Total pages in book: 15
Estimated words: 13664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 13664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 68(@200wpm)___ 55(@250wpm)___ 46(@300wpm)
“Old lady material?”
“One hundred percent,” I told him with a smile.
He nodded once and stood. “Good. That’s all we want for you, Adler—an old lady that makes you happy. You always bend over backward to make sure we’re taken care of. Maybe now, she can take care of you, too.”
With that, he left the room.
Six
Adler
Cecily’s place was quiet when I rolled up to her house on Sunday in my truck. We never worked on the weekends, but I knew she did, though she normally took Sundays off. At least, that had been her routine since we started dating.
Her car was in the driveway, so I knew she wasn’t at work. Just normally, I could hear a TV or something when I shut my truck off. But not today.
I slid out and quietly shut my door, heading up the porch steps that we’d replaced. She now had a screened-in front porch that covered the width of her house, giving us somewhere to sip our coffee together first thing in the morning when I stayed over.
The guys and I were making quick work of her house, especially now that I’d hired a second crew. And one of the guys I hired was a foreman for another company that didn’t pay nearly as much as I did. So we didn’t even have to break apart our own crew.
It really all worked out in our favor.
I opened Cecily’s front door, finding the house still and quiet. Thinking she might be sleeping, I headed for her room. On the way, I passed by the glass sliding door that led onto her patio, and a smile curved my lips.
She was asleep under one of the umbrellas, a book laying open on her chest, the pages fluttering in the breeze. She was still in her pajamas, too.
I chuckled and slid open the patio door, shutting it back behind me to keep the cool air in before I walked over to her. Kneeling beside her, I gently brushed her hair back from her face, revealing those pouty lips I couldn’t get enough of.
“Cecily, sweetheart, wake up,” I called.
She groaned and slowly turned her face in my direction before opening one eye to a slit to look up at me. She licked her lips, and unable to help myself, I leaned in and kissed her. She sighed into the kiss, eagerly kissing me back.
“What time is it?” she groaned when I pulled back from her.
“A little after five.” She groaned and reached up to rub her eyes. Fuck, she was adorable. “You up to a drive and a picnic? I brought the truck.”
She yawned and nodded before sitting up. “Sorry. I didn’t get home until like five this morning, and then I had trouble sleeping.”
I brushed my lips to the top of her head, worried for her. “Everything good with work?”
“Yeah. Just books. And one of the girls got injured last night while serving drinks—tripped and busted one of the glasses. When she hit the floor, one of the shards went through her hand. I covered for Chels since she took the girl to the hospital.”
“Shit,” I muttered as Cecily swung her legs over the lounger and stood. “She okay?”
Cecily nodded. “She’s okay. I’m letting her take a couple of weeks off to let her hand heal with pay. She normally works on tips, but she agreed to a 40-hour hourly wage while she’s off.”
I gripped the side of her neck and kissed her. She was so fucking selfless, and I loved it, though I did worry one day, someone was going to take advantage of all her kindness. “You’re so generous. No wonder those girls love working for you.”
She patted my chest. “I take care of them. I didn’t learn this business and how to treat my employees by not stripping myself, Adler,” she told me, stepping back from me and heading into the house.
Woah, what?
“You stripped?” I called out after her, my dick plumping in my jeans.
She poked her head back around the corner and winked at me. “My stage name was Queen. My customers liked Game of Thrones.”
I barked out a laugh and shook my head, my dick now hard as a rock. Picturing her on a stripper pole…
Shit.
“This is a stunning sight,” Cecily murmured as I spread out the blanket for our picnic. I’d brought her to a secluded part of the creek, away from the swimming area and where people liked to fish. I’d come out here earlier in the day and cleared away some of the brush to make a safe spot for us to eat and lay that would also give us a clear view of the flowing water.
“Glad you like it.” I set the basket on the blanket and then toed off my shoes, stepping onto the blanket. She slid her feet out of her flip-flops and followed me down, sitting with her legs curled beneath her since she was wearing a dress.