Men For Hire by Jennifeer Denys Michelle Roth Bella Settarra Tina Donahue Page A

shake of his head, he released her hand.
    Ian winced and said, “Ian, please. And, I’m sorry to frighten you. I left a message on your mobile. I was able to free up a little earlier from my last job. I was going to tour through the house and give you a time estimate for all of the repairs. I can come back later if—”
    “No, no. You’re fine. Let me just clean up and I’ll give you the grand tour. I’d love it if you’d go over everything and let me know if I’ve missed anything.”
    When he nodded, she brushed her hands against her thighs and headed toward the front door.
    His picture from his profile didn’t do him any justice. It didn’t show those adorable dimples he had or the dark sweep of lashes. He wasn’t ripped, but she could tell that he was built. She judged him to be a few years younger than her, but it was always hard to tell with men. In any case, Ian Starling was absolutely gorgeous.
    She was startled out of her thoughts when Ian said, “Ms. Whitman?”
    “Geez, sorry. I’m off in space. And, please don’t call me Ms. Whitman. Call me Stella.”
    “Stella, then,” he agreed. “I was asking whether you were planning to live here, or sell it.”
    “It was my summer home as a child. When my mom passed, I had originally thought I’d sell the cottage. When I saw what they did to it, I couldn’t bear the thought of selling my childhood home to some stranger who might destroy it.”
    He nodded at her, sympathy written all over his face. When he spoke, his voice was soft. He said, “We’ll go room by room and figure out what I can repair easily and what will take more time. We’ll sort it by order of importance and go from there. We’ll fix the house up.”
    She nodded and opened the front door. As he stepped through, she said, “I really hope so.”

Chapter Two
     
     
    I an took in the stone fireplace, and the crown molding. The floor could use some work, he mused, but the structure itself was gorgeous. He reached into his back pocket and started taking meticulous notes.
    As they walked from room to room, he went over every little inch of the property. She had come with him, asking intelligent questions along the way. It was easy to see she was very emotionally invested in the property.
    She was planning on doing some of the cosmetic work on the outside, and some of the painting inside herself. That would definitely save her a bit of money. The smaller rooms would be easy to paint. Steaming some of that godawful wallpaper off would be another story entirely.
    When she had gotten a call, she had stepped away. That had been a relief. He was used to homeowners micromanaging, but she smelled like vanilla. Almost like birthday cake. She is fucking gorgeous.
    Her dark auburn waves had been piled on top of her head in a messy knot. He could tell it was pretty long. When she had been bent over in the garden, he had watched her unabashedly for a moment. Her round ass in those snug little trousers had done things to him—
    The singing had helped to undo them. That poor girl couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, he thought, laughing to himself. He had eventually made himself tap her on the shoulder. He knew the longer he stood there, the creepier it was.
    Even though he had known it was coming, her screech had made him flinch. He’d been knocked flat when she turned around, though. He had appreciated her lush curves but hadn’t been expecting that face. She looked like some sort of mermaid siren.
    His grandfather had always been fascinated with the sea. He had a collection of old ship models, paintings, and the like. Ian hadn’t entirely understood it, but he’d loved poking through it all as a child. He’d had this wood carving of a mermaid that he’d kept on his desk. Stella reminded him of that.
    This was the first time he’d had to reason with his cock in quite a while. He’d been divorced for over two years now. He’d dated here and there but had been successful in avoiding any sort