Chapter 6 #2
She smiled. “And this was our first kiss?” she teased.
His smile slipped slightly as he thought of brushing his lips across hers. What it would feel like. How she would respond to his touch. Something told him that she’d come alive. That she’d be more than anything he’d experienced before. He knew that he’d want to savor that moment.
“No.” He shook his head. “Our first kiss will be far more private and far more… than this.” He heard her breath hitch before he stood up, and he glanced towards Simona one last time to make sure the girl was safe. “I’ll see you soon.”
She nodded and he turned to walk away.
At the hardware store, he purchased the items he believed he’d need to make the repairs along with a coloring book and a box of crayons that he spotted at the checkout stand.
An hour later, he was covered in sweat and water from a new busted pipe in his shower area when his doorbell rang.
“Come in,” he called out as he held his hand over the shooting water to keep it out of his face.
Since he hadn’t had a chance to clean the upstairs of the house yet, he’d taken to sleeping in the only bedroom on the main floor. It was small, but still perfect enough for him. The bathroom in the hallway on the other hand, was the one giving him real problems.
He knew that if he couldn’t get this bathroom fixed, there was no use trying one of the three upstairs.
“Todd?” Olivia called out.
“Back here,” he replied, trying to get the wrench, which just happened to be out of his reach.
“Oh my!” Olivia said when she walked into the bathroom. Then she was beside him, a towel and the wrench in her hands.
He watched in amazement while she expertly turned a small red valve under the counter until the water stopped spraying in his face. He hadn’t even seen the connection, let alone known what it was for.
“How’d you do that?” he asked, using the towel she handed him to wipe his face.
She chuckled. “After a year of living in an old house, I learned how to turn off the water.” She smiled and sat on the edge of his tub as she looked at the damage.
“You saved my bacon.” He sat down on the wet tile and leaned against the wall. “Where’s Simona?”
“Here.” The little girl appeared in his bathroom door. “This your house?”
“Yup.” He smiled.
“You’re all wet.” She frowned over at him.
He laughed.
“There’s a hole in your wall.” Simona frowned as she leaned closer to look at the disaster that used to be his bathroom.
“Yup. But your mommy is here now, helping me fix it.” He brushed a finger down her nose.
“Mommy fixed our broken toilet,” she said and then leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I flushed a bear down it and water kept coming up. What did you flush down the toilet?”
He smiled. “Nothing. I think the pipes just aren’t used to having water in them. The water has been off in this old house for years.”
“Oh,” Simona said, seeming to lose interest. “I have a movie.” She held up a bag.
“Right.” He hoisted himself up and then tossed the towel in the sink. “I’ll show you how to work the television.” He held out his hand, and she placed her little one in it and followed him out into the den.
After getting her set up, he walked back into his bedroom and pulled off his soaking shirt to put on a dry one.
When he turned around, Olivia was standing in the bathroom door, watching him, a smile curving her lips upwards.
“I wasn’t expecting to get a show.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she ran her eyes over his bare chest.
Hearing Simona sing along to the movie in the next room, he slowly walked towards Olivia and pulled her closer until her chest was up against his own.
She felt so good in his arms. How long had it been since he’d allowed himself to just let go and be with someone he wanted?
Her tongue darted out slowly and ran across her bottom lip. A low groan built up and escaped him as his anticipation grew.
He waited, just a heartbeat, before dipping his head down and taking her mouth. She tasted better than he could ever remember anything tasting in his life. She was soft, warm, and fit perfectly against his own body.
Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close against herself. He could have sworn he felt her shiver, but it could have been his body shaking instead.
When he finally pulled away, they were both breathless, and he was more turned on than he’d been in years.
“I think we should…” He heard Simona laughing in the next room and took another step away from Olivia.
“Work on fixing your pipes.” Olivia nodded. “Water pipes,” she corrected as her face heated.
He chuckled as he grabbed a dry shirt and pulled it on over his head.
“May I just say, yum,” she said.
He met her eyes. “You taste like cherries. I can’t wait to get another sample, soon.”
She swallowed and her eyes went dreamy, then she shook her head and nodded. “Work first.”
“Yes,” he agreed.
A half an hour later, he was more than impressed with Olivia’s knowledge of plumbing and of electric work as well. She talked as she worked, and since it was obvious that she knew far more about the repairs that needed to be done than he did, he stood back and watched her.
“So, I guess watching too many home repair shows on television does pay off,” she said over her shoulder.
“If you learned all this while watching TV, then I should be one of the best football and basketball players ever.” He smiled.
She laughed. “Something tells me you’re really good at sports.” She shifted so she could run her eyes over him. “With a body like that.”
He smiled. “I like what I see too.”
Just then Simona stepped into the bathroom. “I have to go potty.”
Todd jumped up from his spot on the closed toilet lid. “I’ll just…” He walked out the bathroom door and checked his phone. There were two messages. One was from Rory with an update on the sale of the rest of his mother’s assets, and one was from a blocked number that simply said.
“Found you.” Reading it, he felt his blood turn to ice.