n o a h

I still believe Ms. Davenport is the ice queen, don't get me wrong, and I still don't like the woman. But I'm not a knob.

She had been crying or at least was close to it when I caught her downstairs in the bathroom.

Despite my preconceived feelings about her I couldn't leave her to be by herself all depressed and pathetic so I invited her for a drink. My original plans on going back out with the boys will be put on pause for now.

And I'm not entirely regretting my choice. At least, not yet anyways.

"I didn't peg you for a whiskey drinker?" I smile down at her, noticing the dark bottle clutched tightly to her chest reflecting the moonlight as we walk along the ledge of the lake.

Cartier lifts the bottle and shrugs, "I'm not though. I ran out of wine two weeks ago and this is all I have left..."

She stares at the bottle as she walks in those ridiculous slippers. She's in the same type of pajamas she wore the night she hurt her leg, silk shorts worn high on her hips and a collared button silk shirt. Unlike the others these are a cream white color. Contrasting against her beautiful tanned skin vibrantly.

I catch a glimpse of the title sticker on the front of the bottle with fancy and elaborate cursive writing reading "Cartier and Anthony".

"Bloody hell, what kind of whiskey is it?" I blurt out. If her ex-husband's name is Anthony we're finishing that bottle off tonight. Sorry boys.

She snorts and twists it around so the sticker faces the little buttons of her shirt.

So I snatch it from her grasp and hold it up to read it properly with the dim light, indeed it must be them, "Are you jokin?"

"I stole it. It was a wedding gift and he's been saving it until he turns fifty. By then the whiskey will be over a hundred years old and-."

"And we are finishing it off tonight." I state for her with a boastful laugh.

I still when my ears are blessed with the sweetest giggle. It's quiet and child-like and for a moment I think I've imagined it but she takes the bottle back with a tight-lipped smile, proof maybe I had heard a laugh from her.

"We'd wind up in the hospital. It's incredibly strong."

"All the best nights end with at least one person at the hospital." I shoot back with a grin. Cartier looks away quickly her chocolate brown hair fanning over blocking my view of her face and continues down the footpath.

Typically, her hair had been pulled back in some sort of style since I've met her, but tonight it hangs loosely the ends curled and bouncing with her steps.

This nightcap is going to either be so awkward or I might actually manage to crack this icy exterior of hers.

I skip a step and catch up to her, "Hold on-- did you say you stole this bottle?"

She checks me beside her then nods. Sharing this trail brings us shoulder to shoulder. The top of her head manages to reach my shoulder. Cartier states, "He collects whiskey and scotch like this, so I stole this one then drank and dumped all the rest down the drain. After we signed our divorce papers."

"That's cold," I knew she was an ice queen. No wonder he divorced her.

"Excuse me, it was deserved. Anthony and I had been together for half my life. The day I had signed the divorce papers I found out he had been having an affair. He's lucky I didn't shove this bottle straight up his ass."

"Oh, right then -- fuck him." Christ, even my arse cheeks are clenching after that, she is fucking terrifying.

Little but scary, this one is.

"We are not going to skip by that first comment though, what do you mean 'half your life'?"

"I was seventeen when we got together."

I know I'm not supposed to ask but my curiosity is taking over as we get closer to the lake house, "And you're how old now?"

Cartier cocks a pretty dark brow at me but answers, "I'm thirty three."

"Fucking Hell, that is half your life!" I blurt out.

"Gee, thanks. I wasn't aware." She clutches the bottle tighter and we reach the steps to the deck where I speed past her and turn extending a hand to help her across the slab of wood I've laid over the hole she made.

She takes it and electricity fires off from her touch and dances up my arm causing the hairs of my arm to rise.

Cartier drops my hand all too quickly and I unlock the glass double door and open it, switching the light from the exposed light box on the wall. The quicker I can forget that electric touch the better.

The lights come on, and I scurry quickly to move all the shite from the floor, using my foot as a scoop to shove the cut pieces of 2x4 wood I'd been cutting last night for the deck repairs.

"Wow," She says. Her eyes are taking in all the mess. I'm sure she's about to drop dead because of it. It's not dirty and I know where everything is, but in her eyes, I'm sure she's having a conniption. "At least...I like the high beams." She offers as an attempt to give me some sort of praise which I find adorable.

Across the high ceilings I've constructed beams spanning the ceiling width to the loft area.

"Erm, I don't have any furniture besides a bed so, one moment." Shit. I hadn't thought it through when I invited her out here. There's literally nothing for us to sit on. I suppose the work buckets will suffice.

I grab two, emptying the tool contents of one onto the floor then walk over to her and set it top down in front of the open doors. Near the matress doubling as a side table I grab a beer from the mini fridge.

Cartier dusts the top or the bucket off with her hand and sits slowly still gripping the whiskey bottle like her life depends on it. It's obvious she's so out of her element and probably incredibly uncomfortable. 

I pop the top of the beer and hold it towards her, "Cheers."

"Oh," she looks around searching for something then her brows screw up, "Do you have any glasses?"

I nearly spit out my beer with a laugh. "Sorry, afraid not."

Her juicy lips fold between her teeth and she glances back towards the door, probably wishing she hadn't taken me up on the offer for a nightcap.

This is going bloody awful.

I don't bother texting Sumner because I'm sure I'll be along shortly.

Suddenly, Cartier licks her lips then twists off the cap to the whiskey bottle cracking the seal. She sniffs the contents of the bottle and her cute nose crinkles. "Well, bottoms up." She says then takes a large swig from the bottle.

Her cheeks fatten and her eyes water as she swallows it then she breaks into a violent shiver.

"Oh God," she whines, "it tastes so bad. Do you want to try?"

Fuck yeah I do. This shite is probably worth more money than I have in my bank account.

I take it and don't bother with sniffing it and tip it back. The liquid hits my tongue and burns my throat as it goes down.

Cartier shivers again, "Jesus." She complains and holds her hand out so I give it back.

To my surprise she lifts it to her mouth and drinks again, this time I can see her throat swallowing a few mouth fulls. "Bloody hell, you're not playing any games!"

Cartier shivers violently and hiccups, "I thought if I chugged it the taste wouldn't be so bad, but it didn't work." She covers her mouth with her small fist and her eyes water more, "ugh, even my nipples are hard from the chills-- sorry."

I laugh loudly and take the bottle back taking a swig from it, "My nipples are hard too." They're not, but Cartier looks mortified after her fascinating overshare. We exchange the whiskey back and this time her eyes soften as she looks around the lake house, "I have plenty of extra sheets...I didn't realize you were sleeping on only a mattress."

"Eh?" I glance behind me at the poor state of my bed. "It doesn't bother me."

Cartier cracks a smile, "That's disgusting, Noah." Her smile paired with the soft way she says my name makes my chest inflate with warmth. Her smile is beautiful-- it's clear she's a gorgeous girl. But she is always scowling or glaring. The few times I've seen her smile she's taken my breath away. "I'll give you some sheets." She concludes.

"Don't take it out if my paycheck, boss." I tease her and again her lips spread and the heat blooming in my chest flourishes.

"How old are you anyways, Noah?" She asks me, one of her hazel eyes narrowed studying me.

When she says my name again I can't help but focus on her lips, "Twenty-four. Twenty-five next month actually."

"Twenty-four," she plays and takes another sip, this time a small one. "Well, then, tell me about yourself."

I chuckle, thrown off slightly she's even asking about me. "There's not much to tell. Born here, graduated university, and now I'm back."

"Really? And your family?"

"I've got two sisters and a brother. Dad is a carpenter in town here and Mum passed away when I was eighteen."

"Oh," she gasps a little, "I'm sorry-- I shouldn't have asked."

"It's alright. I like talking about her. She was a pistol, my mum."

Cartier crosses her legs and rests her elbow on her knee, "What's her name?"

"Veronica."

"And your dad, sisters, and brother?"

"Jack, Victoria, Lilly, and Sam."

"Four kids," she remarks her smile distant, "Sounds wonderful."

"It was. My childhood was fucking mint. What about you? Where's your family?"

Cartier taps her white painted nails on the glass bottle, "It's just me. My parents died in my early twenties and I didn't have any siblings."

Fucking Hell.

So she has no family and this wanker, who has been with her since the age of seventeen has left her? "Ugh, I'm gutted for you." Truly, I am. My stomach drops and knots.

I'm not one to stay with someone because I'm obligated to, but fuck. This guy has left her out with no one.

"I want to know about this Anthony fellow," I say because I need to know. I'd judged this woman much too fast and I have a feeling Anthony is the actual cunt in the relationship, not Cartier like I had first suspected.

"You want to know about who? Anthony?" She scoffs and lifts the drink to her pink lips. I nod, and she drinks more. The diamond ring twinkles on her right hand, the flicker could blind someone if they're not careful. "He's a Doctor. From a family of Doctors. Lives in New York-."

"No, no. I want to know about him. Is he a knob? Why did the two of you call it quits after 16 years? The goss like that."

"He is a giant knob, clearly." She chuckles. "And we just didn't work anymore."

"What a load of bull," I smile and take a sip of my beer. "That isn't the reason. People don't get a divorce because 'they don't work anymore'." That's the easy explanation. But I want the dirt and grime on this cocksucker.

"Is it?" She asks her voice quiet but her eyes suddenly cut into mine. "I got dumped on my ass after 16 years because I couldn't give him a baby."

My aloof grin falls, "You serious?"

"Unfortunately." She presses the bottle to her lips, chugging again.

"Fuck, you're thirty-three. Why would you want kids right now anyways. That's still young as fuck." Granted Mum and Dad had Victoria at twenty-three.

She's confused but then lowers the bottle, "No, like I can't have children. Physically."

Oh

Now I feel like a complete bellend. "He wanted a divorce because you can't have children?"

"Yes."

Well no wonder she's a fucking ice queen. She's bloody pissed off! Everything snaps into place within an instant.

"Now that prick is a fucking cunt, if you ask me," I tell her, angry as if the bastard divorced my arse.

She cringes but then chuckles, "That word, Noah, it's so bad."

"He is. He is a giant cunt. If he died, I'd be sure someone engraved the word onto his tombstone," I raise my hands outlining it before me, "Here lies Cunt. Born from a Cunt, Died an actual Cunt."

Cartier bursts into the loudest laugh I've ever heard. It's infectious and soon has me in stitches as well.

"A cheating cunt!" She adds between her laughter and I laugh harder. Hearing her say the word she's been so adamant about avoiding and seeing it come out of her pretty pouty lips is fucking priceless.

When we gain our composure and wipe the tears from our eyes she sets the bottle down beside her foot and my eye catches her leg. Her shin is now sporting several large band-aids.

"You're leg is looking better," I say. She fixes her brown hair behind her ear and raises her leg from her knee to have a look, her thigh flexing and my sights honing in on the sexy skin of her flexed thigh, the silk shorts giving me prime real estate to stare at and appreciate.

"I probably shouldn't be drinking with how much medication I've been taking."

"I won't tell anyone, so Carti, I'd like to know what you do inside that house all day while I'm outside busting my arse?"

She sits straight with her hands folded in her lap, "I read a lot. Clean. Paint sometimes."

"You paint? What do you paint?"

Her cheeks flush and I smile, "I like landscapes, mostly." She admits flushing brighter.

"We've got a bloody Bob Ross in our midst, eh?" I want to hear her laugh again and I'm more than pleased when I'm awarded with one at my shite joke.

"I go through stages. Right now I'm using acrylic paint but I also like watercolor and pastel paints."

"Are you any good?" I ask her loving how she's still smiling. She's absolutely stunning like this. No makeup, eyes a little hazy and heavy, and cheeks rosy.

She smirks, "I am okay."

"Do you sell your paintings?" I ask pressing the beer to my lips completely fascinated by this woman and her hidden layers.

"Sometimes. They range in price. But I used to make about 2,900 pounds each-"

I almost spit my beer clear across the building, "Each? Bloody Hell, that's good, yeah?" A light breeze comes in off the water and filters inside, cooling the building temperature and filling me with the light smell of her floral perfume.

I'm getting hot and it's not from any elemental source, it's coming in the form of Cartier.

"It's pretty good. I'm not a known artist so mostly I painted for friends or interior designers I knew who wanted something specific."

"Fuck," I'm in the wrong line of work.

"It was more of a hobby for me I did when I had free time before. 2,900 pounds isn't anything to be impressed about in Anthony's eyes so about a year ago I started to paint for free."

This fucking guy, I'd rather like meeting him actually, just to take a shite on top of his Lamborghini. "Sounds to me you really dodged a bullet, boss."

"I didn't dodge it," she smiles and grabs the bottle from beside her foot, "I'm officially fucked. Thirty-three-year-old woman who has a degree in art but no clientele, no work or art portfolio, I'm pessimistic, can't have kids, and can't get married again. Don't get me wrong, I like being alone. But even if I got lonely there isn't anyone who'd want to be with me anyways."

Fuck, "That's depressing as hell. And why can't you get married again-- thirty-three is still young." I skip the last part because I know of at least one lad who would deffo be interested.

"It's part of the divorce. I get a large amount of alimony on the grounds of only paying for me and my expenses, meaning as long as I'm single I get it."

"That's not fair, is it?" I gawk, pissed off again as if I'm in her shoes, "So cuntface gets to have all the pussy he wants, " she cringes but I don't falter, "meanwhile, you can't because you'll lose the money you deserve from your bastard of an ex?"

She nods, pressing the large bottle to her lips again. I let my long legs fall straight and slouch on the bucket, "He's got you by the bollocks, boss."

She giggles that giggle and I find my spine has straightened and my skin begins to tingle.

Cartier sets the bottle down by her delicate ankle and I'm unashamed as I peak into the gaped fabric of her silk sleep shirt when she bends forward.

My stomach dips and my cock swells spotting the soft flesh of her ample breasts.

I know I shouldn't look but I wouldn't be Noah if I let the opportunity pass, especially with someone as gorgeous as this. Cartier is cut from a different cloth than me. Being around a woman like her is something I'm not used to. I'm just some bloke from Spindlestone, this woman might as well be from Venus.

"It is what it is," she quickly plants her hand over the slouching fabric and sits straight, crossing her legs at her ankles and drops her folded hands in her lap. So prim and so propper.

The sweat that's been breaking from my pours finally takes form and a bead rolls down my back.

I want to dirty her up, badly. What would she be like hot and bothered? Sweat covered skin with her dark hair stuck to it, body arched craving and writhing for someone's dick.

She continues as my cock aches annoyingly between my legs, "I'm not at all searching for something like that anyways. I like being alone."

No one likes being alone. When her eyes flit around the room, I take the moment to adjust myself over my track pants, "You should really bend the rules, boss. Things get much more interesting, trust me." I'm certain I know where she stands regarding me but I can't help but hint to her I'm one-hundred and ten percent interested.

Sure I'm pretty buzzed at the moment with all the beers from the pub and her whiskey but right now I want her and I like the challenge of grafting someone so completely out of my league.

Her hazel eyes framed by dark lashes thin, surely confused and trying to make sense of my statement, so I tease her a bit more, "I'll wager you think coming out here was the first spontaneous thing you've ever done?"

"Excuse me?" She scoffs cocking a pretty brow and pins me with her eyes. "What do you call me coming out here? You think you know me but you don't, Mr. Turner."

"Mr. Turner?" I repeat with a dark chuckle, "I'm in trouble now, eh Carti? C'mon, coming here wasn't spontaneous. Coming here was you running away from your arsehole ex."

I'm hoping the whiskey she's consumed has relaxed her and I didn't just fuck the minuscule chance I had at cracking her hard exterior.

The tail of her brow flicks and she shifts on the bucket, "I can be spontaneous." She argues back, but it sounds as if she's trying to persuade herself as well as me.

"Let's see it then." I coax as the electricity sparks under my skin and my stomach comes alive with butterflies.

Cartier scoffs a pretentious laugh and looks around nervously, "We're in the middle of the woods, Noah. What exactly am I supposed to do?" 

I know what I want her to do, and the budding idea has me grinning ear-to-ear, "Take your clothes off and jump into the lake."

She adjusts her arms tight across her chest and glares at me snorting, "I'm not taking my clothes off. That's not spontaneous that's idiotic."

I lift my beer to my lips and continue to watch her then finish it off, tossing the empty glass into a large trash bin full of glass recycling over by the unfinished wood stairs. "Typical, I knew you'd be a pussy." 

"Then you do it. If you think you have the balls then let's see you ditch all your clothes and jump into the water." She fires back and swipes the bottle from next to her leg and lifts it to her lips as I stand from the bucket so pleased with how she's played right into my hand.

I knew she'd never do it, but I did know she'd become feisty and try to twist it around on me knowing no one would ever get naked in front of their boss / practical stranger and jump into the lake. Accept, I would.

With a grin, I pull off my shirt and toss it aside as she looks mortified.

"W-what are you doing?" She stammers, her eyes widening when they drop to my chest. She's a doe caught in headlights as I kick my trainers off and grab the waistband of my track pants pushing them down over my hips, "Noah, what are you doing!?"

"I'm proving I'm not a pussy like you."

Pulling the pants from my feet I throw them to join my shirt leaving me in my briefs and socks.

"You can't just take your clothes off!"

I smile wider and dig my fingers into the tight waistband of my briefs and shove them down, covering my cock and balls with a hand as she shields her eyes with a stiff hand. "Put your clothes back on. Right now!" She scolds and keeps her hand firmly in place.

I ditch my socks and can't help but laugh and strut right on by holding my junk, knowing I've walked my arse right in front of her face then step onto the deck.

Cartier is cursing behind me, and when I check her over my shoulder I catch her staring at my arse. Her eyes snap up and her cheeks flush a bright red. I laugh, and she snorts a loud laugh and covers her gaped mouth. 

She starts again, scolding me but a laugh builds in her words. I sprint off avoiding the broken parts on the deck and launch myself with a yell that echoes across the water. 

I've got no idea how deep the water is, but It's deep enough I go all the way under. My heated skin cools immediately and my feet find the rock bottom where I shove up and surface.

Flicking my hair from my face I twist around and see her standing in the large doorway still clutching her whiskey bottle, she calls loudly, "You did not just do that!"

"Come on, Carti! Get your arse in here!" I call back and swim towards the dock. The water is black, reflecting the light above, "Honestly, I won't see anything, scouts honor!" Of course, I will try to peak if I've played my cards right.

Cartier sets the bottle down on the bucket she'd been sitting on and walks out, careful with her steps and gripping the railing tightly. "I'm not going in. You're insane. There's fish in there."

"What? Are you tellin me you're afraid of some wee fish?" 

"No, but I don't want them touching me!" She yells back, her voice echoing off the water as she continues closer down the dock rounding a hole I'd just leapt over.

"Oh my God," I complain dramatically and swim slowly down the side of the dock to meet her, "I've frightened them all off anyway."

I reach her and fold my arms on the deck boards of the dock craning my neck to look up at her. Cartier sits holding her knees to her chest, looking into the dark water then glances at me giggling. "You're crazy."

"You reckon? I think I'm just fun and you're boring."

"I may be boring, but at least I'm dry." She chides giving me that beautiful smile. Her eyes still lingering on the water. I see she wants to come in and she's battling it out inside her head. I debate for a moment about making the choice for her by pulling her in, but I know that would end with her in a huff and storming off. 

My plan involves her coming into the water willingly.

"You're going to sit there for the next how-ever-long wanting to come in," I state the obvious and she nibbles her lip, "Put your foot in, it's not even cold." I prompt hoping she will react to the proposition of baby steps.

She scooches to the edge of the dock and drops a leg over the side, dipping her painted white toes in. "It isn't cold." She says aloud, "I'll just keep my feet in." She drops her other leg and her other foot joins the first.

Her feet are inches from me, stirring the water around beneath the surface. I cock an eyebrow and gently grab her ankle, but she yanks them both out and plants them on the dock, "Don't, Noah." She barks but it's mixed with a laugh.

"I'm not pulling you in, Christ, relax." 

She gives me a warning glare and replaces her feet back into the water where I grab her ankle again, and hook my hand around the heel of the other one. 

I rub her ankles and feet, "You see, it feels nice doesn't it." Cartier doesn't respond but leans back on her hands, relaxing more than I've seen yet, and gazes around the lake. "You own the lake, Carti. You might as well give it a swim once?"

"I am not going in, especially with a naked man in it." She blurts and snaps her eyes back to mine, twinkling mischief filling her hazel pupils.

"Is there a naked man? Fucks sakes, I don't see him?" I spin in the water dropping her feet to pretend to look around, she giggles and nudges the back of my shoulder with her toes. "Come on, I'll be a good boy and keep all limbs to myself." I'm lying, the second she comes in the water I'll be on her like a dog with a toy.

Cartier gnaws on her bottom lip, then casts a look over her shoulder as she sighs a conceding breath. 

Fuck, yes.

She scooches to the edge, then plants her palms, and begins to descend to the water.

She squeals as the water comes over her waist then chest, while she holds a death grip on the edge of the dock. Her shirt and hair remains floating at the surface as her chin grazes the water and then I pounce.

I wrap my arms around her, my hand low against the skin of her lower back as the other holds the back of her neck, "Noah -- what are you-." She sucks in a breath then the pad of my thumb grazes her bottom lip.

She's tense in my arms but doesn't fight to leave my embrace. "What are you doing?" She breathes, her breath is shallow and quick on my face while her chest is planted firmly against mine, the points of her nipples felt against my skin like hard bullets.

God, I love this. 

Her eyes show everything, even in the starlight, they are dark and wide anticipating my next move. Her mouth parted, her tongue dancing behind her lips.

I hitch her to me, pulling her flush to me, and hold the back of her head and crush my lips to hers. She makes to growl, but it comes out as the sexiest moan I've ever heard.

Cartier tastes bloody exquisite. The attempt in stoping me moments before has vanished. For a moment I think she's going to hit me, but her arms circle around my neck, and her legs hook around my waist.

Her hands snake up the back of my neck and grip tight into the roots of my hair causing my scalp to tingle. I back her to the dock post finding it beneath the water and my feet search out better footing as she shifts higher onto my waist. 

Cartier's tongue chases mine from her mouth and flicks the tip of mine, sending a wave of heat down to my swollen cock. 

Her ankles lock behind my back and my hands paw her arse beneath the water. Pressing her to the post I grip the edge of the dock above her head and she slides down my body finding the rock I'm standing on, still with her tongue in my mouth. Her hands drop from my hair and her nails trace down my chest to my torso then wrap and clamp digging into the meaty skin on my arse. 

I groan into her mouth and she tenses and shrivels against the post, withdrawing her hands and tongue within an instant, "What?" I ask, breathless.

"Oh God -- what have I done, oh fuck," She chirps and ducks out from where I have her caged.

"Wait, Cartier! Just relax!" I call out half-laughing and shove from the rock to swim after her.

"Don't! Noah, that was -- I, I'm your boss, you're twenty-four! Oh my God!" She yells at me, her eyes blazing beneath the light of the moon. "You're fucking drunk, Jesus Christ! What have I done!?"

"You're drunk too, who gives a shite," I chuckle again swimming slowly behind her. She stands from her spot in the water and grips the dock, hauling herself out, her white pajamas practically see-through and sticking to her like a second skin.

"Come on, babe! It's fine!" I stand from the water covering my cock with my hand as she power walks down the dock.

"No, it's not Noah!" 

"Bloody Hell," I gripe and haul myself out of the water, shivering a little, then following after her. "We were having a bit of fun!" She glares over her shoulder when she reaches the deck and takes the steps quickly to the footpath clutching herself tightly.

I reach the deck and call out, "You can't fire me! You kissed me back!" Shit...She can't fire me, right?

I've never written a kiss coming this early before! Lol so I'm pretty proud of this lol

This was a long chapter, I hope that's okay!

Thanks for reading!
CC