Page 2 of Sicilian Savior

“Hello?” I called, but no one answered. I kept walking through the store, noting the cardboard boxes stacked everywhere. One glass counter had dozens of lotion bottles and soaps piled on it, and I realized the ‘lozione’ on the store sign must mean lotion. I spoke several other languages besides English, but just enough to get by in all the foreign countries I’d traveled to when I’d been an operative with the Elite Stealth Force. I racked my brain and couldn’t decide which language lozione belonged to.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” I called again.

“Shit!” a woman’s voice shouted from another room. “No, no, no, no, no!”

The sound of spraying water intensified, and I followed it around the corner. My feet touched the water pooling on the floor, and I grumbled that my hard work finishing this floor may need to be repeated if we didn’t get this water situation sorted out quick. Frowning at the thought of redoing the floors, I walked toward the bathroom door that had water flooding out from under it.

“Crap!” the woman shouted again.

I pushed open the door, and my eyes bulged when a woman’s perfect ass covered in a pair of tight jeans greeted me. She was bent down under the sink, trying to wrap the busted pipe in a bath towel. If it weren’t for the fact the spewing water was possibly ruining all my hard work, I’d have leaned against the doorframe and stayed a while, just admiring the nice view.

I didn’t want to have to refinish these floors, and I was starting to feel pervy, so I stroked a hand down my beard then cleared my throat. “Need some help?” I asked as I crossed my arms.

She jumped, bumping her head on the top of the bathroom vanity. With a shriek, she tumbled backward into the water, and a spray of liquid blasted her in the face when her towel slipped off the pipe. She scurried up to sitting, and her bulging brown eyes met mine.

Beautiful bulging brown eyes that were situated on a face that looked gorgeous even soaked in water with her dark brown hair mashed against it.

Once again, I thought I could have stood and enjoyed the view for a while, but I saw the fear in her eyes as she stared up at me, looking ready to flee or fight. She looked like a terrified doe trying to decide which way to run. I couldn’t really blame her considering I did kinda resemble an oversized Viking with my six-foot-four frame, my shaggy beard, and the tattoos covering most of my exposed skin. I could scare the shit outta most people with a stone-cold stare, but terror wasn’t the emotion I wanted to elicit from this gorgeous creature.

“Sorry to scare you.” I slowly lifted my hands. “I was calling from the store, but you must not have heard me. I’m here to fix your pipes.”

Those fear-filled eyes blinked at me as she appraised me from her puddle on the floor.

“I swear I’m not here to kill you. I only kill women covered in water on Wednesdays, and it’s Tuesday, so you’re safe,” I joked, but it only sent her leaning back farther away from me.

“Okay. Bad joke.” I sucked the air through my teeth. “I swear I’m safe, and Ned, your landlord, hired me. It’s why I have a key and got in. Now, I can stand here and rattle off my credentials, but I’m the one who did these floors, and I would hate to have to redo them. So, can I just sneak under there and get the water shut off?”

She glanced at the stream of water and nodded, then pushed herself out of the way. I crossed the bathroom, then leaned under the sink and grabbed ahold of the valve. Ned wasn’t kidding. That son of a bitch was stuck good. But I gritted my teeth and cranked hard, finally getting it to budge. After a little more cranking, the water slowed to a stop.

“There,” I said as I emerged from the sink, noting that my ripped jeans and white t-shirt were now soaked as much as hers.

“Thanks,” she finally said, her voice as soft and sweet as the features of her face.

“No problem.” I stepped away from her to help ease her fear. It worked, and I saw her shoulders relax with her deep breath. “I’m really sorry I scared you. I did call in here, but I bet with the water blasting you in the face, you couldn’t hear much.”

I smiled, and it coaxed a little one from her.

“Yeah, I, uh... I wasn’t expecting you,” she said as her gaze moved up my heavily tattooed forearms. “I figured Ned would come when I left him that message.”

“He’s a couple hours away, so he called me. I know I look like a serial killer or some degenerate who just got out of prison, but I swear I’m not. I only play one on TV.”

My smile caused a little snicker from her nose.

“I’m Knox, by the way.” I started to extend my hand, but her wary look stopped me mid-reach. “What’s your name?”

“Lucia,” she answered.

“Italian?” I asked, now putting together the word lozione with her Italian name and the strong Italian features in her face as well as her long, dark hair.

She nodded. “Sicilian.”

“Hey! I’m half-Sicilian myself,” I said with a proud smile.

Her face faltered, and the fear in her eyes deepened. “You are? Where... where are you from?”

I furrowed my brow, unsure why my answer caused her to look more terrified. “I grew up in Michigan. And I’m only half-Sicilian. I’m not, like, from Italy or anything.”

Her face softened. “Oh. I see. What’s the other half?”