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“Seriously,” he said in a rush. “You’re saving my ass here.”
I fought the urge to check out his ass and shrugged again. “Let’s get a look at that sink, shall we?”
An hour and a half later, I was soaked to the bone, but I’d repaired the broken shutoff valve under the sink, replaced the cracked faucet he’d installed earlier that day, and adjusted the pressure to the main water line. I’d also retrieved my twelve-gallon wet-dry vacuum to give him a little more help in vacuuming up the water while I worked, and he’d managed to get the vast majority of the water off the floor and out of the carpet.
“Now what?” he asked, as I finished packing my tools back up and we headed into the lobby.
“Well…” I looked around. “You’ll want to get some industrial fans in here as soon as possible to help dry up the floors and prevent any further damage.”
He frowned, a little line forming between his eyebrows. “Where do I get those?”
“We have them back at the office. I can get one of the guys to bring them out if you want.”
His face relaxed in relief and he let out a slow exhale. “That would be amazing, actually.”
I pulled my phone out of my pocket. It was damp but not ruined. I silently thanked the heavens for water-resistant phones and cases before texting Casey, one of the guys who worked for me. It was his week to be on-call and I knew he’d be able to deliver the fans without issue.
“Casey will be here in about a half hour with everything you need.”
“I can’t thank you enough. How much do I owe you?”
“I’ll have our receptionist draw up an invoice and get it to you tomorrow. How’s that sound?” When he nodded, I looked around the lobby again with fresh eyes. “You’re really restoring this old place?”
He hesitated a moment before responding. “Yeah, all by myself, one tile at a time.”
I let out a low whistle. “All alone? This is… a lot.”
“I know.” He shoved his hands into his wet jeans pockets. “I know I’ll eventually have to hire help, but I can’t really afford to go all out. I’m pretty handy so I figure I’ll do whatever I can to save money, and when it comes down to getting help, I’ll do what I have to do.”
“Save money by doing it yourself, huh? Like you did that sink?” I winked at him and couldn’t help but grin as his cheeks flushed again.
“Hopefully not like the sink. I did lay all the tile in the bathrooms and paint them myself though.”
“It’s a start.” There was silence between us for a moment before I spoke again. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you new to Port Grandlin?”
“I am, actually. I moved here about a month ago, but I spent my summers here visiting my grandparents for a lot of years as a kid.”
“Oh, nice. And you always wanted to come back and buy a money pit, huh?” I chuckled a little.
He shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to come back here and settle down. So a few months ago I made up my mind that I wasn’t getting any younger, and I’d do it as a gift to myself for turning thirty-five.” He paused and then glanced at the staircase leading to the second floor. “Listen, I’m going to go get changed. I want to thank you again for… everything.”
I hesitated, trying to ignore the gnawing feeling in my gut and the tug in my chest. “You want to, I don’t know, go grab a drink or something?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You mean it?”
“Yeah. There are a few good places around here. I could go home, get into some dry clothes, and meet you somewhere by the time you’ve let Casey in to place the fans and gotten yourself changed. I’d love to talk about this old place and give you some Port Grandlin pointers.”
“That would be cool, actually.”
I grinned. “Great. How about we meet up at the Copper Elephant in, like, thirty minutes?”
“Perfect.”
I grabbed my toolbox and the wet-dry vacuum. “I’ll see you in a half hour, then.” I almost finished off with, “it’s a date,” but stopped myself at the last second. I didn’t know if he was straight and I didn’t want him to think I was only inviting him out to hit on him. That was not even half of the reason—I really did want to talk to him about the theater and tell him more about the city. Despite all that, once I got home, I agonized over what I was going to wear before hopping in the truck and heading downtown for the third time that day, a huge smile on my face.
Chapter Four
Soren
