Turn Me On Read online

  Robin heard some banging coming from the basement and she knew Sam had gone back down. She felt horrible leaving him in a lurch. “Barb, I need to go. I’m in the middle of updating my electrical and he needs me.”

  “To stay out of the way. Contractors hate it when the homeowner hovers over them.”

  Oh, I wouldn’t mind him hovering over me. “Sam is different. He actually is teaching me a lot.”

  “Okay. What am I missing?”

  “Nothing,” Robin lied.

  “Best friends know when something is up. So let me see what I’ve got so far. You’re not miserable like you have been. And you’re working with your contractor. I won’t even bother asking if he’s handsome, because I can tell by your tone, he’s gorgeous.”

  “Barb, I really need to—”

  “Tell me more. Let me live vicariously through you. It’s been too long since I’ve had such fun.”

  “Really? I don’t think your husband would like to hear you say that.” Robin knew they were happily married.

  “Two kids who have different sleep schedules might be a damper on our…romantic times.”

  Robin wanted children someday. But she had to admit, there was something about the freedom to do what she wanted, when she wanted. But it would be nice to have a reason to come home at night. Someone to need me. That didn’t seem to be in her cards. At least not at this time of her life. But she needed to remind Barb the grass is not always as green as it appears.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. The last time I called you it didn’t sound like you were out of breath from chasing the kids.”

  Barb laughed. “Maybe we’re not as busy as I thought.”

  Robin heard some cussing and knew things weren’t going too great with Sam doing it all alone. “Barb, I really got to go. If I don’t, we won’t have any lights at all tonight.”

  “Oh…candle light. Nice,” Barb said teasingly. “Call me soon. I miss you.”

  “Miss you too.”

  As soon as she ended the call she rushed to the top of the stairs. She flipped the switch, totally forgetting the electricity was still off. It was so dark that she dreaded going down. But what if he’d gotten hurt and needed her?

  Slowly, she made her way down the rickety stairs. She hadn’t lived there long enough to remember how many there were. As she stumbled on the last one, she cursed. “Damn it.”

  A light shined on her.

  “What the hell are you doing down here?” Sam barked.

  “I’m checking on you.”

  “It’s dangerous down here,” Sam added.

  “I know. I was worried and thought you might have gotten hurt.”

  Sam was now standing directly in front of her and he shined his light on the stairs. “Go back upstairs before you break your neck falling down those things. They’re almost as dangerous as the freaking electric.”

  “But I’m supposed to be helping you.”

  “And you will, when I get back upstairs.” He nudged her up another stair.

  She hated being told what to do, but not as much as she hated being in the basement. He won this time, strictly based on location. When she got back upstairs, she made sure to sit close enough to the door so she could hear if anything went wrong. There was no doubt in her mind that he didn’t need her, but for some reason, she couldn’t stop.

  This is nuts. He knows what he’s doing. He doesn’t need me. Barb was right. The only thing she could do was get in the way. Sam probably had been humoring her earlier when he allowed her to help. But the first chance he got, he was back to running solo.

  She wasn’t angry. When it came to work, that’s how she did things too. He was here to work. But then again, that kiss said he might be here for something else. So many changes had taken place over the past few months that it was difficult to clearly judge things. Should she try to keep things on a professional level, or just give in to her desires? Her attraction to him wasn’t purely sexual. Robin found him funny, and interesting to talk with. But there was no denying how her body came alive when he lifted her up into his arms.

  Was his entire body muscle? She swore she could feel his abs as he slowly slid her out of his arms. And that bulge pressing against her lit a fire between her legs that she desperately wanted to kindle.

  If we start then my electrical won’t ever get finished. But what the heck. Who needs electricity anyway?

  She sat there waiting for Sam to come back up. When he did, he not only was filthy, but he looked tired. Robin remembered that he’d driven the night before and hadn’t slept.

  “Why don’t you take a shower and I’ll go to the diner and grab us some dinner?” Robin suggested.

  “Not that I don’t appreciate your offer, but I’m not looking forward to a cold shower.”

  “You mean I don’t have any hot water now either?” Robin asked.

  “That’s what I was dealing with in the basement. Looks like your hot water heater let go. But I got the water shut off and I can change it out for you tomorrow.”

  Don’t cry. Don’t cry. She felt so beaten down. When she first learned that Aunt Ester had left her the house, she wondered what she’d done right to get so lucky. Now she was wondering what she’d done so wrong. A money pit. And it’s all mine.

  “Don’t worry. I know a sheriff’s office that has a nice shower inside.”

  “The rate things are going here, we might just end up sleeping in the cell too,” Robin said.

  “Trust me, Robin, this is just a small setback. Tomorrow we’ll be back on track.”

  “I’m holding you to that,” she teased. But inside, she wasn’t laughing. Although she appreciated his help, she hated that she needed it. She couldn’t help but wonder what the night might have held for them, had it not been for this old house’s issues.

  Who knows? Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow. Or maybe it’ll be just more of the same.

  6

  She hated the fact that Sam was curled up on the couch that looked as uncomfortable as sleeping on a bed of rocks. She’d sat there only once and swore there were only springs and no filling left. But with how much her aunt had stacked on top of it, she didn’t believe it was being used for anything more than storing things that couldn’t make it down to the basement.

  Robin didn’t drag it that far, but she was able to stuff it into closets when she first arrived. Mostly because she thought, out of sight, out of mind. But what were the odds that Sam would open one of those doors, sending the crap tumbling down on him?

  She could picture it all too clearly. Sam trying to be his usual, helpful self, gets up before her, folds the blanket, and opens the closet door to put it away. A sea of clutter comes crashing down on top of him, and she’d need to spend the morning digging him out.

  It really would be a sight to see, and on the tippy top was a variety of multicolored clown wigs and a box of red noses. The thought of one actually landing on his head was more than she could bear prior to coffee.

  Bolting from her bed, she opened her bedroom door to see if he was still asleep. No sound or movement came from the couch. But it was still early and the sun was barely up. So she walked around to the other side to get a better look. He wasn’t there. Thankfully the blanket was rolled up in a ball at one side, with the pillow on the other.

  There was no way he had started working so early. She wasn’t that sound of a sleeper. Surely she’d have heard some commotion taking place. Then again, Robin hadn’t seemed to hear him get up.

  She looked around in the few places she had no issue walking barefoot. When she didn’t see him, she peered out the window to look for his truck. It was parked where he’d left it last night after dinner. He couldn’t be too far, as this house wasn’t that big.

  Robin was just about to call out to him when she heard the sound of a truck approaching. Looking out the window again she saw it pull up directly in front of her house. There was no question that she wasn’t expecting a delivery of any sort. As she opened the door to
let the driver know he had the wrong address, Sam came out from behind the house.

  “What the heck are you doing out here?” Sam asked her gruffly.

  “There’s a guy that is lost. I want to let him know.” Not that she really felt as though she needed to explain herself to him.

  “I mean like that.” Sam pointed to her bare legs.

  Oh God. Robin wasn’t used to having anyone else in the house with her so a T-shirt worked just fine as pajamas. It wasn’t as though anyone could see her undies, but it barely covered them. Grabbing the bottom hem and pulling it downward was only making it worse, as she needed to bend over to do so.

  Robin dashed back inside and rushed to her room. The dark made it nearly impossible to find her shorts, so she grabbed what she located first. Slipping on the neon tie-dyed spandex yoga pants, she headed back outside. Sam was already speaking with the driver. He seemed to have everything under control. That was, until the driver walked to the back of the box truck and lifted the door.

  Robin was about to ask what was going on when she noticed what was being delivered. A new hot water heater. Was it needed? Yes. Could she afford this? No. Was she going to allow Sam to purchase it for her? Absolutely not.

  Storming over she said, “This needs to go back.” The driver looked at her, then to Sam. “This is my house and I make the decisions here.”

  That was almost comical to say, because not only didn’t it feel like her house, but it was more like the house was making all the decisions for her.

  “Lady, this is already paid for. I’m only delivering it. If you want to call the shop and dispute it, that’s fine. But they’ll have to send someone else out to pick it up.”

  She stood there tapping her foot wanting to tell Sam off right then and there. But no matter how angry she was at the moment, she wouldn’t do such a thing in front of another person. Also, blowing her top wasn’t something she normally did either. Robin was known for keeping her cool no matter what the situation was. Yet here she was, her emotions running amok on her. If she wasn’t careful those red strands of hair were going to be gray by the end of the week.

  When the driver pulled away from the curb, Sam turned to her and said, “I didn’t do this for you.”

  She crossed her arms and asked, “Really? Then who did you do it for?”

  “Me.”

  Robin shook her head. “That makes no sense at all.”

  “It does to me. I’m the one working down in that basement. All I want when I come up is a hot shower.”

  “That’s a pathetic excuse if I ever heard one,” she stated firmly.

  Sam nodded. “I know, but trust me. There are more creepy crawly things down there than you want to know.”

  “You’re not turning this around and making it about you. I know what you’re trying to do. What I don’t get is why? You don’t know me and here you are helping me more than I can ever pay you back. Why?”

  Sam stood there looking at her for a moment before answering. When he did, she almost cried.

  “Because I believe in you and I don’t want all this small shit that is happening around you to be what steers you off course.”

  “This doesn’t feel like small shit.”

  “That’s because of where you are right now. But if you were back in Chicago and running your shop, what would this feel like?”

  He was right. These things wouldn’t beat her down. She’d call a contractor and be done with it so she could stay focused on what was important to her. My dream. My shop.

  “Sam, I hope you know how annoying you are.” He looked shocked and she added, “No one should be right all the time.”

  He chuckled. “Oh I’m not.”

  “Really? Tell me more,” she teased.

  “For starters, I sent the driver away and now I need to get the heater into the basement by myself. With no lights. Guess what I’m going to need you to do?”

  “Carry it down while you hold the flashlight?” Robin snickered.

  “Never thought of that, but let’s try my way first.” He pulled the flashlight out of his back pocket and tossed it to her. “Just light the way and I’ll do the rest. If we’re lucky, we’ll have hot water by lunch.”

  She took the flashlight from him and said, “I’ll need a cold shower if I don’t have coffee soon.”

  Sam laughed. “Two extra-large hot black coffees waiting for you on the kitchen table.” Her mouth watered just thinking about it. “But not till this heater is in the basement.”

  “Hey, who’s the boss here?” Robin joked.

  “On this, me.” Sam wrapped his arms around the heater and lifted it off the ground. “You don’t want the coffee getting cold.”

  Sadly, he knew exactly how to get her to comply with his request. She wasn’t going to waste any more time arguing. Winning the argument wasn’t as enticing as that hot brew waiting for her. Turning on the light, she lit his way.

  Hot coffee. Hot shower. Hot guy. Today was off to a good start. Now if only it could end on such a note.

  * * *

  Sam was glad Robin was preoccupied all day at Dottie’s Diner. That might have been his doing when he stopped in to get the coffee. But he needed her out of the house for a while. She wasn’t in the way at all. He had no choice but to call in a favor and bring in someone experienced to help him.

  Sneaking someone into Tremont, unnoticed, wasn’t easy. For a place that seemed to want to live privately, they knew more about each other’s lives than anyone did in the city. But somehow, he pulled it off. Ron arrived shortly after Robin left and they got right to it. They removed the old fuse box and put in a modern breaker system. Then they got the kitchen and bathroom back on line with dedicated outlets. He was far from done, but to have a working kitchen and bathroom was a game changer for her.

  “Are you sure you don’t want me to hang around? We could bang this place out in about two days if we hustle,” Ron offered.

  “Yeah, I’m sure. Besides, I need you back in Boston.”

  Ron shook his head. “It looks like you need me more here.”

  Need. Yes. Want? No. This wasn’t one of his jobs. He was here because he wanted to be. At least for now. He figured by the time the work was done, he’d be over whatever hold she had on him. It wasn’t as though he couldn’t break it, more like he didn’t want to. Having Ron around would do exactly that.

  “I have help,” Sam said.

  “Yet you called me. Something doesn’t add up,” Ron said. “Why do I get the feeling the house doesn’t belong to a little old lady in her nineties?”

  With brows raise, Sam said, “What are you implying?”

  “You came back to Boston talking like Tremont was the last place you wanted to be. That there was no excitement here. Seems you found something…exciting. Cause I can’t remember the last time you got your hands this dirty.”

  “Don’t forget who signs your check,” Sam warned.

  “And provided a nice bonus. Thank you by the way. My wife had it spent before I even got home. She said she earned it being married to me all these years.”

  Sam laughed. “There’s not enough money in the world to cover that.” Ron was a good worker and friend, but he liked to joke around. There were a few pranks he had pulled on his wife and Sam thought for sure she was going to kill him for it. Ron knew better than to pull that shit with him. No matter how good a worker he was, Sam would’ve fired his ass.

  “Well, since you don’t want me here, I guess I’ll drive back to Boston. Not bad getting forty bucks an hour to do nothing but drive,” Ron laughed as he walked to his truck. “Call me when something else breaks.”

  Unfortunately, that was just a matter of time. He didn’t want to discourage Robin, but this house needed more work than it might be worth. The only thing it had going for it was the land around it. She didn’t strike him as the type that was about to plant a huge garden or raise any animals. Then again, she’d surprised him a few times already.

  With Ron gone
, Sam took the liberty of cleaning out the refrigerator. With the power off for a few days, everything inside needed to be tossed. That was a waste, but couldn’t be avoided. There was no time for him to drive and restock. She definitely would return before he did. So he decided to catch her before she left Dottie’s. Grabbing his keys, he hopped in his truck and sped down to the main drag. Sure enough, she was just leaving the diner.

  Pulling his truck up to her he said, “I’m off to get some groceries and thought you could give me a hand picking out a few things.”

  “Sounds good, but where are we going to put it?” Robin asked.

  “I made a lot of progress. Heater installed and the electricity in the kitchen and bathroom completed.”

  Her green eyes widened, and she said, “Is that what happens when I get out of the way?”

  He shook his head. Sam didn’t want her to feel as though she wasn’t needed or wanted. “No. That’s what happens when I’m hungry. But since I’m a horrible cook, I thought we could compromise.”

  “How exactly?”

  “I buy the food and you cook it. Oh. I really hate doing dishes too.”

  Robin laughed. “Cooking and cleaning. Tell me you’re not chauvinistic and have been covering it up all this time.”

  Sam raised his hands in defense. “I’d cook, but it won’t be edible. You know how they say men are the master of the grill?” She nodded. “For me, I am the master of making shoe leather. Everything is well done.”

  “You mean overdone,” she corrected.

  “So do we have a deal?” Sam asked.

  “I do have good strong teeth, but I’d like to keep them that way.”