Big Deck Read online

  “Sorry!” I mumble again. I prop the stupid gun I barely even know how to shoot against the wall and look back up at him. “Um, hi.”

  It comes out in a whisper as I look up at the huge Viking god standing in my doorway, towering over me.

  “You’re Sean?”

  “Hollis,” he growls. “Sean’s the owner.”

  Right. Shit, I knew that. Sean mentioned on the phone the other day that he was sending his best guy. I blush in embarrassment again as Hollis reaches down to flick the safety on the gun. “Sorry about that. I’m Heather.”

  He looks at me blankly, smiling a little. But it’s not like most men look at me. There’s no hungry recognition, or stumbled words or awkward “jokey” pickup lines. He just sticks his hand out. “Nice to meet you, Heather.” I shake his huge hand, and I tremble at the feel of the sheer size of his enveloping mine.

  “Um, so why don’t you come in?” I stand aside and beckon the sexy giant into my house. I very much wish I was wearing more than a skimpy bathrobe. Or, maybe with a man that looks like that, in my house, I wish I was wearing nothing at all?

  The naughty thought makes my cheeks hot, but Hollis just shrugs and steps inside, barely giving me another glance. I frown as he steps past me. Well, this is weird. No autograph, no cheesy line, nothing. Very bizarre. But also, refreshing if this is how professional Tuff Built Builders are.

  We walk through the huge house, and he does a decent job of not gawking, but I can tell he’s checking the place out. Yes, its huge, and a little ostentatious. But whatever. I’ve dieted for my entire life, gone through three plastic surgeries I didn’t want, and took roles with sleazy producers making campy horror movies pretty much to have an excuse to see me in my underwear. It never got me an Oscar or taken seriously as an actress, but it got me the money for this house after Michael and I split up.

  “So do you want to take a peek?” He stares right at me, his eyes drinking in my robe as he smirks. I blush deeply, embarrassment washing over me horribly. “At the deck, I mean,” I throw out quickly.

  Hollis shrugs nonchalantly, half-grinning at me. “Might help.”

  My God, I’m stumbling awkwardly over words and social cues like I’m a gawky weirdo, not a Hollywood celebrity. Instead, I turn quickly and lead him through the house to the sliding glass doors overlooking the porch and the view out the back of the house.

  And wow, the view. It’s pretty much why I bought this place. I’ve been coming to Colorado since I was a kid, and after Michael, I needed to get away from LA. Vale just spoke to me, and this house felt like home the second I walked in and saw this view.

  I turn and see Hollis looking at the deck with disgust in his gorgeous eyes. It’s in pretty pitiful shape, I know. It was bad when I bought this place at the beginning of the winter, but after the snows, it’s gone even more downhill.

  “That bad, huh?”

  “It’s pretty bad. From a safety perspective, I’d say at the very least you should just replace the whole thing. If you want my professional opinion too, though?”

  I nod quickly. “Please.

  “That view? And a house like this? A view like that deserves a better deck anyways. Could be bigger, too.” He looks out through the doors at the breathtaking vista. Then he glances back at me, his eyes hard and gorgeous. “I think you need a bigger dick.”

  I blink quickly as my face burns hotly. “W—what?” I blurt in complete shock.

  “I said you need a bigger deck.”

  I cringe at my own dirty mind. “Oh, yeah, yep. Definitely.”

  Yeah, he said deck, not dick, like my perverted, sexy-starved brain heard. As in dee—ee—cee—kay.

  “So what do you think?” I ask quickly to hopefully cover my awkwardness. “If I wanted…” my eyes drag up and down his enormous size unbidden, and I can feel my cheeks simmering. “If I wanted bigger?”

  I swear to God, he grins when I phrase it like that. My face pulses with embarrassment, and I cringe at the way he smirks. God that was so sad and thirsty sounding.

  “I think I could bang it out in a weekend.”

  I power through the filthy thoughts though, and I smile forcibly. “One weekend sounds amazing!”

  Hollis shrugs, and I can feel my body react heatedly when he brings a muscled arm up to push his big fingers through his mop of blond hair. “I could do it this weekend, if you want.”

  “That would be incredible! I mean this view is one of the reasons I bought this place. But I’ve been a little cautious out on the deck ever since I moved in.”

  He grunts. “Yeah, it looks pretty rickety.”

  “Do you want to go out and give it a once over?”

  I slide the door open, and without another thought, even that I’ve barely been out here all winter, I step right out. There’s a huge cracking sound, and the board under my bare feet snaps like a twig. I scream a choked, gasping scream just as Hollis’s huge hand grabs me. Suddenly everything spins, and we’re both falling.

  I land with the wind knocked out of me, right out on top of him. I’m dazed at first, but suddenly I freeze and I realize how I’m lying on this huge, crazy hot guy. My hand is on his hard chest, with my body covering his and my legs spread around his waist.

  The wind blows a little, and suddenly, my eyes widen as I realize one last little detail: I’m fucking naked.

  I freeze in a mix of humiliation and panic, staring into his eyes. I can hear him growl deep in his chest, and my own body trembles in response. I should move away, and at the very least stop laying freaking naked on top of him. But I’m unable to move, and unable to stop staring into his eyes. I wonder for a second if I’ve hit my head during the fall.

  It happens like a force of nature. His eyes hold mine fiercely, and we both move closer. Suddenly, his lips find mine, and I don’t think about anything but that kiss. His lips are perfect, and his huge hands on my bare skin are like pleasure points sending heat through my core. My mouth opens for his tongue, and I moan softly before I snap out of it.

  With a gasp, I yank my mouth away from his and scramble to my feet.

  “Oh my God!” I shriek. My face is hot with embarrassment, and my hands frantically try and cover myself as I turn away from him. I glance over my shoulder as he gets to his feet and reaches up for the deck. His biceps clench tight and ripple as he grunts and pulls himself out of the hole.

  Hollis turns, and his eyes land on me as he gets to his knees. I shy away, my hands desperately trying to cover myself as he jabs a hand towards me.

  “Grab my hand.”

  “Look away!” I shriek.

  He sighs heavily. “Hard to pull you out if I can’t fucking see you. Just grab ahold!”

  I groan, feeling mortified as I shove my hand into his. His grip is firm, and I gasp as he lifts me so easily out of the hole in the deck that you’d think I weighed literally nothing. Hollis sets me down, and I look up to see him smirking at me, still holding my hand.

  With a huff, I yank it back and shove it back between my legs to cover my pussy. I give him another glare before I bend low to snatch my robe from the broken board. I turn away from him, my cheeks pulsing with embarrassment as I wrap the robe around myself and tie it shut.

  I whirl angrily at him, even if the anger almost dies when my eyes take in how freaking hot he is.

  “A gentleman doesn’t stare,” I hiss.

  Hollis’ smirk doesn’t fade one bit. “Well. I’m not a gentleman,” he grunts. His eyes burn fiercely into mine and he steps towards me. My breath comes haggard and fast before he crashes into me again. His lips press hotly to mine, and I moan softly as he kisses me hard.

  My sanity wins out again though, and I pull back with a gasp. My hand goes to my mouth, and I run my fingers over my lips, as if tracing the memory of that kiss. But I shake my head. “No,” I say quietly.

  Hollis’s mouth tightens. “No you can’t, or no you won’t.”

  “I…” I trial off and suck my lip between my teeth.


  “Or no you’re not sure.”

  My lips stay closed, and I tremble as Hollis moves close to me again. But I snap out of it right before he presses into me again, and I take a step back.

  “Stop it,” I say thinly. I look up into his eyes with bated breath. “I’m not… I’m not some trophy,” I snap.

  “Never said you were.”

  “Oh please,” I drawl. “I bet this is some story you can’t wait to tell your buddies about.”

  Hollis frowns. “What, that I fell through a fucking deck? No, I think I’ll be sitting on that one.”

  I roll my eyes. “No, me.” His frown darkens over his face as it deepens. I roll my eyes again. “Oh, please. Don’t try to play it cool. You can’t wait to go tell your friends about kissing me.”

  He smirks. “Modest is not your middle name, is it.”

  “You know what I mean,” I snap.

  He frowns. “You don’t need a guy like me telling you how fucking beautiful you are, Heather,” he growls. “You already know how gorgeous you are.”

  I tremble at his words, and my pulse beats faster. “No, I mean…” I frown into his eyes. “You do know who I am, right?”

  It’s a silly question. I mean, at least I think it is. I mean my face is on two different magazines in the grocery store checkout line at this very moment. But Hollis just shrugs and pushes his thick fingers through his hair.

  “Should I?”

  “I mean, yeah?”

  He laughs heartily. “Wow, you’re that type, aren’t you?”

  “No! I’m…” I shake my head. “You seriously don’t know who I am?”

  “No, I know exactly who you are. A haughty bitch who doesn’t know how to say thank you.”

  “Oh, fuck you!” I snap.

  “Nah, I think I’ll pass now.”

  My jaw drops indignantly, and I tighten the robe round myself. “Oh like you had a shot?” I sneer at him.

  “Oh,” Hollis growls, making me gasp as he steps closer to me. “I had more than a shot, and we both know it.”

  My lips tighten. “Get the fuck out of my house.”

  “Find another builder if you’re just trying to pull games like this, princess,” he snaps.

  “Oh you would have jumped at the chance to screw me!”

  He rolls his eyes. “Get over yourself,” he growls as he turns to step back into the house. And suddenly, it hits me that he really truly might not recognize me. Which is strangely exciting.

  “Okay, wait, hang on,” I call after him, rushing into the house to chase after him.

  “Nah, I’m all set,” he mutters, never breaking his stride.

  “Hang on!”

  But he just keeps heading to the front door, ignoring me. “If you need some construction done, call someone else.”

  “What! Look, I… I just thought you knew—”

  “Listen to me,” he snaps, whirling so fast that I almost plow right into his huge frame with a gasp. “You need a big deck?” he mutters. “Call another contractor.” He smiles thinly. “And if it was a big dick you were really after?”

  He smirks as he reaches down and cupping himself crudely, and I blush deeply.

  “Then dream on.”

  He turns sharply, yanks open my front door, and marches out. The door slams shut behind him, and I just stare at it while my whole body tingles with what just happened.

  3

  Hollis

  I’m barely through the door when a stapler hits the wall next to my head. I swear and duck away. I whirl to glare at Sean.

  “What the fuck, man?!”

  “What the fuck?” He yells right back. “Really, bro?”

  I frown. “What the hell is your problem?”

  “My problem just got off the phone with me about how much of a dick my fucking employee was!”

  Fuck. I frown. “She called, huh?”

  “Yeah she fucking called, dickhead,” Sean grunts. “So get your ass back up there and apologize.”

  “Yeah, no fucking way,” I mutter. “That girl was batshit, and completely hung up on herself.”

  Sean glares at me, his muscled arms crossed and his dark eyes and his trimmed dark beard making him looking extra angry. “And rich and paying us a lot of money for a small weekend project. And you told her to find someone else?” He scowls. “Are you fucking high?”

  “No,” I mutter.

  “Did you get knocked in the fucking head this morning? Maybe you slipped in the shower?”

  “Dude, relax. Look, I shouldn’t have said that. But shit happened, and that job wasn’t going to be a good working environment. Trust me on that one.”

  I decide to omit telling Sean about kissing her, twice.

  “Look, send someone else. Jackson’s free this weekend, isn’t he?”

  Tuff Built, named after Sean’s last name, Tuff, is a small operation. Aside from me and Sean, there’s Jackson and Cash, and every now and then, Jackson’s brother Travis. Travis is a cop, actually, but he’s built just like his little brother. So he’s been known to pull some jobs with us.

  Sean shakes his head, still glaring at me. “Nope, you‘re going up there, right now, and apologizing. It’s on you to fix this, pal.”

  I grunt. “C’mon, Sean.”

  “Do you even know what a bad review from her could do?”

  I frown. “Dude she’s a rich single woman in a huge house. What’s she going to do, leave a bad Yelp review? Who cares?”

  He stares at me incredulously. “You did hit your head, didn’t you?”

  I grunt and turn to pour some coffee from the office pot.

  “Do you actually not know who she is?”

  I freeze mid-pour. “That’s the second time I’ve heard that today.”

  I pour my coffee and turn to my friend. But he doesn’t look angry anymore, he just looks like he’s amazed. “Wait, you really seriously don’t know her?”

  “What the—no! Why the fuck should I?”

  Sean swears and turns to snatch something off of his desk. He marches over and slams it down on the counter of the coffee station next to me. I look down, and all of a sudden, I get it.

  “Aww shit,” I mutter.

  “Yeah,” Sean grumbles. “She look fucking familiar now?”

  Yes. Yes, she does. I don’t go to movies, and TV annoys me. I’m not one for pop culture or giving a shit about celebrity rags in the grocery store. But all of a sudden, I get it why Heather looked familiar, even to me. It’s because she’s not Heather the rich single woman in a big house. She’s the very gorgeous, very famous Heather Carlton, international model and A-list actress.

  I cringe, smacking my forehead with a palm. “Shit.”

  “Yeah, shit,” Sean grumbles. “So get back there, now.”

  “Sean—”

  “Whatever it takes, Hollis,” he glares at me. “You get on our knees and clean her floors with a fucking toothbrush if you have to.”

  I chuckle. “Am I in bootcamp again?”

  “You’ll wish you were if you don’t fix this,” he shoots back. “Now get.”

  I groan and pound the cup of crappy coffee. “Only because I love you, buddy.”

  “Now, Hollis.”

  I glare at him for one more second. But I can’t be mad at him. Sean’s one of my oldest friends, and most of what I am today is because of him. Plus, from a business perspective, he’s right. I need to make this right.

  I drive fast back to Heather’s place—too fast, honestly. But my foot is heavier than usual. Some of it is that I’m still ticked off at the exchange with her. Another part of it wanting to slap myself for not recognizing arguably one of the most famously good-looking women in the world.

  But another part of my heavy-footed driving is the memory of the way her lips tasted, and realizing I straight up walked away from that like a fucking moron. I replay the fall, and her landing on me. I remember the feel of her bare skin against mine, under my hands. I play out that kiss, and the one after. It’s not
until I’m barreling up her long winding driveway that I realize I should slow the hell down if I don’t want to die in a fiery crash. I also realize I should try and not be as hard as I am when I knock on her door.

  The truck skids to a stop on her gravel driveway by the steps to the front porch. I get out and grumble to myself as I try and piece together what the hell I’m going to say to her. I’m halfway up the steps before I look up and realize the front door is half open.

  I frown, and for the second time today, my Marine instincts start tingling that something ain’t right here. I take one more step, and then the gunshot booms out, from inside the house. I take the last few steps in two bounds, my heart racing and my body tuned to fight mode.

  I bellow out a roar and I crash through the door. Then I freeze as my eyes try and make sense of what I’ve just walked in on. Heather’s on the floor dressed in cutoff denim shorts and a t-shirt. But she’s also got a smoking rifle in her hand and a look of terror on her face.

  There’s a man standing between me and her, and he’s holding a pair of fucking gardening sheers as he moves towards her. But me barreling through the front door definitely has his attention, because he whips around, looking at me with horror through thick-rimmed glasses.

  He screams—and I mean he really screams—drops the sheers, and bolts like a rabbit. I swear and lunge after him, but man he’s faster that he looks. The dude vaults Heather’s sofa and takes off through the kitchen with me hot on his heels. I manage to snag his leg at one point and send him crashing into a wall. But he kicks my hand away and sprints off.

  I chase the fucker around a corner, and suddenly he’s through a door into the four-bay garage. I follow him in there, but he’s already out through one of the open garage doors and hoping onto the back of a dirt bike. The little engine rips to life, and I swear loudly and watch him tear off in a cloud of dust.

  I bolt back through the house, back to Heather. She gasps when I come running up, and she swings the gun towards me before I pluck it from her trembling hands and put it aside.