The Renovation: A Reverse Harem Romance Page 12

  In fact, things were looking up at work. I didn’t want to jinx myself, but my meeting with Mr. Renner went well. He was open to my moving off the phones and to working with clients. I didn’t know when it would happen, but he seemed to think there’d be an opportunity or two coming up in the near future.

  So there was that.

  But the guys. My darling guys. They seemed to get along so well. I hoped they became long-term friends, no matter what happened with me.

  Speaking of which. How the hell was I going to choose?

  No freaking idea.

  But I couldn’t worry about it at that moment. I had something else to attend to. The last, my Wyatt, had arrived to join the party.

  Or freakshow, depending on how you looked at it.

  “This is the way upstairs,” I said, leading him out of the kitchen. God, he was cute with that dirty blond man bun. I could just picture him backpacking across Europe, with girls dropping at his feet everywhere he went.

  Kind of like I wanted to do just then.

  I led him up to a room at the end of the hall. It really was pretty amazing of Carter to offer to let all the guys crash at his place. Of course, it made it easier for them to work on my house.

  Speaking of which, I couldn’t believe how they all wanted to help. Every time I thought about it, I choked up. No one had ever done anything like that for me. No one had ever given me anything so selflessly. No wonder I was falling for them.

  Oh, shit. Did I really just say that?

  “So what do you think?” I asked, walking into the center of a gorgeous, masculine room that smelled a bit like the crackled leather chair in the corner and the expensive, spicy soap from the bathroom. Clean and manly. Just what the doctor ordered.

  Wyatt dropped his bag by the dresser and walked over to me, nodding. His hands ran up to the tangle of curls on top of my head and undid the elastic that held it all together.

  “Beautiful. I’ve never seen such beautiful hair,” he murmured, running it through his fingers like he’d discovered gold.

  So I reached up and freed his bun, pulling his hair down around his tanned face.

  “How is it you get so much color? I’d think that plumbers are inside all day long.” I continued to finger his locks. There was no doubt he’d been a beautiful little towhead as a child.

  “I take my dad out in his wheelchair twice a day. The sun does him a lot of good. It seems to really cheer him up. He becomes relatively alert, if for only a little while. It almost feels like I’m going to get my dad back.” He looked down at the floor.

  I took his hand and led him to sit on the edge of the bed.

  “It’s a hard thing, what you’re going through. To see your dad, who’s not really the dad you’d always known, drift away. It must be gut-wrenching.”

  Gripping my hand, he nodded.

  “Hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought it up,” I said.

  He looked up at me with tears in his eyes. “No. It’s absolutely okay that you brought it up. It sucks, and it’s painful, and it’s life.”

  I leaned to kiss his cheek, but he turned just in time for our lips to crash together, slowly, and deeply, building up to something—what, I wasn’t sure.

  His hands tangled in my hair, and he leaned me back on the bed. My hands wandered down his rock-hard shoulders, along his back, to his muscular ass. He was tall and lanky but so strong. I lost myself in his melting kiss until he pulled away, leaving me panting, to gaze into my eyes.

  “I thought about you all day, you know,” he growled.

  I gasped as his warm hands ran down my hips to clutch the bottom of my skirt. He pulled it up to my waist and cupped and kneaded my ass like he owned it.

  He brushed my ear with his lips. “My angel. My beautiful angel.”

  He made quick work of my clothes, throwing them off the bed, and leaving me in my bra and panties. I shivered as his piercing gaze traced my skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps in its wake.

  “Such a pretty girl,” he murmured, skimming his rough hands over my body, only stopping to push my bra aside and tease my nipples.

  I arched to give more of myself to him, whimpering when he ground his hard cock into my stomach. He pulled away for a second, righting himself to drop his shirt to the floor, revealing his round pecs and flat tummy. He came back to me, sliding his hands over my belly and to my hips, where he hooked his fingers in the waistband of my panties. The lace whispered over my thighs, joining our other clothing on the floor.

  His broad shoulders pushed my legs open as he moved toward my bare pussy. His breath was hot on my core, and at the first flick of his tongue, I started to twist and moan.

  “Mmmm…you’re nice and wet for me, baby,” he whispered, dragging his finger through my lips, capturing the hunger of my dripping pussy.

  “God…Wyatt…” I mumbled.

  “You feel good, don’t you?” he teased, his thumb massaging my clit with small circles.

  When he replaced his thumb with his tongue, he dragged it up and down from my clit to my ass, setting me on fire with almost more sensation than I could handle. I twisted and thrashed under him, bucking my hips against his face for more.

  I was turning into a greedy little bitch, wasn’t I?

  His hands reached under me to clutch my ass and he lapped at my aching pussy, driving his tongue as deep inside me as he could. First, my head was spinning, and then it was the entire room. I clawed at the bed for purchase and for the leverage I wanted in order to buck harder against his attentions.

  He hopped off the bed, and while I was too twisted up to even lift my head to see what he was doing, I heard a belt come undone, a zipper open, and a tangle of clothing being kicked aside. I managed to peel my eyes open in time to see him climb back between my legs and stroke the thick shaft of his cock. Precum had beaded at the tip. I was dying for a taste, but was too weak to push myself up to my elbows.

  “Do you have a condom?” I asked in a croaky voice.

  “Yeah, baby,” he said, waving around what he already had in his hand. He split open the wrapper and began to unroll it over his length.

  His mouth returned to mine, kissing and nibbling my lips, as his cock bounced against my opening. He spread my pussy with one hand and centered his erection, stroking himself while he eased just inside.

  I took a deep breath to relax, and he entered me further.

  “You okay?” he asked, his gaze burning into my eyes.

  God, I felt so connected to him at that moment. It was all so intimate but also sexy as fuck. He stretched my lips wide, driving every inch of his hard dick inside me.

  We groaned together, my hands reaching for his ass to pull him closer. He pulled out before plunging back in, holding the sides of my face, brushing my lips, his gaze never leaving mine.

  “Oh…oh…god, I’m coming. Yeah, Wyatt, I’m coming…” I called.

  His cock continued to piston me, hitting my insides with perfection, his shaft grinding on my clit with every drive. The room spun around me again, and his cock growing even harder. Another stroke and he groaned against my ear, pulling me closer. I clenched around him, moaning and gasping for breath, and we came together.

  I was only barely aware of him tucking me into bed under the fluffy down comforter and turning out the lights. He spooned me from behind, sprinkling kisses on my neck and holding me tightly.

  All I could think about was how secure I felt with him—and all the guys—as my eyes fluttered closed ‘til the next morning.

  Chapter 24

  CARTER

  Jayma had told me she’d planned to leave work early that day to make good on her promise of serving the guys and me a big family dinner. I had to say, I was psyched at the idea of coming home from work to a house filled with the smells of delicious home cooked food, and even more so, to find a beautiful woman in my kitchen. I’d even bought her a frilly apron to wear. I hoped to see her in it, wearing nothing else, at some point.

  But there
was plenty of time for that. At least, I hoped there was.

  I’d been in traffic over an hour, coming from the home of one of my dad’s very first clients. Mrs. Basket must have been pushing ninety, but she was a tough old girl. Her roof had had a leak, and she called, ready to rip me a new asshole about how “today’s youth don’t know how to do anything right.” I explained that her roof was going on thirty years old, and that most roofs lasted only twenty-five if you were lucky. To have one small leak was actually pretty good.

  She just scowled at me but gave me half a cake as I was going out the door. The woman cracked me up.

  This was my last job before I took a few days to work exclusively on Jayma’s house. I’d lined up a couple of my crew, and with Wyatt on the plumbing, and Dig and Tanner on point to do whatever they could, we were in good shape to get the work done well, and done quickly.

  The question was, would it be quick enough for the bank? I wasn’t so sure about that.

  But it was worth a try.

  When I pulled into my driveway, I figured I was the last to be arriving, because the house was lit up like a Christmas tree. And just as I’d hoped, the place smelled amazing once I was inside.

  It was funny to walk into my home, a place I’d lived alone for a hell of a long time, and find it full of people laughing and having a good time. But I liked it. I really did. It was like coming home to family. It felt warm. And it felt good.

  “Hey guys,” I said, inching through the three others to get to Jayma. “Hey beautiful.” I ran a hand over her ass and planted a big one on her lips.

  Her smile was brilliant. “Welcome home, darling.”

  Tanner handed me a scotch.

  “Damn, dude. You’re a mind reader,” I said, sipping the amber liquid.

  He laughed. “I don’t know about being a mind reader, but I do remember what you like to drink.”

  I held my glass up and was joined by the other guys.

  “Jayma, grab your glass,” Dig said.

  “Oh, right.” She stopped stirring something on the stove and reached for her glass of red wine.

  “Cheers to…renovations,” I said.

  A round of cheers to that followed, and then Jayma shooed us all to the dining room.

  “Did everyone have a good day?” Wyatt asked, laughing. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to say?”

  “No, no. You’re supposed to say honey, I’m home!” Dig bellowed.

  Jayma walked in with a big tray of prime rib that looked like it had been cooked to perfection.

  “This all looks so very Leave it to Beaver.” She laughed.

  “Let me help,” Wyatt said, jumping from his chair.

  Jayma brought the rest of the dinner to the table, and what a feast it was. No one spoke for several minutes while we devoured her excellent cooking.

  “To Jayma,” Tanner said.

  Glasses clinked all around the table, and damn if Jayma’s beautiful face didn’t turn a bright pink. I liked that about her. Actually, I think we all did.

  After some talk about the upcoming baseball season, I wanted to start the conversation about getting going on Jayma’s house.

  “So Wyatt, you’re available for the plumbing? It looks like the place needs new pipes pretty much across the board. When we open up the walls, I’m thinking you’ll be able to dive in, probably day after tomorrow,” I said.

  “That sounds great, and I have a worker I can bring with me since time’s of the essence,” he said.

  “I’ve taken a couple days off work,” Tanner said. “I can help with the demolition, taking the waste to the dump, etcetera.”

  “Hey guys, before we go too far down this road, I want to say something.” Jayma stood at the end of the table. I didn’t like how serious her face looked.

  “First, thank you. Thank you for coming together and making a plan to save my house.” She looked around the table at each of us, one at a time.

  “I got a call today from the bank. They’re not giving me any extra time to fix it up and sell it. They just want to foreclose on it. I can’t have you put a minute of work into it, knowing that there will be no benefit from it.” She looked down at her wine, and when she raised her face to us again, there were tears on her cheeks.

  “I just w…wanted you to know…th…that I am more grateful than I can say. You’ve stepped up to the plate for me in a way I never dreamed anyone would.” With that, she fell back into her chair, burying her face in her hands.

  “Wait a minute…”

  “That’s total bullshit…”

  “There’s got to be something we can do…”

  “That fucking bank…”

  Everyone was pretty much talking at once, myself included, we were so massively angered by her news.

  Dig raised his hands to shush us all. “Hey, hey guys. Hold up. Listen, I don’t think we have to take this sitting down. Look, I work in real estate, and I know a little about how these things work. If you have a contract on the house before the bank formally forecloses, that halts the proceedings.”

  Jayma pulled her hands away from her face. “Really? But do you think we could get someone? We can’t show the house in the condition it’s in right now.”

  “I completely agree,” Dig said, looking around at the guys. “But from what Carter says, we have a good shot at doing the reno pretty fast. You already have the permits for the work, and I know someone at the city inspector’s office who’ll get us on the calendar for inspection. I still think there’s a chance we can pull it off.”

  The guys all nodded. Jayma was unconvinced.

  “You all have already been so good to me. I can’t let you do something that will most likely end up having been a waste of your time.”

  Tanner shrugged. “I don’t see how it’s a waste of time. It sounds like a great challenge and speaking for myself, I look forward to learning from these guys. I’m tired of talking about tampons all day.”

  All heads whipped in Tanner’s direction.

  “Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” Wyatt asked.

  Tanner rolled his eyes. “I’ll explain another time. I just want it to be known that I’m still in if you guys are.”

  I knew I was. I believed we had a chance. I looked at Wyatt and Dig. It was clear they weren’t backing down that easily, either.

  “C’mon Jayma. Let’s give it our best shot. You’ve got a helluva crew here,” I said, looking around at the guys.

  “I…I don’t know. I just don’t know,” she said in a quiet voice.

  Dig was the first on his feet. He walked to the end of the table where Jayma sat and pulled her into his arms.

  “Baby, it’s not over ‘til it’s over. And it ain’t over yet.”

  As soon as dessert was finished and we’d cleared the table, I headed to bed. I didn’t know who Jayma spent the night with, if anyone, and it didn’t matter. All I wanted to do was climb into bed for a good night’s rest. I planned to get up early to get to work on her house. I’d make sure we proved to her that we’d do our best, for as long as she gave us the opportunity to.

  Chapter 25

  JAYMA

  How did I get so lucky? Or was it unlucky? Depended how you looked at it, I suppose.

  The guys were going to bust their asses. For me. In spite of the fact that it could end up being all for naught. How could I ever repay them? Certainly not by choosing one to be with and cutting the others loose.

  Yeah, some kind of nice that would be. I’d go off with one of the guys, and the others would be shit out of luck.

  How would that be good for any of us?

  But I’d worry about that later. First, I had to get through a shitty day at work. Bob, the douche from finance, had already been out in reception, scolding me about not having made his copies fast enough. Apparently he’d forgotten about Tanner’s threat.

  “You know, Jayma, I have my meeting starting pretty soon. I really need my stuff,” he said.

  Did I say he was a d
ick? And that he also needed to trim his nose hairs?

  Thank goodness he didn’t meet with clients.

  “Bob, I’ll have them done in time. The phone’s been ringing off the hook, and you know that has to be my top priority.”

  His face turned into a scary shade of red. Maybe he’d explode. It would be a mess, but then at least he’d be off my ass.

  “I’m not leaving until you do them, Jayma. Please get on it.”

  “Jayma speaking,” I answered the phone. I gave him the just a minute finger signal but he chose to ignore it.

  Fucking asshole.

  “Jayma, goddamn it—” But he didn’t get to finish.

  The door to the reception area flew open.

  It was Tanner. He didn’t look happy.

  You might think it was weird, having a “thing” with someone from work, but instead of it being awkward, as I had thought it would be, it was strangely comforting.

  “Bob, I can hear your big goddamn mouth all the way down the hall in my office. Is there some reason you can’t make your own copies?” He got close to Bob’s face. Really close. Probably too close.

  “You know, Webb, you need to mind your own business.” Wow, I didn’t know Bob had it in him. I didn’t like the guy, but I had to hand it to him, he was standing up for himself. Even if he was in the wrong.

  As the volume of their voices increased, I cupped my hand over my headset’s mic so no one on the phone would hear the shit show unfolding in front of me.

  Tanner pulled his shoulders back and puffed out his chest the way guys do when they’re trying to look tough. And boy, did he pull it off. Tough guy with slightly nerdy glasses. I didn’t know whether to be terrified or to take out my cell phone and snap a picture.

  “It is my business—the whole office’s business—when we hear you raising your voice,” Tanner said with gritted teeth.

  Bob’s face was purple at this point, and sweat was beading on his temples. He snatched his papers off my desk, pointing a finger into Tanner’s chest.

  “I wouldn’t be having a meeting about all this,” he violently shook his fistful of paper, “if the accounts you worked on were making the company some money.”