Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 66022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66022 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Jack finished his shower and roughly toweled himself dry. If only he hadn’t finished the job at Will’s place already. He prided himself on working steady and fast—it was a big reason he got repeat business, maybe the main reason. He had two jobs lined up for next week, though neither would take more than a day or two. After that, maybe he could call Will, invite himself over with some plans for Will’s master bathroom. It could definitely use some renovation…
Wait a minute. What was he thinking? Jack never solicited business. He let it come to him. If Will wanted more work done, he had Jack’s number. He wasn’t about to foist himself on the guy just because they’d maybe spoken a little too freely after a little too much to drink.
If Will wanted to see him again, Will could call. Will, after all, had been the one to send him away. Let him call him back—if that’s what he wanted. And if he didn’t, well, that was that. Jack had been doing fine on his own these past two years. There was no reason to suppose he couldn’t go on just as he had been for the next twenty.
Jack went about his business, making himself breakfast, eating it in front of the TV as he watched the Friday morning news, washing the few dishes and putting them in the rack to dry. He had a small job that afternoon—some finishing touches on a sunroom he’d built on a house not far from Will’s. Then the weekend loomed.
As he poured himself a second cup of coffee an uninvited thought slipped into his head. What if you wait for him to call, but he doesn’t? Will you let this second chance slip away like you did the first?
He had no answer.
Chapter 6
“Jack, you do such nice work. Your wife is so lucky to have such a handy man.” Mandy Williams, an attractive woman in her late forties with perfectly dyed blonde hair, large blue eyes and rather too much makeup and jewelry clattered toward Jack on very high-heeled sandals.
The thick platinum wedding band and huge diamond on her ring finger left little doubt as to her marital status, but that hadn’t stopped her from flirting, or attempting to flirt, with Jack since he’d arrived to finish the molding in her new sunroom.
He was used to women coming on to him over the years, and had always successfully rebuffed them, usually with a reference to his wife. This time he hadn’t mentioned a wife but when she brought one up, he didn’t disabuse her of the notion.
He was standing on the middle rung of a ladder, using a nail gun to secure a section of the ornate molding she’d decided on, after he’d already put up her first selection, which he’d personally preferred. Still, it was her dollar, and if she wanted to spend it having him put up and take down molding, that was her decision.
She came up directly behind him, standing so close he could smell her perfume. “Do you think she’d lend you to me, Jack? Just for a little while? Hmmm?” Her voice was low and sensual, its tone both insinuating and confident. He smiled to himself, wondering how many other hired hands she’d seduced over the years while her husband was off earning the sizable income it must take to maintain this suburban mansion.
She moved closer, her surgically enhanced breasts pressing up hard against the backs of his legs. He was surprised at himself—at how little her attempts at seduction moved him. He was pretty sure he could step down from that ladder and take her in his arms right then if he wished. He could follow her to her bedroom and fall into her king-sized bed and fuck her if he wanted.
He had absolutely no desire to do that. What he really wanted to do was finish this job and check his cell phone for messages. He’d left it in the truck by accident and hadn’t realized it until he was in the middle of the job.
Maybe he’d call Will himself—apologize for his stupid drunken monologue of the night before. First he needed to head this one off at the pass.
“She’s pretty darn jealous, my wife.” He turned back to smile down at Mrs. Williams. “I imagine Mr. Williams feels the same way about you.”
“Call me Mandy.” She blinked up at him with long curling lashes as she slid the tip of her tongue suggestively along her full lower lip. “And no, he doesn’t care what I do when he’s not around. We have an—understanding.”
Jack shot the last nail into the edge of the molding and climbed down from the ladder, forcing the woman to step back. He decided to act as if he hadn’t heard her. “That should do it. The room is done at last.” He glanced pointedly at his watch. “I’m sorry to run, but I have another job I need to be getting to—”