Chapter Twenty-Two
Zoey
“ A re you okay?”
Magnus’s voice reaches me before he does, and he bursts into the kitchen like a wild thing. And then stops, taking me in. I’m soaked to the bone, a drowned rat. On the floor.
Behind me, water shoots out from beneath the sink.
His mouth is open and I snap. “Bathroom sink. Get the toolbox.”
I turn and continue fruitlessly trying to stave off the water with my hands.
“Here.” Magnus hands me the box and I fling it open, grabbing the wrench and battling with the stuck water tap. It finally gives and the water slows to a trickle and then stops.
I sag. The water’s soaking into the floor and if it drips down through the light fixtures and onto books in the room below I’m in trouble.
“Go and move all the boxes and books in the room beneath.”
Magnus doesn’t wait for me to clarify, he takes off, and I pull open the drawer with old rags and dump them on the flood. Next come the tea towels. And then I’m up and dragging all the towels I can get my hands on into the kitchen.
I’m in the midst of soaking and wringing into a basin and repeating when Magnus returns. He simply drops to his knees and joins me, making faster work of this than I can.
“Sorry,” he says. “I’ve got no idea about pipes and things like that. Plumbers, however, I can do. One’s coming shortly.”
I bite down on the groan that rises up. More money I now really don’t have, growing wings and flying out the window. But the old pipes have needed replacing for years and I can’t live without water. Or live with using just the bathroom sink.
“Thanks.”
He puts a hand on my thigh, my jeans almost black from the water. “It’s not your fault.”
“No, but I know these things are a pain in the ass.”
“It’ll be okay.” Then he gets to his feet and disappears. He’s back in a few minutes. “I locked up. The plumber will call me when he’s here.”
I want to say I’ll do it, but turning off the water tap to the pipe in the kitchen is as far as my skills go, and judging from the way Magnus stared like the scene was something out of a horror film, his skills are no doubt less than mine. And, I knew the day to replace the pipes would come.
I’d just hoped it would be down the track, on a day of my choosing. Not from near-disaster necessity.
We continue cleaning up and there’s something nice about having him there. I just wish…well, I wish for a lot of things and I can’t have any of them.
But it’s better than thinking of the pure pleasure last night had been. That’s dangerous because that kind of pleasure a girl might want to keep, might want to dream on. Especially when you combine it with the man who’s helping you, the man whose complexity and layers call.
“It’ll be okay,” he says, sitting back on his heels.
I look at him. Tears, hot and blurring, press at my eyes, but I blink them away. “Will it? I know this is bad. And—”
“Hey.”
Swiping a hand at my eyes, even though the tears don’t fall, I swallow and shake my head. “I don’t know why I’m suddenly feeling overwhelmed. I face crap every day. And I don’t get all whatever this is.”
“You don’t need to act like a Valkyrie every waking second to be one.” Magnus gets to his feet and holds out his hand, and I place mine in his, letting him pull me to my feet. “Thing is, you’re used to taking on the world, but right now, you don’t have to.”
“Yes, I do.”
“It’s not going to crumble if you take a moment for yourself. And you’re not alone. I might be shit at a lot of practical things you do in your sleep, but I’ve got strong shoulders.”
I just stare at him. If he keeps going, I’m going to be a drowned rat in other ways. Like stupid tears.
“Zoey?” He’s smiling, and it’s soft and inviting and I want to curl up in its center. Metaphorically.
“I’m okay. I just needed a moment. And now I’ve had one. I’m just going to get this cleaned—”
“No. You’re not.”
“I’m not?”
“Nope. You’re going to put on dry clothes, then sit on your sofa and have a cookie. I know you want one.”
“Ass.”
He grins. “That’s no way to talk to the man who’s going to take care of this watery mess for you. And feed you.” He looks about as he grabs the glass cookie jar on the counter and dumps three on a plate. Then he turns to me. “Get changed.”
I do, leaving my soaked clothes in the basket in my room and pulling on fresh jeans and a T-shirt, leaving my feet bare. When I go back to the kitchen, Magnus is texting.
I don’t know if he sees me, but he finishes and puts his phone in his pocket and picks up an unopened bottle of merlot. Then he looks right at me, like he knows whenever I’m there.
It makes my breath hitch in my throat.
He shakes the bottle at me. “What do you have that’s stronger than wine?”
“I don’t need a drink.” I don’t, but now he’s suggested it the thought is comforting, almost as comforting as he’s being. Like this, a girl could fall head over heels for him.
What am I thinking?
A girl could take one look at him and fall head over heels. This is just the delicious center of the cake beneath the glorious icing.
I push a hand through my wet hair, trying to calm the thud of my heart that’s spiking high. “I think there’s something in the pantry.”
Magnus roots around and pulls out a dusty bottle. “Sherry?”
“It’s a thing.” I give him a challenging look as he pulls down a glass for the fortified wine. “People pay good money for good sherry.”
“Good being the operative word.” He unscrews it and sniffs. Then recoils. “Fucking hell. No.”
He puts the lid back on and digs around some more, finally pulling out something I’d forgotten about. I think it’s vanilla vodka Suzanna once insisted we drink. He sniffs this, wrinkles his nose and shrugs. “This is also bad. But not as bad as the sherry…it’ll do.”
The amusement in his voice that battles pure disgust warms. He pours me a glass, adds some ice, gives me the cookies, then makes me go to the living room and sit. I feel like some overgrown child, but it’s nice, the pampering. His phone buzzes, and Magnus glances at the screen and holds up a finger.
“Everything okay?” I ask. I can’t help it. Even with my mini disaster going on, I know there’s a lot happening in his life.
“Don’t worry.” He smiles, flashing his dimple as he goes into the kitchen, clearly talking to his gran. When the plumber comes, Magnus takes care of that, too, letting the guy in and bringing him up here. I know it’s going to cost a fortune, but right now I don’t let myself go there.
Usually I’m dealing with so much, but right now there’s someone helping me. It’s both weird and wonderful all at the same time.
And still the anxiousness for him scratches at me. “How is she? Should—”
“Gran’s going to bed early; she’s fine,” he says in that way people do when things aren’t fine but can’t do anything about them, “and thank you for worrying. But you don’t need to.”
Magnus doesn’t quite meet my gaze when he says that, but there’s only so far I can push, so I nod. There are things I can do, and he doesn’t have to know about them. But I also need to take care of the pipes.
But I can do it. I can do it all. Help his gran. Keep my building from the hands of the ominously quiet Edward Sinclair and get these pipes fixed.
“Hey. It really is going to be okay.”
“I don’t want to lose a day…do you think…?” I shake my head, stopping myself because how would he know? “Magnus, I’ll make sure everything is fine.”
“You’re not alone. And the plumber’s doing the work needed for now.”
“I should go and speak to him. Work out a plan.” I set the glass down and start to push up to my feet when he stops me.
His hand is warm on my arm as he does so. “I took care of this.”
“You can’t.” I don’t need to ask what he means by that.
“The guy’s Gran’s neighbor. It’s a discount, and…” He shrugs. “It sounds like there’ll be other work.”
Someone clears their throat and my stomach drops as the plumber comes in to the living room, wiping his hands on a rag. “You’ll have water, but those pipes gotta be upgraded soon.”
I stand, doing mental calculations in my head. “How long can I put it off?”
“Best case? A few more weeks, maybe a month; but…”
“Yeah, I know.” I nod. “Do you have a card?”
The guy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a little flip tin and opens it, handing me a card. “I’ll be back tomorrow a.m. You might want to close up until after lunch.”
“I thought you said—”
“This is a quick fix. Tomorrow I’ll put in a permanent fix for this pipe. But everything will need an upgrade.”
I swallow, nodding. “And how much?”
The guy pauses a moment, glances at Magnus.
“How much?” I ask again.
“I’ll get you a quote.”
After he’s gone, I sit and close my eyes.
“Here.”
I open them, looking at Magnus’s proffered hand. He’s holding out my newly refilled glass.
“I’m not sure more booze is going to solve the problems.”
“It’s not just booze. I ordered pizza.” His tone is so serious I almost laugh. “And everyone knows that combination’s the sweet spot for problem solving.”
Now I do laugh, and put the card from the plumber on the coffee table. I take the glass and he holds the one in his other hand up. “Here’s to getting on a new and better road.”
“This road is okay,” I say, downing my drink. He does the same. “But I’d like better.”
“Ask and you’ll receive. Or that’s how it’s meant to go, anyway.” He shakes his head, like he’s made some kind of decision, and drinks his vodka, and then he goes to the kitchen and comes back with the bottle, sitting next to me and refilling our drinks.
“Are you trying to get me drunk, Mr. Simpson?”
He gives me a long, considering glance, one that smolders in the center and flame licks up inside me. “Do I need to?”
“No.”
He leans in, and I want that kiss that burns in his gaze and his mouth comes so close to mine I can taste it.
Of course, that’s when the doorbell rings and the tiny moment is shattered. Magnus sets down his drink and gets to his feet. “Pizza.”
When he returns and we’re eating the pizza, I shake my head and say, “I’m going to pay you back for all this.”
“Why?”
“I need to.”
His eyes darken. “No, you don’t.”
“Yes, I do.” I set my pizza slice down and pull up my knees to my chin. “You can’t afford it, and I’m not built that way.”
“What way is that, Zoey?”
I breathe out as he smooths a curl from my face. “The charity way, I can get by on my own.”
“Everyone needs a little help, even if it’s someone there for them, or a pizza.”
“It’s just…” I stare at him, those onyx eyes are so warm and inviting. “I’ve made my own way, and that’s one thing instilled in me, you know? Help others where you can, and look after yourself. Clean up your own messes. This is my mess. I let things get like this. I should have—”
“What? Taken care of something big like the pipes when you didn’t have to?”
“But I did have to. I knew they were old and—”
“Zoey, unless someone told you this must be done a year ago, five years ago, a week ago, whatever ago; unless someone told you that if you didn’t disaster was right there, then you wait until you have to do something. Did they?”
“The last time I had a plumber in, they said one day I should replace all of them, so I knew what that meant.”
“Yeah, but they didn’t say this would happen. Come on. So you knew one day, but you got by. This isn’t your fault.”
I sigh and rub a hand over my forehead, but he takes my hand, and lifts it to his lips, kissing my fingers. “Not. Your. Fault.”
I could argue it. I’m not stupid. I knew I needed to do something, but I always pushed it back, always figured things would hold on. And maybe he’s right.
“We’ll think of it tomorrow. You’ll have the day off. You won’t pay me, because I’ll use that time for things I have to take care of, and then we’ll get things done. And everything has a way of working out. Maybe not how you want, but things work out. And time always is a gift that shows you things in a neutral light the further along you get.”
“Have you been reading the back of cereal boxes?” I ask with a laugh.
“That and the inspirational section of the bookstore. Just the blurbs.”
“Idiot.”
“Around you? Yeah, I think I am.” And Magnus leans in, kissing me, his mouth warm and tasting like pizza, vodka, and that dark moreish taste that’s him alone, one that’s full of sex and toe-curling things.
The kiss isn’t deep, but the passion teases at my edges and inside I shift, a latent need starting to burn as I return the caress, my hands sliding into his hair and it’s the sweetest tease, his mouth on mine, his tongue slow dancing, drawing me into him.
Finally Magnus lifts his head. “I could kiss you all night. I could do a whole bunch of other things, but maybe we should just settle down and watch some TV?”
“Are you respecting my taking things slow, even though we’ve been down and dirty and naked?”
“There’s intimacy and then there’s intimacy,” he says, pulling me in against him as he reaches for the remote control.
I smile against him. It’s true. The sex is physical, and that kiss and this? Emotional, and it’s also giving me room to breathe.
How the hell did I get so lucky in meeting him?
And what am I going to do when he finally walks away?