When you’re pissed at your brother because he’s your brother, he’s annoying, and he’s right, manual labor is a good cure. I mucked out the stalls and gave medicine to the animals that needed it. The first task was mindless; the second required an immense amount of concentration. Both were what I needed, because I didn’t want any other thoughts to intrude.
I was hot, sweaty, and shirtless when my second visitor of the day arrived. Like Spencer, this one was overdressed. But she looked a hell of a lot better in her fancy clothes than my brother did.
“Hello, Flynn.” The woman coming toward me had on a tight pencil skirt that molded to her hips, ended well above her knees, and showcased world-class legs. Her stiletto heels sank into the layer of hay on the ground, but I could hardly complain about what they did to her figure. Her silk blouse had a few more buttons undone at the top than was proper, but hey, I liked that kind of thing in a woman.
“Hello, Lauren.”
I waited as she made her way across the barn. She hated this place, and I could only think of one thing that would make her come in here. “Nobody knows how to dress for a barn visit these days,” I muttered as she neared. Her finely shaped eyebrow rose. “But you look good.”
She knew that, of course, but she still looked gorgeous when she smiled. She put her hand on my bare chest and leaned forward to kiss my cheek. “How have you been?” When I didn’t immediately answer, she took a step back and swept her eyes up and down my body. “You look like you’ve just single-handedly built a barn or two.”
“I just need the one.” I wiped my hands on a rag and tossed it to the ground. “What are you doing in town?”
“Eh, Nana had some things she wanted me to look at. Stuff that used to be my mom’s, or so she said.” Unlike the rest of us who called our neighbor Nana, Lauren was her actual grandchild. “I’ll be here for the weekend. I thought you could use some company.”
I knew exactly what kind of company she meant, and I’ll admit it made my cock twitch. She was an occasional fuckbuddy, and she was damn good at making me see stars. Just like I was fucking good at making her eyes roll so far up in her head they practically came out the other side.
She and Rafe had been an item when they’d been in high school, long before Spencer and I had even heard of this town. But now Rafe, too, lived like a monk, and Lauren had turned her attention elsewhere. Good thing, too, because she was a wild woman in the sack, and neither of them would’ve been able to handle her now.
Yet I always had, and I’d always enjoyed myself and made sure she did, too. So why wasn’t I saying yes? Why wasn’t I setting a time and a place? Hell, why didn’t I just grab her and mess up those sexy clothes for her? I could guarantee that at the end, she’d thank me.
But I didn’t do any of those things. “I’ve got some things I need to do.”
Lauren blinked rapidly, but other than that, she didn’t show her surprise. “Okay. I’ll be here two days if you change your mind.”
“I’ll let you know,” I said, and my body was fully on board with that plan. But my head? That was a different matter, and I couldn’t figure out why. I knew I wouldn't be having a booty call this weekend, in the barn or anywhere else. What I didn’t know was why.
“You could come over for dinner. Nana would like to see you. She says you’ve been too busy to stop by lately.”
Somehow, that guilt was harder to brush aside than the guilt over ignoring a perfect stranger like—what had Spencer nicknamed her? Oh yeah, Lyss.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I raised an eyebrow as I watched her slow progress back across the barn. She balanced on her toes to keep those ridiculously hot shoes from sinking in the hay. The small steps made her hips sway like crazy—or maybe she was doing that on purpose. “Need me to carry you out of here?” My brother and Rafe weren’t the only ones who could cart pretty women around.
Lauren gave me a flirty little look over her shoulder. “We both know that if you touch me now, we won’t make it out of the barn.”
That was probably true. It wouldn’t be the first time we’d taken a roll in the hay. I gave her a smirk, but I let her leave.
Hours later, I’d worked myself into exhaustion. That made me too tired to think when I was in the shower, and apparently too tired—or too something—to jerk off. Depriving myself of a gorgeous woman like Lauren wasn’t something I normally did.