he said. “The main plan is to rip off the porch and rebuild it and also to build a proper patio to hang out in the evenings. It’s quite peaceful out here. Some of the windows need upgrading, and then I wish to replace the furniture.”
“Sounds like a lot of work.”
“I’ll take it on as a pet project. I won’t do everything at once.”
I stared at him as if he was crazy. “You’re planning to do it yourself?”
His white teeth flashed in my direction. Damn, he was even more attractive when he smiled. “Pretty much. I have a fancy degree and all, but Dad taught us how to be independent, to do as much as possible ourselves.”
“If you need the money to—”
“It’s not about the money, Charles.”
“It isn’t?”
He baffled me. Who would want to spend so much time working on a house themselves when you could pay people to do it for you?
“No. It’s the satisfaction, call it pride, of completing the work by my own hands. It needs a lot of TLC, so I don’t expect to be finished anytime soon, especially if I get a job offer.”
Chapter 10
Auggie
“Driver’s here.”
My tranquil mood broke as Charles walked into the living room, wearing a pair of Declan’s jeans and a shirt. He’d gotten tired of my crappy clothes and decided to face his son’s wrath by digging through his closet for something to wear home.
When we’d returned from my house, I’d laundered his suit for him, but he’d declared it ruined. After taking one look at his legs in my shorts, he’d disappeared upstairs and rummaged through Declan’s closet for something more suitable to wear.
Since Declan was slenderer than Charles, the material of his shirt strained against his chest. He might’ve intentionally left the first two buttons undone, teasing me with a peek at his naked, hairless chest. The jeans weren’t better either, molding to his thighs. I’d never wanted to get a look at another man’s ass as much as Charles’s. I desperately wanted to check out if the back looked as good as the frontal view.
He’d even managed to comb back his hair to the side like he always wore it. Not a lock out of place. How would he react if I went over to him and ran my fingers through the strands to mess him up a bit?
As handsome as he was, I preferred the version of Charles I hung out with today. His legs—and I hadn’t been at all surprised he shaved them—were sexy. While we’d painted my dungeon earlier, I had to use Bach to get me from stop ogling them and thinking about them dangling from a sex swing or over my shoulders while I fucked him slow and deep.
It wouldn’t be Bach playing in the background then. Just his moans blending with mine. Would he be noisy in bed, or would he take my dick quietly?
“You didn’t want to spend the night again?” I hoped he’d take me up on the offer. After spending all day with him, I wasn’t looking forward to the empty house all by my lonesome when he was gone.
Plus, he was better to look at than the television.
“That would be taking the easy way out like I did last night,” he replied. “I can’t hide from Poppy forever. Plus, I’m surprised she hasn’t made her way here already. It’s not beyond her to go that far to make me miserable.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask him why not divorce her if she made him so miserable? They didn’t need to be together to share a child. They could still equally play a part in the child’s life. Maybe they would even get along better when they were living apart.
As much as it was still bitter thinking about it, my father, James, leaving had turned out to be for the best. I was convinced both he and Dad wouldn’t have made it had he stayed. I still remembered them back then, even though I’d been only seven. I was little, but it had been obvious something was not right between them.
Then there were the women who James kept around. It was only as I got older that I learned that he and Dad had an open marriage, but that didn’t sound like Dad. That couldn’t have been his decision, given the way he was possessive with Declan.
“All right, but if you need to let off some steam, you know where to find me.”