Page 24 of Mr. Infuriating (Mister #1)

Gabe

After the last cabinet was lined up neatly next to the others along her garage wall, Derrick took off his gloves and tapped them to my chest.

“Here you go. What time do you want to bring the rest over tomorrow?”

I took the gloves and glanced at Gretchen.

“Is ten too early to bring the next load?”

Her eyebrows shot up. “There’s more?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, sweetheart. Two more truckloads worth.”

“Oh, wow.” She studied the number of cabinets sitting in her garage before nodding her head. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Squeezing Derrick’s shoulder, I told him, “Thanks for your help, little brother.”

“That’s what family’s for. I’m sure I owe you.”

I shook my head as we walked toward his car. “I’m not keeping score.”

He grinned when he opened up the driver’s door. “That’s probably a good thing, since I’m sure you’d be winning.”

Gretchen stood at my side, and I almost— almost —wrapped my arm around her, like we were a couple.

She’d silently watched us as we moved her cabinets, and I’d wished they weren’t wrapped so she could see how beautiful they were. And maybe she’d envision them in her kitchen.

A reminder that I needed to talk to Maverick about a payment plan for her .

She called to Derrick, “Thank you. Do you want some water for the road?”

“I’ve got my water bottle in the car but thank you.” He flashed a knowing grin at the two of us before sliding in the driver’s seat. “You kids have a good night. I’ll see you tomorrow at your shop at nine-thirty.” He reached for the door handle, then paused before closing it. “Don’t be late.”

His door shut before I could respond I was never late.

Then again, he knew that.

We stood in the driveway and waved as Derrick drove away, then I reached for her hand.

“Come on, I want to show you how great your cabinets turned out.”

****

Gretchen

I want you to show me how great you look naked.

I’m pretty sure I’d started ovulating as I watched Gabe move the cabinets from his truck bed to my garage floor and couldn’t wait until we were alone.

It would probably be bad form to jump him right there with all the neighbors to see. I’d given them enough of an eyeful last night.

But I don’t know how anyone could even fault me… the guy was freaking hot.

And as he removed the roll of foam wrapped around one of the cabinets, I could add “talented” to the list of all the things I liked about him .

I ran my hand along the top of one of the doors, and whispered, “Wow.”

When I looked over at him, he was grinning from ear to ear.

“I told you they were beautiful.” He stared down at the woodwork before adding wistfully, “I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into these babies.”

“I can’t believe you made these—by hand.”

Gabe’s laughter echoed off the garage walls.

“What did you think you were paying for, sweetheart?”

I shrugged.

“Honestly, I hadn’t really thought about it. Troy wanted to update the kitchen—which you saw is perfectly fine. I thought he just wanted to have something to brag about. But gosh,” I stepped back to admire Gabe’s craftsmanship in full, “these are amazing. You’re so talented.”

I could tell he was uncomfortable with the compliment when he pretended to play coy by sticking his hands in his pockets and rocking back on his heels. “Aw, shucks. You flatter me.”

I stared him in the eye when I replied, “I’d like to do a lot more than flatter you.”

His eyebrows lifted and a slow smile spread across his face.

“Oh, yeah? Such as…?”

What was it about this man that made me feel so emboldened? Was it because I knew this was just temporary? Or was it the way he looked at me, like I was a goddess ?

Maybe it was because this wasn’t the real me. I wasn’t a woman who had one-night stands or fantasized about striking a deal where I used my body as a means to get what I wanted.

No, I was a seventh-grade English teacher and a single mom to a two-year-old boy.

In addition to a laundry list of responsibilities a mile long, I had stretch marks, cellulite, and was still carrying an extra ten pounds of baby weight that I hadn’t been able to lose since Jake was born. I wasn’t sexy. Far from it.

But damn, I sure felt like I was whenever Gabe looked at me.

I closed the distance between us and subtly cupped his cock over his jeans.

“Well, for starters, I’d like to wrap my lips around this.”

Who am I?

I had never—in the history of ever—said something like that to a man before. Not to mention, I found that I really meant it.

“Be careful, darlin’,” he warned. “Or you might find yourself bent over the tailgate of my truck.”

While the idea had merit, I’d already given my neighbors a show last night. Far more PDA than they ever saw between me and Troy in the five years we’d lived there together. I’m sure the text thread between the stay-at-home moms’ group was burning up.

Hopefully there weren’t any pictures.

I took a step back while murmuring, “Hold that thought,” then went to the keypad outside the garage and punched in the code so the third stall door lowered, leaving Gabe’ s truck on the other side.

I approached him again and ran my fingertip down his chest, past his stomach, and circled the button on the fly of his jeans.

“Where were we?”

He pulled me closer while looking down at me with a smirk.

“That closed door’s not going to save you, baby. Tailgate, work bench, stool… I’m not picky about what I bend you over.”

Damn!

“That might be the hottest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

His eyebrows went to his hairline.

“The hottest? Really? I must have been off my game last night if that’s the hottest thing anyone’s ever said to you.”

“You’re right—last night was super-hot. Let me clarify. That’s the hottest thing anyone’s ever said to me with my clothes on.”

“We should rectify the with your clothes on part.” Gabe lifted the hem of my sweatshirt with a wicked grin. “ASAP.”

He pulled my shirt over my head and his gaze dropped to my boobs busting out of my lacy black bra.

The sexiest one I owned. And yeah, I’d had to fish around until I found it in the back of my drawer. I hadn’t worn it since before Jake was born, but it still fit. Albeit, now there was a lot more of the twins spilling out, but Gabe didn’t seem to mind.

“Fuuuck,” he groaned as he looked down at my chest. “You are perfect.” Grazing my stiff nipples over the fabric with his thumbs, he continued, “I want to fucking devour you.”

I could only form a small whimper in reply .

The corner of his mouth turned up, and he offered me a wink.

“Stick with me, sweetheart. That’s just the tip of the iceberg of my dirty-talking repertoire.”

If only I could stick with you. And not just for your naughty, talented mouth.

But that wasn’t in the cards for us.

It didn’t mean I wasn’t going to enjoy the hell out of our last night together though.

****

Gabe

I really liked this woman.

Fucking Derrick was going to have a field day when he found out he was right. She was perfect for me.