I tilt my head. The answer seems obvious. “So you don’t have any more house floods for the foreseeable future.”
Her features soften the tiniest bit. Our eyes lock, and I can feel her gaze burrowing beneath my skin. Idon’t know what she finds, but it must be good enough, because she turns to leave and tosses over her shoulder, “Fine. Fix it.” After a beat, she adds, “Please.”
Chuckling, I call after her, “Wait! Get back here!” She returns with a scowl, but I only smile wider. “Fabes,I’mnot fixing it. I’m teachingyouto fix it.”
Chapter 9
Fable
“Push in a little farther. It’ll fit,” Theo assures me. Molten lava floods my cheeks as I follow his instructions, pushing until the quick-connect slides into place. “That’s perfect.”
The back of my neck prickles with warmth, and I’m going to blame it on how close we are. With both of our heads inside the small cabinet, our knees pressed together, and our arms brushing every few seconds, it’s a wonder I’m even hearing his words at this point. If I don’t get some distance between us, I might overheat.
I tried holding my breath for a while, to avoid inhaling his summer-sunshine scent, because it’s doing weird things to my brain—like making me wonder what kind of soap he uses and if I can buy the same one—but then I felt even more lightheaded.
I’m doomed either way. Letting him into this house might be my downfall.
“Looks like you had just enough pipe left to make it work.” He slides his fingers over the connection, his forearm flexing a few inches from my face. Ihave the irrational urge to sink my teeth into it.
“Yep. Great,” I chirp, clearing my throat.
Mocha eyes lock with mine in the dim cabinet. “We should be good to go this time. Where’s the main shutoff to the house?”
“Outside.” I slide back and gulp down some fresh, not-Theo-drenched air. But when I go to stand, he places a hand on my knee.
“You stay. Make sure everything looks good when I turn it back on.”
While he’s gone, I collect the scraps of PVC from under the sink. Turns out I’d made so many cuts to the pipe coming out of the wall that we barely had enough left for the new shutoff valve. If I’d cut any more, the next step would’ve been to take apart the drywall behind the cabinet and replace the whole pipe in the wall.
So admittedly, maybe letting him in herewasn’tmy downfall.
As long as I don’t have to spend any more time with our faces three inches apart.
“How’s it looking?” he calls, walking back down the hallway.
I peek under the sink. “Good.”
He plants his hands on the doorframe. “Use your fingers. See if it’s wet.”
The lava is back in my cheeks. Ilean under the cabinet before he notices. “Everything seems good.”
“Perfect. Then turn the valve to let the water through.” He kneels beside me and reaches over my body to the faucet, and for a moment all I can see are gray scrubs and strong thighs. A stark reminder that I was 1,000 percent bluffing with the ugly scrubs comment. Iswallow, snapping my attention back to my task.
Water flows softly through the pipe and Theo says, “Okay, check for leaks. Even the tiniest bit.”
I touch everywhere I can and listen closely, but everything seems dry. “I think we’re good.”
When I slide out from under the cabinet, that lopsided grin is aimed at me, dimples on display and hair curling playfully at his temples. He sits back on his heels, his broad shoulders taking up most of my tiny bathroom, and I’m painfully aware it’s only the two of us here.
“You did it,” he says brightly.
“Wedid it,” I correct. “Thank you.”
He glances behind him dramatically. “Did you just... thankme? Has the world ended? Are you really Fable?” He grabs my shoulder desperately. “Are you being mind-controlled?”
I roll my eyes, but I can’t stop my smile. “I take it back then.”
“Oh, no you can’t.” He stands and reaches for my hand, helping me up. “I’m treasuring thatthank-youfor the rest of my life. Getting it embroidered right on these scrubs you love so much.”
