Page 26 of The Last Time

The morning flies by as I work on the front. I keep plugging away even though every five minutes, my brain tries to come up with an excuse to walk around to the back and see her. My body is so aware of her presence. I can’t imagine how it would react if she ever touched me. Fuck, I want her to touch me.

Like it’s perfect timing, I’m finally done sanding the front. I unplug my sander and walk around the house to the back, where I find Charlotte working hard on the railings. She’s about halfway done with them.

She must spot me in the corner of her eye because she switches her sander off and turns around.

“Nice work,” I tell her as I survey the section in front of me that is now free of any prior stain.

She winks at me. “Thanks. Who knew a woman could do this work without injuring herself?”

I smirk. “Well, when there’s not an insanely attractive man with no shirt on distracting you.”

She bites down hard on her lower lip as if to try and stop herself from saying something she may regret. Her eyebrows come together as I see her glare at me with such scrutiny.

I chuckle to myself as I set up the sander.

It’s just so easy to mess with her. She doesn’t disguise her emotions very well. A quality I find to be absolutely endearing, especially seeing her make the futile attempt to hide it.

I’m used to women who will say whatever they want, whenever they want, with little or no regard for how it may affect others.

They say it’s in the name of being honest, but honesty can only take you so far. Eventually, you have to own up to the fact that you’re just being cruel. One thing I’ve learned over the years—intention matters.

If the words you are saying are said with a negative intention, youwillget a negative response.

I get lost in my thoughts as I begin to sand the back deck, starting in the far corner away from Charlotte so I don’t interfere with her work.

When I finish the section in the corner, I maneuver the sander around to start in the other direction. I steal a glance in Charlotte’s direction and see her slowly reach down and grab the bottom of her tank top with her hands, then she pulls it up and over her head.

She is just in her shorts and sports bra. This sports bra is smaller than her other one, too. Her breasts are popping out of the top so deliciously I can barely catch my breath.

I don’t exactly know how it happens, but I’m so caught up in watching her like she’s my own personal strip show that I think I loosen my grip on the sander. It takes off on its own clear across the deck.

“Watch out,” I scream as it makes a beeline directly for Charlotte.

She lets out a high-pitched squeal as she scurries out of the way.

“Asher! What the hell?” she says as she hides behind me. Her hands reach for my biceps, fingernails digging in as we watch my machine banging into railings.

“Shit. I’ll get it. Just stay back.”

I follow the cord to the outlet and pull it out quickly. The machine slowly comes to a halt in front of us, landing with a thud on its side.

While I’m still trying to gather myself from the commotion, Charlotte’s laugh ripples in the air.

I cock my head to the side, watching her erupt in this giant fit of laughter.

“I’m sorry. Did you get distracted when I took my shirt off? Did you lose control of your equipment? Maybe we should call in a professional to help us with this deck because clearly, you’re in offer your head.”

Her smile reaches across her face. Then it dawns on me—she did this on purpose, and she’s thrilled that it worked.

I take several strides in her direction, anger emanating from me. I don’t know if I’m angrier at her or myself for being so distracted that I could have possibly let this happen.

Next thing I know, I’m closing in on her with only the smallest fraction of air between our bodies. She cranes her head to look up and meet my eyes. Her smile fades as she takes in my disposition, my labored breathing.

I notice that her lips are full and the perfect shade of light pink. They are begging for me to taste them, to punish them for what she did.

The smile on her face fades. It’s clear that the energy has shifted to something more dangerous. Her eyes fall to my lips, and her breathing matches mine. We are both caught up in this thing between us that seems to make us powerless to stop it.

My gaze slowly slides down to her breasts, sending shivers of excitement through me.

---