Page 43 of Love Like Lightning

“Any chance you’re in need of new headshots or literally any kind of photos done?”

The question catches me off guard, but she seems sincere. “Uh, no, actually. Are you a photographer?”

She sighs and nods her head, a small smile still turning her dark-painted lips up. “Yeah. It’s been a while since I’ve done anything with my camera. I’m starting to think I’m just a purveyor of coffee.”

“Sorry, I wish I needed photos for something.”

“Don’t even worry about it, but if you know of anyone or end up needing photos, let me know. I’m Leah.”

“Gianna, nice to meet you. I’ll definitely keep you posted if anything changes. In the meantime, I appreciate the purveying of coffee.” Smiling, I hold my to-go cup up and turn to leave.

As I make my way back to the bed and breakfast, I take a sip, even though it’s probably still far too hot. The coffee singes my tongue but not enough that I can’t taste how good it is. With an extra pep in my step, I make it to the wrought iron gate and let myself into the little courtyard. I tuck the bag beneath my arm so I can dig out my keycard and let myself into my room.

The moment I walk in, I realize that I must be interrupting whoever’s here to take care of the sink. There’s a tool bag on the floor outside of the bathroom. The door is slightly ajar, and I can see a shadow of someone inside.

“Hello? Sorry to interrupt. I just stepped out to get lunch,” I call into the bathroom as I slip my shoes off. I drop everything else on the small table and shrug out of my jacket just in time to hear a man curse.

The sound travels from my ears and reverberates through every part of my body. I’ve heard this person utter the word fuck before. In an entirely different context.

“Oh, hey, Gia. Sorry to invade your space.” Henry’s voice filters out from the bathroom as he pushes the door open, looking like a perfect porn star from one of those cheesy videos.

He’s wearing carpenter pants that fit far too well with a loose black and gray flannel over what looks to be a tight white tee shirt. His boots look well-worn and sturdy. And God, he’s sweating a little.

I struggle to get a word out as I gape at him standing in my room. Again. As if we didn’t have that conversation about not having sex together again.

“Hey, I know this is probably kind of weird all things considered, but Roxy’s brother usually takes care of maintenance, and he’s out of town, so I was the only option, and it sounded like kind of an emergency.”

I shake my head, finally regaining my ability to speak. “No, no. Not weird.” Totally weird. “I just wasn’t expecting you. It was kind of an emergency, so I’m glad you’re here.”

Letting out the breath I only just realized I was holding, I smile at him and hope like hell it comes off as friendly. Because the way I’m thinking about how easy it would be to get him out of those clothes is anything but friendly.

And so completely unhelpful.

Get it together, Gianna.

“Yeah, me too.” His dimple pops out as he grins right back at me, and for a moment, it feels like we’re not talking about a plumbing issue.

When I break eye contact, he clears his throat and shifts on his feet. “So, yeah, it seems like there’s just a couple of parts that are super old and need replacing. It should be an easy fix.”

Nodding, I make my way back to the table with my food and take a seat. “Okay. You don’t have to order anything?”

“Nope. I’ve got everything I need. Lucky for us. I’ll just get back to it so you can enjoy your lunch.”

He gives me a little salute before disappearing back into the bathroom. With him finally out of sight again, I close my eyes for a second. My heart’s beating a mile a minute and not because I don’t like him being in my room.

This is not what I had planned. But at least he said it was going to be a quick fix. Once he’s done and gone again, I can focus on keeping him out of sight and out of mind.

It’s abundantly clear that having him this close does stupid things to my brain. Focusing on the meal in front of me, I try my damnedest to refocus said brain onto important things.

Like my job. And not risking it for a hotter than hell guy who’s nice to me.

18

Henry

Showing up to the bed and breakfast and being led down to Gia’s room was not on my Bingo card for today. But now that I’m finished fixing the issue with her sink, I’m thinking it was another karmic sign of some sort.

If she doesn’t want to pursue something sexual with me, that’s obviously more than fine. But we could be friendly. She’s only in town for a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things. She needs someone to show her around.

---