Chapter Fifteen

By Wednesday, Reggie could tolerate the heat a bit more. Not that she wanted to be working out in the thick humidity that practically choked her every day, but it paid the bills. Besides, even though she and Josh kept it friendly, she enjoyed working with him. Despite whatever was going on with him, Josh kept a professional and light-hearted air around him. Reggie didn’t understand how he did it. She was starting to wonder if it came from the water in town. She’d have to be sure to stick to bottled.

The park had green grass everywhere it should. The cordoned off places had trees waiting to be planted, along with some bushes Josh had picked out. Later, they’d be coming in to put a playground area on the east side for the kids, and to get the fountain working in the center. Reggie understood why they wanted to restore it. When Josh finished with it, it was going to be amazing. He’d showed her the designs on Monday so Reggie could have an idea of what they were doing.

Man knew his craft.

And how to drive her wild with desire.

His body sheened from sweat and his white tank top was splotched with dirt as he pushed a wheelbarrow full of mulch across the property. Thick, taught muscles bulged on his arms, and she could see the white under his shirt where the farmer tan ended.

She wondered where the white began under the beige cargo pants that hugged his ass every time he bent over.

Friends. She reminded herself of that constantly. Not that it seemed to work. She wanted to add with benefits to the title, but that wasn’t going to fly.

Leaning against her shovel, Reggie pulled the bottle of water out of her pocket and poured it over her face. The first day of long work in the sun had given her a bit of a burn, but her skin tone had worked it out by Tuesday. Now her Italian skin kept getting darker. One person had asked her if she was Spanish at the diner. A common misconception Reggie had known all her life.

“Hey,” Josh said. “Stop slackin’ and get to work!”

There was a teasing tone to his words. Smiling, Reggie sauntered over to him. She hadn’t meant to put an extra swivel to her hips, but she felt it. When it came to Josh, her body had a mind of its own. “Stop being a dick—tater.” She flicked the lip of the bottle at him. He held up his arm, trying to deflect the water, but more thrashed out than Reggie expected.

“Son of a bitch, that’s cold!”

She laughed as he pulled his shirt away from his chest and wrung out the excess liquid.

“Oh, you think that’s funny?”

The laugh turned into an impish grin as she noted the mischievous look in his eye. “Hilarious, actually.”

He shook out his shirt. “Just remember, cher, payback… she’s a bitch.”

Reggie smirked. “And what are you gonna do about—“

Before she finished the sentence, Josh pulled her against him, his fingers chasing after her sides in a tickle attack. Reggie gave a cry of surprise and tried to pull away as the water fell to the ground. Sure, she could have kicked his ass, but this wasn’t dangerous. There was no sense of fear in the back of her mind. It surprised Reggie how comfortable she felt around him.

“How do you like that, huh?” Josh laughed.

Not wanting to let him have too much of an upper hand, Reggie twisted out of his grip, a bit out of breath. “You’re gonna regret two things,” she told him. “One is calling me cher. Two is not taking me down when you had me.”

“That so?”

Reggie knelt and grabbed a wad of soft soil from an area where they planned to plant some gardenia bushes.

“Very much so.” She stood slowly, keeping her eyes on him.

He held up his hands. “Hey now, let’s not get crazy.”

“You haven’t seen me crazy.”

Before he could protest more, Reggie slung the dirt at him. He twisted, and it splashed across his back in a black wave. Most of it fell to the ground, but some of it clung to his white shirt.

“Oh, it’s on!” He gave her a devilish grin.

Reggie’s eyes widened, and she took off running. Josh chased after her. They went around the fountain and she tried to use the wheelbarrow as an obstacle between them, but Josh just leaped over it. Reggie tried to move, but his strong arms caught her around the waist, pulling her down. They landed in a pile of mulch, rolling around, wrestling each other. Josh twisted, so she was beneath him and pinned her arms.

“Ha! Gotcha now!”

Reggie’s breath came out in slow bursts as she tried to calm her racing heart. Sure, the running hadn’t helped. With Josh so close, his body pressing down on top of hers, it had spiked more. Yeah, it wasn’t the race they’d just had. It was the way his body heated hers like warm lava running through her veins. How he made her nipples hard without doing anything other than looking at her.

His hazel eyes darkened, filling with something, need maybe. Reggie didn’t know, but what she did know was that only a few days ago Josh wanted them to just be friends. Again, she wished for the ‘with benefits’ to become a reality.

Pepper thought Reggie should say ‘screw it’ and make the first move. Not that Reggie hadn’t in the past, but none of those guys had been her boss. None of those guys had shown any resistance. All they wanted was a quick lay. Get off and move on. Josh didn’t read like most guys. He said he didn’t want to use her for his own frustrations. Reggie couldn’t very well do that to him then.

But damn, she wanted to kiss him.

Someone cleared their throat, making the decision for her. Josh rolled off Reggie and looked up.

“Am I interrupting?” Trevor stood next to the wheelbarrow in a gray suit, holding a briefcase in his hand. He had a knowing grin on his face.

Josh stood up, brushing the mulch out of his hair. He offered a hand to Reggie. She took it and stood up, having less luck getting the debris from her wild curls.

“What’s up, Trevor?” Josh asked.

Reggie didn’t elaborate on Trevor’s question either. Heat flushed her cheeks at being caught in the compromising position, but she hoped her tan hid it well enough.

The amusement fell from Trevor’s face as he pressed his lips together in a thin line and squinted his eyes. “I need to talk to you if you’ve got a minute?”

Tension grew in the surrounding air. Not wanting to intrude, Reggie dusted her legs off. “I’m going to go clean up and get some more water.”

“Yeah,” Josh said.

She didn’t like the uncertainty in his voice. It made Reggie want to find his ex and pummel her until Sonja got smart enough to walk away for good. Not to mention what this was doing to the kids. Reggie didn’t know if Josh told them, but she didn’t think it would be easy on them either way.

“Nice to see you again, Trevor.” She nodded to him.

“You too.” He gave her a tight smile and as Reggie walked past him to the truck, she could have sworn she got a whiff of beer.

Any other time Reggie walked away, Josh’s eyes would have been glued to her ass. The age old saying of ‘he hates to see her go, but loves to watch her leave’ applied. Only with Trevor standing across from him, eyes grim, breath smelling of beer, Josh would have to wait for another opportunity to check out Reggie’s curves.

“Dude, it’s one in the afternoon,” Josh said, opting not to beat around the bush. “You’re already drinking?”

Trevor clenched his jaw, the muscle bulging out on the side. “I had a beer with lunch. No big deal.”

“A beer?” Josh gave him a skeptical look.

“A beer,” Trevor reiterated, irritation lacing his words. “Besides, I came here to talk to you about Sonja, not my drinking habits.”

Josh was pretty sure Trevor’s drinking habits were steadily becoming a drinking problem. He just wished he knew what started it, what made Trevor want to drown in booze.

“Did you find her?” Josh asked.

Trevor shook his head. “Not exactly, no, but there have been rumors she’s skulking around some old haunts.”

Despite Dave’s advice, Josh hadn’t told the kids about their mom. He’d hoped that she wouldn’t come back this way. Josh should have known better though. Old haunts meant she was probably shacking up with people she’d done drugs with before. He frowned. It also meant she was much closer to the kids than he liked.

Trevor rubbed the back of his neck. “You want a restraining order?”

It was probably a smart move, but it was just a piece of paper, and if Sonja wanted to come around, she was going to come around. Having the restraining order would only get her thrown back in jail. He didn’t know if that was the place for her and he hoped that she’d have become a better person since then, maybe have been clean for some time, but he wasn’t stupid. A lot of people found ways around that, even behind bars.

“No.” He sighed. “No restraining order. Just have local PD be on the lookout for her.”

Trevor nodded. “No problem. Berkley owes me a few favors.”

Just about everyone owed Travis a few favors. Despite living in Merrydale, Trevor worked for a pretty prestigious firm in Baton Rouge. He’d convinced them to open an office in town to work a lot of the minor cases, giving the firm a good public face.

“Hey,” Trevor said. “You sure you’re okay?”

Josh nodded. “Yeah. Fine. Just frustrated.”

His gaze moved to the truck where Reggie sat on the tailgate, sipping some water and eating an apple. Her lips closed over the red skin, teeth sinking in. Josh’s throat tightened as he thought about her lips closing over his cock, licking, sucking, grazing her teeth. Reggie would make all his frustration go away.

“You hit that yet?” Trevor asked.

The heat that burned at Josh’s core cooled from anger. “No. I’m not the kind of guy to screw my problems away.”

“Whoa,” Trevor glared at him. “What the hell does that mean?”

Rolling his shoulders, Josh tried to simmer his temper. If Trevor had asked about any other woman like that, Josh knew he wouldn’t be as pissed. “Sorry man. Nothing. This whole Sonja thing has got me riled.”

“Well, don’t shoot the messenger,” Trevor said. “Look, after work, I’ll swing by. Leave the kids with your mom. We’ll head out to Griff’s, play some pool.”

That didn’t sound like a bad idea, actually, except he was worried Sonja might show up at the house. If she didn’t find him there, she might go to his mom’s place. Maybe Sylvia and Carrie could take the kids. Besides, every time Josh tried to get in touch with his mom, she’d been busy doing something or other. It was out of character for her. He’d talk to her at the game this weekend if he didn’t see her before then.

“I should probably stay with the kids,” Josh finally decided. If Sonja did show up, he wanted to be there. “Emma’s been acting out and if Sonja...”

“Yeah, I know, but your head’s not on straight either,” Trevor said. “Not if you’re letting someone like that slip through your grasp.” He nodded his head toward Reggie.

“She’s not some drunken frat girl that I’m going to have a one-night stand with,” Josh said.

Trevor rolled his eyes. “Since when have you had a problem with a one-night stand?”

It was a good question. Josh didn’t mind them, but he generally kept away from the single women he knew. Sure, he’d hooked up with some people he didn’t know, but he knew Reggie. Even if only for almost a week. He couldn’t say why exactly he didn’t want to have a one-night stand with her. Just that he wanted more and she’d be leaving in a day or two when Dave finished up with her rig. Something about her drove him to the brink, and Josh knew once he tasted her, he’d be insatiable for more.

“I don’t know,” Josh said. “She’s just—different.”

Trevor’s eyebrows shot up. “Holy shit, you like her.”

“What?” Josh shook his head. “No. Yes. Well, yeah, but fuck, dude, she’s leaving in a day or so.”

He laughed. “Wow. I haven’t seen you hard up over anyone since Sonja’s unfortunate departure.”

Because Josh didn’t want to have his heart ripped out again. The last time, it felt like someone had tied him down and sawed his chest open while he’d been awake. They’d reached in and squeezed his heart so tight he thought it’d pop. Staying on the outskirts—that was the smart thing to do.

“Just...” he sighed. “Let it go.”

“All right.” Trevor held up his hands in acquiescence. “I will. For now.”

“Forever.”

“So, I’ll pick you up at nine for pool? I mean, either that or I can come over. Invite Reggie to the house—“

“Nine is fine,” Josh said. Trevor always was a manipulative bastard. “Just try to be sober.”

Trevor flipped him off. “See you tonight.” He turned and started back toward his BMW. “Later Reggie.”

Smiling, she waved at him. “Bye Trevor.”

He stopped. Josh’s gut tightened as he looked over at his friend.

“Josh and I are heading over to the billiard place over on Main Street. You’re welcome to join us if you want.”

That son of a bitch!

Josh couldn’t even say anything without looking like a total dick. Clenching his fist, he shot his buddy a glare that could kill.

“Sorry,” Reggie said. “I’m meeting up with Pepper tonight.”

Trevor snapped his fingers. “Damn and here I thought I’d be able to see you bending over the pool table. I mean—“

“Oh sweetheart,” Reggie said. “You’re so adorable, but I don’t sleep with playboys. I prefer men.”

“Ye wound me so!” He put his hand to his chest.

Josh groaned and dropped his face in his palm. “Go back to work, Trevor.”

“I better get out of here before Reggie takes away what’s left of my masculinity.”

“Too late for that,” Josh said.

Reggie laughed, and Josh all but shivered at the sultry tone.

“Somehow, I think you’ll survive,” she said to Trevor.

“All the more reason to get out of here while the going is good.” Trevor waved at them and got in his car. The engine growled over the sound of nature and he pulled out, kicking up dust as he did.

Josh shook his head and smiled at Reggie. “Ready to get back to work?”

She flashed him a smile and Josh wanted to go over, cover her lips with his.

“Whatever you say, boss man.”

If only you knew what I wanted to say.