Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

KYLE - TWO WEEKS LATER

W ayne, Zeus, and Frogger are sitting on the tailgate of the truck up front, crossing their fingers and saying their prayers for me as I knock on the back door at Kathy's.

"One more time," I remind myself as I wait for her to answer. She won't. Not until I knock again, so I go ahead and do it to get this over with.

She has been a nightmare taken up to level eleven the last two weeks, dragging everything out as much as she can. She tried to argue about where we stored the porcelain tiles while we were actively laying them, actually wanting us to move them back to the trailer and haul them in one by one, by hand, instead of on the pallet we brought down the driveway and into the yard using a lift. I flat-out refused and told her to get out of the construction site. Then she tried to argue with Wayne about the proper way to lay sod, claiming that ‘as a gardener'—which she said with all the importance of proclaiming she's an English Duchess—she would know better than him. Wayne shut that down by asking when was the last time she laid Bermuda grass and she'd sputtered and admitted she never had, which we all knew. She argued about the water, the pump and electrical housing, and countless other things.

On one hand, I could say that maybe she's lonely and looking for something to talk to us about for a bit of friendly socialization. On the other hand, she's been rude, short, manipulative, and downright mean to what amounts to an audience she knows she's holding captive.

I won't be captive much longer, though.

I can see her walking in from the room just to the right, where I know she was sitting, making me wait as long as possible. She opens the door. "Yes?"

She blinks like I might have an update for her on her project, and I do. The best update of all. "We're finished. Do you have a minute to walk it with me or would you rather just sign the paperwork?"

I already know the answer, but it's wishful thinking that she might just sign to get this done. "Hmm, let's see how everything looks."

It looks fucking amazing, if I say so myself.

I take Kathy on a tour of her yard, showing her the patio expansion right off the back door, the large sundeck with green and gold swirl mosaic porcelain tile that was the entire reason I took this job, the expertly installed pool's crystalline water, and then around the edge of the yard, highlighting the flower bed along the fence line, to the back, where the concrete paver lounge area sits.

"It turned out beautiful," I say, looking over the entire yard.

Kathy scans left and right, looking for anything to nitpick, but there's nothing. I have high expectations of my guys, and they're all top-notch, so there isn't so much as a blade of freshly-laid sod out of place.

"You said you wanted to do the landscaping in the flower beds, and the pool care company added you to their rotation after confirming the chemical levels of the water today. You're ready to swim, sun, or sit out here and simply enjoy, starting now."

"Oh, not tonight. I have plans with the mayor." She makes it sound like she's been invited to a formal dinner, but I'm pretty sure it's just the monthly city council meeting. When I don't show interest, she looks around again. "I guess it'll have to do. It just seems so cold without the flowers."

I swallow down the choice words I want to give her. Cold? Has she not seen her kitchen, which looks ready to film a medical drama or horror movie? Besides, nothing about the yard is cold. It looks inviting, crisp, and fresh.

"I can give you a recommendation for a landscaping company if you'd like."

It won't be me. I'm not doing another thing here. My contract is completely fulfilled. The pool is done, the yard is done, and Frogger did the photo shoot for the company portfolio. All I need to do is get her signature and get the fuck out.

"No, I enjoy the gardening. My favorites are the bougainvillea I had on the fence before you tore them down. I'll have to replant those along there." She tsks, making it sound like I ripped them down on my own, not like it was a requested and approved part of her project. "And maybe some mandevillas in pots on the patio and the sitting area."

I don't give a single, solitary fuck what flowers she puts where. She's dragging this out the same way she has everything for the last two weeks

"I'm sure that'll be lovely. If you want to sign here?" I hold up my clipboard with the signature area already highlighted and offer her a pen.

She takes the pen and clipboard but doesn't sign. Instead, she tilts her head and gives me what she likely thinks is a teasing smile. The contrast from her usual snide sneer is jarring. "It seems you got a little bonus out of this job too." She glances toward Dani's house. "Maybe I should get a matchmaker discount."

She cannot be serious. She has done everything, including putting in this pool, to make Dani's life an absolute living hell.

"Non-discounted payments have already processed through the lien holder. They'll receive a copy of the signed paperwork today and close your project file," I say flatly, doing my level best to keep my temper in check. I'm pretty sure I fail spectacularly because Kathy returns to her usual look of contemptuous snobbishness.

"Well, I guess I have to be a loose woman to get my patio done at a discount and on a rush."

Oh yeah, I know what she's talking about. The Monday after we did our sneak attack renovation, Kathy heard Dani working on the grill and had the fire marshal pulling up out front before ten a.m. He was less than pleased to discover that the ‘nearly catching my fence on fire' situation Kathy reported as an emergency was a perfectly legal grill, placed on a legit patio several feet away from the composite, fire-retardant fence panels.

But she's actually suggesting that Dani paid for patio work with sex and outright calling her a whore.

And I am so fucking done with her bullshit.

"My work for other customers is none of your business," I snap. "If there's nothing else with your project, sign the paperwork."

She jumps at my harsh order but scribbles her name, which is all I need.

"I don't know if I'll feel comfortable referring you and your company to my friends." She sniffs. "You've been utterly unpleasant to work with, and your crew's hostility toward the customer" —she places a hand on her chest like she's the wronged person here— "is deplorable. Such a disappointing lack of good service."

"Kathy, if anyone so much as mentions your name to me, I will refuse their project on the grounds that they're too stupid to get the hell away from you and your rudeness." With that, I snatch the clipboard from her hand, say fuck it to the pen I don't care about, and walk off her property for the final time.

Thank fuck.

Out front, Wayne looks at me with his brows lifted, questioning whether we're solid. Zeus and Frogger have their arms wrapped around each other like they're waiting for me to tell them they made the varsity football team.

"Done." They cheer, and I laugh, not giving a shit if Kathy hears us. "Take tomorrow off. You deserve it. And the pain in the ass bonus will hit with paychecks this week."

Frogger and Zeus cheer even louder. Wayne levels me with a glare. "Still not worth it. The next job had better not be like this one or I quit."

It's a hollow threat, but thankfully, I know our next job is nothing like Kathy. Next up, we have a vacation home install with a step-down seating area inset on the side of the pool that should be easy with no homeowners onsite until final inspections. After that, we've got a cool infinity pool situation I'm doing for a bigshot hockey player at his home away from the ice.

"Thanks, man." I shake Wayne's hand, then high-five Zeus and Frogger. "Dinner's on me if you wanna stop on the way home."

"Fuck yeah," Frogger says. "Subway's got buy one footlong, get one free. Dinner's on you tonight and tomorrow."

Zeus chuckles before teasing, "You can eat my footlong."

"Preston," I scold.

He holds his hands out. "What?"

"You owe me," Wayne reminds me, and I nod, agreeing easily. I owe him so much, for so many things, least of all sending him home with those two making stupid jokes and talking about how to get the most bang for my buck with their dinner order.

"See ya Monday. I'll send you the address," I call out as he climbs in.

They wave as they drive away, and though I throw a wave over my shoulder, I've got somewhere else to be.

Dani and I have had dinner. The dishes are done. The kitchen is clean. We've hypothetically discussed the merits of either throwing weed seed over the fence into Kathy's yard or injecting weed killer into the soil along the fence line so that her bougainvillea will never take root as payback for her awfulness. And all the while, Peanut Butter's been lying in the corner on his new dog bed that Dani surprised him with, snoring loudly.

We flop to the couch, me sitting to one end, and Dani lying along the length with her head in my lap.

"So, it's really over?" she asks.

I nod, my head laid back on the couch and my eyes staring at the ceiling while I twirl a tendril of hair that escaped today's bun around my finger. "Finally, though she tried every trick in the book to keep us there longer."

"Do you think her grandkids are really gonna come?"

I roll my head forward, looking down at her with my brows furrowed. "No."

She sighs and shifts against me. "I know. It's just sad."

"No, it's not. What's sad is that she thinks she can manipulate people—especially children—into coming to see her with a pool instead of just being a nice human whom they might actually want to visit."

"True," she concedes. "It's a shame the pool you built won't get any use, though."

I showed Dani the pictures Frogger took, and she oohed and ahhed over them, calling it the most beautiful pool she'd ever seen.

An idea strikes me.

"You down to do something stupid with me?" I ask, my fingers freezing in her hair.

She sits up, looking at me suspiciously. "Like what?"

"Come on," I say, not answering as I stand and take her hand. I lead her out front, looking up and down the street. There's no one outside, not even a headlight or taillight in sight, and it's late enough that it's dark with only the glow of the crescent moon shining down.

"What are we doing?" Dani whispers.

"Putting the pool to good use," I whisper back, and she yanks on my hand.

"What? No way. I'm not getting the police called on me for trespassing again."

I pull her to me, getting nose to nose with her. "Kathy's gone tonight. She told me she was seeing the mayor, and I saw her pull out of the garage a while ago. It's the perfect opportunity, maybe our only one."

I can feel her waffling, trying to decide if the risk is worth it. I don't wait for her to make a decision. I haul her with me around the fence and right through the new gate into Kathy's yard. I figured she wouldn't have changed the code yet, and I'm right.

"Kyle!" Dani hisses, but instead of sounding horrified, I can hear her start to like this idea.

It's a good thing, too, because this is happening.

"Take your clothes off," I order. "We're skinny dipping."

"I've never?—"

But when I pull my shirt off, she's suddenly with me, ripping her T-shirt over her head and shoving her yoga pants down her legs, adding them to the pile of my own clothes.

I run for the pool's deep end, cannonballing in with a huge splash.

When I resurface, grinning as the water runs down my face, Dani's sitting on the edge, slowly getting in and being much quieter about it. She holds a finger up to her lips, reminding me to be quiet.

I splash her, and she makes a face at me, trying to look mean. Not that she can't be, but she's having too much fun right now. I can see that in the smile she's trying to hide. "Come on, the water's great."

She slips into the water with me, our bodies gliding and sliding over one another as we swim in The Bitch Next Door's pool. Well, swim might not be accurate because there's no kicking or paddling happening. We're twirling and twisting around each other, our feet solidly planted and our hands exploring.

"This feels so bad. You've got your dick out in Kathy's pool." Her hand finds me under the water, and she gives my length a solid stroke. Despite the cool water, I'm hard as a fucking rock.

"Oh, now who's doing stupid shit," I growl back, tweaking her nipple with my thumb and finger.

She moans, and this close, I can see the hunger in her eyes. "Can we be fast?"

I smirk. "Maybe the first time. Come here."

I guide her the pool wall, finding the jet I'm looking for, and then put Dani in front of me. I bend down, grabbing her thighs, and pick her up. "Put your calves up on the deck." It takes us a second to get her positioned right, but with her knees right at the edge and her back on my chest, I find the spot that has the jet blasting over her clit.

"Oh, fuck," she says at normal volume.

"Uh-huh, you've got to be quiet so nobody hears you or we're gonna get busted. Unless you want the police to walk in on you riding the water with these pretty tits floating up for me to play with."

She shakes her head, her bun hitting my cheek, and I growl softly. "Every time you see her, and she looks at you with that pinched look like she's better than you… every time you remember this pool in her yard that she only installed because it would cause problems for you… every time you hear the water pump turn on or see the glow of the lights… you're gonna know that you were here first. You're gonna come right here, using this jet to get you off, and mark your territory."

She's panting, her hips floating up and down as she finds the spot that hits her just right over and over. I pluck at her nipples each time they pop out of the water, driving her higher and higher. As her cries get sharper, I wish I could let her be as loud as she wants, but Kathy has a neighbor on the other side too, so I cover her mouth with my hand and whisper hotly in her ear.

"Good girl, take what you need. Get there. Come, Daniela."

She's goes stock-still for a split second, her whole body tense, and then she shudders wildly as spasms rack through her. I wait as long as I can, and then I'm dragging her away from the pool's edge and to the sundeck that started all of this in the first place. I get to the shallowest bit of it, where the water doesn't even cover my thighs, and sit down.

Dani climbs on top of me, her knees folded beneath her as she plants herself right over my cock, and then she takes me into her pussy in one stroke. I try to buck up into her, but it makes the water splash everywhere and she puts her hands on my shoulders, stopping me.

"Let me," she purrs. "You're gonna sit right there and let me ride you until you come. But you're not gonna come in me this time. I'm gonna take you right to the edge and then I want you to spill in her pool too. You're gonna know you were here with me, marking this territory first."

" Fuck ," I grunt as my cock jumps at her plans.

She rides me in waves, her hips not slapping loudly, but rather lifting and lowering deep and slow. I duck my head to suck on her nipple to silence my own groans, and she tugs on my nipple too.

"I'm getting close again," she whispers. "Come on me so I can use it on my clit."

She lifts off me, her pussy just an inch away as she sits up tall on her knees. I jack myself hard and fast, already on edge, but even more turned on by her words.

"Shh," she reminds me as I start to spurt hot jets of cum onto her lower belly. I fight to keep my eyes open through the pleasure, not wanting to miss a thing as she gathers the cum with her fingers and uses it to rub her clit. I wish it were a full moon so I could see more, but this will do. It's enough to know that we've made something magical out of what started out as a shitty situation.

When she cries out, I swallow the sound with a kiss, remembering the first time I kissed her against her door. So much has changed since then. Most of all, me.

I'm not a good guy. But I'm not a bad boy anymore, either.

I'm Dani's, and that's enough because she's mine.

As she pants, I dance my fingers over her clit too, wanting to feel the mix of us on her skin, and she jerks. "Sensitive."

"That was only two. Let's go home, take a shower, and see how many more times I can make you come tonight."

"Are we counting again?"

I have a smart-assed answer at the ready, except the garage door on the side of the house starts to open with a grinding whir. Dani and I look at each other, and I'm sure if I could see her clearly, she'd be cursing at me with her eyes.

"Shh, let's go," I hiss.

We climb out as quickly as possible, grab our clothes, and scurry toward the edge of the house where we pause. I keep Dani behind me, protecting her modesty as best I can, just in case. We stay as still as possible while Kathy pulls into the garage, and once we hear the door start to whir again, lowering down, we make a run for it.

Naked and laughing, we bust through Dani's front door and slam it shut behind us.

Peanut Butter picks his head up, probably wondering what the hell we're doing, but when we start laughing, he huffs out a sigh and lies back down like ‘it's too late for this shit, man.'

"We were this close to getting caught!" Dani snarls at me, but as mad as she's trying to sound, I can see that the fire in her eyes isn't anger. It's excitement and happiness.

"Hey, you're the one doing stupid shit with a bad boy," I remind her, even though I was just thinking that I'm not that bad anymore.

" Pendejo ," she warns, pointing a finger at me.

But I'm not afraid of Daniela Becerra so I kiss that finger, sucking it into my mouth and teasing over the pad with my tongue. "Is that an invitation?" I ask, arching a brow. "You liked it last time."

She groans and whispers, "Maybe."

And we dance down the hall together… into a happily ever after.