“And why is that?” she asked, hoping that her cup size hadn’t been what put him off his game. She’d rather their chemistry impact him instead. Because despite his oddities, she was definitely attracted to him.
A smile lifted is full lips. “You’re even more beautiful than I’d hoped,” he said, his sexy gaze sliding over her body.
He was too smooth and too focused on the superficial things about her. So much for her futile hope he’d be different than the average guy.
“But beyond that, if you actually teach all these classes, you possess a wealth of knowledge and, I’m not ashamed to admit, smart women turn me on,” he said.
And that sounded more like a reason she could live with.
“Will you go out with me?” he asked.
She wanted to, but dating a stranger wasn’t a smart move. “I wish I could, but I have to be here for the repairman.” She forced a regretful smile and squelched the female buried inside her who wanted to accept his invitation.
He unbuttoned his suit and slipped the jacket off his broad shoulders before flinging it onto the nearest chair. “It was that or be roasted alive.” He turned back to her. “Now where were we? Oh, yes…you going out with me.”
She opened her mouth to insist she’d made her final decision when her cell phone buzzed. She picked it up, grateful to discover the repairman returning her call. Gratitude quickly turned to dismay as she listened, thanked him and disconnected the call.
Kane raised his dark eyebrows. “Problem?”
She nodded. “He can’t be here until tomorrow. He hopes.” She plucked at her damp shirt.
“Well then.” He started to unbutton the cuff on his shirt. “We’d better get to work.”
“We?” she asked.
“You and me. I don’t see anyone else volunteering.” His gaze darted around the room. “Do you?”
“No, but…are you an HVAC expert?”
He shook his head. “No. But living in an old apartment, I’ve seen my share of broken heaters. So let’s get going.” With a flip of his wrist, he began rolling up his sleeve.
When the first one was finished, he began on the second, revealing muscular forearms and bronze skin. With her fair complexion, she’d always admired deep-olive coloring, but it was more than his Mediterranean tone that appealed to her. It was one thing to sense this man’s strength, but another to witness the physical evidence of it firsthand.
Kayla’s mouth grew dry, and she grabbed for the bottled water sitting on her desk.
She wet her parched lips before attempting to speak. “Wrench?”
“What?”
She plucked up the tool she’d also deposited on her desk earlier. “I asked if you needed a wrench. To shut off the heat.”
“Take it along and we’ll see.”
She followed him into the back room. He knelt down to examine what she considered a foreign piece of equipment.
“The temperature’s already been lowered,” he said.
“It was near ninety when I arrived. I turned down the dial, but the heat didn’t follow. I guess the cleaning crew turned it on by mistake.”
He examined the old heater. “It probably needs to hit its peak before it’ll start coming down.”
“You mean it’s going to get hotter?” she asked, fingering the damp strands stuck against her neck.
“Count on it.” He turned, his gaze zeroing in on hers, and the heat in the room seemed to soar.
No man had ever had such a heart-stopping effect on her before. Drawing a deep breath, she wondered how to handle such raw masculinity. She’d made too many mistakes to mess up and be hurt again.
He cleared his throat. “There’s another choice. We can hit the emergency switch and hope we don’t blow the unit in the process.”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I can’t afford that kind of repair.”
“Then you have no choice but to let it run its course. In the meantime, do you have a bucket?” he asked.
“As a matter of fact…” She walked to the storage closet and retrieved the pail her aunt had used to store cleaning supplies. “Here.” She offered it and he grabbed the handle.
“What about a skate key?” he asked.
She blinked at the strange question. “A what?”
He chuckled. “Never mind.” He reached around and patted the floor surrounding the heater. “Aha.” He held a small, rounded key aloft. Triumph lit eyes that she now realized were stunning—an aqua mix that emphasized more blue than green and turned her already mixed-up insides to pure mush.
She glanced at his find. “Let me guess. A skate key?”
“Sort of. Most of these old units need to be bled at the start of every season, sometimes more often. People familiar with them leave the key in a place they won’t forget. Otherwise you have to go running and hope you can find…”
“The nearest skater?” she asked wryly.
“She’d do in a pinch…if she looked like you.”
A burning flush heated her cheeks. With his stares and compliments, she probably resembled a tomato by now. “Look, Mr. McDermott, I appreciate your help, but you don’t have to flatter me.”
“Do compliments make you uncomfortable, Miss Luck?”
She shrugged, knowing he’d hit a nerve. In her experience, compliments were a means to an end.
“A woman like you should be used to them. I would think you’d take them in stride.”
“Let’s just say, I’d rather get back to the problem at hand,” she said, gesturing toward the heater. “I thought you bled a heater when there was no heat.”
“You do. But you might as well stabilize the system so you don’t have major problems when you turn it on again next winter.” He turned back to the heater, and soon the sound of water running into the bucket filled the otherwise silent room.
After her third trip to empty the water into the bathroom sink, he flipped the key and rose to his feet. “All set.” He wiped his damp hands on his pants, unconcerned with the damage he did to his suit. “As for the unit, give it some time. Chances are it’ll cool off without the help of the repairman.”
“Just
