As far as Ashley was concerned, her mother had gone a little man-crazy ever since breaking up with her boyfriend of six years. So, when Linda talked about how good looking the new guy at work was, she didn’t pay her much attention. Especially since the guy was around 40, making him about twice Ashley’s age.
But then she accompanied her mother to the company Christmas party.
Mingling in the restaurant’s bar before the meal, the ladies attracted a lot of attention from the men. Short and petite, with similar angelic faces, their little dresses showed off their slim builds, full C-cup breasts and tiny heart-shaped asses.
Ashley’s raven hair hung straight down her back and she wore a touch of make-up to highlight her warm brown eyes while Linda wore her dyed-blond hair shorter and her bright green eyes sparkled.
“That’s Jim,” Linda whispered, guiding Ashley toward two couples talking together.
The male part of the couple with their backs to them stood just over six feet and had a long dirty-blond ponytail hanging well past his broad shoulders. Since her mother had talked about Jim’s hair, she figured this must be him.
“Hey guys,” Linda interrupted the couples’ conversation, stepping up beside them.
“Hello Linda,” Jim greeted her.
The moment he turned at an angle to welcome the new arrivals into the conversation, Ashley understood her mother’s infatuation. He had a warm smile with a perpetual 5 o’clock shadow on his firm features and hazel eyes with long eyelashes.
“Hi Linda.” The other man also made room for the ladies.
“Jake, I believe you’ve met Ashley,” Linda began the introductions. “Jim, this is my daughter.”
“Hello, Ashley,” Smiling, Jim looked Ashley in the eye as he took her hand. “The picture on your mom’s desk doesn’t do you justice.”
“Thank you,” Ashley’s nerves tingled as he gently held her hand for a moment.
“Ladies, this is my girlfriend, Liz,” Jim introduced the tall, pretty brunette at his side.
“And this is Helen, my first wife,” Jake grinned, getting a sideways glance from Helen for his usual joke.
“Helen, how have you been?” Linda asked, having met her before.
For the next few minutes everyone got to know a little about one another. Answering questions about college, Ashley found it difficult not to look at how Jim’s fitted shirt contoured to his well-toned physique.
“He is hot,” Ashley whispered when she and Linda walked away to mingle with others.
“I told you. It’s too bad he’s attached.” Linda chuckled with a sigh.
The size of the party kept the ladies from interacting with Jim any more that night. And over the next few months Ashley basically forgot about him.
Until the evening she came home from working at the mall to find him sitting at their kitchen table.
“Oh. Um… Hi,” Ashley said, now knowing whose truck it was in their driveway.
“Hello, Ashley,” Jim smiled as he stood up and stepped toward her, offering a hand.
“Honey, you remember Jim, don’t you?” Linda asked, her smirk showing she knew the answer. “He stopped by to see how I’m doing.”
The reason for his presence surprised Ashley, but also filled her with a sense of gratitude. About a month after Christmas Linda had been diagnosed with breast cancer and had been taking time off to get treatment. Although they caught the disease early and Linda’s prognosis was good, the news had sent a shockwave through both women’s lives.
“That’s very nice of you.” Like the first time, Ashley’s nerves tingled as Jim shook her hand.
“It’s really nothing,” he shrugged. “I lost my mom to it and, well, I just wanted to make sure Linda is doing ok.”
“I’m sorry.” Ashley didn’t know what else to say as she joined them at the table.
“Thanks,” he grinned in understanding. “And that means I have an idea of what you’re dealing with too. So, if you ever want to talk…” he let the sentence trail off.
“Thank you.” Again, she didn’t know what else to say.
“So, how are your classes going?” He asked, obviously wanting to lighten the conversation.
“Good.”
As the three of them sat talking for a while about various things, Ashley couldn’t stop her gaze from lingering on the older man. He was wearing a beat-up straw cowboy hat, using it to keep his bangs back and his hair hung loose down his back.
The hat added to the rugged part of his good looks and his t-shirt fit his torso almost as well as the fitted dress shirt had, his strong biceps protruding from its sleeves. Caught staring at one point, Ashley tried to cover by commenting on the band emblazoned on the shirt’s front while feeling her cheeks growing warm.
“I saw them about three years ago,” he smiled. “You like them?”
“They’re ok,” she shrugged, looking at her mom for help.
“I make her listen to them in the car,” Linda offered.
“Yea. They’re probably a little old for you,” Jim grinned.
After about another twenty minutes he announced that he had to get going and wished them both a good night.
“You’re getting a crush on him,” Linda chuckled when he had left.
“And you already have one,” Ashley shot back with her own chuckle.
Over the next months Jim would stop by once or twice a week to chat with Linda, sometimes helping with small chores and even cooking dinner a few times. Usually arriving home part way through these visits, Ashley would feel her heart start to race when she saw his truck in the driveway.
Joining their conversations, she enjoyed their talks almost as much as she knew Linda did. And when she completely missed his visit a second time, she made her mother promise to text her next time he would be stopping by so she could leave work early. His habit of wearing tight jeans allowed the women to share comments about the shape of his ass, as well as the bulge at the front once he had left.
While Ashley thought about taking him up on his offer to talk about what she was dealing with, she never had the nerve to. Knowing this was partially due to her crush, she tried telling herself that she was being foolish. But still never managed to do it.
One early spring day she found a bee’s nest in the garage and, not knowing who else to call, called Jim.
“Hey, Ashley. How are you doing?” He answered, his tone filled with an honest desire to help.
“Hi… Um…,” she stammered, his tone surprising her. Except for her mother’s ex-boyfriend, he was the first man she knew and had called that hadn’t answered in a suggestive manner. “There’s a bee’s nest in the garage…” she paused, unsure of how to ask for his help.
“I’ll come over and take care of it,” he said, keeping her from having to.
A couple hours later the nest was gone and he was giving their lawn mower a tune-up in preparation for the summer. Somehow this led to him coming over every Saturday to mow their lawn. Which was what he was doing a couple months later when Ashley happened to walk by the front window and glance out.
“Oh,” she half-gasped, coming to a stop.
“What?” Linda asked, pulling herself up from the couch and joining her daughter. “Oh. Oh, yes.”
With summer’s arrival, the temperature outside had climbed into the higher digits and Jim had taken his shirt off, giving the women their first look at his bare torso. While they had known he was in shape, they now saw exactly how trim and tone he was.
Watching his muscles flex under a sheen of sweat, Ashley started to fantasize about certain things… things that stirred a warmth within her. A warmth that hadn’t been properly satiated in quite a while.
Being single when her mother was diagnosed, at first she had been too focused on Linda to go out with anyone new. Then, when the prognosis improved and she could consider dating again, it seemed that most of the guys asking her out were either annoying or too immature.
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