Tempting Dreams (The Sterling Brothers #3)

Chapter 1

ANGELA

The silk was soft against my skin as I turned to view my newest acquisition in the mirror. The silky two-piece set was light blue with lace edges.

I turned and looked over my shoulder; the hem stopped above the swell of my ass.

The cool air in the dressing room caused my nipples to pebble under the soft material.

I snapped several photos, wondering if I should use these images for the website or hire Wynter, the photographer in town, to do a photo shoot.

I could pose, but was my body perfect enough to be a lingerie model? Probably not. I wouldn't put on wings and strut down a runway anytime soon, even if my name was Angela.

Cold water licked at my toes, and I yelped. I stood frozen in place as more water gushed under the dressing room door. It was freezing. I jumped onto the ottoman, clutching my phone to my chest.

Had I left water running somewhere? There was a kitchen and a bathroom in the back of the shop, but I couldn't remember leaving anything on.

If there was standing water, I had a big problem. I could call the town's coordinator, Eve Palmer, but my first call should be to a plumber. All our repairs and renovations were handled by the Sterling Brothers, who owned a contracting business.

I called the general line for Sterling Brothers, hoping they had an answering service for after hours. From my perch, I shivered, waiting for the phone to ring, watching the water drift higher.

"Sterling Brothers. How can I help you?" a woman's voice came over the line.

"I have a bit of a situation. There's standing water in my shop, Tempting Dreams in Christmas Town. I'm wondering if you could send someone to check it out?" My voice trembled.

"Sure. I'll let Hudson know. Hold please."

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself. My clothes had been lying on the floor and were now soaking wet. I couldn't get dressed or even cover myself with anything. I was stuck unless I wanted to wade through the water in my bare feet.

I was debating the intelligence of something like that when a male voice came on the line. "Hudson Sterling."

My heart rate increased at the sound of his deep voice. I'd seen him around town but never spoken to him directly. "I have standing water in my shop, and I'm not sure what to do."

"Did you turn the water off?" Exasperation filled his tone.

I chewed my lip as the water drifted higher. "I don't know where the valve is."

"Is there a basement or an unfinished area?"

I shook my head even though he couldn't see me. "No basement."

"The valve might be in a laundry room or a break room then. Wherever you have a water source."

"Break room," I said as I tentatively stepped off the ottoman into the water, which was now inches deep.

I heard the clank of keys. "See if you can get it turned off. I'll be right there."

He clicked off the call, and I opened the door to the dressing room, scared of what I might find. It was eerily silent as water rushed from the break room. I waded through the water, hoping I wouldn't run into anything sharp.

I had visions of blood running down my leg and an infection. But I was catastrophizing when I needed to remain calm.

I shivered, the cold seeping through my skin. I kept my arms wrapped around my chest, wading through the water. I stumbled on an object, landing hard on my knees. I shifted onto my hands, bracing myself in the water while it soaked the silk of my outfit.

Now I was completely drenched, and I still hadn't made it to the break room. I braced a hand onto the wall as I slowly shifted to my feet.

When I reached the break room, I saw the water gushing from a hole in the wall. It had to be a busted pipe.

When I rented the space, I knew it was an older building, but Eve and Natasha assured me that they were working on necessary repairs and renovations. It was a large-scale project, and things took time. I never suspected that something like this could happen in my store.

I scanned the room for anything that looked like a water shut-off valve. When I saw it, I crossed the room and climbed onto a chair, struggling with the handle. It wouldn't budge. My arms were stretched over my head, and I was pulling with all my might.

The more water that escaped, the less likely it was that I'd have a shop to reopen anytime soon. The panic made my throat tighten, and I used every bit of force I possessed.

I heard sloshing behind me, then a loud voice. "Where are you?"

"The break room," I cried over my shoulder, my hand aching from my grip on the valve.

Hudson hoisted himself onto the chair and pressed his chest against my back. He reached over my head, covering my hand with his, and turned the valve with ease. The rushing of the water slowed, and a few seconds later stopped completely.

I turned, finding myself standing close to Hudson Sterling. His jaw was set in a hard line, and I could feel the heat emanating from his body.

My arms hung by my sides, and his gaze drifted lower.

I followed his gaze to find my top clinging to my nipples. My skin prickled with goose bumps, and I wasn't sure if it was from the chill in the air or standing so close to Hudson. The shiver started deep inside of me, and I covered my chest with my folded arms.

His frown deepened to a scowl. "What are you wearing?"

"My new product. I was trying it on when"—chattering teeth caused me to break off—"I saw the water. My clothes were on the floor." Probably floating somewhere in the shop.

His hands settled on my bare upper arms, and everything inside me stilled. Hudson was touching me with his bare hands; the heat of his palms seared my skin.

I lifted my gaze to meet his eyes, which were dark and turbulent, similar to the water lapping at the legs of the chair I was standing on.

Hudson eased back to pull his sweatshirt off. Then he tugged it over my head as if I was a toddler who couldn't dress herself.

I was immediately ensconced in warmth and the smell of him, something spicy and decadent.

"We need to get this water out of here before it does any more damage." His voice carried in the small space and changed the moment from something intimate to professional.

"Right. Of course." He was here to help me with a leak, not to touch me. Between his proximity and the borrowed sweatshirt, I felt like a live wire. I could go off at any second, but only he could push my buttons.

He stepped off the chair, unbothered by the fact that his feet were under several inches of water because he was wearing sturdy work boots.

He grabbed an industrial broom which was floating in the water. "Is there a drain anywhere?"

"The bathroom," I said, my teeth chattering again.

He raised a brow.

I pointed. "It's to the left when you walk out of this room."

Hudson disappeared, leaving me standing on the chair, grateful for his sweatshirt, but very aware that my legs and feet were wet.

I heard the water sloshing and assumed he'd found the drain and was pushing the water in that direction.

When the water receded slightly, I stepped carefully off the chair, following the sound of the broom moving water. When I reached him, he said, "You should box up your stock and take it somewhere else. This place is going to smell, and it will ruin everything. You'll never get the stink out."

I nodded, desperate to escape his presence. I needed to get my mind focused on my shop and not the sexy plumber who'd come to my rescue. "I need to call Eve too."

Hudson nodded. "I've got this."

I waded through the water to the front of the store, pulled out boxes from the latest shipment, added tissue paper from beneath the counter, and folded the items. I placed each one carefully in the box. The store, these clothes, represented my new life, one where I depended on no one but myself.

Opening a business was risky, but I'd started with a small amount of product and sold it at pop-up shops in local malls and at festivals until I'd saved enough money to rent a space.

This was the most reasonable rent I could afford, and it came with an apartment above the shop.

It was perfect for me and my daughter, Ayla.

I called Eve to let her know what was going on. This was her building after all.

"Hello," Eve answered, sounding relaxed and happy.

"Eve? There's a problem." I couldn’t keep the tremor out of my voice. My dream of being a shop owner was dissipating in front of my eyes.

"What happened?" Her tone switched from relaxed to concerned.

"There's a leak in my shop." I winced at the characterization of the flood. Would she understand the gravity of the situation?

"What do you mean?"

"I was trying on new product in the dressing room when water seeped under the door," I said, remembering the exact moment when I realized there was a problem.

"Did you call Hudson?"

"He's here already," I said, feeling something swirl in my stomach at the memory of him pressed against my back. His body was strong and hard, and he smelled delicious.

I didn't even have time to feel embarrassed about being dressed in lingerie when his gaze traveled over me appreciatively. It wasn't a sexy encounter.

"Can I talk to him?" Eve asked, her voice insistent.

Hudson appeared. "Let me show you what's going on."

I moved away from the table. "Listen, Eve. I think you should see this. You need to come here."

"I'll be right there," she said as she clicked off, and I tucked my phone into the pocket of Hudson's hoodie. Would he mind if I kept it? I had a feeling it would be nice to wear around my apartment on chilly evenings.

Hudson waited for me to join him, his gaze slipping to my legs.

I hadn't bothered to go upstairs and change because this felt like a situation I couldn't walk away from.

"I'm able to get the water to go down this drain.

But once it's cleared, you're still going to have wet floors. It's going to take a while to dry out."

"At least you got rid of most of the water." The water level had gone down to about an inch.

"I have to wait for it to drain, so it's tedious. Once the standing water is gone, I'll set up industrial fans to air the place out. It's not going to be easy with the cold weather. We can't exactly open the doors. Especially with you dressed like that—" He gestured at my bare legs.

I sighed. "I haven't had a chance to change."

His face pinched. "I thought your clothes were wet."

I pointed at the ceiling. "I live upstairs. I just need to run up there and grab something."

His eyes flashed with concern. "You won't be able to stay here. The water's going to be off for the foreseeable future."

That was something I hadn't even thought about, and now that he'd mentioned it, a ball of panic formed in my chest. "I live there with my daughter."

His eyes softened, but his voice was gruff. "You can't stay there without running water, especially with a kid."

I bit my lip, wondering what I was going to do.

I'd moved here after college to live with my ex, Gus, who'd gotten an engineering job nearby.

I'd stayed because it seemed like a good place to open a shop, and I wanted to give Gus a chance to be part of Ayla's life.

My parents lived in Arizona, so I didn't have a lot of help. "I'll figure it out."

That was my go-to motto. I'd figure it out because I didn't have a choice.

He nodded because it wasn't part of his job duties to find me a temporary place to live. "Cooper's on his way with everything we'll need."

"Do you know how this happened?" I asked him, trying to focus on the shop, and not my living situation.

He moved toward the break room and the hole in the wall. "This is the obvious problem."

"Did a pipe burst?"

He reached through the hole and pulled out a piece of the blue-and-gray pipe with a hole in it. "We call this Poly-B, polybutylene, installed in the nineteen seventies through the nineties. It was cheap and easy to install, but it's brittle and prone to leak."

My nose scrunched. "It figures I'd rent the space with bad pipes."

He waved a hand in the air. "The buildings in town were probably built at the same time. I assume they all used the same material."

My eyes widened. "You're saying that the pipes in town will have to be replaced, or they're going to burst too?"

He gave me a curt nod. "Most likely."

"How did I get so lucky to be the first?" Sometimes it felt like I couldn't get ahead. I was finally on the way to living my dream, supporting my daughter and myself, and now this. I hated the idea of closing up shop and going back to a regular office job.

"There's no way to know when something like this will happen. That's why inspections are so important."

"I'm just renting." I racked my brain to try and remember if Eve had ever mentioned the pipes. I think it was something more general like, We'll take a look at the buildings when renovations at the inn are completed.

"You might want to look for an alternative option. You won't be up and running before Christmas."

That made my mind careen to bad places, and my hands shook. "I'm going to pack up my things in the front. Eve's on her way."

"I'll find you if I need you."

All thoughts of Hudson being attractive were gone now. All I could think about was that I had bills to pay and no store front for weeks or maybe even months. He hadn't specified a time period, which made everything worse.

I was so excited this morning to open my newest delivery of items and to try them on. I'd thought about selling my products online, but I didn't have a website, a lingerie model for the pictures, or anything set up for shipping. I was so screwed.

Then there was the bigger issue. I was forced to work with a grumpy plumber who was irritated that I was wearing lingerie.