The Landscaper (Book Six, Working Men)

By Ramona Gray

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.

Author’s Note: This is the sixth in a series of stand-alone short and dirty (So.Very.Dirty.) novellas. You do not need to read the first five stories to enjoy this one. If you’re looking for quick, one-handed (ahem) reads with insta-love, over-the-top alpha, blue-collar men then the trope-alicious Working Men series is for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ramona Gray
• Release date: Aug 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781988826578

Ramona Gray

Ramona Gray is a Canadian romance author. She lives in Alberta with her awesome husband and her mutant Chihuahua. She is addicted to home improvement shows, good coffee, and reading and writing about the steamier moments in life.Email her at: [e-mail] out her website: www.ramonagray.caSign up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/_cL75She also writes contemporary and paranormal romance under her alter-ego "Elizabeth Kelly". Check out Elizabeth's books at www.elizabethkelly.ca

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Isabelle

O kay, listen, big guy. You don’t like me, and I respect that. We’ve just met, you’re 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 his 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 rest 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 rainwater 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’d been 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 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. Still, 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 wanted 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 scared away by Mrs. Johnson’s youngest son, but I followed his 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 held 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 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 to bath you. 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 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?

As I stood shivering in the kitchen, water and mud dripping off of the dog at my feet and me, I studied the room. I hadn’t been in Knox’s house in years, but not much had changed. He had upgraded his appliances to stainless steel and replaced the countertop 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 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 returned and handed me a big fluffy blue towel. I dabbed at my suddenly hot face and wet hair. I knew 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 my crotch started 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 that I ruined your rose bushes. Let me know how much it costs to replace them, and I’ll e-transfer the money to