Chapter Two
“No. No. No!” Clara screamed as icy water spewed from the broken faucet, spraying the entire kitchen, to drip off the freshly painted celery green walls, her new flooring and appliances, threatening to destroy all her meticulous and difficult renovation work.
“No way.” She stared at the fountain of water. This was not happening. Panic froze her in place as she dithered about how to stop the water. She dropped the handle that had come off in her hands and pressed them over top of the leak, sending water spraying straight sideways drenching her face. Not that she could get any wetter.
“Can I help?” a masculine voice called over the rushing sound of water.
She screeched in surprise and whirled round to stare at the stranger standing in her kitchen. Water surged upward again, soaking her and the stranger.
Without waiting for permission, the Adonis dove toward the sink and with a quick sweep of his arm, threw all her cleaners from under the sink cupboard and stuck his head inside. “There are no shut off valves here. Where’s the main shut off?”
“What?” What on earth was he talking about? She wasn’t a plumber.
“The shut off valve for the entire house.” He jumped to his feet in one smooth motion, not losing his footing on the slippery floor. Dang, he was graceful and pretty, even drenched with water.
“I don’t know. Basement maybe?” She waved for him to follow her and scurried to the basement stairwell. She flicked on the light and rushed down into the nearly empty space. She stopped just past the bottom, looking frantically around. She’d barely been down here, except to drop off stuff when she moved in two months ago. She had plans for a gym and a recreation room, after she finished renovating upstairs. The furnace room was to her left and to the right of it, an open door revealed a tiny bathroom.
Adonis strode past her and headed for the lone closet marring the freshly painted white walls surrounding the open space. He jerked the doors open and reached inside. Slowly, the sound of rushing water ebbed. “Your water meter and shutoff valve are in here.”
“Oh my gosh,” she clutched her hands to her chest. “Thank you so much. I never would have shut it off. I had no idea that existed.” She should have realized there was a way to shut of the water, but her exhausted brain wasn’t functioning quite right.
“Come on,” he headed toward the stairs. “Let’s get this water cleaned up before it ruins the floors.” Two seconds later, she was staring at his back as he jogged upstairs.
“Wait. What are you doing in my house?” she blurted at his backside.
“House?” he tossed over his shoulder. “Isn’t this a bed and breakfast? Towels? Mop? The front door wasn’t locked.”
She splashed to the adjacent laundry room, grabbed the mop, and thrust it into his hands, before yanking towels from a kitchen drawer. “It will be a B&B. Eventually. I’m not open yet.”
He started mopping the half inch of water off the floor. “Are you going to help or are you just going to let the water destroy this beautiful floor?” He flashed a wink that sent all her blood rushing to her face.
She pushed her short, dripping hair back and threw the towels into the disaster. “Thanks for the help. I’m Clara.” She scooped up the towels, rang them out in the sink and noticed there was still water dribbling from the remains of the faucet. “How come the water didn’t stop if you shut it off?” It wasn’t really running, just steadily dripping. At least it was going into the sink now.
“Water runs downhill. You’ve got a whole second level that’s going to want to drain through that break,” he explained without pausing his mopping.
“Oh, I didn’t know that either.” She laughed at her own ineptness. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Why had this man entered her house uninvited? Not that she wasn’t grateful for his assistance. Who knows how long it would have taken a plumber to arrive and shut off the water?
“Zane Ryder. Pleased to meet you, Clara No Last Name.”
Heat rose in her face as she scooped up more wet towels. Why did his name sound familiar? “Sorry. I’m Clara. Clara Everett.” She squeezed water from the sodden cloth into the sink and watched him from the corner of her eye. “You let yourself into my house,” she said, careful not to sound accusatory. After all, he had stopped the water from destroying her home.
“I let myself in when I heard you scream. The door was unlocked. I hope this doesn’t mean my reservation is cancelled.” He lifted his head to look at her, his gaze caught hers and for several long, breathless seconds, she stared into his dark blue eyes, fascinated by their shine and the tiny dots of purple in them. “I thought you needed rescuing,” he murmured at last, turning away.
Instantly, she missed his gaze. “I guess I did need rescuing. Thank you. I might have waited hours for a plumber.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. You would have figured it out, you’d have called someone else. Maybe your family or a friend.”
She pursed her lips in a thoughtful twist. “I suppose,” she said at last. “Probably one of my doofus cousins. Flint doesn’t live far from here. Just a couple blocks.”
“Which Flint would that be?” Zane asked, returning to mopping.
“You know my cousins?” She shook her head. “Small world. I meant Justice, but for some reason, almost everyone calls him Flint instead of using his given name.”
“I’ve met Justice. Riley Flint told me to book my stay here. He recommends this place highly. We had a few classes together in university. Riley’s your cousin?”
“He is, and I appreciate his recommendation, but I’m not open yet. I don’t open for another week, not until the fifteenth. And luckily, I even have a reservation for opening day.” She had noticed the doubt in his voice.Was the mess putting him off?
“I have news for you, Miss Clara, today is the fifteenth and I’m that reservation. Have you lost track of your days?” he asked kindly.
