Page 5 of Broken Innocence
“Oh!” Stepping back, I wave him inside. “I wasn’t expecting you to come so quickly.”
“Is it a bad time?” he asks. His gravelly voice scrapes along my nerves, causing a bolt of heat to flare to life under my skin. If I were a different kind of girl, I’d flirt and explore this burst of attraction, especially since my only options for a love life between home and work are service providers who literally show up at my door—solicitors, the UPS guy,maintenance men.
But I’m me, and I’m not going to harass a guy who’s just doing his job.
“No, you’ve got perfect timing. I just got home,” I say, gesturing toward the kitchen. “The dishwasher is in there. I tried troubleshooting potential issues myself but didn’t get far. Hopefully, that’s just ameproblem, and it’s still an easy fix.”
“Let’s find out, shall we?” He sets his tools on the vinyl flooring then crouches down to study the stainless-steel appliance before opening the cabinet doors under the sink. “I’m Luca, by the way.”
“Eden.”Obviously.I mentally slap my forehead. The man knows who I am because he’s fulfilling my repair request.
He's got my name, address, and phone number. He's even gotBeanie'sname since the maintenance team asks about pets that may need restraining.
I bite my lip to prevent another embarrassing mishap.
His navy tee strains across his broad shoulders as he ducks lower and fiddles with a few things after starting the dishwasher. It rumbles to life, but the sound of water flowing inside doesn’t happen.
“Hmm… I think I’ve found the prob—Jesus H. Christ!” There’s a loud thump as Luca hits his head on the bottom of the sinkwhile Beanie slinks along his exposed legs. Gym shorts as part of a uniform aren’t what I would have chosen for a maintenance worker, but I suppose it makes it easier to bend and examine tough spots.
It also provides easy access for curious felines interested in scent marking newcomers.
“Sorry!” Scooping Beanie into my arms, I wince when a pained curse echoes from below. “Beanie has a hard time with boundaries.”
“Clearly,” Luca grunts, pulling his bruised head from the cabinets. “She skipped the pleasantries and went straight for my dick.”
An embarrassed blush rises to my cheeks as my eyes drop to his lap where a long, thick bulge rests across his inner thigh.Well, damn.I didn’t realize a man’s cock could hang that far down his leg. No wonder he freaked. Beaniewasawful close…
“She didn’t mean any h-harm,” I stutter, forcing words past my suddenly dry throat and licking my lips.
All while staring at Luca’s dick.
What am I doing?
Ding, ding, ding!
Embarrassing Mishap #2.
I may never submit another maintenance request again.
Dragging my gaze away from Luca, it snags on the sofa in front of the living room window, and another flush of heat settles between my thighs at an inconvenient memory.
I was feeling particularly horny and adventurous after reading a sexy romance the other day and rode the couch arm to a wild orgasm, testing out the specially designed pillow I bought for self-pleasuring occasions.
A random ad on social media had intrigued me, and before I knew it, I'd ordered the blasted thing.
Luca cleared his throat and sat up with a groan. “It’s fine. At least your dishwasher is working properly now.”
The swish of water drowns out the awkward moment, and I sigh in relief. “Thank you so much! What was the problem?”
“When it was installed, they didn’t turn the water back on once the piping was hooked up. I just needed to turn the little knob back there.” He points to a silver ring toward the back of the sink cabinet.
“Oh, so itwasa simple fix.” God, I should have been able to figure that out. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
“Don’t apologize.” Luca stands in a mesmerizing display of shifting muscles until he towers above me, my head craning back to maintain eye contact with his face rather than his impressive…package. “There’s a system to input maintenance requests for a reason. I’ll always come when you need me.”
The intensity in his rough-hewn features sets off a flurry of butterflies in my stomach. His seriousness should be a red flag. We’re talking about replacing air filters or fixing leaky faucets, but for some reason, my only concern is not appearing as dumb as I feel.
“Well, I appreciate your patience. I promise not to bother you unless it’s an emergency. Same goes for any of your team members assigned to my case first.”
