Jane’s lips sucked slowly on the red tip of an ice-lolly while her eyes trailed down the torso of the sexy male underwear model before her. Absolutely gorgeous, she thought. His face was strong, his flesh toned and tight. No matter which way she moved the page his eyes seemed to follow hers, watching her every move.
In your dreams, girl! her inner voice goaded.
The creaking of rotten wood being torn apart drew her attention back to the young man who was working at the bottom of her garden. Her old fence had been badly damaged in the severe gales of the now distant winter, and he was in the process of tearing it down to replace it with a new one.
The name on the advert in the paper had been familiar, so she hadn’t been completely surprised when the fencing contractor had turned out to be a lad who had gone out with her daughter when they were both teenagers.
What had surprised her was the improvement in his physique. He had lost the puppy fat of adolescence and replaced it with a firm frame and decent muscles, obviously one of the main benefits not only of growing older, but also of a working life spent outdoors. He still had the same bed-head blond hair and a boyish, freckled face with sparkling blue eyes.
Sitting in her sun lounger feeling completely invisible, Jane’s attention flicked between the real man – Kevin – and the paper fantasy guy in her magazine.
On the other side of the rapidly disappearing fence Kevin’s pickup appeared, piled high with new wood. His workmate stepped down from the cab with two white paper packets in his hand, and two cans of cola under his arm. He was tall, black, and more muscular than Kevin. He always seemed to carry a warm smile on his face. Jane had yet to hear his voice, though it was clear he and Kevin got on well.
Jane stared into the distance as her mind took a wander along that familiar old road of regret. She couldn’t understand where the years had gone. With that evil 50 hovering not far over the horizon she hated to admit that half of her life was over, but from the age of 20 onwards she felt as though she hadn’t aged a day. Time had simply marched on, regardless of her feelings.