Blue-Collar Boys - Repairs & Maintenance (Book 2: Steamy Erotic Romance Stories) by Aria Hawthorne Page B

who never leave their house?”
     “I was going to say, ‘reckless.’” Lydia betrayed a wicked smile.
    “ Touché , Goldie.  Touché ,” Bruno quipped, raising up one foot.  “But I know you’re not the timid wallflower you pretend to be.  That sassy tongue of yours proves it.  You might be able to fool yourself.  But you’re not fooling me.”
    Lydia crossed her arms, annoyed.  She didn’t appreciate being psychoanalyzed by a strange man she barely knew, much less a reckless dare-devil—even if there was a chance that he was right. 
    “Why do you talk to people who don’t want to talk to you?”
    Bruno downed the remainder of his coffee and handed his cup to her.  “Because they talk back.”
    Lydia’s pouting lips melted into a smile.  It was impossible to deny Bruno’s sarcastic grim and salty asides.  Everything came so easily to him.  Every action was spontaneous.  Every bit of conversation was improvised.  There was no shame or fear because there were no expectations of success or failure.  There was only the present moment, and Bruno’s unruly desire to challenge that moment without regards for the consequences.  It was hard for Lydia to hide her smile because it was hard to betray her admiration for a man who refused to accept any boundaries, much less the boundaries she had placed on herself.  
    Bruno skipped along the tree branch, like a squirrel bouncing along with merriment.  “Well, enjoy the coffee, Goldilocks. I’m off to work now.  Got some more tree-murdering to do.  But I’ll be back tonight.”
    “Tonight?”
    He stopped and glanced back at her.  “Yeah, tonight.”
    “Why tonight?”
    “For our date,” Bruno grinned. “Make sure you dress comfortably.” Bruno threw on his aviator sunglasses and popped a fresh stick of gum into his mouth.
    “I’m not going out with you, Bruno,” she insisted.  But there was hesitation in her voice, and they both heard it.
    “We’ll see about that, Goldie,” he nodded at her blushing cheeks which betrayed the complicated emotions swelling in her heart. “Remember—comfortable.  But maybe not teddy- bear pajamas, okay?”  
    Lydia glanced down at her pajama top with red hearts and teddy bear cartoons.  Normally, a bruising comment like that would have forced Lydia to cower back into her house, paralyzed for weeks under the crushing weight of self-loathing and humiliation.  But not this time.  This time, she discerned the flirtatious tease in Bruno’s voice and recognized the mischievous glint across his sunglasses as he lifted his chin and tossed her a playful glance.  
    “I’ll pick you up at nine o’clock.”  Bruno didn’t wait for her protest.  Instead, he shimmed upwards into the tree, disappearing into the maze of branches, and left Lydia to sort out the pang of adrenaline that soared through her body at the thought of going out of her house, much less on a date with Bruno.
    Lydia pulled her window shut, determined to seal it forever.  But it was impossible to deny the wave of courage and excitement that coursed through her heart and inflated her self-confidence like a balloon.  Suddenly, she stripped off her pajamas and stared at her naked body in her dressing mirror, searching out the part of her that she had tamed, suppressed, and repressed for so long that she barely believed it existed anymore.  Now, in the mercurial reflection of glass and light, it all seemed so clear.  Lydia did not see her pale face, boney body, and stringy bronze hair.  Instead, she only recognized her spirit.  And in this moment, it was fearless.
     
    * * * *
     
    Moonlight echoed through Lydia’s sheer curtains like a pale ghost, whispering her name between the silence of light and darkness and tempting her into the unknown.  There was a knock at her window.  She knew it was him. She had been waiting for him the whole day with a flutter in her heart and a constriction in her chest—an anxious swirl of nervous