Sweet Seduction(2)

He stood there, shocked, then realizing he was staring he cleared his throat. “You’re with All-In-One Plumbing?” he asked then looked past her at the big white truck.

“Yes,” she said, her voice sweet and mellow and deeper than he had expected. It was a soft, husky voice. Sort of sexy. “We got a call that your basement is flooded.”

“And you came with Sam?” He glanced at the truck again but there was no-one in it. The plumber must be at the back of the truck offloading the equipment.

The girl laughed, a soft, rippling sound that brought his eyes back to her. “I’m Sam,” she said and held out her hand. "Samantha Fox, at your service.”

This was the plumber? Jake almost laughed out loud. They’d sent him a pretty little thing with long dark hair pulled back, her heart-shaped face rosy and cheerful. And at her feet was a toolkit. She probably was the plumber, after all.

He took her hand in his and was surprised at how soft it was. Definitely not the hands of a plumber.

She was a dainty little thing, dressed in denim work shirt, jeans and heavy work boots. She looked like a child trying to play grown-up, dressed in daddy’s work clothes. All-In-One Plumbing had sent a kid to do a man’s job. He was looking forward to seeing how that would work out.

He felt a tug and that was when he realized he was still holding her hand. “Oh, sorry.” He let go then stepped back. “Come on in.”

“Thank you,” she said with a smile, seeming unperturbed by the fact that he’d just been holding her – or at least her hand – captive.

She bent and picked up her toolkit and stepped past him and into the foyer, pulling work gloves out of her pocket as she went. “Point me to the basement,” she said with a tilt of her head.

It was when she stepped in that he realized that her hair swung all the way down her back, teasing her pert little bottom. He tore his eyes away before she turned and caught him staring. Jesus, what was wrong with him? Was he so starved for the sight of a woman that he couldn’t help ogling this one?

So he hadn’t been out in a while – a long, long while – avoiding the public as much as possible, even ordering his groceries online. Still, that didn’t meant he should react this strongly to the first woman to cross his threshold. He shook his head. This was definitely not like him and he’d better get a hold of himself if he knew what was good for him. There was no room in his world for a woman, no matter how attractive she was.

“It’s this way,” he said and led her down the hallway toward the door. He switched on the light and went down the stairs with Samantha – or Sam as the woman at the office had called her – in tow.

As they stopped at the bottom step she looked up. “Hmm, I see what’s going on.” She sat on the second to last step and proceeded to loosen the laces on her work boots. “I have a feeling this is all connected to your water heater,” she said as she pushed the boots off and pulled off one sock and then the other.

She had small, delicate feet with pink-painted toenails. Nope, definitely not the feet of a plumber. Jesus, he was staring again. Jake tore his eyes away and stepped past her and down into the water. “You’re probably right,” he said, adopting a nonchalant tone. “I was checking around that area but couldn’t find anything. Maybe you’ll have better luck.”

“I’m sure I will,” she said with a chuckle, “because I know what to look for.”

She stepped into the water behind him and then she was wading past him toward the huge white cylinder around which the water lapped. “This is a very old model,” she said, and ran her hand along the top. “You’re probably going to have to invest in a new one.”

She ran her hands all the way down the sides, probably checking for leaks, then bent over to peer at the pipes running into the cylinder.

And that pert bottom he’d glimpsed upstairs? Now he was treated to a full view of it. Dang!

“Found it,” she said, head still down and butt in the air. “Your pipes are really old, probably the original ones that came with the house. These ones definitely need to be changed.”

She straightened her back and rested her hands on her hips. “But don’t worry. I can give you a temporary fix.” She gave him a sympathetic smile. “I know it can be difficult doing major repair work, especially when you haven’t budgeted for it. I can change the washer down here and the coupling up there. That should buy you some breathing space.” She shrugged. “A few months, maybe, but that should give you some time to plan for the major work. Redoing the piping in this old house is going to take some doing.”