At the bottom of the stairs, he found three feet of water covering the concrete floor and Faith dr
essed in the same clothes she’d been wearing at the rink—only now she was soaking wet.
She reached high to add a box to the top of a shelving unit and glanced over her shoulder. “Hi. Thanks for coming. Hope I didn’t get you out of bed.”
All his excitement leaked from his chest and his shoulders sank. He hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his jeans and tilted his head. A pipe had obviously broken, and it hadn’t happened in the last fifteen minutes.
She’d played him.
Well.
“I’m still not sure why the pipe broke,” she said, skipping the explanation. “Everything’s insulated. Maybe just one expansion too many? I got the water turned off pretty fast, and I have everything I need to replace the pipe, which I can do myself, but there’s one fitting that’s on so tight, I can’t loosen it. I’ve called three plumbers, none of whom are available for a minimum of three days—so much for emergency plumbers, right? I just need your brawn. The problem is that the pipe blew right at an elbow, and to fix it, I’ve got to get the elbow off. But it’s crimped down so tight, I can’t move it, and wouldn’t you know it, I don’t have another one the right size in stock. If you can just loosen the fitting for me, I can do the rest myself.”
“You can do the rest yourself, huh?”
“Yeah,” she said, her smile way too sweet, her expression way too innocent. “Unless you want to fix my pipes while you’re here, Mr. Fix-it.”
Grant exhaled heavily and shrugged out of his parka. “I’d like to fix your pipes, all right, but this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
Her face pinked up, her gaze lowered, and she pushed her hands into her back pockets. The move made Grant focus on her chest. Made him realize her T-shirt was white. White and wet. And she wasn’t wearing pink underneath.
She gave him a one-shouldered shrug. “You don’t have to help, but you did tell me to call you for anything.”
Fine. He could play this game. He tossed his jacket back up the stairs and crossed his arms. “Do you realize how much emergency plumbers get paid? They’re not cheap.”
Surprise touched her eyes just before her jaw tightened in frustration. “Have you been gone so long you’ve forgotten how friends do favors for friends?”
“A favor for a friend sounds something like this: Hey, one of my pipes broke. Think you could come over and give me a hand?”
Her mouth twisted, and her gaze dropped away. “Well, I could pay you, but I think it’s a safe bet you don’t need the money.”
“Very safe.” He toed off his running shoes. “But there is something I really need.”
She shot him a wary look.
“Since you’re not asking, I’ll just tell you. I need another kiss. I need another taste of that perfect fucking mouth of yours.”
She crossed her arms. “Is that the only reason you came? Because you thought I was going to jump into bed with you?”
“Isn’t that why you didn’t mention the pipe? Because that’s exactly what you wanted me to think?”
Her jaw rocked in frustration. “Maybe I wasn’t sure if you’d come if I told you it was for the pipe. And maybe I’m a little desperate. I need to open tomorrow. And I need to live here tonight.”
He assessed the water to keep himself from blowing up with frustration. To have his first choice claim him as her last choice made him feel like he was back in high school.
But like he’d told Caleb, when you became really good at something, you also became irresistible in a lot of ways. And he had two things securely in his back pocket as specialties – hockey and sex.
“Before I give you what you want,” he told her, “I want to know if you’ll be giving me what I want when I’m done.”
“Grant”—she laughed his name—“I don’t know what you expect—”
“What I expect,” he said with a seriousness to match her carelessness, “is a kiss.”
“Fine.” She huffed in frustration. “Whatever.”
Whatever?
Fine. He’d fix the fucking pipe for her and he’d leave—without taking that kiss. Because he would never be anyone’s desperate choice. And he sure as hell didn’t need to use manipulation to gain a woman’s affection. He’d leave Faith alone, ride out the rest of his time here, judge the stupid ice-carving contest, and go back to DC, where at least the women didn’t whatever him.