No Turning Back (Man-Maid) (2 page)

AJ’s focus shifted to Seth. “And how’d you get done with your errands so fast, Mister Speedy?”

“I ran through the bank drive-through.” He shrugged and spread his legs out in front of him. Seth wore a pair of ripped-up jean shorts and a black, short-sleeve shirt. His messy, sandy-blond hair obviously hadn’t seen a comb in days. “Figured the other shit could wait.”

She laughed. “Or you figured you’d try and talk me into doing them for you.”

He put his hand on her thigh and grinned. “It didn’t occur to me, but now that you mention it…”

She swatted him on the arm. “You’re hopeless.”

Yep, Seth clearly had it just as bad for AJ as Ames. Jensen spotted Jason watching the display just as intently, a frown marring his brows. What would happen if they both made a play for her? Who would AJ choose? In a way, AJ was like a little sister to him and Jason. Neither of them would care to see her hurt because Seth and Ames decided to play tug-of-war with her heart.

Jason cleared his throat and asked, “So, who wants pizza?”

Everyone started talking at once.

A half hour later, they were scarfing down a large pepperoni and a medium sausage with extra cheese. Once they were nearly finished, AJ asked, “You two seemed pretty serious when I got here. What were you discussing anyway?”

Jensen snagged the last piece of pepperoni just as Jason reached for it, which earned him the finger. “We’ve decided we hate our day jobs and we’re ready to win the lottery so we can retire and move to Bali.”

Ames laughed and moved to toss his paper plate in the trash. “Win a few million for me while you’re at it, will ya?”

Jason closed the box and tossed his napkin on the table. “To be honest, we’re trying to figure out what sort of business we could run.”

“You want to own your own company?” AJ asked. “Since when?”

“Since a semi nearly ran me down today,” Jensen answered. An image of the blonde woman sprang into his mind. He wondered if Janice would have a name for him yet and tapped out a quick text, then waited for her to reply.

AJ’s soft brown eyes filled with concern. “Seriously?”

“Yep.” Jensen winked at AJ. “If it weren’t for some woman pulling me out of the way, I wouldn’t even be sitting here right now.”

“Oh my God,” AJ cried.

Jason quirked an eyebrow at him. “We need to get him a slightly less boring job so he’ll stop daydreaming.”

Jensen rolled his eyes. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “It’s never going to happen if we can’t figure out what the hell to do.”

Seth leaned forward and said, “You two interested in another partner for this yet-to-be-decided business?”

Jason swung his gaze toward him. “Why, are you interested?”

“I might be,” Seth replied in a low voice as he studied Ames. “What about you?”

Ames pointed to himself. “I’m a roofer, guys. I’m already my own boss. And it keeps me pretty busy.”

“True, but you were just saying that you’d like to have something more permanent for the winter months.”

He nodded. “It can be tough to find work once October’s cold weather hits.” He stared at Jensen. “I’m in if you don’t mind me being seasonal.”

Jensen chuckled. “We don’t even know what this fictional business is yet.”

AJ grabbed the empty pizza boxes off the table and started cleaning up their mess. “How about you start a maid service? Since, you know, you’re both so good at cleaning up after yourselves.”

Jensen knew she was kidding. AJ’s playful, sarcastic tone made that plain enough. Still, the idea somehow didn’t seem so ridiculous to Jensen. When he peered over at his brother, he could see the same spark of interest in him as well. “An all-male maid service,” Jensen said, voicing his thoughts aloud. “Why do I like that idea?”

“Hell if I know, but it’s growing on me too.”

Ames held his hands up in the air. “Whoa, cleaning toilets for a living? Seriously?”

Seth laughed. “You’re kidding, right?”

Jensen let his silence speak for him. AJ gave each of them a slow once-over before saying, “You know, this might not be such a crazy idea.”

“Really?” Ames asked. “Because I have to say, it sure seems nuts to me.”

A slow smile appeared at the corners of her lips. “Think about it. The four of you are tall, muscular, gorgeous men. Put a feather duster in your hand and a tight black T-shirt with the words
We Polish It until It Shines
scrawled across the front, and you have yourself a hit with the women. This could be like Hooters, only the women’s version.”

Seth glanced over at Ames. “We’ve been reduced to lady porn. I feel so objectified.”

“Yeah, but lady porn sells.” He winked at AJ. “You’re a genius.”

“This is just weird enough to work,” Ames replied as a spark of excitement lit his eyes.

Jensen shook his head in disbelief. “I can’t believe we’re actually considering this.”

Jason rubbed his hands together. “Well, believe it, brother, because we’re about to go into business for ourselves.”

“Cleaning houses,” he helpfully reminded him. “What the hell do we know about cleaning?”

“What’s the big deal? It’s just a sponge, a bucket and some hot, soapy water.” Jason shrugged. “How hard can it be?”

Jensen sighed. “Why do I feel like you’re going to end up regretting those words?”

They spent the rest of the night going over details. Jensen agreed to spend the weekend working up a budget and figuring out how much they were going to need to borrow from the bank. And even though it wasn’t exactly what Jensen had imagined when he’d originally thought of running his own company, he had to admit a certain amount of excitement at the idea that he was finally going to get his chance to shuck the suit and tie.

His cell phone beeped, indicating he had a new text message. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw a name on the screen.
Janice
, and she’d found his blonde savior. First thing tomorrow morning, Jensen planned to meet her face-to-face. Oh yeah, things were definitely looking up.

Chapter Two

“I’m fine, really. I just caught a flu bug,” Marquetta muttered to her brother on the other end of the cell phone. She locked her Jeep and walked up the driveway to her front porch and fought off another bout of the chills. God, she hated getting sick. In her ear, Axel went on about taking extra vitamin C and getting plenty of rest. Their father had never been in the picture, and Axel had naturally just taken on the role as head of the family. But when their mother died a little over two years ago, Axel had taken on both parental jobs. He was always taking care of her and their brother Gavin. She loved him for it, but right now all she wanted to do was sleep. “I will, I promise,” she muttered. “I’ll call you later.”

On Axel’s orders, Marquetta had left their family’s body shop early, even though she had a Ford F-150 waiting on her to paint a rebel flag down the side of it. Marquetta hated to keep the customer waiting longer than necessary, but there was no help for it this time. As long as she kept coughing up a lung, she was useless at work. She was going to have to take a time-out and recoup, whether she liked it or not.

She loved working in her family’s car painting and detailing business, even though it hadn’t been her number-one dream job. Art had always been her first love. It’d started out as doodling mostly, then she’d gotten into high school, where her art teacher, Mr. Simpkin, had encouraged her to really work on her talent. Eventually that had led to her going to school for graphic design. Those dreams had been shattered in a single moment. One bad decision on her part had derailed her life plan and sent her crawling home, where Axel had set her up in the family business painting artwork on motorcycles and sports cars. She was good at it, even had a reputation in town, but she often wondered what could’ve been.

As Marquetta reached her front door, a sound behind her caught her attention, and she turned to see a man standing at the other end of her porch. In an instant, their gazes connected, and Marquetta was all but swamped with the stranger’s curiosity—and no small amount of desire, if she wasn’t mistaken. It was all there in that single connection. She quickly put a little distance between them and asked, “Can I help you?” But before he could answer, another wave of chills from her raging fever ran through her system. Lovely. This day was turning out to be a real winner.

Jensen had expected for her to be beautiful, but he wasn’t prepared for the immediate rise of heat when he saw her getting out of her Jeep. She’d been distracted by her phone call and hadn’t noticed him waiting at the far end of the porch. Jensen had taken advantage to get a good look at the woman who’d saved his worthless hide.

She had on a pair of tight, faded, ripped-in-the-knees jeans. They emphasized her small, womanly hips and all but begged a man to reach out and touch. A flesh-colored tank top stretched across small, round breasts. Her hair was a riot of golden curls that tumbled down her back. Blondes weren’t usually his thing, but this time he’d be willing to make an exception.

She had the cutest mouth with a full, pouty bottom lip jutting out, and a petite oval-shaped face. He closed the distance between them and reached a hand out in greeting when he noticed her shaking. Had he frightened her? “Ma’am, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m just…” She stopped and closed her eyes tight. “Just not feeling up to par.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

She frowned. “Do I know you?”

“Yesterday you saved my life.”

She looked him over, then her eyes widened. “You’re the suit that nearly walked in front of a semi.”

He chuckled. “Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

She stepped closer to the front door, a look of apprehension clouding her eyes. “How’d you know where I live?”

“This is going to sound a little strange, but I tracked you down from your license plate.” He quickly held both hands in the air. “I swear I’m not a weirdo or anything. I promise.”

She hesitated before saying, “Seems to me like that’s exactly the type of thing a weirdo would say.”

He could see he was getting absolutely nowhere, and with good reason. He’d shown up on the woman’s porch, for Christ’s sake. A total stranger. What the hell did he think would happen? “Look,” he said, attempting to allay her fears, “I know how this must seem, but I really only came here to thank you. I’d be dead if not for your quick thinking.”

“You’re welcome, but I—” Suddenly, she shook so bad Jensen was afraid she’d lose her balance.

He caught her beneath the elbow. “You’re obviously very sick. Is there someone I can call?”

She closed her eyes tight. “No, really. I just need to lie down.”

“At least let me get you inside,” he offered, but she only squinted up at him as if he had some nefarious plan. “You can trust me.”

A few seconds ticked by before she handed him the key to her front door. Once Jensen had the door open, he asked, “The couch?”

When she nodded, he put his arm around her waist and led her across the room. She collapsed onto it and muttered, “I feel completely ridiculous.”

“Don’t. I’m glad I could help.” Jensen spotted a throw on the back of the couch. He yanked it off and laid it over her, but she still continued to tremble. He sat down beside her and laid his palm on her forehead. God, she was burning up. “You’re really feverish. Are you sure you don’t want to call a doctor?”

“What’s your name?” she asked as she stared at him in wonder. Jensen couldn’t help noticing that she had the most incredible shade of green eyes. Jensen had the crazy notion she could see right into the very heart of him.

“Jensen Kershaw,” he answered. “I work in an office building downtown near where you saved me.”

“Marquetta Hayes.” She smiled and closed her eyes. “There, now we’re not strangers,” she mumbled as she drifted off to sleep, her body still clearly racked with chills. When he started to get up, she whimpered, and a sudden spurt of protectiveness filled him. Jensen sat at the other end of the couch and watched over her.

The sun was going down before her fever seemed to finally break. He yawned and glanced at his watch, surprised to realize he’d been sitting there for a good two hours. She was fine now, and he knew he should leave. Instead, he closed his eyes. Just a few minutes, then he’d go.

Marquetta raised her head, instantly aware of a heavy weight against her calves. She scanned the length of the couch and found Jensen Kershaw. His brawny arm rested on her legs and his head was against the back of the couch. Asleep? He snored, and Marquetta frowned. What on earth? The man was a total stranger, and yet he acted as if he’d crashed on her couch hundreds of times.

Pushing his sexy ass out the door ought to get his attention, but some inner devil stopped her. He was sound asleep and completely at her mercy. Tempted beyond reason, Marquetta took the opportunity to look him over. Like, really look him over. Who knew when she would have another chance? Because there was no doubt she’d soon be tossing his gorgeous six-foot-plus frame out of her house and her life. For good.

He wasn’t classically handsome. Jensen Kershaw had more of a rugged, weathered look about him. As if he’d been through the very bowels of hell and had come out with a scratch or two. She took a moment to investigate him further.