Page 37 of Brazen

I lay on the creeper beneath an old Buick looking for a top-side coolant leak. Sam was attentive. Gentlemanly until he wasn’t. He heard me. Listened. Well, listened to what I wanted… harder, faster, more. It wasn’t like we talked about more than that.

Or I’d thought he listened to what I wanted because right then, I heard his voice echo off the cinderblock walls.

“Hey little man!”

What was he doing here while JT was around or still awake? This was not part of our deal.

“Sam!” JT hollered back. I’d collected him from school, and he was working on a hammer and screw board I’d made for him, so he could use some tools.

All I saw was the underside of the car.

Why did Sam think he could come now? Did he imagine he could fuck me over the hood of the Buick with JT around? Have a quickie in the bathroom? I told him I didn’t want to confuse JT by openly dating anyone. Perhaps we should have done a little more talking after all.

I dug my heels into the concrete and rolled from beneath the car.

There he was, leaning against the vehicle and looking down at me.

That cocky smile was in place, and he looked too good. So was how he filled out those clean jeans and blue snap shirt that only made his eyes pop. It looked like he took a shower, as if he’d planned to come by.

My pussy clenched remembering what he’d said to me. Where he’d licked me. How he’d fucked me.

Ugh! My vagina wanted him even though I was mad.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed, glancing toward the back where JT was, hammering. “Now is not the time.”

He winked. “I like that you’re thinking that way, but you’re right. Now’s not the time for that.”

I frowned and climbed from the roller, taking Sam’s hand when he offered. “Then why are you here?”

For a moment, a flicker of disappointment crossed his face. “Picked up my favorite turkey and pesto sandwiches from the Little Apple deli on Main, so you don’t have to cook after working all day. Thought we could take them to the ranch where there’s a new foal, and you and JT could see it. ”

Of course, JT heard everything. My kid and his crazy superhuman hearing. The hammering stopped, and JT’s little feet slapped the floor as he ran over. He had on a pair of plastic safety glasses. “What’s a foal? Is it like a vole or a mole?”

Sam ruffled JT’s dark hair. “You sure know your critters, buddy. I’m not so sure what the difference is between a vole and a mole other than they’re both little animals that like to burrow in the ground. A foal is a baby horse.”

JT whipped off his safety glasses. “You have a baby horse?” he shouted, excited and in awe. In all the places we’d moved to, he’d never had access to them before.

“Spirit belongs to the ranch where I work. Thought maybe you and your momma would want to come and meet him.”

JT looked at me with wide, eager eyes and jumped up and down. “Can we? Can we?”

Aw. Who could turn down a baby horse? I couldn’t help but smile at JT’s enthusiasm. Sam grinned, too.

Still, this was the kind of complication I was trying to avoid. I didn’t want my kid getting attached to Sam when he wasn’t a permanent thing.

I realized JT–and Sam–were waiting for my answer. I nodded. “Yes. Definitely, but there’s school tomorrow, so we can’t stay long.”

JT pumped his little arm in a way he’d seen Ernie do. “Yesssss!”

“We have ten minutes left before the shop closes. Then we can go. Why don’t you put your tools away and wash up?”

He didn’t have to be told twice. He was off like a flash. A little too fast, but Sam’s gaze was on me.

“I thought we had a deal,” I said to Sam, going over to the workbench and grabbing a cloth to wipe my hands.

“We do,” he replied, following. “This doesn’t have anything to do with that.”

I huffed. “Obviously.”