She motioned with her hand to come toward her.
I broke out of the line and walked along the side wall, in between tables, my eyes never leaving hers.
“Good morning, Liam,” she said. “How’s the head?”
“The head is fine,” I said. “It’s behind my eyes that is killing me. Wait. How did you know…?”
“You texted me at what time last night?” she asked with a smile that left me with no choice but to smile back at her. “And I could tell by the text. Em…”
“Right,” I said. “You caught me. I was out with the guys last night.”
“Any more bar fights?”
“Just one.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Are you going to yell at me for it?”
“No,” she said. “Why would I yell at you?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “It was just… a long night.”
“I can tell. You need a coffee?”
“I’ll wait in line.”
“No, you won’t,” Emily said. “Come here.”
I stepped closer to the back of the bakery and Emily poured me a coffee.
She handed it to me and pointed to the back.
I went with her.
“I was thinking of you last night,” I said.
“Oh?”
“When we were walking around, there was this music club. It’s not too far from here actually. Looked like a really cool place.”
“I’ve seen it before,” she said. “Did you go in?”
“No. The guys wanted to keep hitting bars.”
“I’ve never gone in either. I feel like if I did, I’d be sucked in.”
“Is that a bad thing?” I asked.
Emily stopped at the office door. “I don’t know. It’s just…”
“You were always good with music, Em,” I said. “Playing guitar and singing.”
“Thanks,” she said. “But I haven’t done that in a long time.”
“Maybe you should think about it again,” I said.
She opened the office door. “Yeah. Maybe.”
We went into the office and I sipped the coffee.
“This is damn good,” I said.
“Lucy and Ember are the best,” Emily said. “Ember finds the best stuff and Lucy has her little secrets on how to brew it. I don’t know what I’d do without them here.”
“It looks like you have a hell of a business.”
“Looks can be deceiving, Liam,” she said.
“What does-”
“Emily, do you know… whoa.”
I turned around and saw a woman in the doorway.
“Lucy,” Emily said. “Hey.”
“Sorry,” Lucy said.
I stuck my hand out. “I’m Liam. An old friend of Emily’s.”
“Liam, right,” Lucy said. “You looked familiar. You’ve been in here before.”
“A few times,” I said. “Usually to apologize to Emily for doing something inappropriate.”
“With a smile like that, how can anything you do be inappropriate?” Lucy asked.
“Easy there,” Emily said.
“The bathroom sink is still dripping,” Lucy said. “Did you call Henry?”
“I forgot,” Emily said. “I’m sorry.”
“I’ll take a look,” I said.
“No,” Emily said.
“Why not?” Lucy asked. “Let him roll up his sleeves and show off what he’s got.”
Lucy winked and walked away.
I looked at Emily.
She waved a finger at me. “She’s too old to act that way.”
“Not even close to it,” I said with a smile.
“Should I warn Miranda about you and Lucy?” Emily teased.
I laughed.
But I also didn’t like hearing Miranda’s name coming from Emily’s mouth.
There was an awkward moment of silence between us.
I finally broke the ice.
“Let me look at that sink.”
I rolled up my sleeves and crouched down.
I looked at the pipe that was leaking.
The connector piece looked crooked.
I grabbed it with my right hand and loosened it a little.
Water began to drip faster.
“Can you get me a bucket, Em?” I asked. “I don’t want the floor to get soaked and have someone fall and get hurt.”
Emily hurried out of the bathroom.
I loosened the piece a little bit more and then shifted it so it was straight.
Did I know what I was doing?
Not a fucking clue.
Handyman stuff wasn’t my thing.
But this seemed basic enough.
Emily brought me a bucket and I let the water drip into it.
I tightened the piece back up and slowly moved my hand away.
There wasn’t any more water dripping.
“Nice,” Emily said.
“That’s right,” I said. “Good as new.” I stood up and reached for the cold water faucet. “See, sometimes you just need to-”
I turned on the faucet and heard a pop! sound.
The connector piece exploded into two pieces and water shot out from under the sink right at me.
My stomach and dick area were soaked in a second.
I jumped out of the way and the water sprayed right at Emily.
Her apron and shirt were wet and clung to her body.
She let out a playful scream and I dropped to one knee and reached for the water as it continued to blast out of the pipe.
Water hit my face and my hair.
I clenched my jaw and covered the pipe with my hand, but all that did was not send water shooting right at Emily.
I looked back at her and her jaw was dropped.
Her shirt was tight against her body.
I blinked a few times and smiled.
“I think we need to turn the water off to the sink,” I said.
“You think?” she yelled at me.
“What are you two… oh, shit,” Lucy said as she poked her head into the bathroom.
“Lucy, go call Henry right now,” Emily said.
I reached with my left hand and found the shutoff valve.
Of course the thing looked to be four hundred years old and didn’t want to budge.
I growled and twisted as hard as I could.
I wasn’t sure if that was the right way to handle the situation, but the valve began to close. After a few seconds, the water stopped coming from the pipe.
I took a deep breath and stood up. “There. You just don’t have a bathroom right now.”
When I turned and faced Emily, she pointed at me and started to laugh.
“You’re one to talk,” I said. “You look like you just entered and won a wet t-shirt contest.”
Which she did. Good fucking hell was that shirt pulling tight against her chest…
I looked down at myself. “I guess I need to shoot back home and get changed.”
“Just tell everyone
