“Here, help me with this,” Jake said, and the two of us carried out a large metal table. The men that had been inside helped us put it in the back of the truck. We all worked together, and they made me feel welcome. Some of them were relatives of Jake while others were employees who cared enough to come in on their day off. We’d just gotten everything out that we could, and I was about to ask what was next when two men walked into the kitchen from the back door.
“Hey, Jake, looks like you’ve got it all handled,” one of them said. He looked like he was in his twenties while the other guy had to be close to fifty.
“Not quite, thanks again for coming out on such short notice.” Jake shook both their hands and turned to introduce me to them.
“This is Ed Smith and his son Eddie,” Jake said. “They’re the only plumbers we trust around here.”
I wiped my hand off on my jeans before shaking both of theirs. “Nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure,” Ed said before having Jake show him exactly what was wrong.
“So, did you two have fun last night?” Ruby asked once she knew Jake was busy.
“We did. I don’t know if I would have stayed if I hadn’t met Jake there.”
She leaned in and whispered even though no one else was nearby. “I know for a fact if he hadn’t met you, he wouldn’t have stayed either. Good job.” She patted me on the back before walking over to where Jake was showing Ed the plumber where the broken pipe was.
Jake glanced over at me and grinned before focusing back on the pipe, and all I could think about was how much I wanted to spend more time with him. We’d been together almost constantly for close to twenty-four hours, but it wasn’t enough. Even if spending time meant doing more cleaning it was totally worth it. I watched as he laughed at something the older plumber had said.Yep, totally worth it.
Ten
Jake
Spencer worked for hours.Whatever needed to be done, he was more than happy to help. I never in my life thought I would find something like that as attractive as I did. Ruby kept giving me the look that said she knew exactly what had happened last night, but this time I couldn’t find it in me to care. He was hot, smart, and didn’t have an unmotivated bone inhis body. He was literally my perfect man. And bonus points for showing up with donuts.
“Spencer, you can go if you want. We can take care of putting everything back where it was,” Ruby said, and glanced at me knowing full well I didn’t want him to leave. “Oh, and, Jake, you’ll have the house to yourself tonight.” She winked at me before looking back at Spencer.
“No, it’s fine. I told Jake I’d help, and I want to see it through. I could go for something to eat though. Should I order some pizza?” he asked.
“You brought me breakfast, I’ll get lunch,” I said and took out my phone while he protested and finally bumped me with his hip when he realized I’d already placed the order.
“It wasn’t really anything, just a box of donuts I picked up on the way.”
“Well, the sugar got us going so that’s all that matters,” I said, and shoved my phone into my pocket. “They’ll be here in less than an hour.” We’d already wiped everything down and made sure it was as clean as it was before the pipe had broken. “I’ve never been so happy to be organized.”
“Organized? More like stringently inflexible,” Ruby said from across the room. “He’s always been very careful about how he organizes his kitchen. It really did save us today.”
“I can say from experience, it’s better to be too organized than have a huge mess when something like this happens,” Ed said where he was just finishing up.
“Hear that, Ruby?” I said to another eye roll. Spencer mopped one more time where Ed had been working while I waited to pay him. “Thanks again for coming out today. I really appreciate it.” I wasn’t kidding about Ed. He’d been there for me every time I’d called no matter when it was.
“No problem,” he said as he handed me his invoice, and waited for me to write out a check.
“When are you going to start taking paperless payments?” Ruby asked Ed, making him laugh.
“I still like to do things the old-fashioned way,” he said and this time it was his son rolling his eyes.
“Pizza delivery,” someone said from just outside the door.
“In here,” I said, and a woman walked in carrying two insulated containers. “Go ahead and put them on the table. Thank you. Ed, eat some pizza before you go.” She slid the pizzas out and after I tipped her, she thanked me and walked out the door.
Ruby put out plates and napkins and everyone including Ed and his son took a few slices. Spencer stood next to me where I leaned against a table and took a big bite. “This is good, thanks,” he said.
“Thank you.” He didn’t have to spend his day this way, but I was so glad he had.
“What are you doing when you’re done here?” Spencer asked while everyone else chatted amongst themselves.
“Going home and relaxing. You should come by.” I was ready for him to decline when he surprised me and with a shrug of his shoulder agreed.
