Page 66 of The Fixer

With each plug he checked, they went back and forth until only one outlet remained. It was under the bed, so he shinnied under there and wound up on top of a stack of books he scattered in all directions.Oops!When he was done checking the plug, he crawled backward, trying not to bonk his head, and brought the books with him so he could restack and return them. Hopefully, Joy wouldn’t notice if he got them out of order.

As he turned them over in his hands, he realized they were journals, like the notebook he often saw her scribbling in. Those three words teased him from the back of his brain—dirty, naked, and engorged—and he cracked open one of the spines. He didn’t even bother trying to convince himself he had a noble reason for prying into her private life because … well, he didn’t.

What his eyes fell on had his mouth dropping open. He shut the journal, looked at its innocuous cover, and opened it back up again. He had landed in the middle of a handwritten sex scene between a man and woman on top of a bar, and holy hell, was it hot! His dick twitched in his pants again. Half of him was digging the soft porn while the other half was trying to line up the words with Joy Holiday’s icy demeanor. No way did that woman write this.

Except … that kiss.

The scene was raw and sexy, downright dirty in parts, but it also had a romantic flair that touched him in other places besides his crotch—a romantic flair that didn’t fit her personality either. At least not the Joy Holidayheknew … which brought up intriguing possibilities he could add to his growing pile of intriguing possibilities when it came to this woman. Because … that kiss.

“What are you doing?”

Startled, he jerked and whacked his knee on the bed frame.

“Shit! Ow!” Massaging his knee, he glanced up at Joy’s face and cringed. She leveled him with a hard glare. “I was working on a plug under the bed, and I …”

Arms cinched across her chest, she lowered one threatening eyebrow.

He held up one of the journals. “I found these.”

In one breathtaking instant, her eyes flared wide, her arms swung to her sides, and her mouth parted. She let out an unhappy little cry.

“Were you reading my … my private stuff?”

He side-eyed the book and grinned at her. What the hell? She’d caught him. “Are you admitting you wrote this?”

“I didn’t say it was mine,” she fired back.

“You said ‘my.’” He tilted his head. “Or is Lacey Dewinter a friend of yours, and you’re holding her ‘stuff’ for her, treating it like your own?” He knew better, of course. He recognized her sloppy scrawl from the bar. “Not that it’s any of my business. Just curious.”

Her eyes narrowed to dangerous slits, and she parked clenched fists on her hips. He could have sworn smoke leaked out of her nostrils. “It certainly isnotany of your business,” she ground out.

He grabbed the journals and popped to his feet. “Tell Lacey I like it. She’s a good writer … and a great kisser. Would you like me to put these back where I found them? Although, I gotta say if you’re going to hide something, that’s the first place a thief will look.”

“Like you, you mean?”

“No, ma’am. I had a reason to be under there.”

“But you had no reason to read them.”

“True.” He winked at her. “But I can’t say I’m sorry I did.”

More steam rose from her head—he could practically see it rolling off her.

He stacked the books and held them out to her with a quizzical look, exaggerating it for effect. “I can help you find a more discreet hiding place, if you like. I’m good at that.”

Thoughts seemed to race through her gold-fire eyes. She was probably marshaling a string of insults to toss at him, so he decided to head her off. “Or, if you’re up for it, it’s time for me to take a lunch break, and I love a good story. How about reading one of these scenes to me?”

Oh, he’d really pissed her off now! She took a swipe at one of the journals he’d been holding in a loose grasp, which unfortunately caused all the volumes to tumble to the floor.

“Charlie?” the electrician called. The guy popped his head in and immediately looked as though he regretted it. “Oh, sorry. I was just wondering about that plug.”

Charlie kept his eyes on Joy and held up his hand. “Yep. Be with you in a sec.” In his peripheral vision, the guy disappeared. To Joy, Charlie said, “My fault. I got this.” Crouching down, he gathered up her journals and stood upright once more. “I’ll just put them on the bed for you.”

She answered with a glower and fumed.

After he’d piled them neatly, he turned back to her. “Are you published? I mean, isLaceypublished?” She was officially no longer speaking to him. He pulled out his phone. “I can find out for myself. Let’s see. Where’s my Amazon app?”

“Yes,” she huffed, “Lacey is published.”

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