Page 28 of Hot for the Jerk

I filled up the wheelbarrow one more time, then tossed the rest of the dry, split wood into the shed.Lenora and Raina met me at the backdoor, their eyes wide, cheeks pink, mouths slightly agape.

“What’s wrong?”I asked, picking up two pieces and handing them each one.

“Nothing,” Lenora said, her thin, faint brows scaling her forehead.“Nothing at all, dear.”

I gave her a weird look, but she spun away, leaving Raina there staring at me like a deer in the headlights.“You guys okay?Has the power come back on?”

She shook her head.“No.”

“Is the wood still dry enough you were able to get the fire going?”

Was the woman going to blink?

She nodded.

Lenora returned.“Aren’t you freezing?”

“I worked up quite the sweat, actually.The cool air and rain feel nice.”

“I’m sure they do,” she murmured, taking two more pieces of wood from me.

I handed a second piece to Raina, and both women disappeared.It wasn’t exactly the most efficient way to unload the wheelbarrow, but it worked, and in no time, it was empty.I wheeled it back to the shed, grabbed my drenched shirt, locked the shed, and met them in the mudroom.

Lenora handed me towel that I used to dry my hair and body.Her milky gaze traveled down the length of me.“Your pants are soaked, dear.”

“And with the power out, we can’t wash or dry our laundry anymore,” I said with a frown.

“We could set the portable drying rack I have next to the woodstove for some of the things.But the laundry in the washing machine will still be soapy.”

Twisting my lips in thought, I mulled over what to do.I didn’t really want to drip water from my soaking wet pants all through the house, but I also couldn’t very well strip down right there in the middle of the mudroom.

“Dear,” Lenora said, turning to Raina, “perhaps you could run upstairs and grab Jagger another pair of pants if he has them, hmm?”

Raina’s swallow was thick and slow.I still wasn’t sure if she’d blinked.

Lenora cleared her throat and nudged Raina’s shoulder.“Honey?”

That seemed to snap the stunned codfish enough that she closed her mouth, blinked, and shook her head.“Huh?Oh, yeah.Sure.Be right back.”Then she was gone.

“She’s an odd one,” I murmured, using the towel to wipe my face, hair, and arms again.

“I’m not sure ‘odd’ is the correct word,” Lenora replied, a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.Voices trickled toward us from the dining room.“With the woodstove going now, everyone is congregating in the dining and sitting rooms where it’s warm.”She glanced toward the voices.“I have to say, you had quite a few spectators at these windows when you were out there.”Her brows bobbed.

I narrowed my gaze for a moment, not understanding what she meant.But when she tilted her head forward toward my bare torso, it dawned on me.“Oh!Shit.I wasn’t even thinking.I’m sorry.The shirt I bought was a little tight in the arms and rubbing me when I swung the axe.It was soaking wet anyway, so I just took it off.Are you mad?”

“Mad?I should have charged for the show and offered popcorn … or at the very least, dollar bills.”

My mouth opened in shock.“Why, Lenora Octopus Point Inn, you are a cheeky little woman.”

She snorted.“Lenora Wiley, dear.”

Raina returned carrying my pajama pants, which she handed to me without actually looking at me.I thanked her for them and Lenora said I could use the laundry room to the left to change.So I quickly ducked in there, stripped out of my sweatpants and boxers, and tugged on the pajama pants.Raina didn’t bring me any boxers though, so I had to go commando.Wouldn’t be the first time.

I also still didn’t have a shirt—or socks.

Barefoot, I carried my socks and Blundstones to the woodstove and set them close by on the tile, then headed upstairs.I took the steps two at a time, the thin, faded carpet cool beneath my feet to grab my zip-up hoodie, and toss on some boxers and fresh socks.I also grabbed the puzzle before rejoining the rest of the guests—and Raina—in the dining room downstairs.

“There he is,” a man, probably in his late fifties or early sixties, said as his white mustache curling upward with his smile.“The mountain of muscle who saved us all from freezing our buns off.Thank you, son.”He came over to shake my hand, a woman of roughly the same age but at least a foot shorter than him, at his side, smiling widely.

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