Fit for the Job (18 page)

“Already taken care of,” Bodie said. “Eben got us all set up, right down to bug spray and sunscreen. All you have to do is pack a bag in the morning and we’re good to go.”

“Father of the year,” Sassy muttered.

“Come on,” Bodie said to her. “Lay off your dad, he’s trying.”

“Suck-ass,” Sassy said through a fake cough.

“Oh hey,” Jay said. “There was some guy sitting in a car outside the gate. Stocky guy with dark hair in a Subaru? I was just wondering who he was.”

Bodie scowled, then shrugged. “No idea. I’ll ask Tate about it.”

“Do you think it’s a reporter or something?” Jay asked. “He was watching me pretty closely.”

“Ah,” Bodie scratched the back of his head. “I doubt it. Eben made arrangements to give all the local press time while he’s here. There shouldn’t be anyone hounding him.”

“It’s Libby’s husband,” Sassy mumbled from behind her book.

Bodie looked at her. “The guy in the car?”

Sassy nodded. “Andre. He drops her off and picks her up. He’s harmless.”

“Oh,” Bodie said, then frowned at her. “How do
you
know that?”

She lowered her book and looked over her shoulder at Bodie. “I know everything that happens on this property.” She turned and raised her eyebrows at Jay. “
Everything
.”

Sassy went back to her book. Jay and Bodie exchanged a glance. Jay almost burst out laughing when Bodie widened his eyes and mouthed ‘
Yikes
’.

Jay doubted Sassy knew about his tryst with Bodie last night, but resolved to be more careful in the future.

“Well, that mystery’s solved,” Jay said. “Just Libby’s shifty-eyed husband.”

Sassy dropped her book and laughed. “Aw, you disappointed? Poor Jay. He thought he had paparazzi after him. That’s so cute.”

“Yes, adorable,” Jay said. “What are you reading?”

“A book about serial killers,” she said.

“Charming. Think you can take some time away from Ted Bundy to hit the gym with me? I’d really like to work some strength training into your routine.”

Sassy scowled. “No! We’re going canoeing tomorrow, it’s not like I have to exercise
every
day.”

“A lot of people exercise
every
day,” Jay said. “I’m supposed to be training you, your father’s not paying me to sit around.”

“Well, I don’t want to today. I’m reading.”

“You sure?” Jay asked. “We could go rollerblading.”

“Don’t want to,” she said. “Just go relax or something. Eat some wheat grass, or whatever you do for fun.”

Jay’s phone rang in his pocket. He thought nothing of it as he slid it out, until he caught the eyes of Bodie and Sassy, both staring at him. “Oh, crap,” Jay said. “Sorry, I just put it in my pocket automatically when I left the house. I forgot I wasn’t supposed to bring a phone in with me.”

Bodie stood, and looked at Sassy.

“Chill out,” Sassy said to Bodie. “I’m not gonna dive for his phone.”

Glancing down at the display, Jay jumped up. It was his lawyer calling. He looked at Bodie. “Uh, I gotta take this,” he said, and sprinted out of the room.

He answered the phone as he left the house through the side door. “Hello?”

“Jay, it’s Reg. I have news.”

Letting out a long breath, Jay sat down on the stoop. “Good or bad. Tell me quick before I have a heart attack.”

“Lawsuit has been dropped.”

Jay hunched over as the breath leaked out of him. He punched the air three times. “Reg, for real?”

“For real. Got some paperwork to get through, but you can start distribution again soon.”

“Oh man, thanks, Reg. I feel like crying. I could kiss you.”

“I’ll take my fee instead, thanks anyway.”

“You got it,” Jay said. “And you earned it. Shit. Thank you, Reg.”

“How are you doing? Surviving all right?”

Jay stood and turned around as Bodie came out the door behind him.

“Yeah, I’ve got a pretty good gig going this summer. I’m good. Listen, Reg, I’ll call you back, okay?”

“No problem. Talk soon.”

Jay hung up and looked at Bodie. “Sorry. I didn’t realize I brought my phone inside. I’m still getting used to all this.”

“Don’t worry,” Bodie said. “I’m not gonna beat you up. Besides, it’s my fault. I should have...um...” He chuckled. “Searched you before you went in.”

Jay laughed, his mind flooding with memories of last night.

“Who called? I saw you punching the air like a lunatic.”

“My lawsuit.” Jay shuffled from foot to foot, nearly peeing he was so excited. “They dropped it. I’m in the clear.”

Bodie smiled. “That’s awesome. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.” Jay rubbed his forehead. “I can’t believe it. I didn’t realize how bad this was weighing on me until now.”

“We should celebrate.”

Jay looked at Bodie and grinned. “What, now? Aren’t you working?”

“Yes. But I’ll be done at nine. Unless that’s past your bedtime.”

“Well,” Jay said, “we do have to get up early tomorrow.”

He figured Bodie would know he was kidding, that there was no way Jay would turn down a chance to spend time with him. But disappointment flashed through Bodie’s expression. “All right,” he said. “Another time.”

“Are you nuts?” Jay asked. He risked stepping closer to Bodie, his fingers giving a quick stroke to his hand. “Of course I want to see you tonight.”

Bodie’s expression softened, a flicker of heat in his eyes. “Good.”

“Did you want to go out downtown?”

“Actually,” Bodie said, “I was thinking of something a little more intimate.”

Jay swallowed. “Did you want to come by the guest house?”

Bodie nodded, grinning.

“All right,” Jay said softly, his heart beating a bit harder. “Works for me.”

Bodie glanced behind him at the door, then turned back to Jay. “You don’t think Sassy was talking about us in there, with that comment about knowing everything that happens on the property.”

Jay shook his head, then shrugged. “You know her better than I do. But yeah, I nearly shit myself.”

“I don’t think she’d care if she did know,” Bodie said. “She’s being strangely nice to me today.”

“Because we’re taking her away this weekend,” Jay said. “She doesn’t want to fuck it up.”

Bodie chuckled. “It’s a sad state of affairs when spending time with you, Evelyn, and me is the most fun a sixteen year old girl gets.”

“Hey!” Jay frowned. “You saying I’m not fun?”

Bodie grinned. “For me you are.”

Jay’s voice seemed to get caught in his throat, so he simply stared back at Bodie, flustered.

“I better get back in; Sassy’s probably setting fire to something. What are your plans for the day?”

“Uh, I’ll probably go see my mother. She’s been calling me nonstop. She’s freaked out by us hauling Sassy out of the barbecue. Wants to know what the deal is.”

“You can’t tell her,” Bodie said. “You realize that, right?”

“Of course,” Jay said. “I did read the contract you gave me. Don’t worry, I’ll appease her somehow. Oh, do you have a pen? I need to give you my Sassy gift list.”

“Can you text it to me? Eben gave you all our numbers, right?”

“Yeah, he left me a list in the cottage. Sure, I’ll text it to you.”

Bodie started to turn toward the door, then paused. “Speaking of the contract, I guess you don’t really need this job now that your legal problems are gone. Do you plan to finish out the summer with us?”

Jay wasn’t sure if Bodie was asking for personal or professional reasons. Finish out the summer with
us
, or finish out the summer with
him
? “I think I’ll probably stick around,” Jay said. “It’s proven to be rather entertaining so far.” He smiled. “Good benefits package.”

Raising his eyebrows, Bodie smirked. “I’ll see you tonight.”

Bodie went back inside, and Jay stared at the door for a moment.

So
it looked like he was officially having a summer fling with the hot security guard. His mind tried to raise a thousand concerns and admonish him about everything that could go wrong. Or worse, everything that could go right. Because it would eventually end.

But hell, it was worth it. Like eating a candy bar, he told himself. You knew it was gonna be gone once you were finished, but that didn’t make it any less delicious while you had it.

He just hoped he’d feel like he’d gotten his fill when there was no more Bodie.

Another, more immediate and pleasing thought entered his mind. He had to stop at the store while he was out, and buy condoms.

Chapter Eight

Evelyn was ten minutes late, which shouldn’t have been bothering Bodie quite as much as it was. But he was itching to be done with his shift. Because he was itching to go spend time with Jay. The man had well and truly gotten under his skin, though he still couldn’t quite decide why.

It wasn’t that Jay didn’t have great qualities. He was sexy and passionate and fun to look at. But Bodie couldn’t decide what it was that made this one man different from all the others he’d known. Or rather, why his response to this one man was different.

Of course they’d had fucktacular sex the night before. But when Jay walked into the den earlier in the day, Bodie realized his mood lifted considerably just because the other man was nearby. A week ago he’d never laid eyes on Jay. And now suddenly things felt worlds better when he was around than they did when he wasn’t.

Maybe it was because Bodie had been so stressed out working with Sassy. And truth be told, it was lonely work. Jay had blown in like a breath of fresh air and livened things up, lifting some of the emotional weight hanging over them all. Jay’s energy was infectious, and seemed to be overpowering all the gloom in the house. Even Sassy responded to it, and she’d been gloom incarnate for the past couple months.

But Bodie wasn’t a teenage girl. He was a grown man who was trying to regain control over his life.
Control
. He’d always had it, at least on the inside. Yet he sat here now in the kitchen, hearing the siren call of that guest house luring him, and fidgeting restlessly he was so compelled to go to it.

“Hello!” Evelyn stepped into the kitchen, her short blonde hair still damp from the shower.

Jesus, finally!

“You all ready for tomorrow’s outing, Bodie?”

He hopped off the stool. “Yep. I’ll see you later.”

Evelyn followed him with her eyes, looking surprised. “You got a hot date or something?”

Bodie chuckled. “Yeah, right. I’m just beat, and I need to run out to the store,” he lied.

“Okie dokie. Sassy location?”

“In her room, watching
Bride of Re-Animator
.”

“Perfect,” Evelyn said. “Okay, see you tomorrow. I’m so freaking glad we’re not sleeping in a tent.”

Bodie chuckled. “Yeah, me too.”

He’d fibbed when he said he had to go to the store, but when he stepped out into the night air, he realized he hadn’t
gotten
to the store that day, and therefore didn’t have any condoms. He paused in the driveway, looking back and forth between his car and the guest house up on the hill. He could see light behind the windows.

Fuck it. He didn’t want to waste any more time. He trotted up the stairs, then climbed onto the porch, knocking.

Jay looked pleased to see him when he opened the door, wearing that smile Bodie had begun to like. And he looked edible in soft jeans and a dark blue tee shirt, his blond hair clean and shiny. Bodie instantly wanted to devour him.

“Come on in,” Jay said, stepping back. “How are things over in Sassy land?”

Bodie entered the guest house, his eyes glued to Jay. “No crisis today,” he said. “I haven’t had a chance to leave the property though. I suppose I should have brought you a bottle of champagne or something to celebrate your freedom from legal chains.”

Jay closed the door and waved for Bodie to follow him. “It’s okay,” he said as they entered the small kitchen. Jay opened the fridge door and bent over, searching. “Our kind and generous boss included a couple bottles of wine with my provisions. Ah, here we go.”

Jay set a bottle of white wine down on the table while Bodie pulled out one of the chairs and sat.

“Let’s see, gotta be a corkscrew here somewhere,” Jay said, pulling open drawers and rifling through. “I kind of love this,” he said, tossing Bodie a smile as he searched the drawers.

“Love what?”

Jay found a corkscrew and slapped the drawer shut, then moved to the table and began uncorking the wine. “Staying in this cottage,” he said. He twisted the corkscrew in, then yanked the cork out with a
pop
. “When Eben told me he wanted me to stay here, I thought it was weird and would be awkward not being at my own place. Let’s see...glasses.”

Bodie smiled slightly as he watched Jay open cabinets. Once again, being in Jay’s presence changed the way he felt, relaxing him and exciting him at the same time. Just being near him was like a soothing balm, salving all the darkness and hurt that had clung to him since quitting the military. Though he’d barely acknowledged to himself that the cloud was still there, he felt it dissipate a bit more every time he got close to Jay.

Jay found a pair of wine glasses and set them down on the table. “But now that I’m here,” Jay said, “it’s kind of fun. Like staying in a cottage on vacation, not knowing where anything is. It’s like a treasure hunt.” He poured the wine, then slid a glass over to Bodie, taking the chair beside him.

“I like the way you see the world,” Bodie said.

Jay laughed and picked up his glass. “Well, you caught me on a very good night. I’m not always this chipper.”

“Yes, here’s to dropped lawsuits,” Bodie said, raising his glass.

Jay clinked his glass against Bodie’s. “Hell, yes.”

They both took a sip. The wine was nice, dry and flavorful, but then it did come from Eben, and the man certainly knew his booze. “It’s not just tonight,” Bodie said. “You’re a very positive person. It’s refreshing.”

Jay laughed loudly and rolled his eyes. “Oh God, please don’t use that word.
Positive
. I saw my mother today. She’s all about positive and negative thoughts affecting your life. She claims my lawsuit got dropped because I’d finally started to think
positive
about things again.”