Page 4 of Wrong Number, Right Lion

A scent pushed away the watery smell and invaded my nostrils. Was it the guy? Odd that a handyman would arrive at a jobsite laden with cologne, but I wasn’t one, so what did I know? Perhaps that was his schtick for keeping the stench away.

But it gave me seconds to appreciate this tall drink of water, from the freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks, to the tawny almost rusty color of his beard and hair, to what I imagined was a chiseled chest under his shirt and jacket.

I’d expected a smile or a nod at least and an outstretched hand, mirroring my own. But the color bleached from his cheeks, and he clutched at his belly. Was he going to be sick? I instinctively took a step back, not wanting to be covered in puke.

But he recovered and arranged his face in a smile. “That’s—” He cleared his throat. “That’s nice.” His voice was an octave lower.

Huh? Was he jerking me around with the first sentence out of his mouth, and did his swoon-worthy looks mask an immature personality? Damn! I’d save my energy and just enjoy his good looks.

“Kalen’s the name, and sorry, but I don’t know any Stephen, though I’m very pleased to meet his cousin.”

What a mouthful. My mind scrambled to interpret what he’d said. It zoomed past his name and that he’d never met my cousin and instead concentrated on the compliment he paid me. Maybe my first impression hadn’t been wrong.

But it was kinda urgent he fixed my roof, so I put aside how sexy he was and those adorable freckles.

“Sorry, what? But you’re here.” That didn’t get us any closer to him looking at the damage and giving me a quote.

“I am. You called, and I came.”

At least we’d established that I’d called him and he wasn’t some random guy turning up for whatever reason.

“Thank you. I need help.”

His gaze lowered from my face to my midsection and to my crotch. What kind of handyman was he? If it had been any other random dude, I would have told him I’d made a mistake and I already had a guy inside inspecting the damage.

But Kalen didn’t give off bad creepy-dude vibes. Hoping I wasn’t making the worst mistake of my life, I opened the gate, and he sloshed in.

“Ummm, so did my cousin’s handyman call you to help me out?”

“No, as I said, you phoned me.” He took out his phone and showed me the call history. That was my number, and he replayed the message. Definitely my voice.

I’d misdialed. Getting out my phone, I checked the number, and there was a one-digit difference. How lucky was I, making a mistake and getting Kalen as my reward?

“So, are you a handyman?”Please say yes because I want you to hang around.

He held up his hands. “I’m handy. Used to help my dad out growing up.” He peered up at the tree.

When the tree fell, I was upset it had damaged the house and sad the tree was no more. But perhaps this was the flip side to that. Meeting Kalen brightened my mood.

“I’m surprised you made it here.” I was trying to make conversation, hoping he wouldn’t leave, saying he had better things to do.

He shrugged. “I don’t live far, and you sounded desperate.”

Oh, I was. Desperate to get to know him more.

“Mmmm. There are puddles in my main room, and my favorite tree was responsible.”

He studied the tree lying at an angle and draped over part of my roof. “Condolences. I love silver maples.”

We had something in common other than me lusting over the guy.

“Yeah, me too.”

Kalen jerked his head toward my belly. “But looks as though you have a little one in the making.”

For a second my brain couldn’t comprehend what he was saying. A little one sounded like a baby. But I was cradling the cutting against me. “Hope so.”

“As it grows, you can tell the little one the story of their parent and how grand they were.”

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