Page 15 of Maid in Heaven

“GoodLord,you are foul,” Ava laughed.

5

Furious Wyoming winds whippedpowdery snow across the hood of Will’s maroon truck like an aimless apparition. Towering mountains surrounded Jackson Hole, clutching the town in its frigid embrace.

Will idled at the curb, bolstering himself up in silence. The gargantuan estate was sprawling, with two stories and a huge wrap-around porch. With feathery clouds streaking the expansive sky, the client’s looming home looked like something straight off of a Thomas Kinkade print.

A cottontail took off across a white dune. Will’s eyes followed the rabbit as it darted through the multi-million-dollar property toward a neighboring home.

Down the road, a buck and his harem were nestled together beneath a mature chokecherry tree, somewhat sheltering them from the elements.

But as he surveyed, Will realized he hadn’t yet spotted thepredator.

Lurking,fierce eyes locked on him.

Prowling cougars were common here in the Rocky Mountains, but this was one he’d had tangled with twice a month for the last year...

Denise-fucking-Kronin.

He let out a deep sigh that fogged the windows, adjusted his outfit, and rolled his shoulders back.

Denise stood inside the glass front door, waiting impatiently in a skin-tight green sweater dress. Bottle-blonde curls flowed around a face that, thanks to herpricey plastic surgeon,strangely looked youthful from his aging Dodge Ram. The woman, petite and in her early sixties, flashed a veneer-laden smile and curled her finger seductively to coax him in.

Will smiled back at the long-term client and jumped down into the snow. His combat boots burrowed into the white powder with a loud crunch. He tucked his tight, tan t-shirt into his desert camo fatigue pants, dog tags clattering loudly together. Crunching his way up the steps in the frigid squall, Will made his way into the lion’s den.

“Morning, Denise.” He nervously double-checked the Velcro name tag on the chest of his camouflage jacket that read “Sgt. Sexy” to ensure it hadn’t fallen off again.

“Good morning, handsome.” Denise was already stripping off his camo jacket to exposethe tight shirt beneath. Once it had been shed, she stood back and smiled, drinking him in. “You sure do know how to fill out any outfit I want.”

Will flashed an appreciative smile, even though her objectification made him feel unsettled.

“Turn around. Let’s see the back.”

Will quickly wiped his feet on the welcome mat and did a slow spin in the middle of the checkered marble foyer floor. Denise clapped.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“No. I don’t like it. Iloveit. You make me want to send a rather generous donation to our troops.”

He opened the coat closet and hung his camo jacket on one of the ornate hangers. Everything in her mansion was fanciful and adorned with gold flourishes, ivory, or marble.

“So? Will. Do younoticeanything?”

Though he would never initiate a comment about such a thing, Will had, in fact, noticed how her once-average natural breasts had suddenly ballooned into weighty D-cups that threatened to topple her otherwise scrawny frame.

“You did something to your hair,” Will teased.

“You know damn well I wouldn’t mess withperfection. Keep guessing...” Denise gestured to her chest.

“Oh! They’re… lovely.” Will didn’t know what the right answer was. The woman looked like a toothpick with two large, green olives stabbed onto it.

“They’re nice, right?”

“Sure!” Will swallowed hard.

“Doctor Spatz is a genius. He’s likeMichelangelo,and I just want to offer myself up and be his little lump of clay.”

“Marble,” Will corrected quietly.

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