The next month went by with the utter slowness that two jobs dictated while simultaneously seeming to fly by with no regard to mortal senses. Nickolete watched the two envelopes designated for the house purchase fill. She saved a full two thousand. Jake had her beat with three thousand for a few days, but his envelope went empty and he came home in a beat up old truck. Nicolette couldn't blame the guy, having a working vehicle would probably drastically increase his productivity. Jake had helped her fix her car as well. They had to park it with the front tires up on the curb so he could climb under, but the starter replacement took a whole fifteen minutes. Then he was helping her in other ways.
Often, Nicolette found herself envious of invader-race females. Their ovulation cycles lasted a much shorter amount of time and the drive to reproduce was far less intense. Then again, they had to do it every month. Best part about invader-races, they could be used at will for carnal release with no chance of pregnancy. It was its own form of birth control.
“I'm doing a deck job. I'll pay if you're interested in helping.”
Nicolette snapped back to reality. “Huh? What?”
Jake was making himself dinner in the tiny kitchen. “I'm working on a deck. If you want to make a little extra this weekend, you can help.” He restated.
“But I don't know how to build a deck.”
Jake laughed. “It will mostly be holding things for me.”
Nicolette considered it for a moment. She liked having her weekend mornings off, but she wasn't going to do anything other than play on her cellphone. “Sure, but I need to leave early to get ready for my other job.”
Jake gave a nod of his head and said nothing more. Nicolette looked him over and frowned. What had she been thinking about before he interrupted?
When they arrived at Jake's jobsite Nicolette wondered at the posts that were sticking straight into the air and held up by braces. Jake removed the braces while she unloaded the tools and set up a work table. She soon found herself holding things. Tape measures, boards, strings, and so on. Clearly a good half of construction was holding things up. Soon the posts had been cut and beams ran between and past them. It didn't look like a deck yet and she had to leave just as Jake was installing the joists. Which was just more wood like the beams, but smaller and run perpendicular to the beam. Also they were a lot closer together.
Day two helping Jake made a whole lot more sense. He already had half the deck boards laid out over the joists and the deck was starting to resemble something a person could actually walk on. He used a little orange colored spacer to keep the gap in the deck boards the same size. With a minor amount of instruction, Nicolette was measuring out the boards herself. Jake still ran the saw.
She leaned against the recently decked deck and held in a surge of hormonal need.
“You okay?” Jake said in his usual calm and tentatively concerned manner.
Nicolette held up a finger to indicate that she needed a minute. When the urge passed she let her muscles untighten and her tail returned to its usual serpentine motions. “Yeah, just a moment of wanting to get railed.” She said with a grin, hoping that he'd get the joke. “What were we working on again?”
Jake handed her the dumb end of the tape measure, the side that didn't need to be read. “The rails.”
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“Right.” She said, he did get the joke, right? It was a hot, sticky day. Her shirt was clinging to her skin as was any and all sawdust. Jake was in a similar state and the musky smell of him was driving her hormones wild. If they had been in a more secluded area and the family hadn't been home, then she would've considered suggesting actually getting railed.
***
“Hey Red. You okay?”
Lucy lifted her head off the desk and looked at Nicolette with an expression that said ‘no’. “Um, I'm okay I guess.”
“You've been quieter than usual. Are you sure everything is okay?”
“Um, well. I'm getting evicted.”
Nicolette blinked at the statement. “Ah, doesn't that require like four or five months' notice?”
Lucy's expression fell even more. “Yeah, but I forgot.”
Nicolette stood still. Not even her tail continuing its unconscious rhythmic movement. How the hells do you forget something like that? “How long do you have?”
Lucy's head thumped against her desk. “Four days.” Came the muffled answer.
“Do you have enough…”
Lucy cut Nicolette off with a long, depressed, “noooooo.”
“You have family to stay with?”
“Nooooo.”
“Friends?” Nicolette ventured.
The mass of red hair shook slightly. “I don't have any friends.”
Nicolette tried not to feel offended. She supposed they were coworkers more so than friends. “Well, I guess I can ask Jake if it's okay for you to crash on the couch for a few days.”
Lucy lifted her head off the desk and looked up at Nicolette with probably the most pitiful expression Nicolette had ever seen. “Really?”
“Don't get too excited. The couch is shit. I suggest bringing a sleeping bag.”
***
When Nicolette arrived home after her second job, she found Jake using the shower by the sound of it. She wanted so badly to join him, but they had an agreement and said agreement prohibited just walking in on eachother like a romantically involved couple would. Hot water and hands all over her. She tried not to think about it. Instead she placed a pan on the stove and began heating sausages. Real sausages, not that depressing canned crap. Jake entered the kitchen wearing a pair of sweatpants and nothing else. He gave her a friendly smile, but her eyes were glued to his broad shoulders and strong arms. He didn't have a gym rat's body. No washboard abs. No bulky biceps. What he did have was a strong, solid, tanned build that looked just as good to touch as to lay on. Then again, that was probably the hormones talking. She had another week or so before she was done with her cycle.
“Hey.” Nicolette said while trying to stay focused.
Jake furrowed his brow slightly. Perhaps her tone was a bit too dreamy. “What’s up?”
“My friend at work is getting evicted. She might need a couch to sleep on while looking for a new place. I thought I'd ask you before offering.”
Jake nodded his understanding while pulling out a glass and heading to the worn down refrigerator. “Why's she getting evicted?”
A fair question. “Sounds like the apartment building was purchased by another company and they're going to gut it and turn it into something else. She was given a notice six months ago, but forgot. She's kind of… aloof.”
‘Hmm.” Jake said, making his way past her again to sit at the table. “Sure she's not an axe murder?”
Nicolette laughed. “I'm still not sure you aren't an axe murderer.”
“Hmm.” Jake said again. “We've got a spare room. Offer her that until she can find a place. If she's desperate enough.”
Nicolette froze as she considered what he had just offered. If she ever met the bitch that hurt this man, she'd have to take a swing or two at her. “You sure?”
Jake shrugged. “Yeah, it's not exactly a nice place. I don’t expect her to stay long.
***
Nicolette considered getting up and moving to her own room. That was the agreement they had. She was currently laying at an angle, her legs draped over Jake’s waist. He had his left hand on her ankle. His right was on her thigh with his fingertips tantalizingly close to her womanhood. She was comfortable. It seemed like Jake too was comfortable. She could claim she fell asleep. She thought about his offer for Red to rent the spare room. She wasn’t falling for Jake. It was just the hormones. She could tell herself it was just the hormones. And in a week or so when the hormones settled down for the next six months, then she could have an emotional crisis, or not. Jake's finger twitched on her ankle. Yeah, she was just going to stay right where she was for the night.