Page 1 of Big Gruff Owner

Chapter One

Nathan

I should’ve let the girl find another fucking place to live.The thought plays over in my head as I check my watch for the umpteenth time.

When the nineteen-year-old girl called me up, desperate for a place to live, every instinct I’ve got screamed to say ‘no.’ Yet here I am, leaning against the railings of the empty townhouse attached to mine, waiting like a lost fucking puppy for a girl nearly twenty years my junior to finally pull in.

If there’s one thing in this goddamn world I hate, it’s tardiness. Call it yet another leftover impact from the Marines if you want, but nothing gets my blood boiling like having to wait.

And wait I have. For a thirty full minutes.

She hasn’t even moved in yet and I already regret this shit.

I’m grumbling to myself, fifteen additional minutes later, and just about to write her off completely when a silver, beat-down Camry pulls onto the gravel road. It’s a car I’ve never seen before and considering Cherrywood Village has a population that doesn’t fully clear a thousand, I have no doubts this must be my newest tenant. Rising to my full height, I set my water bottle on the railing as I make my way down the small set of steps. When she gets close enough to see me, I lift a hand to wave and let her know where to turn in.

The car pulls into the spot in front of me and the townhouse and I appraise the thing. It’s death on wheels and how the hell it’s still running is beyond me. It sputters to a stop and the engine dies with a careening moan. The door creaks open and a blonde head appears as a body climbs out of the rusted death trap.

It’s when I get my first glimpse of Sadie Prescott that I know I’m absolutely fucked.

The first thing I notice is her hair—long, wavy, and blonde, it catches the light creating a glowing halo around a beautiful heart-shaped face. She’s petite, probably coming to my elbow if that. Despite her stature, she walks as if she’s carrying a lot more than just her body around. She closes her door behind her, slamming it with force, and as she walks up to me I feel like I’m watching the fucking sun take shape in front of me. She’s gorgeous, ethereal really, with bright green eyes and freckles covering her face like paint splatters and the cutest button nose and…

…I’m staring at her like a damn fool.

“Mr. Matthews?” she says, giving me a kind smile.

Her eyes crinkle as her face pulls into a smile and my gaze fixes on the glint in her forest gaze that I almost forget she asked me a question.

Clearing my throat, I gruff out, “Nathan, please, but yeah, that would be me. I take it you’re Sadie?”

“Yep,” she confirms brightly, her smile growing into a brilliant thing that overtakes her entire face. The breath catches in my throat and my chest feels tight.

God, I have no damn clue what’s wrong with me. I haven’t lost my head around a woman like this since—well, I’veneverlost it like this. I’ve felt lust. I’ve felt attraction and even fascination. I mean I’ve traveled the world, I’ve seen plenty of beautiful women. But this girl…thisangelis more than I seem to be able to handle.

“Oh!” she exclaims, her mouth pulling into an adorable ‘O’ as she holds up a finger. “I almost forgot. Just give me one sec.”

As soon as the words leave her mouth, she jogs back over to her car. I follow close behind, pulled forward as if by an invisible string. I watch as she grasps the car door and wrenches it open. She bends over and my eyes fall to her shapely ass as it wiggles slightly while she looks for whatever it is she’s after. I suck in a sharp breath as the sight goes straight to the length between my legs.

Dear god, Nathan. Get your shit together.The last thing I need is for this girl to see me sporting a hard-on while showing her, her new home. There’s a power imbalance here—I’m her landlord, I’m older, and the last thing I want is to make her uncomfortable. I’m not that kind of guy. Hell, I’ve been accused of being a lot of things in my life, but never that.

“Aha!” She straightens up and my eyes snap up from her ass just in time for her to spin around to face me, a white envelope in her hands. “Here you go. First and last as promised.”

Blinking slowly, I’m so mesmerized by the bright smile on her face that it takes me a second to reach out to take the envelope from her. “Uh, thanks.”

“For sure,” she says, the smile never leaving her lips. “Really, I should be thanking you. I was having trouble finding a place, so finding this townhouse was a godsend.”

“Well, I do what I can.” It’s a stupid response, but I’m struggling to regulate myself at the moment, so I’ll take the win of at least responding coherently.

“I know it’s definitely a risk renting to me. I’m young and I have no rental history,” she grimaces before she continues, “but I just want to assure you that you won’t regret it. I’m not a partier and I really don’t do much of anything interesting, so I’ll be a quiet, easy-to-handle tenant.”

“I’m counting on that,” I respond before I gesture to her car. “Would you like to see the townhouse?”

Her eyes slide from me to the building, a slight look of surprise on her perfect face as if she forgot what we were here for. “It looks even nicer than the pictures.”

I turn and take in the townhouse. Hers is in a duo with mine and like the other twenty or so duos in the complex I inherited as property from my grandfather, ours is a bit old, but in great shape. Sporting a classic brick exterior with steep roofs and white trim, I put in a good deal of work through the year keeping everything looking good.

“Thanks, I try to keep them in nice condition.” She turns her head to look at me and our eyes meet. It’s electric, the feeling of being enwrapped in her attention. It’s a feeling I could easily grow addicted to and one that I know I need to avoid.

“You do a really good job.” She cocks her head and that sunshine hair falls over her shoulders. “Do you take care of everything by yourself?”

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