Too Hard(9)

I’m wearing a pair of black shorts that have lace at the bottom of them and a black off-the-shoulder shirt that I cut into a crop top. Nellie walked me through how to do it and she told me to go all black because it would make my red hair pop.

“Well, he’ll be here any minute, so I think he’s into it. I mean, if he wasn't he would’ve canceled.” She shrugs before reaching into her bag, pulling out lip gloss and handing it to me. I take it from her and put it on then hand it back.

She’s right. If it freaked him out he wouldn't have said he was on his way or even asked how big it was. That could’ve been a joke or a come on. I’m not good at reading people and texting is worse.

There’s a knock at the door and I pale as my eyes snap to Nellie.

“Answer the door or I’ll go do it,” she laughs then starts to get up.

“I got it.” I hop up, wanting to be the first person he sees. I run my fingers through my hair just as another knock sounds.

Nellie gives me a thumbs up and I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I need to know if he’s into me, so I’m just going to ask and get it out there so I stop driving myself crazy.

When I open the door my shoulders drop when I see Sean, Nellie’s contractor, standing there. He’s the one who did my kitchen already and is currently working on my office.

“Oh.” I try to hide my disappointment as I step back and gives me a funny look.

“Happy to see you, too,” he chuckles as he walks into the apartment.

Nellie pops up from the chair and does the same thing I did to my hair a second ago and makes sure everything is in place. My eyes dart between them and I wonder if she has a thing for Sean. Now that I look at him, I see he’s probably about Butch’s age and I realize us Harrison girls must enjoy older men. I’m pretty sure I only have a thing for one older man because I hadn't really noticed Sean before now. I guess he’s not bad on the eyes, but he’s no Butch.

“Holy shit,” Sean mutters when he sees the kitchen. “The paint was barely dry, Harlow.” He shakes his head before running his hand through his hair.

“It’s fine.” Nellie waves a hand at the mess, pretending what I did to destroy the kitchen isn't a big deal. “She has someone coming over to look at it.” Sean stands up a little straighter at that and I see his brow furrow.

“You don’t want me to fix it?” He’s not looking at me but at Nellie. She’s been handling all the contractor stuff when in the apartment. I say yes or no to things she shows me and write checks.

“It’s not that at all.” She drops her voice a little and steps closer to him. “Harlow likes the guy who came in last night and fixed the burst pipe and I want them to go on a date. So he needs to come back so we can make this happen.”

I narrow my eyes at her for a second because she’s telling people my business. Then I remember I don’t really care what Sean knows about me and it’s all true. I want to get close to Butch and climb all over his body. I want to see if the dream I had of his dick matches it in real life because it was big. In fact, I think it only fit inside of me because it was a dream. Otherwise I’m not so sure it would’ve worked. The thought turns me on and scares me, and my face flushes.

Sean looks over at me and raises an eyebrow. “You want a date?”

“I—" I begin to answer, but I’m cut off by a deep voice.

“Don’t you think you’re a little old for her?”

I snap around to face the hallway and I realize I’m still at the door and holding it open. Butch is standing there as handsome as I remember, but he looks bigger today. He’s not looking at me as he glares over my shoulder to Sean.





Chapter Six





Butch





I realize that I might have a few years on the guy standing in Harlow’s kitchen, but I don’t care. He’s standing closer to the other young woman in the room, but I don’t feel as protective of her as I do Harlow. For some reason her dark green eyes haunt me and I can’t seem to shake it.

“I wasn’t asking,” is all he says as he raises his chin to me. “You’re Butch Barton, right?”

“Yeah.” I grip my tool box tighter and wonder if I know this guy.

“I’m Sean, with Magnolia Finishings. I’m here helping Nellie.” He leans his head to the side to the girl I don’t know. She smiles and waves her hand a little but doesn’t say anything.

“Oh yeah.” I realize he looks familiar. “You’re down off seventeen on the west side of town?” I ask and he nods. “You’re a long way from home.”

“Like I said, I’m doing a favor for Nellie.”

“Why don’t you come back to the office and we can go over what’s on the list for today,” Nellie says and grabs Sean’s arm. He doesn’t put up a fight and goes along with her easily.

My hackles begin to relax slightly with him out of the room and I hate that I let that moment get the better of me. I’m normally laid back about everything. I have to be when I’m raising two teenagers. But everything about Harlow is turning me inside out and I can’t get it under control.

“Hey.” She looks up at me and steps back with her arm held out. “Come on in.”