Chapter 2
Clayton
The furnace had been making groaning noises all week, but the sound it made right after Shelly’s call was different.
Louder. More ominous. Like the old beast was finally giving up the ghost.
I wouldn’t have taken in a renter tonight if I’d known the old unit was singing out a real death knell. I’d convinced myself it was just another false alarm.
Now I wasn’t so sure.
I grabbed my toolbox and headed for the utility closet, already running through the list of parts I might need. Shelly had said I was the last rental on the mountain tonight. Which tracked.
That was usually how my rental business went. I didn’t have the Taj Mahal of accommodations to offer, so I got two types of guests: the cheapest people on the planet who balked at paying fifty bucks a night, or nervous city folks who looked like they were afraid my house might collapse on them while they slept.
Rachel was definitely the latter.
I knelt in front of the furnace and pulled off the access panel, my mind drifting back to the moment I’d opened the front door.
She’d taken my breath away. Just standing there on my porch, soaking wet with her dark hair plastered to her skull in a tight bun, and her fancy clothes clinging to every curve. She was a short, soft little thing, all rounded hips and full breasts that her structured blazer couldn’t quite hide.
Her brown eyes had been frowning at me through rain-speckled glasses, and something in my chest had tightened at the sight of her looking so bedraggled and miserable.
Could eyes frown? Rachel’s had.
I’d wanted to pull her inside and wrap her up in a warm blanket. Maybe sit her down by the fire with a cup of cocoa and watch the tension drain out of her shoulders.
Which was a strange reaction, considering I didn’t do women anymore. Hadn’t for two years, not since Michelle had packed her bags and told me I cared more about fixing other people’s problems than building a life with her.
She’d been right, probably. But knowing that didn’t make it sting any less. I’d been willing to try to make it work with her, but when she’d landed in another man’s bed a week after our breakup, that had been it for me. Even after she’d dragged her sad ass home and begged me to take her back.
I was the kind of man who didn’t hand out second chances.
And honestly, her leaving had been a big relief. Women were more trouble than they were worth in my opinion.
Lightning flashed, bright enough to light up the hallway through the window, and I thought about Rachel again. Somehow this woman had taken Michelle right out of my thoughts.
The way she’d straightened her spine when I’d made that crack about insurance, like she was putting on armor, had told me everything I’d needed to know.
The woman was a spitfire, and she knew how to fight back.
That feisty spirit had looked good on her.
She’d lifted her chin defiantly and pursed her full, pink lips, even though she was shivering so hard I could see her teeth chattering.
Rachel had agorgeousmouth to go with all those curves.
And hot damn, she’d been wearing the sexiest heels I’d ever seen. Never mind that the tips of them had been covered in mud.
I’d had some kind of visceral response to her, and hell, I’d even felt my dick come back to life after a long hibernation.
My mind skittered away from that thought.
She was a tenant. And she’d only be here for a night or two. She didn’t need me breathing hot and heavy over her thick curves. It was rude.
Thunder cracked outside, rattling the windows, and I refocused on the furnace.
The blower motor was shot. I’d known it was on its last legs, but I’d been hoping to squeeze another month out of it before making the drive to Fernwood for parts.
