Page 32 of The Hook Up
You want to be professional,he reminded himself.You can’t get involved, remember?
He cleared his throat. “Dinner sounds great,” he said. “Name the time and the place, and I’ll be there.”
“Great!” The enthusiasm in that single syllable gave Ty a fresh jolt of excitement, and he ordered himself to knock it off. To keep his damn emotions out of the equation.
Ellie rattled off the date and an address, chattering a bit longer about action items and best practices until Ty had no idea if she was talking dirty or what.
But the one thing he did know was that he couldn’t wait to see her.
And that scared the hell out of him.
CHAPTER7
Ty made his way up the sidewalk leading to Ellie’s duplex, glancing once at his watch to make sure he wasn’t too early. Nope, right on time.
He clutched a bouquet of daisies in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, hoping like hell he wasn’t way off base with either one. He still wasn’t sure if this was a business meeting or a date.
A date would be a dumb I idea. Didn’t keep him from wanting it, though.
As he stood on the doorstep steeling himself to knock, nervous vibes coursed through him like an electric current. His palms itched, and he couldn’t stop his idiot heart from doing its best impression of a kettledrum.It’s just dinner, he reminded himself.Dinner with a business associate.
A business associate who kissed you senseless,added another voice from the deeper recesses of his brain.A business associate with breasts that fit so perfectly in yourpalm it’s like they were meant to go together. Like chocolate and peanut butter. Or chips and salsa. Or Madame Butterfly’s Strawberry Tingle Gel and?—
“Not helpful,” Ty muttered as he lifted his hand to knock.
The door flew open, and Ty had an instant view of the aforementioned breasts. They were displayed in shocking detail under a soaking wet T-shirt dress. The thin cotton stuck to her skin, leaving nothing to the imagination as Ellie’s nipples jutted toward him like party invitations.
He blinked, pretty sure he was imagining things.
Nope. Ellie was standing in her doorway wearing a drenched pink cotton dress that clung to her like Saran Wrap. Ty could see everything. Seriously—everything. He might have reached for her right then if it weren’t for the panic on her face.
“Ty.” She peeled the sopping cotton away from her breasts, but the stubborn garment sucked right back into place. She gave a small growl of frustration. “Fuck!”
“Ellie? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
His desire switch flipped off, and his brain flooded with concern. Was she hurt? The urge to protect her hit him with a fierceness that pulled the breath from his lungs.
She shook her head and spit out a damp hank of hair. “The pipe under my kitchen sink just blew up,” she said. “I tried to stop the water, but it’s spurting everywhere like a fucking geyser, and now my kitchen is flooding and I’m freaking out.”
“Show me.” Not waiting for an invitation, he pushed through the door. Ellie stepped back, then turned and hurried ahead into a tidy little kitchen with slate counters. Well, it had been tidy. The puddles of water on the gray tile floor weren’t so tidy. Beneath the sink, a cupboard gaped open, water spewing from it like a fire hydrant.
Ty dove for it, fumbling through the geyser for the shutoff valve. His fingers found the knob, slipping once before he grabbed hold of it. He twisted hard, but it wouldn’t budge.
“God, it’s stuck,” he grunted.
“I know! I’ve been fighting with it for five minutes.”
“Come on, you infected cock-felcher,” Ty muttered, throwing every ounce of strength into moving the knob. The rusty handle began to turn, slowing the streams of water. “That’s it, you piss-bathing son of a–” The flow petered out to a slow gush, then a dribble.
He glanced behind him to see Ellie looking bemused. “Apparently, I needed to curse at it,” she said. “Who knew?”
Ty grunted then ducked back under the sink for a closer look. The water wasn’t gushing anymore, but it still seeped from several spots. He peered at the pipe, unsurprised to see a cluster of small pinholes. “Corrosion,” he muttered. “Could be chloramines, or maybe your water heater is old. That’ll cause pinhole leaks like this.”
“A new water heater is on my wish list,” Ellie admitted. “My brother bought this duplex as a fixer-upper. We’ve been renting it at a discount while he chips away at repairs.”
“This should probably be your next one.” Ty sat up and wiped his hands on his jeans.
“No kidding.” She bit her lip. “Is there any way to patch things up until he comes home Sunday?”
