Page 29 of Pining for You

“Thanks but I think I’ll pass.” Maybe I could ask Chloe if she wanted to go out on the lake with me. I could borrow Finn’s boat, and take her out to the sandbar. I liked the idea of seeing her in a bathing suit. Maybe I could borrow a cabin cruiser that would give us some privacy. Motion of the ocean and all that.

“The best part of the whole plan is the desserts are going to be provided by Paxton Pastries.” Who made the best butter tarts, apple fritters and Long Johns this side of Toronto. Hell, maybe even including the Big Smoke.

“Tempting, but I can go downtown and buy directly from them without danger of being forced to eat anything with tofu.”

“I’m telling you, man, I’m right there with you. I’m trying to figure out a way to sneak in my own burgers, but I think that would piss off Ellie. Which will piss off her mom and Gingernuts too. I don’t need more trouble from her brother.” He jammed his feet back up on the railing, took another long slug of coffee. “What did you want to talk to me about? Women problems?”

“No. Chloe and me are fine, thanks.” A couple weeks ago she’d introduced me to her parents as her boyfriend, which had earned me a once-over, but considering I’d done work for them, and lived locally, they already knew my history. Mostly. But for me, I was thrilled to be promoted to Chloe’s boyfriend as opposed to just a friend. I blew out a breath as I considered my dilemma. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone because it could cause a panic at work, so you have to promise you won’t say anything to anyone either.”

He crossed his heart, then drew an imaginary zipper across his lips. “Won’t say a word to anyone.”

Satisfied, I nodded. “My boss’s father-in-law had a heart attack a couple days ago. Her folks live down in New Brunswick, so Molly wants to move to help them out. Which means they’re motivated to sell the business, sell their house and move ASAP.” I met Malcolm’s gaze. “John’s offered to give me first shot at buying him out. Client list, equipment, take over the business, the crews, the whole shebang.”

“That’s great.” Malcolm’s brows furrowed. “What’s he asking? Can you afford it?”

I named the figure John had given me, and Malcolm’s jaw dropped almost as much as mine had. “There’s that much money in cutting down trees?”

“We do more than cut trees,” I grumbled. “As I said, it’s more than just the client list, it’s the wood chippers, the trucks, including the bucket lift,” which he often rented out—with a proper trained employee of course—to other businesses who needed one occasionally. “It’s even the workshop. Which he owns. It’s not rented. Now I’ve gotta factor buying land into the bargain.”

I’d thought he’d rented the workshop which would have made things a bit more affordable. Probably. Maybe.

“Ellie’s been helping me write up a business proposal to take to the bank. But I figured I’d have more time. Anyway, I stopped off at the bank this morning and made an appointment with the loan officer. He said I should bring in all my information, taxes for last year, pay stubs, my financial records—what I pay you guys for rent, utilities. I have to make my case to prove I’m a good risk.”

“Okay,” Malcolm said. “Sounds reasonable. You can do it.”

“I learned tree care and safe climbing techniques at college, Mal.” Did my voice just go up an octave and reveal the fear jacking me up right now? “I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing. What did you do when you started your business?”

“Dude, I already owned all my tools. As for the business, the guy who trained me didn’t have a client list when he retired. I kept his phone number so any old clients who phoned him got me instead.”

“Shit.“ So not a help. “This banker? He’s slick as snot and I feel like I’m back in grade eleven physics. I’m going to look like an idiot in there.”

Malcolm lifted his cup to take another sip then lowered it. “You need to practice.” Before I could answer, he twisted in his seat and yelled, “Hey, Ell, can you come out here? We need to help Brad. You may need to bring in your mom.” He took another sip of his coffee, and added, “And maybe Gingernuts. He might be able to help too.”

One of these days I’d convince Malcolm to tell me what had brought on this sudden urge to tweak Ellie’s brother’s tail. There had to be some story I hadn’t heard about, but I swore to myself not to call Josh Mason Gingernuts, though I now couldn’t get that name out of my head.

CHLOE

I read the article for the third time, then slammed the laptop shut. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?” Brad asked as he wandered from my bedroom into the living room wearing only his boxers. Damn, the man had a chest of steel and legs that went on forever.

“People suck.” I waved a hand to distract him. “Remind me not to start my day reading social media.”

“Don’t start your day reading social media,” he repeated soberly.

“Thanks so much, smart guy.” I found myself distracted by his barely hidden woody. “Come over here and let me help you with that.”

“As much as I’d love to comfort you from whatever pissed you off, I’ve got places to be, work to be done.”

“Like what? It’s Sunday.” I walked over to him and dropped to my knees in front of him to cup his balls in my palm.

“I promised Mrs. B I’d go out and fix up her chicken coop.” He swore beneath his breath when I pulled his boxers to his ankles, releasing his erect dick. “I gotta get dressed, then head to Mrs. B’s. She wouldn’t appreciate me showing up like this.”

“But it’s Sunday,” I repeated. “Your day off.”

“I promised Mrs. B,” he repeated, though he’d caught his bottom lip between his teeth and rocked into my hand as I caressed the hard shaft.

“This won’t take long. Unless you want it to, big guy.”

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