Page 1 of Clean Out of Luck

Chapter One

Scarlett

When someone knockson your door, you have two choices: answer it and find out who it is, or crawl away and pretend like you’re not home.

Usually I prefer the second option, but I’m a little busy at the moment, standing on my bookshelf replacing lightbulbs.

It’s too bad there’s music playing over my Bluetooth speaker so whoever it is knows I’m home. And then there’s the part where I’ve been singing “Too Sweet” at the top of my lungs.

“Is that you, Gloria?” I call out, hoping she can hear me over the music. I can almost guarantee it’s my neighbor from 3G. She comes down here to the basement floor of The Serendipity to do her laundry more often than I would expect a single person to, and she usually thinks up a reason to need my help.

“It’s not Gloria. But I think she might have been the nice lady who let me inside.” The voice is deep—definitely not 50-year-old Gloria.

And what’s worse, I’m pretty sure I know who it is. It’s a voice I’ve heard for years. Not someone who lives in the samebuilding as me, which makes me grumble a little at Gloria for lettinghimin. I would have preferred some warning before he showed up at my door.

“Come in!” I call back as I finish reattaching the light cover. I stretch to twist the screw holding the light casing just as my front door opens and Wade Hendrix walks inside. Every time I see him, I’m always shocked at how good looking he is. My breath catches as I take in that tousled dark blonde hair. A scruffy beard highlights his strong jawline and perfectly straight white teeth, currently giving me the most charming smile.

“Are you okay?” he asks as he takes in my awkward perch.

The question lingers in the air as I debate the answer.Am I okay?I don’t quite know. I’ve climbed halfway up my bookshelf, hoping to change the lightbulb, and now I need to climb down without toppling it over. I just organized these shelves in a color-coordinated system. I don’t want to mess it up.

I glance back at my unexpected guest.

Wade stands there, all 6’3” of him. His presence immediately makes me realize this apartment isn’t that big. He could probably change this lightbulb without perching precariously on a bookshelf.

His broad shoulders and arms strain at the confines of his T-shirt. They’re the kind of arms that look like he’s flexing even when he’s relaxed. He’s one of the few men in the world I can stand next to and feel dainty.

Mr. Big Guns, my brother’s best friend, stands in front of me, hands planted on his hips. That pose especially draws my focus to his arms, but I do my best to look away. He looks mildly amused, and I feel greatly annoyed.

What if I had been wandering around in a bath towel? I live by myself; it could have happened. Besides, we don’t have a drop-by kind of friendship.

“What are you doing here, Wade?” I ask flatly as I focus on the cream-colored Station 7 emblem on his navy shirt. He either just ended his shift at the fire station or he’s on his way to it.

He shrugs and folds his arms over his chest. “I haven’t seen you in a while. I was wondering if you had gotten yourself into another mess…and here I find you stuck on the top of a bookshelf.”

I scowl at that. “I am not stuck.”

At least I hadn’t been when I first climbed up here to replace the lightbulb. But once I got up here, I remembered I hadn’t secured the shelf to the wall. It wobbled, then wibbled before doing a full wibble-wobble, and I hung on for dear life. The books miraculously remained on the shelf, and I went about my business of changing the lightbulb.

“Then what would you call it?”

“Just some routine home maintenance,” I reply with a grimace as I clutch the top of the bookshelf with one hand and the old lightbulb with the other.

He follows my gaze to the ceiling where I’m staring. “Are you done changing the lightbulb?”

“Yes.” I carefully turn to face him again, moving slowly so I don’t rock the whole shelf.

“Why don’t you get down, then?” he asks with a laugh.

“I was checking to see if I need to dust up here,” I tell him.

Wade shakes his head. “You can’t get down, can you?”

“Of course I can.” I glare at him. “I just don’t want to knock my perfectly organized books off the shelf. Why are you in my apartment?”

I never see Wade without my big brother. And he’s never been to my new-ish apartment, so this is strange. Him stopping by unannounced is very out of character for him.

“My shift ended, and I figured I’d stop by on my wayhome.” He steps toward me and holds both his hands out as though he’s going to catch me if I jump.

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