Page 3 of The Stargazers of Copper County
He lifted an eyebrow, and the corner of his lips quirked up. “Kid?”
I nodded. “And I know yard work is hard, hot work.” How was it possible to sound this pompous while inviting someone to swim in your pool?
His grin grew more obvious. “I’m twenty-four, Bennett. How old are you? Sixty? Seventy?”
I began to bluster before I realized he was joking. “Old enough,” I said,soundingsixty or seventy.
He laughed, and the very air around him seemed brighter with it. “I see. Well, then. Thanks, Mister Gustafson.”
I frowned. “My last name is Graham.”
Theo’s grin made my heart trip over itself. “No, I know. I was making an old movie reference. It was from the 1990s, so I thought you’d get it.”
I closed my eyes and took a calming breath a split second before the reference popped into my head. “Grumpy Old Men,” I groaned.
His laughter lit me up. “Don’t take it personally.”
I shot him a look. “How am I supposed to not take it personally?”
He shrugged, causing the droplets of water still resting on his shoulder to glisten in the sun. “I’m only twenty-four, and I know the movie.”
I rolled my eyes. “I guess.”
“They showed it in history class,” he added with a cheeky smile before turning around to find his clothes.
And that’s when I noticed he was in nothing but soaking wet and very clingy boxer briefs.
Blood pooled in my dick as I made a choked sound only half-recognizable as an “okaythanksbye.”
I made my way to the house and hid in an interior powder room while I lectured my inappropriate genital response on the very real implications of a sexual harassment lawsuit on a business owner’s future.
It didn’t work.
By the time I finally came out of the bathroom, after giving Theo plenty of time to get dressed and leave, my cock was straining against the front of my joggers.
I made my way to the downstairs bedroom and finally gave in to temptation, stripping my pants off and taking myself in hand before I even climbed onto the bed. It felt so good to stroke myself off to the memory of Theo’s rounded ass cheeks, his long, lean legs, and his cheeky, teasing grin.
“Fuck,” I gasped as my orgasm began rolling through me. I staggered over to the wall and reached out a hand to keep from falling into a crumpled pile on the floor next to last night’s discarded pajama bottoms.
When I finally opened my eyes to search for some tissues, I saw movement outside the window.
There, standing with his mouth open and his eyes on me, was my gorgeous yard man.
When our eyes met, he lifted up a piece of paper. “Uh… I forgot to leave you this month’s bill…”
Just as I was ready to find the nearest pyre to throw myself on, his mouth widened into the same cheeky smile from before. “But don’t worry,” he added. “After that show, I should probably consider it paid in full.”
Instead of apologizing or stammering out an explanation of any kind, I did what any self-respecting person would do in my shoes.
I dropped straight down to the floor and crawled like a dumbass into the closet before slamming the door closed.
CHAPTER TWO
THEO
It didn’t surpriseme when Bennett Graham ghosted me the following Friday. In fact, it made me chuckle.
Unlike every previous Friday this spring and summer, there was absolutely no sign of him the week afterThe Incident. In the spot on the patio table where I’d left his invoice, he’d left me a scribbled note about being in Manhattan for work, as well as an inquiry as to whether or not I’d received electronic payment for the invoice I’d left.
