Room for More (11 page)

Mental note—swipe a pair before we leave. Maybe we can play a game of lonely housewife meets horny carpenter later.

“You too, Brody.” Lucy crossed her arms over her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

“Yes, ma’am.” I followed the little drill sergeant’s instructions and put my glasses on immediately.

“This is really cool.” Kacie looked at the bench closely. “I love the grain in the wood.”

“We had to take down a bunch of old trees around the property last year and I didn’t want the wood going to waste. I’ve made a few for local people already. Figure I’ll just keep makin’ ‘em.” He shrugged.

Kacie studied his face with a sweet smile. More than likely, she was confused by my father. He was the most southern northerner you’d ever meet. Living the simple life was all that really ever mattered to him. He never got caught up in the famous part of my life. Mom jumped at the chance to walk a red carpet with me or go to a benefit where she might rub elbows with other celebrities. Dad would rather go through a back entrance and avoid the limelight altogether. As a kid, he wasn’t the kind of dad that was jumping up and down in the stands screaming at me or the refs or the coaches. The games he was able to come to, he just sat and cheered me on quietly. I definitely got my loud, playful spirit from my mom.

“Hey, you guys wanna take a quick walk? I brought bread; we could feed the ducks.”

“We wanna stay here,” Piper whined.

Kacie shook her head. “No, no. Come on. We can come back later.”

“It’s fine by me if they want to stay,” Dad mumbled with a pencil clenched in between his teeth, trying to measure a two-by-four.

“You sure, Dad?”

“Sure, they’re no bother. Besides, I like having someone else in here with me.”

“You okay with that?” I glanced at Kacie who didn’t look convinced.

She crossed her arms and cocked her hip to the side, her eyes darting back and forth between Lucy and Piper. “Are you two going to behave?”

They both nodded excitedly and went right back to working.

“Thanks, Mr. Mur—” She pushed her lips into a tiny smile. “Bob.” Dad looked flushed. He nodded once and went right back to his project.

I reached down and took Kacie’s hand in mine, gently pulling her toward the door. “C’mon. We only have a little while before lunch.”

Grinning up at me, she squeezed my hand and happily followed my lead. I took my glasses off and dropped them in the bucket near the door. When she reached up for hers, I gently grabbed her hand, stopping her. “You should leave those on.” I growled, winking at her.

She punched me in the arm playfully after she tossed them in the bucket.

We left my dad’s workshop and turned left, following a dirt path down toward the small lake. Our lake wasn’t nearly as big as the lake at Kacie’s house, but my parents owned this one. The whole thing. Their property wrapped all the way around to the other side and they were the only ones allowed to use it. Every couple years, my dad stocked it with fish. Even though you couldn’t put a boat on it, he liked to sit on a rocker and fish off the pier or the shore.

“Your parents own all this?” Kacie held her hand up to her forehead to block the sun, trying to see across the lake.

“Yep. It’s all part of their farm.”

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured. “This whole place… it’s unreal.”

“Want one?”

She whipped her head up and tried to look at me, but she was blinded by the sun. “Do I want what?”

“This.” I shrugged. “A farm. A place for the girls to play and grow. I own a lot more property than my parents are actually using. Like hundreds of acres. I could build one for us.”

“Oh, Brody. No way. Don’t you dare. I was just saying it’s—” She stopped suddenly. I turned to face her and followed her gaze to the old, rundown barn way to the left of the lake. “Oh my God. Is that barn yours? Theirs? Whatever.”

“Yeah,” I answered, completely confused.

“Can we go see it?” She bit her lip and begged me with her eyes.

“Sure. Whatever you want.”

The words were barely out of my mouth before she was pulling me through the tall grass and weeds toward the neglected building.

What the hell?

“Kacie, slow down.” I laughed.

She turned her head to the side and grinned at me, but didn’t respond or walk any slower.

We got to the barn and she stopped so suddenly, I almost ran into her back.

“Wow,” she whispered, gazing in awe up at the broken-down wooden structure. “Look at how beautiful it is.”

I massaged her shoulders gently, squatting so I was just behind her ear. “It’s just a barn, Kacie.”

“
You
see just a barn. Let me see if I can show you what I see.” She grabbed my hand again and pulled me forward.

The dry wood popped and snapped as she cautiously slid the barn doors open. The smell of wood, dust, and old hay rushed into my nose and down my throat, making me cough.

“Look at that. How beautiful is that?” She pointed toward dozens of laser beams of sunshine that escaped through the cracks in the wood, highlighting millions of little dust particles floating through the air. “How amazing is
that
?”

She was staring up at the light and I was staring at her. “What is this? What’s with you and old barns?”

“I have no idea.” She sighed happily. “But I love them. And when I say love them, I mean I
really
love them. The old wood, the dusty smell, the creaky lofts. And don’t get me started on the intricate spiderwebs you find in these places.”

“Uh, I distinctly remember a certain cute little copper-headed girlfriend of mine hopping onto the counter in her kitchen just last week because she saw a spider crawl across the floor.”

“But I—”

“And,” I continued, teasing her, “I seem to remember that same woman screaming for me to pee faster so I could come kill said spider.”

She folded her arms across her chest and rolled her eyes. “That was a house spider. It was scary. Barn spiders are harmless.”

“And bigger.” I nodded my head toward the far dark corner of the barn. “But you’re in luck. There’s a ladder over there.”

“There is?” Her eyes grew wide, excited. “Wanna go up?”

I laughed and nodded at her. “Sure.”

She practically skipped across the wood floor of the barn and grabbed onto the rails of the ladder, scampering up it so fast, I barely had time to enjoy the view. By the time I got to the top, she was slowly spinning in a circle, trying to look at everything all at once.

“Look at it up here.”

I glanced around and saw lots of dust, piles of old hay tucked in the corners, and spiderwebs. Shrugging, I looked at her and shook my head. “Sorry, I don’t see the appeal.”

“Take a deep breath.” She closed her eyes and inhaled. “You smell all this history? Who lived on this property years ago? What were they like? What used to be in here? Doesn’t all that excite you? All that… unknown?”

“Unfortunately, no. The smell of ice excites me. Interesting to add this to the list of things that make you tick, though, huh? So far it’s blood, guts, barns, and lofts.” I grinned at her. “Anything else?”

“You.” She slowly stalked over to me and curled her arms around my waist.

“What is
this
?” I gladly returned her hug. “This barn really turns you on, huh?”

“Maybe,” she cooed. “It’s romantic.”

“Well, I don’t have our trusty pier blanket here, but I’m guessing we can find a nice, soft patch of grass outside. Wanna go down?” I took a step toward the ladder, but she caught my hand and pulled me back toward her.

“Funny you should ask.” She raised an eyebrow at me as a devilish grin appeared on her lips. “I would like to go down, actually.”

“Wait, what?”

By the time my brain registered what she was saying, my dick was already rock hard.

Kacie slowly sunk to her knees, staring at me the whole way with those big sparkling green eyes. Reaching for the button on my khakis, she peered up at me and rolled her bottom lip between her teeth. She tugged the hem of my boxer briefs down just enough to free my cock and wrapped her tiny hand around it. It was all I could do to keep from blowing my load all over myself like an overly excited fourteen-year-old boy who just got touched by a girl for the first time. The minute she wrapped her tongue around my swollen head, I didn’t give a shit about barns or hockey. As she lapped at the tip, my hips instinctively started thrusting. I wanted her to hurry up and slow down at the same time. I shoved my hands in her hair and squeezed. That little tug was like gasoline to her fire as she moaned around me. Kacie flattened her tongue, slid down to the root, and opened her throat, taking as much as she could. She held it there for a minute, swallowed the tip, and I bucked. Reaching around behind me, she gripped my ass to pull me closer as she suctioned her mouth tightly around my cock with a pull so fierce I could blow at any minute.

“Mommy! Brody!”

My eyes snapped open and Kacie jumped up in a flash, wiping her mouth and trying to compose herself. My brain struggled to function again as I buttoned up my shorts.

“Mommy?” Lucy called out again.

“Up here, baby,” Kacie called over the railing. “Don’t come up. It’s not safe. We’ll be right down.”

Lucy and Piper’s feet clomped around the wooden floor of the barn as they skipped to the other side to look in one of the old horse stables.

“Are you okay?” Kacie licked her swollen, pink lips.

“No.” I grunted. “I’m so past the point of no return, it’s not even funny.”

“I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “I promise to take care of it later.”

I pushed my legs apart in an effort to keep my thighs from rubbing against my balls. “I hope so. I’m going to be walking like I just got off a horse for the rest of the damn day.”

She tried not to giggle as she apologized again. “I really am sorry. Do you have blue balls?”

“No. I have
navy
blue balls.” I groaned uncomfortably. “Feels like I got kicked in my junk. Have you ever heard of anyone dying from this before? If not, I might be the first.”

“Mommy, Miss JoAnn said it’s time for lunch,” Piper hollered.

“Okay, baby. We’re coming.” She chuckled and threw her hand over her mouth, realizing what she’d just said.

“We were about to,” I growled at her as we walked toward the ladder.

I sailed through the doors at work, still on a complete high from my wonderful weekend with Brody and the girls, determined not to let anything spoil my day.

Famous last words.

“Good morning, Darla!” I sang out as I tucked my lunch bag in my cubby and took off my hoodie.

She took a bite of her apple and cocked an eyebrow at me. “Uh oh. Someone got some this weekend.”

I tried to hide my smile, but every time I thought back to the surprised look on Brody’s face when I started to go down on him in the barn, I couldn’t help but grin. However, the look on his face a few hours later when I relieved the poor guy’s pain and finished what I’d started was even better. Who knew his dad’s workshop could be so much fun?

“I don’t blame you. With a boyfriend as hot as yours, I’d be on him like a goddamn spider monkey.” She giggled, tossing her apple in the garbage.

I laughed and shook my head at her. I really did like Darla. She had absolutely no filter and spouted out whatever came to mind, but she made working here not just tolerable, but fun. The fact that Maureen really liked her and Darla often talked me up to her was an added bonus.

“Whose boyfriend is hot?”

My heart leapt into my throat as I turned around to hang my hoodie up. It didn’t matter how much time had passed, that voice still sent me into a tailspin, just for different reasons now.

“Kacie’s. He’s a hockey player, a professional one,” Darla chimed back. “I’m waiting. I’ll totally take sloppy seconds on that one. He’s too hot to pass up.”

“Oh really?” Zach said curiously.

“Yeah.” She sighed. “Gorgeous brown curls, the dreamiest green eyes you’ve ever seen and an ass made for slappin’.”

Oh God, Darla, please stop talking. Right now.

“Doubt I’ll get the chance, though. From what I hear, he’s pretty damn smitten with her.”

“What’s his name?” Zach asked nonchalantly.

“Bro—”

“None of your business.” I spun around, interrupting Darla.

Zach grinned at me, a heart-stopping grin. A grin that I used to love. A grin that used to melt my heart. “None of your business? That’s a weird name.” He was leaning on the tall counter at the desk, his hands folded in front of him.

“I gotta get to work,” I said coldly, walking over to check out the charts.

“Actually, I tried to call you. Maureen had to tweak the schedule a bit. You don’t start for an hour.” Darla gave me a lopsided frown. “Sorry.”

I groaned. That meant I’d have to stay an hour later, and while I came in to work happy, suddenly I was looking forward to getting out of here and heading home.

“Hey, that worked out nice. I’m about to go on my break.” Zach stood up straight. “Can we talk?”

Darla looked back and forth between the two of us. “Do you two like
know
each other?”