Chasing Rainbows A Novel - By Long, Kathleen Page 0,48
think you have a gift?”
I shook my head even as I mentally nodded. Dad had always told me writing was my gift, as had my fifth grade teacher, and my ninth, and my twelfth. Yet, I’d spent a lifetime setting aside one of the things I’d loved most.
I launched myself into motion, holding open the front door as I waved goodbye. I watched Mrs. Cooke make her way down the front walk toward her house next door.
A flash of red caught the corner of my eye. A red truck. Pulling into my driveway.
Freddy.
I winced.
Mrs. Cooke had come bearing sticky buns, but Freddy had no doubt come bearing an invoice for the work he’d done.
As much as I loved how beautifully he kept the five gardens I’d insisted on putting in two years earlier and then never maintained, I couldn’t afford to keep paying him.
The savings account was only going to go so far. Until I got a salaried job, things like landscaping fell into the disposable category. Poor Freddy had to go.
I stifled a sigh. Maybe that was all right. Maybe the time had come to get a little dirt under my fingernails.
He smiled as he headed toward me, wearing dark blue jeans and a tweed jacket that made him look much older than he’d looked the last time I’d seen him.
His gray eyes danced and my stomach did this odd little thing where it balled up into a knot. Then my mouth went dry.
Too many cinnamon buns. Obviously.
Freddy’s lips quirked into a crooked grin as he stepped up onto the front step. “Still say you look incredible, Mrs. M.”
Considering I stood there without makeup, wearing a sweatshirt so ratty one cuff hung limp instead of encircling my wrist, Freddy either had a crush or he wanted something.
“Too short.” I shook my head.
He reached out to touch a strand of my hair and a shiver danced across my back. Maybe Freddy wasn’t so young after all, or maybe it had been way too long since a member of the opposite sex had reached out to touch anything of mine.
I studied the lean lines of his face. If I stared hard enough, I could almost imagine a hint of crow’s feet around his eyes.
“Sexy.” He uttered the word so softly I wasn’t sure whether I’d imagined it or not.
“Want some coffee?” Much to my embarrassment, my voice climbed three octaves on the last word.
Freddy followed me into the kitchen.
I let Poindexter in the back door, then turned to face Freddy.
Neither of us reached for coffee. Instead, we stared at each other, a palpable tension spiking to life between us. The memory of his voice ricocheted through my brain.
Sexy.
And Freddy...well...Freddy leaned so close I could smell the clean scent of soap on his suntanned skin.
He pinned me against the kitchen wall and brought his lips to mine. Shivers of delight raced through my every nerve ending and heat ignited in regions that hadn’t felt heat in years.
Either I was seriously turned on, or I was having the mother of all hot flashes.
When Freddy slid his hands up under my sweatshirt and cupped my breasts, I thought my knees might give out completely. I gripped Freddy’s shoulders and held on for dear life as he trailed kisses along the length of my neck.
The next thing I knew I was in his arms being carried toward my bedroom. Not only was the guy an incredible kisser, but he obviously possessed super human strength.
We peeled out of our clothes and for once in my life I wasn’t self conscious about my waist, my hips, my thighs. None of the assets about which I typically obsessed.
The blatant lust in Freddy’s eyes was enough to make any women feel like a supermodel.
He pressed me back against the pillows and I pushed aside the rumpled comforter.
I reached for him, ready for him to take me now. I couldn’t believe how much I wanted to feel him inside me. Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am.
But instead he dropped his mouth to my neck, nibbling a path to one breast, then the other, suckling, kissing, driving me wild. When his mouth found my stomach, I writhed beneath him, unable to control my body’s response to his touch.
When Freddy slid his hands up under my rump and lowered his mouth between my legs, I moaned, quite sure I was about to experience sex like I’d never experienced it with Ryan, when I heard his voice.