A man shouldn’t look that good covered in sweat and dirt. And I sure as hell shouldn’t be wet watching him work. But God, watching Koehn’s muscles bunch and strain as he hammered in another nail, as the sun beat down on him, and as those droplets of sweat moved along his muscles, had me so aroused I was on the verge of saying fuck it and offering myself to him.

No, I was too much of a coward, too afraid that he’d see me, this twenty-one-year-old virgin who’d never had a real boyfriend, and laugh his ass off at me. Koehn was older, tall and muscular, and put all other men to shame. Hell, if I was to think of how a real man would look and act, Koehn would come to mind instantly.

But he was well over a decade my senior, and surely working for my father made him see me as nothing more than his employer’s daughter.

I brought the cold glass of lemonade to my mouth and took a long drink. The chilled liquid helped my parched throat, something that had nothing to do with the heat right now. Although I was inside my parents’ house, seated at their dining room table, a textbook in front of me, my entire focus was on Koehn doing construction.

I didn’t even need to be at my parents’ house, not when I had my own apartment, which was quiet and I could actually focus on my work. But hell, knowing the construction crew was out today working on the expansion to my parents’ garage, especially knowing Koehn was here … yeah, I couldn’t stay away.

Not only had my father hired him and his crew for this project, he’d known my family for years, well before I saw him as the man I desperately wanted as mine. And when I hit eighteen, it was like something in me shifted, woke up. I saw him as something so much more. I saw him as the man I wanted to be over me, thrusting those hard inches into me, claiming me. He was rough around the edges, so damn powerful and strong that I couldn’t help but compare all other men to him.

Koehn stepped away from the garage and walked over to the table set up with drinks. I leaned forward, trying not to seem too obvious, and watched him grab a cold bottle of water from the ice bucket and place it on his forehead. I continued to stare at him. Lord, there was something seriously wrong with me right now, but I couldn’t help myself.

I’d wanted Koehn for years, far longer than was probably healthy if I was being honest. But it wasn’t just the fact he was good-looking, it was also that he was a good man, that he helped the community as well.

He grabbed a rag and wiped off his face, his bicep clenching from the act. Every part of my body grew tight as that sight slammed into my head. At my age a boy had only ever kissed me. That was the extent of my sexual experience. From the first time I saw him, I knew I wanted him to be my first.

He glanced up, and I swear he looked right at me. I straightened, my heart racing. No, he couldn’t see me from this distance, with most likely a glare on the window. But still his attention was seemingly right on me.

I glanced away, trying to focus on my book again, yet I swore I could feel his stare on me still. I didn’t dare look in his direction.

There was no one else I wanted to take my virginity.

But actually convincing him of that, having him see me as more than his boss’s daughter, was a whole other game I didn’t know if I wanted to play.

* * *

She probably didn’t notice that I saw her watching me. But she was wrong.

I was focused on Fiona just as much as she was on me. I took a step back from the board I was hammering in the framework and walked over to the table set up in the shade. I grabbed one of the water bottles, popped the cap, and chugged half of it before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

Sweat covered my short hair, droplets moving down my temples and chest. The white shirt I wore was damp, the material clinging to my body from being out here all day under the sun. I glanced over at Fiona, could see she was inside at the dining room table. She was hunched over a book, one leg bent, her heel braced on the edge of the chair. She was wearing shorts, ones that could’ve been called Daisy Dukes for how far they rose up her legs.

I looked around; all my men were working on projects for this expansion. I felt my body tighten at the very thought of one of them looking at her, seeing her creamy flesh. I wanted to cover Fiona up, gouge out any fucker’s eyes who even looked her way.

When I glanced at her through the window once more, wanting her to look in my direction, I felt my body responded instantly. I was hard as fucking steel, my cock digging into the zipper of my fly, my balls drawn up tight.

Fuck, just looking at her—hell, just thinking about her got me so fucking worked up.

I remembered when I first saw her as a woman, when I first felt my heart race at the sight of her. That had been the first time a woman had caused that reaction in me. It had been a party in the square of town, a small wedding held for a local couple.

Everyone had been invited, and when I’d seen her, wearing a little blue lace dress, her hair hanging loosely down the center of her back, dark waves making my fingers itch to touch them, I’d known right then and there she was mine. But she had been only eighteen then, far too young for the likes of me. I was a little over a decade older.

I hadn’t been with a woman in so fucking long I couldn’t even remember my last experience. High school maybe. Hell, it was ages ago.

I’d been working on getting my business up and running, my construction company small but solid, loyal. My clientele was building exponentially by the year, even reaching bigger cities. But my heart was here in this small town … close to the only woman who’d ever made me want more out of life than working. And so I’d sworn off relationships, off women in general. I’d focused on building my business, making a name for myself.

And then she’d come into my life.

After that night at the wedding I’d watched her, my possessiveness and obsession for her growing. Before her I hadn’t been interested in women because I’d been too damn busy with my own life. After her I hadn’t been interested in women because Fiona was all I wanted. If anyone was going to break my celibacy streak, it would only be Fiona. And once that happened, I wouldn’t let her go. Hell, I wasn’t letting her go now, and she didn’t even know she was mine yet.

But three years had passed since that night, and my desire had only grown for her. I’d wanted her to experience life, even if I kept a close eye on her, made sure no little assholes came sniffing around. But she never dated, just focused on school. And thank fuck, she went to the community college in the next town over, commuting so she was still living in town, close to me.

Hell, I jerked off to the thought of her every fucking night. And like a dirty bastard, I thought about pumping my cum deep inside her, making her pregnant, making her mine forever. And she would be mine, only mine. Always. I was done waiting. I couldn’t hold back anymore, had no more self-control when it came to her.

In my life there was only one woman, and that was Fiona. It was time I showed her that she had always been meant to be mine.