So which one is the real Ash? Who is he hiding beneath those crisp suits—and which is all an act?
I head back upstairs to fix the faucet. I tighten up the tap with the wrench, but I must have gone too far, because the dripping only gets worse.
Damn.
Bunny definitely won’t be happy now, so I yank even harder.
Something snaps, and then the faucet starts spurting cold water up into the air—and all over me.
No!
I grab a towel and bunch it over the busted faucet. It stops the flow, but the minute I take my hand away, water starts gushing out again.
I panic. Bunny could be back at any moment, and a flooded room is the last thing I need. She’ll probably get right back in that BMW and never come back!
I grab my phone from my pocket and quickly dial Ryland with one hand, pressing tight to the faucet with the other. It rings, and rings…and then goes to voicemail.
Damn.
I try Juliet, but it’s the same: no answer. What do I do now? I don’t know if there’s any plumber in town, and I can’t stand here forever!
I try Tegan’s number. At last, someone picks up. “Hey!” I exclaim in relief. “I’ve got a plumbing emergency, do you know who I can call?”
There’s a pause, then Ash’s voice replies. “Noelle?”
My heart sinks. “Yes, it’s me. Is your sister around?”
“Sorry, she and Ryland went into the city for the day, I guess she left her phone behind.”
“Dammit,” I mutter. The towel in my hand is soaked through, and water is dripping down to the floor.
“What’s wrong?” Ash asks.
“I’ve got a busted faucet, it won’t stop running.”
“I’ll be right over.”
“You don’t have to—”
But the line is already dead. He’s hung up.
I don’t have time to think about it, right now the only thing that matters is containing the disaster. I grab another towel to replace the soaked one, but still the water keeps gushing. By the time I hear someone hurry up the stairs, I’m soaked, and the floor is pooling with water.
“Noelle?” Ash’s voice comes.
“In here!” I call, desperate.
He comes in and stops dead. “I don’t know what happened!” I exclaim. “I was trying to stop a drip, but then something broke, and I can’t make it stop.”“Let me look,” Ash strides over. I let go of the faucet—and water spurts out, straight into Ash’s face. He ducks back, and I clamp down on it again.
“See? What can we do?” I ask, panicking. “Bunny will be back any minute!”
Ash strips off his shirt, then grabs the wrench and kneels down beside me in the water, wrestling with the pipework at the base of the sink until the water shuts off.
“Can you fix it?” I ask hopefully. “Do you know someone who can?”
Ash suddenly straightens up. Water drips from his hair and his vest is soaked through, clinging to the planes of his broad, muscular chest.
My heart stops.
“I got you all wet,” I whisper, feeling a flush of awareness. He’s standing close in the small bathroom. Too close.
Ash stares back at me, his dark eyes unreadable. Then his gaze drifts lower, and the edges of his lips curl up in a grin.
“You too.”
I glance down. My tank top is soaked through, showing every outline of my lacy bra. I gulp, and quickly cross my arms over my chest.
“I’m sorry,” Ash says suddenly. “About last night.”
I gulp. “It’s fine,” I lie hurriedly, “you don’t have to—”
“No, I do.” Ash cuts me off. A conflicted look crosses his handsome features. “I know I’m apologizing a lot, but didn’t mean what I said, not like that. It’s just, my sister. She has a way of pushing my buttons. She’s been nagging me about dating for years.”
“She cares about you,” I say quietly.
“She doesn’t know how to mind her own business,” Ash replies with a wry grin. “But, I was rude. It came out all wrong.”
My pulse quickens. “So what did you mean?” I ask, almost afraid to hear his answer.
Ash pauses for a long moment. His eyes stay locked on mine, and I swear I can see conflict burning there. Some kind of twisted regret.
“If I was ever going to date someone…”
He stops, then suddenly looks away. “I think I can figure this out,” he says, sounding hurried. “Just give me a minute with the wrench.”
I stand back, so frustrated I could scream. What was he about to say? And why the “if”? I don’t understand why he’s keeping me at arm’s length like this!
Ash works on the pipe join a minute, then finally straightens up. “I think that’s fixed it. Let me turn the water back on.”
I stand braced with another towel, but the faucet flows normally—and stops when he turns the tap.
“Thank you!” I exclaim, overcome with relief. “Oh my God, you just saved my ass. Now, all I have to do is get this mess cleaned up, and hopefully Bunny will never know the difference.”
I throw my arms around him in a hug without thinking. The heat is immediate; the feel of his body, damp and solid.
Ash tenses against me, and then slowly relaxes. For a moment, our bodies are pressed together, so close I can feel his heart beating in his chest.
I look up, into his eyes. Something flares between us, sharp and bright. His hands tighten on my waist, my head tilts up, and—