Meave (Naughty Witches Book 1) Read online

  “The first fucking window the one chick touched, and she just pushed around dirt. The other didn’t even seem to know how a vacuum worked. I blew because they weren’t cheap.”

  Clay shrugged. “I’ll do it. I’ll take that gig and throw in the garage for free. I’ll always save more for college so Mom has less stress.”

  “Are you any good though?” she challenged, narrowing her eyes at him.

  I snorted. “He’s a clean freak. Yeah, he cleans his house, and it’s always spotless.”

  Clay huffed. “I am a man of class and dust is not allowed in my presence.”

  “Nice,” Meave chuckled. “Fine, I’ll give you a test run.” She looked over at me in between bites. “And they put the mower together when they delivered it which really, there didn’t seem to be much to put together.”

  “Were you wearing that when they showed up?” I asked, snickering when she nodded. “Yeah, they just wanted an excuse to stay around longer.”

  “Yes, I know,” she chuckled softly. We finished eating, both of us wanting to get stuff done. Clay wanted the gig and I wanted… Any reason to make Meave want me to come back, maybe even after my debt was paid.

  She already had gas for the mower and it started right up. It was still pretty warm out, even if the temperate was dropping faster as the sun started to set.

  I yanked off my shirt and headed for the backyard. The yard was a joke. I was glad she agreed to let me just cut and after it had a chance to dry out for a day or two, bag it for the composter she’d ordered.

  I went down one length of her property, noting the fence was for shit and she would need a better one. When I came back I swallowed loudly as I had a prime view of her moving around the kitchen.

  I hurried the next line away from her, but noticed my foot didn’t seem so heavy on the gas on the way back. I couldn’t even look away when she glanced up and busted me staring.

  She smirked at me and I saw her reach for her phone. When mine vibrated in my pocket, I took my foot off the gas and let the mower idle.

  Meave: If you keep misbehaving I will too.

  I snorted.

  Ash: Yeah, please do.

  I glanced up when I heard muffled laughing, seeing her through the terrace doors.

  Meave: Come closer.

  I nodded and drove the mower to the edge of the grass.

  Meave: Closer.

  I met her at the glass door, giving her a confused look when she focused on her phone instead of opening the door.

  Meave: Did I make you hard earlier?

  I nodded, not even needing her to clarify when. My answer was yes.

  Meave: Show me.

  I swallowed loudly as I met her big green eyes through the window. Shit, she was seriously extra.

  Meave: Be a good boy and show me. Take it out and stroke it for me.

  I groaned, leaning my hand against the glass as I glanced behind her towards where Clay was.

  Meave: I can hear him. It’s fine. He’s busy. Now show me that cock and prove it gets hard for me.

  Fuck me. I pulled down the front of my shorts and boxer briefs and showed her what she wanted. I grabbed it as it was still growing and tugged it, my eyes never leaving hers.

  And right there on her broken and overgrown terrace, while staring at her through the door, I jerked off, coming with a grunt. She smirked, licking her lips before glancing at the mess I’ve made on her door. Then she leaned in and kissed the glass.

  “Good boy,” she mouthed before turning away and going back to what she was doing.

  I glanced down at my still-hard dick and wondered if I’d lost my mind.

  If I had, I don’t want to go back to being sane.

  3

  Meave

  “You must be Tasha,” I greeted the attractive and professional-looking woman Wednesday afternoon. She didn’t have the stuck-up professional look, but a good blend of killing it and still able to walk a construction site.

  “I am. A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Washington,” she replied, extending her hand. “Thank you taking the time to meet with me so we can offer a bid.”

  I snickered as we shook. “After the glowing review Clay gave you, I couldn’t believe it was all a guy proud of his mom.”

  A soft smile appeared on her face as she released my hand. “I’m glad that’s what he said about me.” She flinched, realizing how that sounded, and opened her mouth.

  “That boy knows he’s loved,” I promised her.

  Her smile dropped a bit. “I’m glad. Being a single mom isn’t easy, and… He deserves better than I’ve given him but we all just do our best.” She sighed. Even though I didn’t have kids, I knew that feeling well.

  “Yeah, we do.”

  “Thank you for giving him some work. He would be working if not for football, even if I want him to experience everything school has to offer.”

  I frowned. “He doesn’t like football?”

  She sighed. “He doesn’t dislike it, but it’s not—he plays for Ash, because they’re a team and best friends.”

  I nodded. I heard her and while I wanted to push, I could see she was uncomfortable getting personal in a business meeting.

  “Well, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, so I’m sure he’s happy.” I smiled when she did, glad it was the comforting thing to say. “He was adamant you’d tell me who was full of shit and that you hate crap contractors.”

  “I do,” she agreed. “Not only because it makes us all look bad, but it hurts business and takes the fun out of what fixing a home should be. It’s worse than being burglars. This is your home, your sanctuary. Nothing bad should be allowed to happen here.”

  “Amen, Sister,” I chuckled.

  “So what are your thoughts on the house to start with?”

  “Air conditioning,” I groaned, fanning myself. “The bedrooms are too small, and even if it’s thirty-five hundred feet, it’s not used how I need it. I do need four rooms—mine, guest, office, and a room for taking shots for work.” I noted she wanted to ask about that, but kept professional and left it alone.

  Nice.

  “The bathrooms need complete overhauling and really, I know the whole house needs everything. I got the place for a steal, not more than the land itself was valued at, so I’m ready for the cost to do it right.”

  “Why not just build from scratch?” she asked as she took notes. She asked because she sounded curious and like it might change her approach—whereas the other guy I met yesterday asked like I didn’t know what I was getting into.

  “One, I’ve seen new construction slip in a lot more bullshit that people can’t notice, as they cookie-cutter too much in subdivisions. Two, I can still live here while one half of the house is being overhauled with the spread.

  “Three, the place just looked so damn sad and desperate for TLC, I fell in love with it. So I don’t want to totally wipe it out and start over, but upgrade it.”

  “Fair enough.”

  We continued going through the house and I told her my thoughts on combining two of the bedrooms upstairs. I wanted it to be my shooting room if we could extend both floors out in an addition.

  I also wanted a great room instead of the existing smaller kitchen with an eating area, separate smaller dining room, and a separate family room.

  “I cook too much to de-stress to not have a much bigger and better-planned-out kitchen,” I admitted.

  I was going to say more, but there was a knock at the door. Glancing at the clock, I realized it was Ash and Clay. I told her to hang on and answered the door, smiling and inviting them in. Clay walked in first to greet his mother, but once he was by me, I moved my arm to block Ash.

  I met his curious gaze and fell into his gorgeous ice blue eyes. “Did you stroke that cock last night while thinking about me?” I smirked when he flinched, leaning in until I almost kissed his neck. “Were you a good boy and fantasized about touching me?”

  “Yes,” he panted. “Twice. Once this morning.�
�

  I breathed in his scent, loving the sweat and everything manly coming off this guy, who was so into me. “You didn’t shower after football. Good. I’ll reward you later.”

  He tried to bite back a moan, but didn’t quite make it as I spun away, rubbing my hands over my ass to tease him.

  I rejoined Tasha like nothing had happened and I wasn’t luring in her son’s best friend. I showed her some of the ideas I had, just from photos printed from Google images.

  “I’m flexible on a lot, but the kitchen and bathroom are my havens, especially working from home and traveling too often for business,” I explained. “So the layout of the master bath doesn’t worry me, but I need room for a jacuzzi tub big enough for two.” I shot Ash a smirk while she was looking over what I gave her. “And a separate shower with different water options.”

  She nodded. “That’s doable no matter what, if you’re willing to expand. How close are you wanting to get to these tiles and fixtures?”

  I shook my head. “Don’t care at all. That’s not where I want to spend money. My favorite apartment I had was a converted warehouse apartment, that blending of new and old or contrasts.

  “This place looks like a split-level cookie cutter and I want to embrace the split level and ‘hobby farm’ feel, but with modern inside. Concrete floors with area rugs would totally be on the table for me.”

  “Interesting, very bold,” she praised. She glanced at me. “What would you think of a rustic lodge feel outside that embraces the split level, but also a sprawl feel with the extension, and inside is a modern, sleek set-up that makes you think better-than-four-star luxury hotel?”

  I blinked at her a moment before smiling. “I think I’d need to ask if you only work in Colorado, as I have some friends who would love that edge.”

  “Maybe once Clay’s at college, but I try to keep my trips limited to Denver only for now, so I’m still close,” she admitted, giving him a look to stuff it when he tried to object.

  There was something more there as he glanced at Ash, as if staying with him was an option, but Tasha shut that down.

  Interesting. What was going on at Ash’s house that she wouldn’t want her son to stay there?

  Just as we were finishing up, there was another knock on the door. I glanced at Tasha. “Can you stay for a quick bite? I ordered from the sushi place; GrubHub delivers here. I figure I might bribe the boys with food to see I could talk them into helping me unload when the trailer gets here.”

  She shot me a curious look. “You didn’t hire movers?”

  “I did on each end, but the trailer is coming late, so now the ones that were going to unload are busy. The only other places will charge me a fortune for such late notice. I honestly don’t have much, as this place is much bigger, so I thought I’d order stuff fresh.”

  She nodded like she got the confusion and chaos of being an adult, checking the clock. “Yes, I can stay for a bit, if we’re not imposing.”

  “Not at all. I’m glad we got a chance to meet and talk, even if it’s not for the project. I’ve never hired a guy in high school to help me out so I feel better knowing we’ve met.”

  “Me too,” she admitted, which I knew was the more important part of this. Clay wasn’t taking a job at a fro-yo shop, but at someone’s house. It made sense a parent would want to check on that, even if he was legally an adult.

  I grabbed the food with Ash’s help, trying not to pay attention to the suggestive looks he was giving me that he wanted to eat me instead.

  “Can I ask what else you plan to do with so much land?” Tasha asked after we were settled on the floor. Well, she was sitting on the cooler, as I insisted, since she was in professional attire and I was in grubby clothes. “Are you going to use it as a hobby farm?”

  I debated how much to tell her, but she’d learn if she got the project anyways. “I’ve had some complications with too many nosey neighbors always in my face.

  “My family is a problem, and sees having an attractive daughter as a commodity they own, instead of the reality the rest of us live in. I just needed some space to breathe and not have the neighbors in my face or looking over the fence.

  “But no, no hobby farm. Hobby greenhouses, or bigger, if it’s allowed out here. We had a rooftop greenhouse at my last apartment, and I loved it. It ties into my loving to cook and my spoiled bathroom needs.

  “Because nothing is better than soaking in a bath with fresh mint during winter, or muffins with strawberries picked that morning.”

  “Really? Fresh herbs in a bath? Interesting,” she muttered.

  I nodded. “I’ll make you a mix of heaven. It’s only good for a week, but it makes all the difference. I dehydrate it too, so seasonal isn’t a problem.” I winked at her. “It’s part of why I need a bigger kitchen. There will be a huge part of the pantry that’s nothing but dehydrated everything and bath mix supplies.”

  “Ash’s mom used to dehydrate herbs from her garden, and it used to make the house smell like heaven,” she told me.

  “I remember,” Ash chuckled. “As long as it wasn’t onions. God, that was horrible. She did that in the garage after that first time.”

  “What was your favorite?” I asked him.

  He thought about it a few moments. “Honestly? Any of them. It was more knowing it made her happy, and knowing she’d ask me to guess what herb, because it was always changing.”

  “If you couldn’t tell, she’d assume you caught a cold or were developing allergies,” Tasha said with a chuckle.

  “Yeah, she did,” he muttered.

  “I’m sorry you lost her,” I said to all of them.

  Clay cleared his throat. “So, if we help with this greenhouse do we get strawberry muffins?”

  “Only if you eat the veggies too,” I teased him.

  He shrugged. “I like salads.”

  I glanced at Tasha. “Seriously, whatever you did to raise such a perfect kid, you need to patent it. I know lots of parents who should learn from you.”

  She threw back her head and laughed, looking much younger than her forty or so years when she did.

  “He popped out that way, I swear. I remember taking him to daycare and getting glares from other parents because he was always so well-behaved.

  “I kept waiting for a rebellious phase. Instead of getting into porn like boys of a certain age do, I catch him watching cleaning videos on YouTube so he can help me more.”

  “Not sure she needed to know that, Ma,” Clay grumbled, only making it funnier. “She’s got a meeting with Donovan tomorrow.”

  Tasha’s mood instantly sobered. “I say this as Clay’s mother, because it’s unprofessional otherwise, but do not trust that man. Normally, I would offer caution to anyone thinking of him to check bids, but you fit his ‘niche’ of young women with enough money to catch his fancy and create lots of excuses for you to give it to him.”

  I caught her meaning instantly. “I have a security guy and he knows who to use locally.” I shrugged when she shot me a surprised look. “I needed one after a stalker, and yeah, I’ve had that shtick pulled on me before.

  “The base model sold that will need upgrade after upgrade, while acting like it’s my fault I wasn’t smart enough to get the right option from the beginning, and I should be grateful they’re helping me.”

  “Yes, that’s Mr. Donovan to the letter.”

  “We should do this again,” I said a bit later as I walked her out, the guys putting everything left in the fridge.

  “I’d like that, bid or not,” she replied after a moment.

  I thanked her for coming, and had no problem admitting I was looking forward to what she came up with before focusing on the guys.

  Monday, Clay cleaned the garage from top to bottom, and he earned every penny of that for sure. He was working on the master suite today, so I was ready for when my stuff arrived—though I’d keep as much of it boxed up as I could since I was going to renovate.

  He grabbed all my cleaning su
pplies and headed in the direction I pointed before I focused back on Ash. He was watching me, as if waiting for whatever I was willing to give him. Nice.

  “Any more girls send you tit pics?”

  “No, and I called her out on what you told me,” he answered. “I’ve not even texted another female but you and my stepmom.”

  “Good boy,” I praised as I brushed my hand over his groin. “You keep being such a good boy, and I’ll give you much better than tit pics.” I leaned in more, until my lips brushed his ear when he leaned in. “You’d rather squirt your cum on my tits instead of see another picture of tits, right?”

  “Yes, god, yes, Meave,” he groaned.

  I hummed happily at his response. “Don’t look at girls’ asses, and maybe for Christmas, I’ll let you come in mine.”

  “Holy shit,” he hissed, reaching for me. I ducked him, smirking as I nodded towards the garage.

  “Don’t you have some grass to bag and get in the composter you’re putting together?” I chuckled when he gave me a pleading, disappointed look. I reached out and brushed his groin again. “Be good, and I’ll reward you once Clay is gone.”

  “All I can think about is kissing you,” he admitted, staring at my lips with longing.

  I slowly nodded. “I’ll let you kiss me before you leave today, if you’re good.”

  He was out in the garage seconds later, and I had to bite back a laugh at his eagerness. Damn, he was way too much fun.

  And fuck, I needed fun.

  I headed to what I was using as my office and returned a few phone calls. The time went by fast. I felt like I blinked and Clay was ready to head out, the master suite completely clean.

  I thanked him, and the mower was still going, so I told him not to wait for Ash since his truck was fixed now. He gave me a look I couldn’t decipher, maybe half he was worried I was going to gobble up his boy…

  And half hoping I did.

  “Clay headed out,” I told Ash when he came inside.

  “I saw his SUV was gone,” he muttered as he moved closer.