Page 1 of Blue Collar Hotties

I

Fixer Upper

Description

Icame home from war with a fistful of medals and a limp.

Didn’t expect to find an angel sunbathing on my deck.

This lake house was left to me by the best guy I ever knew, but I don’t think he meant to leave me his little sister too.

She can have the cabin. I’m not a monster–I won’t kick her out, but I won’t leave her in a ruin either.

Because it’s a project. A fixer-upper. It’s no good for her to stay here with no hot water and holes in the walls, and when I think about her lying cold in her bed at night, I could howl.

So I’ll fix her lake house. I’ll pay my respects to her brother.

And I swear on every last medal I brought home–I will keep my hands off this sweet, lost girl.

Cade

There’s a mermaid on my deck.

Well, shit. I know twelve years of service have done a number on me; I know sometimes I can’t trust my senses. Hell, I even know the power of wishful thinking to conjure up visions in front of a man, like an oasis in the desert. On my hungriest nights on tour, I swear I could see a cheeseburger floating in front of my damn eyes. Could make out the flecks of individual sesame seeds on the bun; could taste the scent of juicy beef in the air.

But the last sight on earth I expected to greet me at my buddy’s old tumbledown cabin is a girl in a yellow string bikini. She’s stretched out and sunning herself, bold as brass. Lord knows she’s a beauty, but it’s been a long time since I was hungry forthat.

“Uh.” She’s sleeping, her tanned stomach rising and falling with every soft breath, stretched out on a threadbare towel. With the suntan lotion oiling her skin, making her shins and thighs so shiny, I can forgive myself for that mermaid slip.

No tails here. No iridescent scales, either.

She’s an angel, then. Or a squatter.

“Miss.” A frown creases her pretty face, but she doesn’t stir. She shifts against the towel, getting comfy again, then drops back into her deep sleep, her steady breaths mingling with the breeze that shivers through the trees.

Looks like she needs it, too. There are dark shadows under her eyes, and somehow, even in the warm sunshine, this girl seems haunted. Pearly white teeth dig into her plump bottom lip, and two short, dark braids tickle her slender shoulders.

She looks soinnocent.It’s a punch to my gut. When was the last time a sight made me ache like this? No clue. I take a minute to recover, peering out at the dappled water of the lake, and beyond that, the pine trees and mountain peaks.

Luis did okay landing this cabin, that’s for sure.

Finally settled, I clear my throat and speak again. “Miss. Wake up, please.”

At last, she stirs. That grumpy frown deepens, and she’s adorably confused as she blinks awake. Brown eyes widen on me, and fuck, I don’t expect it—the shock of arousal, coursing through my blood.

Suddenly, I’m newly aware of her bare skin. The tanned, glistening expanse of her; the nip of her waist, the flare of her hips. That plump, kissable mouth, parting in shock to find me standing over her like some bigfoot that lumbered out of the trees.

I haven’t felt hunger like this since… well,ever.Haven’t even felt alive since my best friend died.

I cough, irritation spiking. I didn’t ask for this. I don’twantto feel alive. I want to clear this girl off my deck, dig out Luis’s old fishing gear, then settle beside the lake until my pounding thoughts clear and I’m blissfully blank again.

“You’re trespassing.” Better cut to the chase. Don’t want this girl to think I’m standing over her like this, staring like I’m a doomed man and she’s my last meal, because Iwantsomething from her. The only thing I want is for her to go far, far away. “Go on and clear out, now. I’ll give you a few minutes to grab your things.”

The girl gapes up at me. Two patches of color spread over her cheeks, and then she lurches to her feet, dragging her ratty towel with her.

“Who the hell are you?” Her voice is scratchy. Like she doesn’t use it much. I raise an eyebrow as she wraps the towel firmly around her body, hiding all that tanned skin away.

Just as well. I need to think straight, too.

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