Chapter One
Asher
Okay, so it’s not like I only crush on daddy types. It’s not like I spend all day and all night fawning over older guys with fuzzy chests and meaty, rough hands. I don’t pine for men in button-up shirts and cardigans or jerk myself in the bathroom while I fantasize about their coarse beard hair, tickling my neck…
At least not exclusively.
I’m into all kinds of guys. I consider myself an equal opportunity flirt, through and through.
I’d just always thought there was something special about older men. My friends said I wanted someone who could handle me and maybe even put me in my place a little. Soften my rough edges, rein in my self-destructive tendencies, that kind of thing. I’m the kind of bottom who craves letting go of control, after all, and giving every fiber of myself over to a top who can shape me with his bare hands.
And who better than a mature, experienced daddy to teach a twenty-five-year-old like me what I’m too hotheaded to learn on my own?
Which was why, as soon as he answered the door, the man who lived at 864 Newton Berry Lane had my jaw dropping to the porch and my cock stiffening to full attention.
Hello, geek daddy.
“Franklin?” I asked, summoning whatever cool I could, even with my hole all of a sudden clenching. “I’m Asher. I called about the handyman work?”
Franklin rubbed his hand over his beard. He blinked; then his bushy brow furrowed as he studied me.
He wore an old, faded T-shirt with a Batman symbol at the front and a pair of loose-fitting khakis. He was a solid guy, with a nice heft to his muscles and mass, and the shirt dipped down enough at the collar that I could see the curls of gray hair that grew on his chest. Up top, his auburn haircut was overgrown but neatly combed to the side, and I had to push down the desire to rub the top of his head, mussing it up just to see what he’d do in response.
So many things he could do to me…
“Asher, thanks for stopping by,” he said, abruptly turning his eyes away from me. “Please, come inside.”
The house was one of those old craftsman bungalows, with a big window in the front and a covered porch. I walked into the living room, which was stuffed with some old couches and armchairs, as well as quite a few large bookcases. When I glanced to my side, I saw the partially open door to a study and a few more overflowing bookshelves.
Clearly, I wasn’t mistaken about the geek part of geek daddy.
“Would you like anything to drink?” Franklin asked. “Tea, coffee?” He pushed some notebooks and a comic book to the side of the big wooden coffee table, then gestured for me to take a seat on the couch.
“I’m good,” I answered as I dropped down, letting my legs spread casually open.
Franklin nodded, then took a seat in the chair across from me. He kept rubbing his fingers across his beard in what seemed to be a nervous habit, fussing as we talked. But with his back straight and his posture poised, his body held his strength, right where I could almost reach out and touch it.
I sniffed the air. Old books. Musky men. Like dirt and oranges and sweat.
I could get high off this shit.
“And you heard about the job through Ezra or one of the other employees?” Franklin asked. “I’m not sure how much was explained to you.”
“Start from the top,” I said, throwing my arm over the back of the couch as I noticed his eyes, drifting over my tattoos. “Tell me what you’re looking for.”
I didn’t mention that I hadn’t actually met whoever this Ezra was. But through him, word had gotten to my sister, Lilith, that Franklin was looking for work.
And me? I definitely needed some cash in my pocket.
Franklin nodded. “Well, my husband and I are returning home after the house sat empty all last year.” His voice was deep and rich, but it bounced up in a lilt when he said husband—almost sexy enough to distract me from the disappointment that he was married. “We’re also returning with a new addition to the family,” he continued. “My thirteen-year-old niece will be living here, and we need to get the place ready for her.”
My eyebrows rose up in surprise. I wasn’t about to ask for the backstory, but I realized that maybe it was something other than my perfect cheekbones and puffy lips making him act on edge.
Hell, if I were about to raise a teenager, I’d be pretty damn anxious myself. “When does your niece arrive?”
Franklin frowned. “Three days? She’ll be on her way with my cousin, while we get things ready.”
“Oh wow,” I chuckled. “Damn. So I guess you’re looking for someone who can start right away?”
He turned his wrist to glance at the fat silver watch that hung there, drawing my attention to the exquisite dark hairs on his forearms, patterns I wanted to trace with my tongue.
“Someone who can start today would be good,” he said hopefully.
“Hell, I’ve got some good news for you. My next three days are wide open.”
Wide, wide open, I thought to myself. Nothing wrong with fantasizing for a few days, even if the fact of Franklin’s marriage meant nothing could happen. I’d had my share of older married men come on to me, and I was definitely smart enough to avoid anyone that untrustworthy again.
“Perfect!” he said as he stood up. “There’s a lot to do, but maybe I could show you the first task? I can pay twenty-five dollars an hour, and I can give you cash at the end of each day.”
“Oh!” I said, jumping up to join him. “Sure, that works.” I paused, cracking my knuckles as I considered my next move. I was in no position to turn down work, but I didn’t want to get myself in over my head, either. “Just one thing. You’re looking for someone who is good with his hands, right? I’m very handy…” I paused, then felt a thrill when Franklin’s tongue darted across his bottom lip. “But I’m not a trained carpenter or anything like that.”
Franklin chuckled. “Well, I gave thought to working with Legos, considering that’s where my own building experience begins and ends…” I laughed along with his joke and felt another tug at my heart when his cheeks pinked, and he glanced away. “But you shouldn’t need any training for this job, no. Come with me. You’ll see.”
I followed him into the dining room, where the exceptionally large wooden table was dotted with stacks of paper and a couple coffee mugs, and through a small hallway to a backroom. The rest of the house was cluttered. Not messy, exactly, but filled with artifacts of the life Franklin shared with his husband. I trailed my hand along the wallpaper as he led me, the faint dream of having a marriage like that flickering at the edge of my mind, even though I knew that wasn’t the kind of life I was cut out for.
“This will be our niece’s bedroom, you see,” Franklin explained as he flicked on the light. “So…”
I let out a surprised grunt. Shelving filled every available inch of wall space, stuffed with what looked like barely organized papers and action figures. In the middle of the room was a desk, and directly across from the desk was a couch. The desk was covered with more paper, and the couch was spilling over with some large cardboard boxes, making them unusable. When I turned back to the shelves, I spotted a few spaceships made out Legos and realized that probably really was his main building experience.