That was, until a loud knock ripped me out of my thoughts and had me spilling coffee over my arm. Luckily it wasn’t that hot anymore.
I got up from where I sat and walked to the front door. I wasn’t expecting visitors, but it was possible that Calder, Beck, or Ash wanted to see me. The thought of that had my heart already beating a little bit faster than usual.
I put the mug down on my way and wiped the coffee from my arm as I approached the door. When I opened it, my fantasy was standing on the front porch.
The three guys stood shoulder to shoulder, each wielding a set of tools and a determined look.
I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms. “Hi, guys. What… What’s this about?”
“Look, Rhea,” Calder started, speaking firmly and evenly in a way that already had the butterflies fluttering. “Here are the facts. Your house is a death trap, and we’re getting it up to code. Honestly, none of us want to have to rush over here to drag you out from under an eroded beam or to pull a nail out of your leg or anything else.”
I was stunned. I had noticed a few spots that could use some attention, but the way Calder described it, it sounded like my house was at the edge of being condemned.
“Uhm, it’s notthatbad, is it?” I replied, but the expressions from all three of them told me that maybe, just maybe, it actuallywas that bad. “Well, I was going to hire a handyman to fix some things. You really don’t need to spend your free time —”
Ash held up one hand. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’re trained for this.”
“You could always bring us some snacks as a thank you,” Beck added with a grin. “Crisps, if you have them. Oh, wait, a lemonade. Both!”
“I promise you,” Calder continued, his eyes serious and easy to fall into. “Nothing you say will change our minds on this.”
“I believe that.” I sighed, since I knew that eventually they would get me to relent. “Okay, fine. You have a deal. You can fix my house, and I’ll give you some snacks and drinks. Not sure that’s fair payment, but I’m not going to argue with you.”
“Good,” Calder said, before looking from Ash to Beck as he continued talking. “Ash, you start on the roof. Beck, check the inside and see if there are dangers. I’ll begin with the porch fence. It’s just not sturdy enough.”
Before I could say anything, the three of them nodded to one another, and split up. They moved quickly and with determination, as if they already knew exactly what had to be done and how to do it. I was left standing by the front door, still a bit stunned that they wanted to spend a day doing manual labor. Then, I realized that the temperature was pretty high, and that probably meant that their shirts would go flying pretty soon.
Well, I won’t be complaining about that,I thought, bouncing back into the house to find where Beck had gone. I hadn’t really seen any problems inside, aside from a spot of mold in one of the bathrooms, but I was pretty sure I could take care of that.
I found him at the door to my bedroom, shaking his head as he repeatedly opened and closed it. As he did so, the hinges squeaked, a noise which I was still struggling to get used to. Itwasn’t very high up on my list of things that needed to get fixed, but it was annoying.
“I can’t believe you’ve been living like this,” Beck said when he turned to me. “Your own personal torture chamber. It’s tragic.”
“Oh, come on,” I giggled in return. “It’s not that bad. It’s just a squeaky door.”
“Not for long.” Beck glared at the door as if it were his sworn enemy. “This beast will never have the opportunity to squeak again!”
Now, that did sound nice. It made me wonder if there were other “small” issues in the house that I chose to ignore just because it would be too much effort otherwise. Actually, it was probably riddled with them. Now I was certain that was a good thing, though. The more problems they found, the longer the guys would stay; and that sounded fantastic.
Above me, I heard heavy footsteps on the roof. “Ash really went up there?”
“I mean, we’re on roofs all the time,” Beck pointed out, like it wasn’t a big deal at all. “You should watch me climb one. I’m definitely more elegant thanAsh.”
The name was said with a grumble. I found myself feeling amused by his jealousy, and I was wondering what Ash would look like on a roof. He probably was shirtless at this point, and maybe Calder was, too. Beck was still wearing his, though perhaps not for long.
“I’ll let you get to it, then,” I said teasingly. “Try not to make too much of a mess, okay?”
“No promises,” Beck smirked, and I saw an inkling of longing in his eyes before I turned away. I knew it probably wasn’t the right thing to do, but I wondered how much I could ramp the competition up between them while they were at my place. Theidea of it excited me, and I was sure that I wouldn’t be able to resist the temptation of pushing all of it along.
With that in mind, I headed outside to see what Calder was up to. I found him crouched on one end of the porch, working on the fence. Right now, it looked more like he was pulling it apart.
“You might need a whole new fence,” he said over his shoulder. He’d probably heard my footsteps approaching. “This thing is rotten to the core. Surprised you haven’t fallen right through yet.”
“I’m not in the habit of crashing into porch fences,” I joked, and he turned to look at me. From this angle, he was absolutely delicious. As I’d thought, he had pulled off his shirt, and it was neatly folded beside him. I could see the muscles in his back and shoulders move, a testament of power and yummyness.
“Nobody plans on it,” Calder replied in a way that made me uncertain if he was being serious or not. “But it’s a real safety hazard.”
“In that case,” I said, leaning closer to him. “Then I thank you for being my hero and saving me from a porch fence disaster.”
