Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149301 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 597(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
She visibly swallowed.
“I need to get goin’.” Picking up his toolbox, he headed towards his truck. He could hear her trying to keep up, running behind him until they were side by side. He opened his vehicle door, set his tools on the passenger’s side floor, then turned to her.
“When can you start?” she asked.
He leaned closer to her. She looked up at him. Her lips parted, and her eyes latched onto his. He stared hard at her, sketching her image in his mind. She bit her lip and blinked.
“When do you want me to?” He was sure of himself, and he fit smack dab in her strange, yet beautiful, universe.
“As soon as possible.”
They exchanged numbers, each of them typing their information into their phones.
His hand grazed hers as he leaned even closer, by her ear, and cleared his throat. She stayed rooted to the spot, as if waiting for syllables and lullabies. Waiting for the rushing rivers of a sweet nothing, or the naughty whisk of the wind. Black curls twirled like dark cyclones as a gust of air blew past them, catching her sweet scent and tossing it in his face. She smelled like pineapples and sunshine. His damp darkness wanted to devour her.
“Poet, you must know why I’m really here.”
“Why?”
“The greenhouse was legit, but it was also a valid excuse for me to get next to you. I’m single, but lookin’. You’re single, and you may not have been lookin’, but you found me all the same. You see, I find you…” he scanned her real slow, and her cheeks reddened. He reached out to touch her, but gave her a little room for her next breath. It looked as if she’d been holding it for far too long. “…irresistible.”
“I just want you to build my greenhouse, Kage.” Her voice quivered ever so slightly, even though she was looking at him square in the eye, as if she meant business. “Nothin’ more. Strictly business. Can you handle that?” Her lips twitched as she suppressed the truth. She’s a horrible liar. He reached back inside of his truck and slipped his cowboy hat back onto his head.
“As you wish,” he said with a gleaming smile, showing all of his teeth. “I’ll be back out here in a couple of days, sweetheart. With receipts. The deposit is twenty percent. I’ll send you the contract tomorrow.” He closed the door, but looked down at her through the open window.
“Sounds fantastic.” She hugged herself tight as he cranked the engine. The skull’s eyes on the front of his ride glowed bright red, shining onto her house as 16 Horsepower’s ‘Black Soul Choir’ blasted from his speakers. He gave her a quick wave and a wink, then drove away…
CHAPTER SIX
Snakes, Strings and Shiny Things
Kage chewed a wad of flavorless chewing gum and stood in the middle of his front yard with a beheaded snake still squirming in his tight grip. The damn thing was poisonous, and he’d caught it making its way into the crawl space under his porch—otherwise, he would have let it be. The hoe he’d used to chop it a few good times lay off to the side, covered in blood and serpent guts. However, he had two snakes in his yard. One was dead, the other alive, though that could be changed at any moment. A little man with thick bifocals stood before him in a tan jacket. A shiny bald spot gleamed beneath the sun atop his head. Smack dab in the middle of a crown of thinning dark brown hair; it was like a tonsure-wearing monk.
“So, you see, Mr. Wilde, that’s why I’m here. The property line when you bought this place was inaccurate, according to the original map.”
“That ain’t my problem,” Kage dropped the lifeless snake at the bastard’s feet, spit out the gum into the paper wrapper, balled it up tight and shoved it into his pocket to discard later. “This is a bunch of bullshit, and you know it. I bought this land fair and square, and you pencil-necked jackasses keep tryin’ everything you can muster to toy with me. Y’all have tried to buy it outright, y’all have lied about property lines—just like today—and y’all have tried to blackmail me. This is just another tactic.”
“Uh, Mr. Wilde, I’ve never spoken to you before. I’m not certain who you spoke with in the past, but I’m from the Piedmont County Department of—”
“I know where the hell you’re from. You already said it. The point is, you’re all the same and I don’t give a damn if you’re from heaven, hell, or a hippo’s asshole. You need to turn right ’round, get into your little government paid car, and skedaddle. I worked my ass off to get this land, and the best decision I ever made was not tellin’ a soul when I bought it. Nobody wanted it back then. It was run down with brush and a dumping ground. I used a lot of money and manpower to get it set right, and then after I put all that blood, sweat and tears into it, here y’all come sniffin’ around.”