The Landscaper (Working Men Series Book 6) Read online

  The Landscaper

  Working Men Series

  (Book Six)

  Ramona Gray

  Copyright © 2018 Ramona Gray

  Published by

  EK Publishing Inc.

  e-ISBN: 978-1-988826-56-1

  This book is the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, scanned or distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. Quotes used in reviews are the exception. No alteration of content is allowed.

  Your support and respect for the property of this author is appreciated.

  This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.

  Adult Reading Material

  Edited by

  L. Nunn Editing

  Cover Art by

  The Final Wrap

  The Landscaper

  Working Men Series Book Six

  By Ramona Gray

  My bush needs a trim and he’s just the man to do it.

  Isabelle

  I’ve loved local landscaper, Knox Jameson, since I was twelve. Yeah, he’s my brother’s best friend.

  Total cliché.

  But the heart wants what the heart wants, right? Except on my eighteenth birthday, he made it perfectly clear he didn’t want me. I showed him. I got the hell out of our small town, determined to forget him.

  I couldn’t.

  Now I’m back.

  Turns out, he’s wanted me all along and playing with the landscaper’s hose is my new favourite thing.

  Knox

  I’ve spent the last seven years trying to forget Isabelle. She’s my best friend’s little sister, and he’ll kill me if I start waving my hose around her garden.

  But her brother is the least of my worries.

  She’s not in love with me. She loves the man she thinks I am. It’s better for the both of us if I keep her at a distance.

  Only, my ability to resist her is growing weaker by the day.

  * * *

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  Table of Chapters

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter One

  Isabelle

  “Okay, listen, big guy. You don’t like me, and I respect that. We’ve just met, you’re young and wild and free, and I want to put a collar and leash on you. But, believe me when I say that it’s the best thing for you. I’m asking you to trust me. To give me the chance to prove to you that I am a-okay. And,” I held out the burger in the now soggy wrapper, “you’ll get a nice juicy burger and some belly rubs out of the deal. I promise.”

  The dog cocked its head before taking a nervous look at the trees behind him. I quickly unwrapped the burger. “C’mon, big fella. I know you’re hungry.”

  The dog sniffed the air as lightning flashed across the sky. I stayed where I was, crouched low to the ground. The loop of the slip lead was resting on the palm of my left hand, the burger placed in the center of it. My right hand held the lead, ready to slip the loop over the dog’s head if he ever decided to come near me.

  I blinked rain water out of my eyes and hoped like hell my wild shivering didn’t scare off the dog. The wind was picking up, the rain was ice-cold, and one hell of a storm was brewing. I nudged the high-powered flashlight resting on the ground with my foot until the entire body of the dog was caught in its beam.

  I made a low sound of dismay. The dog was a mastiff cross and I shouldn’t have been able to see his ribs that clearly. The poor guy was slowly starving, and I was determined to catch him tonight.

  The animal shelter had been getting calls for months about the dog. He was spotted all over town eating out of trash cans and, on one memorable occasion, going on a food-stealing rampage through the park during our annual watermelon festival. The employees at the animal shelter had been trying to catch him without any luck.

  His massive size scared off most of the townsfolk from even trying to catch him. He’d been mistaken for both a moose and a bear, and now that he seemed to be living in the forest on the outskirts of town, and with hunting season about to start, the odds of him being shot and killed by a hunter were high.

  “C’mon, boy,” I coaxed. “C’mon, have a nice juicy burger. C’mon.”

  He took a few tentative steps forward, his nose quivering in the beam of the flashlight. He whined, and I made a low sound of comfort. Outwardly, I appeared calm, but inwardly I was nearly frantic for him to move closer.

  As the dog stood and contemplated his next move, I took a quick glance behind me. I couldn’t see it in the dark, but his house was behind me. Hell, I was practically in his damn backyard.

  Considering how hard you’ve been trying to avoid him the last month, you’re being an idiot now, you know that, right?

  I ignored my inner voice. She was right, but what choice did I have? With a lack of any type of animal control in our small town, Mrs. Johnson had called the animal shelter right before it closed. The dog was in her backyard and trying to dig up the potatoes in her garden. My supervisor, Linda, had told her we couldn’t send anyone out until the morning when the shelter opened again, but I’d grabbed a leash and immediately driven across town in the pouring rain, making one quick stop at the local McDonalds to pick up a couple of burgers.

  It wasn’t my fault that Mrs. Johnson lived next to him, was it? I couldn’t let that stop me from catching the dog. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to the dog tonight, just because I was trying to avoid the man I’d been in love with since I was twelve years old.

  By the time I got to Mrs. Johnson’s, the rain was so bad I could barely see the road, and the setting sun had disappeared. The dog was already gone, scared away by Mrs. Johnson’s youngest son, but I followed its tracks in the mud to the edge of the forest.

  “C’mon, sweetie. I know you’re hungry. Please, boy. Please.” I wasn’t wearing a jacket, I was soaking wet, my hands and feet were completely numb, and the burger I was holding was a wet and rapidly decaying mess.

  “Please,” I said again.

  The old dog inched forward, picking his way delicately through the wet grass. I held my breath and when the dog bent his head and picked up the burger, I slipped the loop of the lead over his head and around his thick neck.

  I braced myself, prepared for the dog to fight and struggle to get away. I was on the smaller side, not as tiny as my brother’s girlfriend, Luna, but at 5’6” and a hundred and twenty pounds, a panicking large dog would drag me off my feet.

  To my surprise, the dog just gave me a weary look of resignation before swallowing the burger in one bite. Still crouching, I quickly tore open the wet paper bag and unwrapped the second burger. He took it eagerly from my hand, letting me rub the side of his neck as he chewed it down.

  I stood and patted his side. “Good boy, buddy. Good boy. C’mon, let’s get you back to my place.”

  Considering it was actually my brother Asher’s house and not mine, he’d probably have a fit about me bringing the dog home, but I didn’t have much choice. As a part time employee who’d only been working at the animal shelter for two weeks, Linda didn’t trust me with a key yet. I would take the dog back
to Ash’s place and then bring him to the shelter in the morning.

  I picked up the flashlight and patted the dog again. “Let’s go, boy. I’ve got some dog food waiting for you at my place. We’re gonna take a car ride, and maybe I’ll even try and give you a bath. Would you like that?”

  Thunder, so loud it made my teeth vibrate, boomed directly above us. The dog made a startled yelp and took off running. I held tight to the leash as I was knocked off my feet. The flashlight went flying and the dog dragged me through the mud and over a raised flower bed full of miniature rose bushes. I cried out, trying to protect my face from the thorns with my free hand.

  The dog hauled me out of the flower bed and across a stone patio. I screamed and threw one arm over my head when the frightened mutt ran straight into the barbeque. The leash was torn from my hand, but it got tangled around the barbeque. The barbeque fell over with a loud crash, and the dog dragged it for a foot or two before giving up and stopping. He sat on his haunches, panting harshly as the lights flicked on and the back door opened.

  “What the hell?” The man I was madly and hopelessly in love with, stepped out onto the patio and studied the dog before turning his gaze to me.

  I was still lying face down on the cold stone and, as lightning lit up the sky, I lifted my head and said, “Hello, Knox. One hell of a storm out here, huh?”

  * * *

  I hadn’t been in Knox’s house in years, but not much had changed. As I stood shivering in the kitchen, water and mud dripping off of me and the dog at my feet, I studied the room. He had upgraded his appliances to stainless steel and replaced the counter top with a grey coloured marble, but the rest of the kitchen was the same.

  I wondered if his bedroom still looked the same, if he still had the collection of Marvel Funko Pop figures on the bookcase in the corner, and that grey and white quilt on his bed. My cheeks turned a fiery red. I hadn’t exactly been invited into his bedroom that night, more like I’d purposely wandered in and then…

  “Hey, here’s a towel.” Knox had returned, and he handed me a big fluffy blue towel. I dabbed at my suddenly hot face and wet hair. I was fairly certain I looked exactly like a drowned rat as Knox knelt and rubbed down the dog with another towel. It sat docilely while he did it and I made a sound of surprise when he licked Knox’s arm.

  “What?” Knox glanced up at me.

  “Nothing. He’s just pretty friendly with you for being a scared stray the last few months.”

  “What can I say, dogs like me.”

  He gave me that old charming Knox grin, and I could feel my crotch start to tingle with a pleasant warmth.

  Shit. Time to go.

  “Okay, well, thanks very much for your help, but I gotta get this guy back home and get some food into him. Sorry I ruined your rose bushes. Let me know how much it costs to replace them and I’ll, uh, e-transfer the money to you.”

  “You’re soaking wet and covered in mud,” Knox said. “I’ve got some dog food left over from when I dog sat for Elijah a few months ago. I’ll give him some of that while you go to the bathroom and clean up. Hell, have a shower if you’d like.”

  Nope. No way. Being naked anywhere within a two-mile radius of Knox was a very bad idea.

  “Nah, that’s okay. I really need to leave.” I dropped the towel on the table, ignored my unladylike urge to pull my wet underwear out of the crack of my ass, and grabbed the leash. I tugged on it and the dog raised his head, gave me a weary look, and then laid down on the floor and closed his eyes.

  “C’mon, boy. We gotta go.”

  “Isabelle, the road is -”

  “C’mon. Right now, dog. Up. Stand up.” My voice was almost on the verge of panic, but the dumb dog didn’t budge an inch.

  “Isabelle.” Knox touched my arm and I jerked away from his touch. My wet socks slipped on the tile floor and slid out from under me. I landed on my ass with a hard thud that made my teeth click together.

  “Shit.” I wanted to rub my throbbing tailbone and fuck me, could my goddamn underwear migrate any further up my ass if they tried?

  “You okay?”

  I scrambled to my feet before Knox could touch me again and backed away, trying unsuccessfully to give him a natural smile. “Yeah. Just clumsy. Really good to see you again, Knox.” I gave the leash a sharp tug. “C’mon, dog.”

  “The road is washed out.”

  Dismay rippled through me. “Already?”

  Knox nodded and pointed to the iPad sitting on the kitchen table. “Yeah, I was just watching the news when you came crashing into my yard. It washed out about ten minutes ago.”

  “I might still be able to get through if it wasn’t that long ago.”

  Knox lived in a neighbourhood on the outskirts of the west side of town close to the river. The only road leading to the neighbourhood had a tendency to be flooded by the overflowing river during hard rain storms like this one.

  “You can’t,” Knox said. “It isn’t safe.”

  “I think I’ll try it.”

  “No, you won’t. You’re staying here with me tonight.” Easy-going Knox had disappeared, and new tingles of heat appeared in my lady bits. This version of Knox was rare, but damn if it didn’t get my juices flowing every single time.

  “You’re dripping, Isabelle.”

  My eyes widened, and I fought the urge to cover my crotch with my hand. How the fuck did he know my panties were soaking wet because of him?

  “Um…” I had no idea what to say. Should I apologize? Should I offer to sleep in the garage with the dog? He’d made it perfectly clear years ago that he found me just a step above repulsive. Hell, after what I tried to do to him the last time I stayed overnight, the fact that he was even letting me spend the night was a damn miracle.

  “Here,” he handed me the towel, “wrap this around yourself and take off your socks so you don’t get the hardwood in the hallway wet and muddy. I’ll bring you a t-shirt and a pair of shorts to wear after you shower.”

  Right…I was dripping wet from the rain, not from my desire to ride Knox’s cock for the next seven hours.

  I cleared my throat. “I can’t stay here.”

  “Sure you can. I’ll text your brother and let him know you’re here. Go on, Izzy, have a shower before we lose the damn power. The storm is only going to get worse.”

  I hated it when Ash called me Izzy and loathed it when Knox did. It made me feel young and stupid, and just hammered home the fact that Knox would never see me as anything more than his best friend’s little sister.

  My lust cooled, and I wrapped the towel around my wet clothes and pulled my socks off as Knox rummaged in the cupboards and pulled out a large bowl. He opened the pantry and took out some dog food. The moment he opened the bag, the dog was on his feet and standing next to him, his tail wagging hopefully as he stared up at Knox.

  Knox laughed and stroked his wet ears before pouring food into the bowl. “You’re a good old boy then, aren’t you?”

  He glanced at me. “Go have a shower before you freeze to death.”

  “Yeah, okay. Thanks.” I trudged out of the kitchen.

  Chapter Two

  Knox

  What are you doing?

  I paused in the hallway just outside of the bathroom, a t-shirt and a pair of shorts in one hand. I could hear the shower running and my goddamn hand had actually been on the handle of the bathroom door.

  What was I doing? I was doing a good deed, being a good friend to my best friend and looking after his baby sister. Nothing more.

  Oh yeah? Then explain why you’ve got a half a woody, and you were about to open the bathroom door without even fucking knocking.

  I adjusted my dick and grimaced at the pressure. If Asher knew that the idea of his sister naked and wet in my shower made me want to bust in there and join her, he wouldn’t hesitate to rearrange my face into something that resembled roadkill. It didn’t matter that we’d been best friends since high school. He was fiercely protective of Isabelle and after
watching me whore around town, he would never think I was good enough for her. Of course, Asher beating the hell out of me for dating his sister was the least of my worries. If Asher or Isabelle knew what I had done, how badly I’d torn apart my own family, they’d see me as a monster, just like my father did.

  Asher was right. I wasn’t good enough for Isabelle. But even if I hadn’t destroyed my family’s perfect life, even if I hadn’t spent the last five years sleeping with any woman that I could charm into my bed, this was little Isabelle. When I’d met Asher at sixteen, Isabelle was only eleven. A sweet girl with pig tails and skinned knees who adored her big brother.

  Asher wasn’t a typical big brother. Maybe it was because his parents fought so much or maybe he just genuinely enjoyed Isabelle’s company, but more than once, he’d show up at my house or the ball diamond or the movie theatre with Isabelle in tow. Some of the guys in our group of friends were irritated by having an eleven-year-old tagging along with us, but they never said a word to Asher about it. He was big, even back then, and his don’t-fuck-with-me vibe was enough to keep their mouths shut.

  Me? I didn’t mind having Isabelle with us. She was a sweet kid who talked more than her brother but was still quiet for an eleven-year-old. As we’d grown older and she became a teen herself, she’d naturally drifted away from us to spend time with girls her own age.

  I spent enough time at their place to still see her nearly every weekend. She was growing up, becoming curvy in all the right places, but I swear I still only saw her as little Izzy. I never thought that would change, not until the weekend after her eighteenth birthday and she…

  My dick immediately got hard again, and I tossed the memory out of my head immediately. What had happened that night was a mistake, and I just thanked God that I had come to my senses before I’d really fucked up.