguing. He knew it was the excitement of their word play that had relaxed her tongue enough to get her to admit the truth she had been denying.
A wicked grin formed slowly on his face. She thought he looked like the cat that caught the canary in his smug mouth. She felt her heart in her throat as she rose quickly to her feet.
“My babies, I need to check on them,” she stated nervously before rushing off.
He watched her calmly as she walked over to the group of children, which included his two and her three. He took count of the number of other men in the gym also taking note of her. He took a deep breath to steady himself. It was a strange feeling for him to be jealous. He never had the reason to be. He had no trouble keeping a woman. Hell, it was usually him that had to break things off with girlfriends whenever they got too clingy. However, he had never wanted anyone like he wanted Trish. He had to do a double-take when she strolled into the gym that day months ago. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her, while at the same time trying to convince himself that it was actually her. After she left, he had gone to the office to read the name on the forms she filled out. The rush he had experienced upon reading her name was enough to keep him up that night. It was more than the conquest of getting the popular girl from school. No, it was more than that. He shook off his thoughts as he glanced down at the papers and pictures she had left sitting on the chair. He picked them up and started to leaf through them.
“Are you thinking of buying this house?” he questioned her oddly when she returned.
Trish was happy to talk about anything at that moment. “No, I've already bought it,” she grumbled.
“You're in real estate? This must be your first buy.”
“No, actually it will be my eighth buy, which is why I should've known better than to buy this one.”
He listened closely as she read off a long list of what needed to be done to the house.
“May I make a suggestion? I would try to recycle the flooring. And instead of buying new cabinets, go to the Reuse It Building Supply Warehouse.”
“You sound like you know what you're talking about.”
“Well, I should. I own one of the biggest construction companies in Atlanta,” he smirked.
Trisha's goofy, flabbergasted look gave him another reason to laugh, which he did.
“But I thought your family was into cars,” she whispered, leaning close. She no longer cared about keeping the distance between them.
“We are, but everyone can’t fight over the same apple. That gets old, so I started a small business of my own when I was a senior in high school.”
“In high school?” she repeated, her voice high-pitched with surprise.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Shocking, I know, that my head wasn’t planted up some girl's ass. I knew that in time, the sex would come. I was more interested in standing on my own, so I spent the summer with my cousins learning the trade. I had a few uncles that were looking for a way to clean their money—don’t ask,” he held up his hand. “So, they invested in my dream,” he explained nonchalantly.
“And?” she urged him on. She could see now there was a lot more to the story.
“Like I said,
one
of the biggest. I have three divisions; Georgia Capstone, which handles foundations, sidewalks, and other concrete work. Second is Georgia Elegant Designs, which handles upscale, million-dollar remodels; and last is Georgia General Contractors.”
Trish sat back while she processed everything he just said. Now it was starting to make sense; his confidence, that swag, his sex appeal. It was all from his success. She speculated that he probably got so much pussy on a constant basis that he could bottle it and sell it. Then again, she realized as she tilted her head in consideration, she would have never known if he hadn't told her.
“I'll be more than happy to help you with that house. I'll charge you a good price, and I won't rake you over the coals. It isn't like I really need the money,” he said with a shrug.
He waited and counted while he watched Trish think it over. He kept a straight face as she looked over the long list of work in her hand that needed to be done. She mumbled under her breath as she spoke of the other remodeling projects she had going on, chewing on her bottom lip as the wheels in her mind started turning. He shifted in his seat and placed his towel over his crotch to hide his rising cock. Every time he was near her, it was something about her—her smell, her dress, what she said, how she said it, her look—that caused his lust for her to run wild. Now that he could see his desire so close to being on the hook, he could barely contain himself.
“Were you behind this set up?” she asked out of the blue.
He blinked a few times as he regarded her as if she were crazy before he answered.
“I can see why you would think that after the way I got you on the committee, but no. I don’t mess around with money,” he replied sternly.
“I do need you,” sighed Trish, as she glanced up from her papers. It took her a second to connect his intense expression to her ill spoken words. “I need you,” she continued, “to help me out with this house, and
only
the house.”
“Surely you know I'm going to try to offer you a whole lot more than flooring and shingles. I just don't want you to be surprised when you're waking up in my bed, and I’m all that you can think about,” Brayden stated in a hoarse tone as his light brown eyes glowed with a heat that seemed to physically touch her.
“I heard somewhere that it was foolish to reveal your intentions to your prey,” she challenged, narrowing her eyes.
“It's only foolish if you know you might not win,” he responded as he reached out and touched her.
He heard her soft intake of breath when his strong hand made contact with hers. She jumped to her feet as if his hand had burned her.
You’re mine now,
he thought.
He smirked as he sat back from her. The look on her attractive face made him think of a scared animal that hungered for what was being offered, but was too damn scared to take it out of the hand that was feeding it. He calmed himself. There was no need to push her, and possibly make her run away. He knew he was going to accomplish his goal of having Trish as his own. The plan had already been set in motion. Now they were just going through the dance that would lead him to fucking his days and nights away in between the fine, fit thighs that his brown eyes kept sneaking peeks of. Her pants were so tight that he could make out the outline of her thick pussy lips that were at his eye level. It even amazed him that he was able to continue to have a nonchalant conversation with her while his mind was conjuring up all the different positions he was going to twist her body into.