Hoaley Ill-Manored (20 page)

Dirk’s fingers found his own nipples and he
pinched them, his head rolling back with delight as Adam’s sensual
assault encompassed nearly every pleasure center on his body. There
was only one spot that needed attention, and Adam soon remedied
that. He captured Dirk’s sweet lips and speared them with his
hungry tongue. Dirk moaned against Adam’s lips, sucking the
questing tongue hard, with rabid need. A moment later, with a groan
deep in his chest, Dirk threw back his head and cried out in his
own release, a husky declaration of the pleasure they’d created
between them.

Adam’s spent cock jerked at the sound, his
balls tightened. He deepened their kiss, pouring all the emotion
he’d been carrying around for the past days into it, and joyfully
accepting the same back from Dirk.

“I love you, Ads.” Dirk’s hand continued to
gently milk Adam’s shaft, pulling a last few delightful jolts of
pleasure from him, and Adam did the same.

“I love you too, Dirk. Let’s make a promise
not to let this get away from us again. Agreed?”

Dirk groaned and pulled Adam close, wrapping
him in a tight embrace. “Agreed. Never again.”

They lay close for a few minutes, regaining
their breath and equilibrium in the noisy darkness of the hospital
at night. In the spirit of getting everything out in the open, Adam
felt compelled to ask about Spence.

“He went back to California.” Dirk told him.
“I never led him on, Ads. I can’t help how he felt. I thought we
were just business partners, maybe friends. And when he made me the
offer on the manor…well…I didn’t see how it would look to you and
I’m sorry for that.”

Adam shook his head, his finger skimming
along Dirk’s thigh and making him shiver. “I’m stupid. I should
have trusted you.”

“Yes.” Dirk smiled. “You should have.”

They fell silent for a long minute and then
Adam said, “If Spence’s offer still stands…on the manor that is…I’d
like to take him up on it.”

Dirk frowned. “Are you sure? That would mean
having Lin around a lot.”

Adam shrugged. “I need to learn to deal with
that. He’s part of your work, your career. Besides…” He grinned. “I
have to admit I’ve been having fantasies about doing it in the
stables with you dressed up like a groom.”

Dirk laughed. “Bilsworth doesn’t have a
stables.”

“Not now,” Adam’s lips found Dirk’s throat.
“But I’m thinking we can fix that. I know where we can find
pictures of what it used to look like. Back in the day.”

Dirk shivered slightly under Adam’s lips.
“That sounds like a plan. As long as there’s no actual horse shit
involved in the fantasy.”

Adam licked his way across Dirk’s jawline
and nipped his chin. “Not right in the middle of the fantasy, but
there has to be
some
there, or it won’t feel real.”

Dirk laughed. “I might have to borrow Mink’s
waders then.”

“Kinky. Yeah, if you’re gonna wear those
things you might want to disinfect them first. I’m not at all sure
Mink didn’t pee himself when those bats flew at him.”

Dirk burst into laughter and Adam joined
him, for the moment at least, both of them forgetting their pain in
the joy of friends and memories.

When they stopped laughing a few minutes
later, Adam swiping tears from his cheek with the back of his hand,
Dirk yanked those good feelings right out from under Adam with a
mischievous sparkle in his eyes. “It’s good you’re going to take
Lin up on his offer, ’cause you need to start focusing on the next
project soon.”

“Oh good lord! You had to remind me of
that!” Adam flopped over onto his back, one hand resting on his
brow in an unconscious imitation of Mink being melodramatic. “What
the hell do you suppose those two have gotten me into now?”

Dirk settled against him, sighing with
pleasure as sleep tugged. “No clue, babe. But whatever it is we’ll
handle it.”

We
. Adam liked the sound of that.
“Yeah. We will.”

The books in the Hoale Construction Mystery
Series:

• Book 1: A Hoale Lot of Trouble
  

• Book 2: Hoaley Ill-Manored
  

Available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All
Romance eBooks, and Smashwords:

Please enjoy the following sample from
Book 1 in the Hoale Construction Mystery Series
,
A Hoale
Lot of Trouble
.

DS

When a murderer finds out that sexy
construction company owner Adam Hoale discovered a deadly secret in
his latest flip, Adam may just get flipped himself!

Adam Hoale owns a construction company
called Hoale Construction. When he finds an eye-opening surprise in
the walls of a house he’s flipping, and a libido flaring surprise
standing on the lawn, he's willing to do the right thing with the
surprise in the wall while entertaining lusty thoughts about the
surprise on the lawn.

But as the world finds out what he
discovered, and his new boy toy seems to be keeping too many
secrets to make a relationship a reality, Adam soon realizes he may
just get flipped himself if he's not careful.

Adam Hoale climbed down from his truck and
slammed the door, grimacing at the dilapidated structure in front
of him. His partner, Maddy Rodgers had called the place a jewel in
the rough. Looking at it now, Adam thought it was more a hunk of
coal than a rough cut diamond. The place was going to take a
boatload of work to even classify as rough.

But that was why Maddy was the creative
genius in the partnership. Her vision was usually 20/20 on the
flipping side of their business, while Adam was almost legally
blind—metaphorically speaking. He trusted her to find them the
right properties and she trusted him to develop a plan to reach her
vision, which was why they were so good together as partners.

He spotted Maddy talking to the construction
designer under the sagging eaves of a deep porch, and started
toward her. Her small hands flew around her head as she spoke, the
tiny fingers pointing, now and then, to structural objects she
wanted the designer to notice. The realtor, Mink Pearsons, stood
nearby, waiting for his turn with Maddy.

Mink saw Adam coming and squealed, flouncing
down the stairs toward him with a wide smile. Adam accepted the
smaller man’s hug and kiss on the cheek. “You’re looking just
yummy, today Adam. That coat makes your eyes look even bluer and
goes nicely with your dark hair.” Mink reached to tug on an unruly
curl. “I like your hair longer like this too.”

Adam laughed. “It needs a cut. But, thanks.
You’re looking pretty fine yourself, Mink. Is that a new shirt?”
Flamboyant as always, Mink was dressed in a wide-sleeved tunic cut
from fabric that sported large spots in black and brown. The shirt
had a Nehru collar and epaulets on the shoulders. “I haven’t seen
Monsieur Epaulet or Captain Nehru for a while.”

Mink giggled. “I found a new designer. He’s
gay as a peacock and rides the razor edge of the fashion
horizon.”

Adam grimaced, “Please tell me that’s not
his slogan.”

Mink nodded happily. “It is. And it’s all
true. He assures me epaulets and Nehru collars are coming back.”
Mink leaned close, sending soft puffs of mint-flavored breath
across Adam’s face. “And he has the most delectable backside.”
Waggling eyebrows that were combed into spikes which conveyed
almost constant surprise on Mink’s softly handsome face, the
realtor nudged Adam in the ribs with a bony elbow.

Adam put an arm around Mink’s shoulders,
walking with him toward the porch. “You’re such a slut, Mink.”

“I know. Don’t you just love it?”

Maddy turned as the two men climbed sagging
wooden steps to the porch. “Oh good, Adam’s here. He can end this
by agreeing with me.”

Bud Lyons was a big bear of a man, with
graying brown hair that curled around his big head and a ruddy,
plain face. He grimaced and took Adam’s offered hand. “Boss.” An
extremely talented construction designer, Bud was also assisting,
temporarily, as Adam’s foreman since the last foreman was fired for
coming to work drunk. Bud had agreed to perform in that role until
Adam could afford to hire one.

Adam squeezed the big man’s hand in
assurance. As one of only a few straight members of Adam’s
close-knit crew, Bud often felt like they ganged up on him. He
liked to accuse them of keeping him around as their token hetro.
They never tried to seriously disabuse him of that idea, though he
didn’t really believe it.

Adam looked at Maddy “What’s the
problem?”

Maddy was five feet two inches tall, weighed
about a hundred and ten pounds, and had shoulder-length,
mahogany-brown hair that she wore in a silky bob. A thick fringe of
bangs hung into her wide, hazel eyes, and Maddy was constantly
swiping them away, as she did just then, while pursing bee-stung
lips that, as usual, were completely free of lipstick. Maddy
enjoyed a natural beauty that included clear skin and rosy cheeks.
She wore makeup only on her lashes and always smelled like lemons.
She had a sunny personality and was always ready with a smile.

Right at that moment, however, she looked a
bit like a cranky pixie. “Bud says we can’t take the wall out
between the kitchen and dining room. I was counting on that for my
interior makeover. If we have to leave that stupid wall it will
screw up my entire design.”

“It’s a load bearing wall, Maddy.” Bud’s
voice carried an uncharacteristic whine. He generally tried not to
put obstacles in Maddy’s way.

She glared at him, her pout increasing until
she looked less like a pixie and more like a puffer fish.

One of Maddy’s very few faults was a
tendency to want everything to go her way. In the grand scheme of
things, Adam guessed it was a pretty big flaw. But around Hoale
Construction, it was pretty much just accepted that whatever Maddy
wanted, Maddy got.

It made life a whole lot easier for
everybody.

But if they took out a load bearing wall the
house might collapse. So, in this case, compromise was in
order.

He looked at Bud. “Okay, what are our
options, Bud.”

“As I’ve been trying to tell, Maddy…”

She made a humph sound and settled more
deeply into her puffer fish persona.

“We can do a cut through, put a counter and
some stools there.”

“That’s frumpy. I had much bigger plans for
this house.”

“…Or…” Bud continued with a long suffering
look, “we can do columns. I was thinking Grecian columns, two of
them, with an arched header between them. We can paint the columns
glossy white to match the woodwork and it will look really
nice…”

Just like that, Maddy’s puffer fish
disappeared and the sun came back out as she realized what he was
proposing. “Actually, that’s a spectacular idea,” she murmured.
“I’ll have to adjust the décor a bit to reflect more of a Greek
flavor…” Maddy gave Bud a smile and nodded. “Okay. I can work with
that. Thanks, Bud.”

She turned to Mink, apparently dismissing
Adam and Bud. “Now, Mink, let’s talk schedule.” She wrapped an arm
around the realtor’s narrow shoulders and they swayed toward the
house, chattering gaily about their plans for selling the house
once it was flipped.

Bud lifted his eyebrows at Adam and Adam
laughed. “What can I say? All artists are temperamental, Bud.”

Bud shook his head. “I guess.”

“So, let’s walk through the house and you
can tell me what needs to be done.”

They followed in Maddy and Mink’s footsteps,
entering the hundred-year-old home and stopping in a truly
stupendous foyer with thirty-foot ceilings and dual, curved
staircases climbing toward a second level balcony.

“Well, as you can see, the house has the
potential to be stunning.”

Adam nodded. “Good bones?”

“Surprisingly good, actually. Structure’s
good. Foundation is solid. Maddy’s done it again. This house will
be worth a mint once it’s renovated.”

“When can you start demolition?”

“Tomorrow.”

Adam nodded. “Good. I’ll talk to Peter and
make sure he has the crew lined up.” Adam patted Bud on the
shoulder. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”

“See ya later, boss.”

Adam called Peter Smith on his cell as he
climbed back into his white, hemi pickup truck. Peter was the
Construction Manager for Hoale Construction. He scheduled and
managed the crew for each job, managed the materials budget for the
project, and purchased materials and equipment.

Peter answered his cell on the fourth ring.
“Adam, hey! I’ve got a line of guys around the corner here.”

With the economy in a nose dive, the
unskilled labor force had exploded. Adam utilized unskilled labor
for things like demolition and cleanup. He had set crews he liked
to work with for skilled labor. But Hoale Construction had made a
decision a couple years earlier to expand their selection process
to give more people a chance to work. So Peter and Adam had come up
with the Bingo method.

Each day, hundreds of men and women showed
up at the office and took numbers. Then Peter selected random
numbers to fill out crew needs for each, specific job. The men and
women holding those numbers got a day’s work and a day’s pay. The
rest went home and came back the next day for a chance to earn some
money as part of a crew.

The workers had made it a game by shouting
out “Bingo!” when their number was called, amid general
clapping.

Adam had been generally pleased with the
results of their new selection process. He paid each worker cash at
the end of his or her workday and felt good about helping people
put food on the table. Their biggest fear when initiating the new
process had been that the quality of work would suffer, but they’d
been pleased that it hadn’t fluctuated as much as one would have
expected. This was mainly because he’d given Peter the right to
reject anyone showing up for work who’d proven in the past that he
or she wasn’t able or willing to do what needed to be done, or who
couldn’t take instruction.