Worth Waiting For

Chapter Three

Sunday morning Daenerys had an epiphany as she neared the third mile on her treadmill. In all honesty, she didn't need the office downstairs. Instead of working out of a corner of the master bedroom, she could turn one of the spare bedrooms into an office. When her neices and nephews visited, they could continue to watch television in the great room. She could improve the sound system in there and maybe even install a screen for watching movies.
She would finish the basement, but instead of an office suite, she could turn it into an appartment for her brother. That way she could keep him close, and he could have the privacy he craved and thought she needed.
Five minutes later, Daenerys stepped off the treadmill. It was still early, so she figured she would leave Jon a message to call her back later to discuss the revision to her plans.
"Hello" Jon suprised her when he answered. Filled with the fog of early morning sleep, his voice reminded her of the warmth of a thick down blanket.
"Oh no! Did I wake you?"
"Ms. Targaryen?" He asked in a more alert voice.
"Yes, it's Daenerys" she corrected. "I'm sorry I called so early, but I didn't expect you to answer the phone. I was going to leave you a voicemail."
"That's no problem" she heard him yawn. " How can I help you?"
She imagined lying next to him in bed. His bearded jaw, his bare chest just above the sheets, his curly hair free and wild hanging loosely on his shoulders.
Taking a steadying breath, she moved aside the image and silently chided her self for the unclean thoughts. She barely knew the man.
"I've changed my plans for the basement" she said.
"Oh?"
Daenerys explained the changes she wanted to make.
"Shouldn't be a problem" Jon said. "Even with a full kitchen, the timeline would be the same."
"Actually I would need you to speed up renovations. My brother's birthday is in four weeks, and I want to give him the
Keys for his birthday. I also want this done quickly before he does something crazy like sign a lease at an apartment complex. I'll have enough trouble as it is keeping thus a suprise while at the same time trying to convince him not to sign anything."
"Four weeks.... would be pushing it" Jon said hesitantly. "I'd have to start tomorrow, and we would have to work some nights to get it all done in time."
"Whatever it takes, it's fine" Daenerys said, her voice brisk. "Money's not an issue, so if you need to charge me a premium, I understand. What's important to me is having the appartment ready in four weeks for my brother. Is that doable?*
"Yes, it is."
"Great, if you get me the estimate today, I'll sign off on it and you can start tomorrow."
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Jon and his crew of two showed up the next morning. He introduced the men to Daenerys and her brother and then disappeared down the stairs. She didn't see Jon again until the fourth night after the renovations started. Driving up, she saw his truck parked on the side of the house with him bent over the open hood. She climbed from the car after grabbing her briefcase and bottle of coke.
"Jon?" She had a good view of his denim clad bottom. And seven hells. It should be illegal to have such a perfect arse. Its like the gods sculpted it themselves.
His head popped up and he looked over his shoulder. "Hi Daenerys." Motion sensor lights illuminated the front and back of the house, but the sloped yard on the side remained in the dark.
"What's wrong with your truck?"
He shook his head in frustration. "Nothing that can't be fixed. I'll be out of your way in no time."
"You're not in my way" Daenerys eased her way towards him, the heels of her pumps sinking into the soft ground with each step.
He frowned at her using a black flashlight to guide her steps in the grass. " Be careful. You'll get dirty."
Daenerys waved his concern with the hand holding the soda. "Are you going to tell me what's wrong? Do you need a lift somewhere?"
"She's old and every now and again she acts up."
Daenerys peered at the dusty interior filled with tubes, machinery and wires. "Have you thought about investing in a new truck?"
His lips narrowed into a thin line and she wished right away she hadn't said those words. Only after the question left her mouth did she realise how it sounded. She could go out and buy a new car when she got tired of the old one, but not everyone had the same means. Her only excuse was that after a long day, she wasn't thinking as clearly as she should.
He shined the light on the battery. "I'm pretty sure this is the culprit this time." She was glad he chose to ignore her faux pass.
Grey matter clung to the battery. "Looks disgusting" she wrinkled her nose.
"Yeah, I haven't been very attentive. Never let your battery corrode like this, or eventually you will have to do what I'm about to do so you can get it going again."
"What are you about to do?"
"Clean of this 'disgusting' stuff."
He pulled a wrench from the open toolbox next to him. With the light in one hand, he reached towards the battery that held the wrench.
"If it will make things easier, I can hold the light for you." Even though she was tired ahe couldn't imagine leaving him out here, struggling to do a two handed job with one hand. She placed her briefcase and bottle in the grass. When his gaze swung towards her, his frowning face prompted her to ask. "What is it?"
"You don't have to do that."
"You're not used to people being nice?" one of her brows hitched upwards.
"It's not....." She continued to stare, forcing him to finish the thought. "I want you to be careful. I wouldn't want you to chip a nail. I'm sure you spent a lot of money to have them done."
His words sounded more like an accusation than a statement. Maybe she deserved it after her thoughtless comment, but manicured nails didn't make her a prima dona.
"I did but I'm sure it will be fine." She held out her hand.
He didn't budge. "My trucks dirty and I don't want you to get your expensive suit messed up."
When he mentioned suit, his eyes trailed down her body, and warmth suffused every inch of her skin.
"Why don't you let me worry about that? All I'm doing is holding a flashlight."
Good her voice sounded normal, but her pulse had started racing. What was it about him ? She had never ever met a man like him.
With a shrug he handed her the flashlight and turned his attention to loosening the first clamp holding the cable to the terminal.
"You're here later than usual. Vis said you normally come by during the day to check on your workers."
Jon nodded. " I got a job down East on highway 20, and I worked down there all day . It wasn't convenient of me to check in during the day like I have been doing. Your house is on the way home, so I thought I'd stop by tonight to see the progress. My guys are good, but I like to keep a close eye on things in the beginning." He pulled off the cable and found the dull looking terminal was also covered in ashy looking deposit.
"I appreciate you being so attentive. It's hard to find good contractors who stick to their words and take such pride in their work."
"I hear that alot." He shook his head. "The best way to grow a business is through word of mouth. I am to please everytime."
I bet you do. "How long have you been in business?"
He looked up from working on the second terminal. "I've been in business for myself for about ten years." He refocused on the task. "Technically though I have about fifteen years of experience. If you count the work I did with my uncle from the time I was a kid."
When the cables on both batteries were removed, he pulled a flathead screwdriver from his tool belt and began to scrape of the acid build up. A tool belt ? Who knew it could be so sexy ? She conjured an image of him in a plaid shirt with the top buttons undone. She imagined the smooth skin of his solid chest as he walked towards her in slow motion with his tool belt slung low on his narrow hips and a hammer in his hand.
Daenerys lost her grip on the flashlight and it slipped from her clammy fingers. The beam of light went hay wire as she tried to catch it but instead bumped it into the air and made it crash land with a thud onto the bumper of the truck.
Jon's startled gaze was the last thing she saw before the flashlight hit the ground and extinguished.
"Oh Shit! I'm so sorry! "
"It's ok. I...." his voice broke off when their heads collided as they both reached down to fumble for the flashlight in the darkness. Jon groaned and straightened, clutching his forehead.
"Ow!"
Daenerys bought her hand up to her temple, but the sudden movement and the blow caused her to teether backwards. Her arms failed wildly just before she lost balance and landed on her butt in the grass. Stunned she sat there for a moment, staring at him.
"Are you alright?"
The alarm in his voice coupled with the embarrassment of her fall made the whole situation seem unreal– and absolutely hilarious. He extended a hand to her, but instead of taking it, Daenerys broke out into a fit of laughter. They came from deep down inside her, bubbles of hysterical laughter she couldn't stop. Dhe wrapped her arms around her abdomen to ease her pained stomach muscles.
She finally calmed down enough to notice Jon on one knee in front of her.She swiped tears from her lashes.
"Are you alright?" The level of concern in his voice had gone up another notch.
She tried to catch her breath. "You have no.....idea how much......I needed that. I've had a..... rotten day."
He plopped down beside her on the grass. Sitting so close, she had a decent view of his face. He looked at her, oddly studing her.
A thread of electricity stretched through them and Daenerys lowered her gaze. The same clamminess that caused her to drop the flashlight returned to her palms.
Her reaction was completely out of character. She'd never been attracted to blue collar types. She always preferred her men to wear pretty suits and carry briefcases. They needed to be well groomed  with neatly trimmed short hair and immaculate at all times. Jon Snow turned that theory on its head with his man-bun, jeans that looked dirt stained from years of use, calloused hands and work boots.
A gurgling sound caught her attention. It was Jon's turn to be embarrassed. He laid a hand over his stomach. "I haven't eaten since lunch."
Daenerys nodded, " I get like that sometimes." She pointed to where the bottle of soda rested next to her suitcase. "Dinner."
"Is that how you maintain your girlish figure?"
The teasing remark, warmed her insides, and a smile of pleasure graced her lips.
"Not exactly, I didn't feel like stopping on my way home to get something to eat, and I'm going to work on some files before I go to bed."
"You just spent what... twelve or thirteen hours at work and you bought work home?"
When he said it like that it did sound ridiculous. "There's nothing I can do about it. I need to stay up late and finish what I couldn't at work. Not to mention I'm officially addicted to caffeine and probably try to wean myself off of it."
"A bottle of soda would never be enough for me," Jon said with a shake of his head. "I need to eat food. " Being the man he was, that came as no surprise. He held his hands about twelve inches apart. "I need a nice heaping plate of chicken or fish, rice, beans and tostones."
"Tostones?"
Jon nodded. He pressed the tip of his forefinger and thumb together. "They are sliced circles of green plantains fried, then mashed, then fried again. We eat them as a side dish, but they can also be served as an appetizer."
"I don't eat anything fried, but I'd love to taste the rest of the items on your imaginary plate. Do you cook alot?"

"No, I don't cook at all. Whenever I want a home cooked meal, I go to my sister's house. I can barely boil water."
Intresting. Either he didn't have a woman in his life, or she was just as helpless in the kitchen as he was.
"You have two functioning hands. Why can't you cook for yourself?"
"These hands are only good for manual labour."
Daenerys took a good look at his large hands. She doubted that was the only thing they were good for. Before her thoughts went down the same path that had caused the mishap with the flashlight, she is asked "ready to try again?"
"Sure" he rose to his feet. "You don't have a concussion do you?"
His words pulled another laugh from her. "I'll let you know after I see a doctor first thing in the morning. Then I'll send you the bill."
Taking his outstretched hand, she allowed him to pull her to her feet. Soon he located the flashlight, and they once again stood over the open hood of the truck. He worked in silence, using the screwdriver to scrape as much of the acid from the battery terminals as he could. This time she concentrated on the task instead of letting her imagination run wild.
Jon stopped what he was doing and rested his palms on the edge of the vehicle, "that's about as much as I can get off. Hopefully that should do it."
"You know I heard once that using coke can clean the acid off a battery. Do you want to use mine to make sure you removed all of it?"
He straightened, "I thought that was dinner?"
"I have veggies in the fridge, or I could make a sandwich or something." She lifted the bottle from the grass and handed it to him "here."
"That's really nice of you."
"Don't sound so suprised."
"I didn't mean to. You're not....... what I expected that's all."
"And what did you expect ?" All of a sudden his opinion mattered to her.
Jon unscrewed the cap. "I'm not going there."
"So it's bad."
"No not really." He poured the dark liquid over the terminals, avoiding her gaze. They both watched as it interacted with the acid, bubbling and fizzing. "You're a professional woman, and usually women like you don't want to get their hands dirty. Any other woman probably would have been upset about their suit getting filthy after taking a fall. She wouldn't want to get her shiny black pumps dirty, and she definitely wouldn't offer up her coke."
"What kind of women are you used to? I couldn't leave you out here when I could help. My clothes can be cleaned, and if I find it hard to stay up later, I could always drink some coffee."
His gaze connected with her "As I said, that's really nice of you."
The intensity of his grey eyes caused a zing to pass through her. There was no mistaking it this time. Jon made her feels things she hadn't felt in a while. She swallowed the uneasiness in her gut and made a production of smoothing non existent wrinkles from her skirt.
The light streaming on the battery wiggled until she bought the slight tremor of her hand under control. Silence descended between them. The only sound coming from the chorus of crickets surrounding them from the bushes and his movements as he used the rag to wipe clean the coke from the terminals. After cleaning the cleaning, the terminals, formerly dull grey, returned to a shiny silver colour. After Jon finished attaching the cables, Daenerys let out a relived breath and handed him the flashlight. He appeared unruffled, while for her the last few minutes had been tension filled. Surely she couldn't be the only one to have felt it.
Jon slammed up the hood of the truck. "Thanks a lot for your help."
"You're welcome." She picked up her briefcase and turned to go, although a part of her wanted to linger out longer.
"Let me know if I need to pay the dry cleaning bill."
His voice halted her retreat. With a furrowed brow she faced him again, and she could just make out the amused look on his face.
"I'll do that" she said, too soft, with s breathless quality to her voice he couldn't have missed.
He was studying her again the same way he had earlier. Unnerved, she tightened her fingers around the handle of the briefcase and moved as quickly as her pumps could carry her up the sloped lawn. She could feel his dark gaze on her the entire time until she turned the corner and practically ran to the front door.