Page 48 of The Rules of Dating

“I think the AC is broken again.”

Oh crap. I was warm, but I’d thought it was just me. There was a vent in the ceiling above the station next to mine, so I hopped up on a chair and held my hand to feel if anything was blowing. “Ugh. Nothing’s coming out.”

Deek shrugged. “I turned it off and on when I was back there. No luck.”

I sighed. “By tomorrow when we open, it will feel like ninety in here with this humidity. And we have a packed Saturday and Sunday schedule.”

“You want to call the super, and I’ll stay and wait for him?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I don’t have any plans anyway. I’ll do it and stick around.”

Deek nodded. “I’ll lock the door and set the alarm behind me. Call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks, Deek. Goodnight, Justine.”

After they left, I debated texting Colby. He’d told me to let him know if the unit gave me any more trouble. Though of course, he wasn’t the super and probably didn’t want to speak to me. I should probably call Holden, who was in charge of maintenance. Then again, Colby was already familiar with the unit, so it made more sense to call him. Plus, he was my landlord, so we were going to have to learn to co-exist. He couldn’t ignore me forever.

I dug out my phone, scrolled to his name, and hit call. On the second ring, he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Um, I’m sorry to bug you, but the AC at the shop stopped working again.”

He was quiet for a solid ten seconds. “Are you there now?”

“Yeah.”

He took so long to speak again, I was starting to think he’d hung up. “Fine. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

For someone who was not interested in moving things out of the friend zone with Colby, I sure ran to the bathroom to clean myself up fast enough. It was the first time in a while I’d felt excited, too.

Great, I’m so desperate to see this guy that broken air conditioning thrills me.

A few minutes later, Colby knocked. I turned off the alarm and opened the front door with a hesitant smile. “Hey.”

“Hey.”

He stepped inside. As he passed, I got a whiff of his delicious cologne. Wasn’t it bad enough that he was dressed in a form-fitting dress shirt and a pair of slacks while carrying a toolbox? That stupid red box was like catnip to me. Did he have to smell good, too? But while I was busy trying to put a fire extinguisher on all my feels, Colby seemed all business.

“Is the unit running?” he asked.

“I don’t think so. Air isn’t coming out.”

He nodded and headed to the back to double-check the vents before resetting the system.

“Deek already tried that.”

He nodded and bent to his toolbox, pulling out a screwdriver. “Was it blowing cool all day, then just stopped, or was it warm for a while first?”

“I think it just stopped. It was fine in here most of the afternoon.”

He didn’t say another word as he unscrewed the unit’s cover and pulled it off.

“Is…everything okay with you?” I asked.

“Sure.”

Colby’s cell phone rang, so he dug it out of his pocket and swiped to answer. I only heard one side of the conversation.