Cattle Valley Mistletoe CV2 (2 page)

“I hope so, because celibacy is not my thing.” Casey pulled out his wallet and put money on the table for his share of lunch. “I gotta get going. As hard as it was to talk Halden into showing up, it wouldn’t do for me to be late.”

“There’s someone you should get to know. That man’s built fine. When the rumours started up about us opening a gym, Hal was the first to call. After taking one look at him, I told him he’d do better as an instructor than a member. He turned me down though.

Said he wasn’t much of a people person. Far as I’ve heard, he only has one real friend in town and that’s Gill. Funny thing is, as quiet as Gill is, I didn’t know he had any friends in town. Don’t ask me what the two of them do when they get together, because I’m sure it’s not shootin’ the shit.”

“You mean you think they’re seeing each other?” Casey asked, putting on his coat.

Nate shook his head. “Naw, from what I understand, they’re just friends.” Casey nodded and shook Nate’s hand before leaving. Climbing into his little Honda, he headed home. By the time he arrived back at his house, he felt worn out. He hated driving in the snow. People around here thought it was nothing. Maybe he needed a four-wheel drive.

As he was getting out of the car, a huge four-door pickup pulled into the parking lot.

From the sign on the side of the black truck, Casey determined it was Halden. With a quick look at his reflection in the window, Casey walked across the yard to the parking lot.

Casey’s feet faltered when Halden exited his truck.
Oh, unfair. This was like waving a
steak under a starving man’s nose.
Halden had the body-type of every man he’d ever been attracted to. Tall, with wide shoulders, Halden walked toward him. He couldn’t make out Halden’s facial features because of the black cowboy hat riding low on his forehead, but by the way he moved, Casey guessed he was going to be just as yummy close up.

A few feet from the man, Casey held out his hand. “Mr. Kuckleman?” Casey’s hand was taken in a firm grip, almost too firm. “Call me Hal.” 8

Trying to return the handshake almost killed Casey. He was definitely not Hal’s equal in regards to strength. Upon closer examination, Hal’s face was indeed yummy. Not typically handsome features, but when you put them all together, the effect was nice.

“Okay, Hal, I’m Casey.” He released Hal’s hand and gestured to the back of the church.

“As you can see, the shell is up, but that’s basically it.” As they walked toward the expansion, Hal rubbed the back of his neck. “You mind me asking why the original contractor didn’t finish?” Casey opened the side door and led Hal into the big open space. “Nothing exciting. Jeff Hutton started the job but asked out of his contract due to some personal problems.” Hal nodded his head and continued to walk around the space. “So, what are we talking here? Is it going to be one big room or divided up?” Motioning for Hal to follow him, Casey walked toward the make-shift work bench set along one wall. He unrolled the blueprints for Hal’s inspection. “As you can see, it’s basically the one big room, with the exception of bathrooms over here and a functional kitchen. We’ll have our own church functions here as well as renting it out to other groups or individuals.”

Hal rolled up the blueprints. “Do you mind if I take these with me? I need to study them before I can tell you how much and if it can be done in time for Christmas Eve. I’ll be honest, the time-frame is going to be the biggest issue. Would you be opposed to having the party if everything’s not completed?”

With those light blue eyes staring at him, Casey found it hard to even think. “Uh, well, I guess it would depend on just how far from being done it is.”

“Cosmetics mostly, it’ll take some time to get the wiring done and plumbing finished before we can even start on the insulation and sheetrock.” Hal narrowed his eyes a bit and leaned forward. “I won’t put speed over quality, so if you just want it done and don’t care how, I’m not your man.”

Oh yes you are
, Casey thought. “I owe it to the parishioners to see the job is done right, so you won’t get any arguments from me.”

“Fair enough.” Hal started to walk toward the door, but stopped and turned around. “I need to be upfront with you. It looks to be a bad winter for someone in my line of work. I reckon I’ll take on this project, but you need to know it’ll be for the money and to give me something to do over the winter. I’ve no desire to be led into the Promised Land by you or anyone else.”

“I told you before, I’m looking for a contractor, not another parishioner.” Casey felt a little irritated that Hal thought he’d try to convert him.

9

Holding up the blueprints, Hal nodded. “I’ll take a look and get them back to you as soon as possible.”

“I’d appreciate it,” Casey said, following Hal’s firm ass out the door and into the parking lot.

Getting in his truck, Hal called out, “By the way, do you already have the materials ordered, or am I going to need to do that?”

Scratching his head, Casey stepped closer to Hal’s pickup. “We’ve already got most of it stored in my garage. The sheetrock hasn’t been ordered though, or anything as far as paint, trim, stuff like that.”

“Okay, good to know. I’ll call ya later. It was nice to meet you, Casey.”

“Same here.” Casey managed a smile. As he stepped back and watched Hal drive off, he wondered if Hal was aloof with everyone or just men of the church.

10

Stretched out on the sofa, Casey munched on a bowl full of popcorn and Hot Tamales, while watching
Walking Tall
. He didn’t know whether he was paying more attention to the movie or The Rock’s body, but both seemed to be extremely satisfying.

He’d just started a slow rhythm stroking his cock, when there was a knock on the door.

Looking down at the cock in his hand, he sighed, “Later.” Setting the popcorn bowl on the coffee table, Casey tried to adjust the half-hard bulge in his sweats, before just giving up and walking toward the door.

Looking through the peep-hole, his cock hardened further. With a smile, he unlocked and opened the door. “Hi, I wasn’t expecting you.” Casey shook his head, flustered. “What I meant was, I thought you’d call.” He stepped back and let Hal into the living room.

“I’m sorry,” Hal said, looking around. “I was in town anyway and thought I’d drop by to give you my bid.” He handed a piece of paper to Casey.

“I have to find my glasses. Would you like to have a seat?” Casey gestured to the sofa.

Glancing down, Hal shook his head. “I’m okay here. I wouldn’t want to track on the carpet.”

“Oh,” Casey studied the large tan boots. “Well, if you’ll wait here, I think my glasses are in the study.” Casey turned and went to his office. Flipping on the light, he caught his reflection in the window above his desk. With his hair mussed, and his dick hard, he looked like a wanton fool. Quickly smoothing down the wayward locks, he looked down at his cock once more.
Please, not now.

Finding his glasses, he put them on, and studied the bid. He was a little shocked at the price. The bid was higher than he’d expected, but Casey knew he didn’t have much choice. Hal was the only contractor left in the area, and apparently he knew he had Casey over a barrel. The image did little to quell his lust.

Walking back into the living room, Casey studied the bid some more. When he glanced up, he caught Hal looking him up and down with apparent appreciation. Casey mentally gave himself a little pat on the back,
yep, I’ve still got it.
Now the question was how to share it?

11

He stopped in front of Hal and pointed toward the bid. “I’ll be honest. It’s a little higher than I thought it’d be.”

With a slight shake to his head, Hal pointed at the paper. “A lot of the labour charge is because of the timeframe. If you want most of the building completed by Christmas Eve, I’m going to be putting in a lot of overtime.”

Casey scratched his head. “If I agree to help out as much as I can during the day, can you knock some of this off? I mean, I know nothing about plumbing or wiring, but I can fetch and carry. Surely, with some grunt labour it should speed things up a bit?”

“I usually work alone,” Hal said, voice getting a little gruff.

Taking off his glasses in frustration, Casey rubbed his eyes. “So are you telling me no, that the bid stands as is?”

Hal said nothing for a long moment. “I guess we can try it, but I can’t make promises that it’ll work out. I’ll keep track of the hours I spend on site and adjust the bill accordingly at the end of the project. That’s the best I can do, take it or leave it.” Casey stuck out his hand, and waited for Hal. “Deal,” he said after Hal shook on it. Casey noticed Hal’s grip wasn’t as firm this time. Did that mean he thought Casey too weak to handle a real handshake? Well, he’d show him. Casey would be the best darn grunt man in the business. “When can you start?”

Hal released Casey’s hand. “Six a.m.”

Six a.m.? Wow, okay he could do this. “I’ll be ready.” The morning after their first workday, Casey poured coffee into a thermos. Every muscle in his body hurt, and his hands were trashed. How did people do this kind of work everyday? At least he’d been smart enough to put on three layers of clothing. Working in his coat was cumbersome. He’d noticed Hal wore a ski vest, maybe he should invest in one?

A glance at the clock showed it was time to head to the church. Casey put on his coat, and tucked the thermos under his arm before opening the door. It was still dark outside.

What reasonable human voluntarily went to work at six a.m.?

Spotting Hal’s truck next to the addition, Casey knew exactly what kind of man. He’d had to remind Hal three times the previous day that he should break for lunch. Hal was like some kind of robot. He very rarely talked, and when he did, he just seemed to bark out orders. Casey had to remind himself several times he was working for the good of the church.

12

Opening the side door, Casey took off his coat and set the thermos on their worktable.

“Morning,” he called to Hal across the room.

Hal grunted a reply Casey took to mean good morning. “I brought some hot coffee if you’d care for a cup.”

Slipping his tape measure into one of the pouches in his tool-belt, Hal turned. Without acknowledging Casey had spoken, Hal put the pencil behind his ear and walked toward him.

After digging for a few seconds in his toolbox, Hal came out with a pair of leather gloves.

“I saw your hands yesterday and figured you could use these.” He handed the gloves to Casey.

“Thanks. Would you like a cup of coffee?” Casey asked, holding up the thermos.

“Sure,” Hal said.

Casey poured the aromatic brew into the thermos lid and handed it to Hal. “It’s strong, hope you like it that way.”

“It’ll do,” Hal said, sipping at his drink. He turned and went back to work. Casey looked down at the thermos and realised he hadn’t brought another cup. Darn it, he’d have to go back over to the house. “I forgot something, but I’ll just be a minute,” he yelled, putting his coat back on.

Trudging back across the cold parking lot, Casey wondered if he’d ever break through Hal’s surly demeanour. For that matter, why did he even care? Yeah, the man was hot, but did he even have it in him to treat a boyfriend with respect? Wow, wait a minute.

Who said anything about making Hal his boyfriend?

After grabbing another cup out of the cabinet, Casey once again made the trek back.

Stepping inside, his gaze immediately landed on Hal. He was bent over the worktable jotting notes on the blueprints. He’d shed his vest and rolled up his sleeves. Nice arms.

Casey watched as the tendons moved with each stroke of his pencil. He felt his cock begin to harden.

Averting his eyes, Casey took off his coat. When he finally got his first sip of coffee, he moaned. Hal’s head popped up. “You say something?”

“No, sorry.” Casey held up his cup. “It’s just my first coffee of the morning…makes me moan.”

Hal glanced down, and Casey knew he was checking him out. Shoot, had he not been completely frozen, Casey would have gone over the edge from a look like that.

13

“So what would you like me to do for you?” Casey asked, quickly finishing his coffee.

“I’m gonna start on the wiring. You think you can start bringing in the spools from your garage?” Hal stuck his pencil between his teeth and waited.

“Sure, coming up,” Casey said, sighing on the inside. Why he’d even bothered to take off his coat was anyone’s guess. “Do you want all the electrical stuff?” Casey knew there was a lot more to wiring up electricity besides the actual spools of wire.

“Yep,” Hal said around his pencil. He went back to looking at the blueprints, dismissing Casey it seemed.

This was going to be a long day, Casey thought as he grabbed his coat.

By lunchtime, Casey had brought over, not only the electrical, but the plumbing supplies as well. Knowing the weather wasn’t going to get any better, he decided to just torture himself once that week.

Laying the last of the PVC pipe down, Casey turned to Hal. “I have a meeting in an hour with the church board, so I’m gonna take off and grab a quick shower.” Without turning around, or speaking, Hal waved his goodbye. Casey shook his head and rolled his eyes. Stopping to retrieve the empty thermos, he headed out the door. The entire walk home Casey discussed his attraction to Hal with his libido.

As soon as Casey walked out the door, Hal sighed. “This is going to kill me,” he said to the wall. He’d done his best to keep Casey out of his line of vision for the previous two days, but just knowing he was in the room was giving his willpower a workout. He’d felt bad for making him carry everything in from the garage, but Hal was at the end of his rope.

He remembered the first day he’d seen Casey Sharp. He’d been at Gill’s garage when the man had pulled up to the self-serve gas pumps out front. Hal had immediately asked Gill who the new guy was getting gas. He was definitely interested until Gill informed him Casey was the town’s new reverend.

Little did he know, he’d be working for Casey barely a week later. It was hard enough to turn from the window the first time at Gill’s, but now it was impossible. His ringing cell phone pulled him out of his misery. Unclipping it from his waist, Hal saw it was Gill.