Hunks, Hammers, and Happily Ever Afters

by Cari Quinn

  Mica rubbed at her arms. It was getting cold in the lobby and there was no way she was headed out in the rain-soaked evening. Leather soles squeaked on the floor behind her. A bedraggled slightly less disgruntled Cam Munroe came into view.

  No one was more surprised when he slowed to a stop and began talking to her.

  “It’s Mica, right?” He stuck out a hand and for a minute she didn’t know what to do with it. Warm and callused,[1] his hand engulfed hers for the brief shake. Mica resisted the urge to shake out the tingles that seemed to radiate up her arm.

  “Yes.” Mica didn’t wonder how he knew her name. She was just happy he hadn’t used it as a curse.

  Cam scratched at the back of his neck and looked down at his phone. “It was a good call.” He shrugged at his phone and looked up.

  Mica was caught by his gaze. His eyes were a warm brown flecked with gold. “It was?” She took him in, tall, bronzed by the sun, dark haired.

  “It was scheduled for routine maintenance in the next month but it’ll have to be moved up. For now just use the other two,” he continued, without seeing to notice her scrutiny.

  Mica nodded. She wasn’t necessarily happy that she was right. But at least she knew the elevator was going to be fixed. Cam may have found her nuisance but he’d always listened to her every time they called him in. Yes, she realized it was more than likely his company policy but it made her feel better.

  Poor man, he was soaked to the bone. The building manager was right. His dress clothes were soaked and he’d be lucky to save his shoes. Mica had ruined his evening and now he was cold and wet after having to close down an elevator and the Condo’s residents might not be too happy about it.

  “I’m sorry about your night.” She did feel bad. He must have looked so good all dressed up. Absently, she rubbed at her now naked ring finger, a reminder of how an attraction could go horribly wrong.

  Cam shifted and looked at something behind her. “Don’t worry about it.” He hitched his bag over his shoulder and started to walk away.

  “Wait.” Mica held her breath as he turned back to face her and took a hurried mental inventory of her refrigerator. “Would you like a beer?”

  “A beer?” He stopped mere inches from her. His gaze intent as he studied her face.

  “Yeah, a beer.”

  He was silent for so long that Mica started looking elsewhere. She could swear she heard him say fuck it. Her heart already erratic was pounding in her skull as she stooped to pick up Jiggles. The little dog who had miraculously stayed silent while they talked surprised the hell out of her by exploding out of the bag as Mica leaned down to pick it up.

  She narrowly missed being hit in the face by throwing herself backward. Which was how Mica ended up on her ass laughing. The little dog had leapt up on her chest and was currently lapping at her face.

  “Do you need help?”

  A large tanned hand came into view. Mica’s face burned. She could only imagine the sight she made sprawled on the lobby floor in a bikini and cover-up with a dog jumping all over her.

  She accepted the hand up while trying to look anywhere but at Cam. His hotness factor increased when he scooped up Jiggles in one hand and pulled her to her feet with the other.

  Mica stared at him dumb struck as he fended off the now joyous Jiggles. Cam Munroe elevator technician was hot. Not just cute Florida guy hot, but crinkles around the eyes with a deep laugh and strong arms, kind of hot. And damned if her body didn’t appreciate it.

  “Do you want something to eat too?” Mica chalked her outburst to hormones. After all, a hot man and a puppy were sure to mess with her biology. Weren’t there studies about that sort of thing?

  It wasn’t as if he were interested in her to begin with. She was no slim hipped, giraffe like model. She was an average girl with curves, a smattering of freckles and a head full of curls that went every which way. So there was no reason to fear that he would suddenly develop a case for her. In fact, he was probably going to say no as soon as the dog finished assaulting him.

  Except he didn’t.

  “How about you and ... what’s his name?”

  “Her.” Mica accepted Jiggles from him. “Jiggles, is a she.”

  “Jiggles?” He looked from her to the dog and back again. “I’ll pass on the food but I’ll take you up on the beer.”

  Buzzing filled her ears and Mica had to duck her face into Jiggles scruff to give herself a few seconds to get her breathing right. She was the one who issued the invitation, so why was she close to hyperventilating?

  “Why don’t you come up to my condo? I have some beer in the fridge.” Okay, she had officially lost her mind. There was no need for him to know that the beer had been left there by her friends when she’d last hosted movie night.

  “You know, I can wait down here and we can go somewhere.”

  “No, come on up. I’ve already caused you enough trouble.” Mica looked outside and saw the rain hadn’t let up. “It’s pouring, your wet and it’s my fault..” She leaned down and grabbed Jiggles’ bag from the floor. “Jiggles is hungry and I can at least throw your shirt in the dryer.”

  Mica stepped boldly into the elevator. As the doors closed she hoped it wasn’t obvious she already listening to the noises inside the car for issues. Every time she inhaled she caught the spicy scent of Cam’s aftershave. Whatever it was, it made her want to get closer. It turned out having a handsome man she was trying desperately not to check out helped her claustrophobia.

  “Tell me. What is it you hear?”

  It took her a while to realize what he was asking. Mica wasn’t sure she could articulate what heard when she stood in an elevator. “I’m not sure I can explain it but I’ll try.” She met his gaze in the reflection in the elevator doors. “It’s a combination of sound, feel and instincts. I just know that sometimes things won’t sound right or the way it stops sometimes it’s too hard or too soft Sometimes it just feels wrong.”

  The elevator did its momentary dip before settling and then doors lid open. Mica stepped out of the elevator and headed toward her condo. A sensual awareness flooded her system when she heard his footsteps behind her.

  “It’s just down this way.” Nerves caused her stomach to dip and sway. Other than her friends and Jiggles, she hadn't had anyone else in her Condo.

  Still, she pulled out her key and opened the door.

  "I didn't expect you to have a studio."

  Mica knew what he saw. As studios went it was pretty generous. She’d decorated in rich jewel tones. Colors she wouldn’t have picked out before her split with Jonathan. She’d blocked off her bedroom with book shelves for privacy. There was a work desk she ran her impromptu business from and an easel in front of the floor to ceiling windows just outside her bedroom. The rest of the space made up her living room and kitchen.

  "I’ll get you that beer," she said, putting the doggie carrier down next to the door before shutting it behind him.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “This is a nice place.” And it was. It just wasn’t what he’d expected. She wore expensive clothes and carried an expensive dog and drove a brand new luxury SUV. He’d expected a bigger condo and higher end stuff. It was nice stuff just not look at how much money I spent stuff.

  Mica opened the fridge and the light silhouetted her figure. Shapely curves made his hands want to touch. Instead he let his backpack down next to Jiggles’ carrier on the floor of the kitchen. The little dog had long since jumped out and headed for the bed next to the couch.

  “By the way, cute dog. When did you get her?”

  Mica handed him the beer her fingers brushing his as the cold glass touched his palm. If she felt the same pull he felt she gave no indication of it as she crossed the small living room to the armchair at the end of her couch. He could see the deep read of her bed through her bookshelves behind her. He’d been surprised when she asked him up. Judging from everything he was beginning to piece together, his nuisance resident was feeling guilty for in
terrupting his date.

  He took a swig of his beer and grabbed a stool at her small island. But the closer he got to his tormentor the more he was beginning to appreciate her.

  “Jiggles? Jiggles isn’t mine.”

  “Your boyfriend’s?”

  Cam watched her sputter over her beer.

  “No.” She repeated a movement he’d noticed in the lobby before. A shift of her fingers, her thumb rubbing against her ring finger. “No boyfriend, at least not anymore.” She took another pull from her beer as if steeling herself, against what he had no idea. “I’m her dog sitter. I watch a couple of the pets in the complex.”

  “Is that what you do for a living?”

  It seemed like a simple question. He watched her shrink and then rebound under his gaze. He expected to be blasted for asking but she answered him in a calm voice that belied the angry blush on her cheeks.

  “Yes. At least for now I’m a pet and house sitter.”

  “So that's why you’re always up and down the elevators.” Now it all made sense.

  “I know. I’m a pain in the ass.”

  “No you aren’t.”

  “I ruined your date.” Mica squirmed in her chair. “I’m pretty sure I ruined a lot of your dates since I moved here.”

  Cam leaned forward and told her the truth that had come to him as he sat running diagnostics on the elevators. “Actually, I think I should be thanking you for tonight.”

  When she tried to protest he stalled her with a hand. “Here me out.” He braced his elbows against his knees and stared at the floor in front of him as he forced the words out. “I was sitting in my favorite restaurant relishing my steak in the company of a woman who ordered what amounted to an appetizer for dinner. She was only concerned with being seen there and neither of us were actually enjoying each other’s company.”

  He took another swig of beer and let another wave of truth wash over him. “And, this is important, the only reason I was enjoying the night, wait for it, was because I was having my favorite steak.”

  When he looked up it was to discover Mica, staring at him, mouth wide open.

  “I know what you're thinking. It’s horrible. And you’re right, it is horrible, but at least I didn’t spend the rest of the night with her thinking it was normal. At least I didn’t spend the rest of my life thinking it was normal.”

  “Isn’t it normal?”

  “No, or maybe it is for everybody else?” He finished off his beer. “Maybe I’m an asshole. But, I’m having a deeper conversation and I’m more at ease dripping all over your kitchen and drinking a beer with you, a virtual stranger, than I would have had with Karen.”

  “Karen? Is that, was that your date’s name?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t feel the same way.” Mica bit her lip and he could see her lose the battle of holding back. “Are you going to try and see her again?”

  “No.”

  “Why?”

  He looked down at the bottle and felt as if a weight had lifted from his shoulders. “If she can’t handle my job, she can’t handle me.” Cam felt better with every breath he took.

  He lifted his empty bottle in salute towards Mica. “So thank you. Thank you for the beer and thanks for saving me from many nights of expensive dinners with someone who wouldn’t or couldn’t have appreciated what I do.”

  “I don’t think I’m responsible for that.”

  “You are. You’re responsible for my very large overtime check and you’re responsible for showing her that being with me wasn’t something she wanted.”

  “Wait. You guys were engaged?”

  “No. But, I was thinking that maybe she’d turn out to be the one.”

  Mica was now plucking at a sapphire blue pillow she’d hauled onto her lap from her couch. Her head was down. Her springy cinnamon colored curls obscured her face and tempted him to touch.

  “Don’t feel sad. Believe me, Karen won’t miss me and she’ll be much happier in the long run.”

  Mica didn’t say anything for a minute. Cam looked past her out into the wet night. It was time to go. Lightening flashed in the distance though the rain had stopped. He got up, crossed the kitchen to put his bottle in the sink.

  “How do you know she’ll be happier?”

  Her voice was small. It made Cam uncomfortable.

  “She quit on me.”

  ~*~

  Mica closed the door behind Cam Munroe with a click. His words echoed in her head as she cleaned up the little evidence of him. A beer bottle in the sink and a few wet spots on the floor and stool where he’d sat in the kitchen.

  He’d taken up so much room with his presence that she’d felt the need to protect herself. So she’d chosen and armchair for herself and had been relieved when he chose to sit in the kitchen versus soaking her couch.

  She’d expected him to be angry at her about the cancellation of his date and getting soaked in the rain. Or being a nuisance. What she hadn’t expected was his revelation about the woman he was dating. Was this what her ex fiancée had been thinking when he’d broken it off with her?

  Cam’s immediate acceptance of his lack of relationship with Karen had thrown her. What disturbed her more was the part of her that rejoiced he was single. How could she a recent victim of heartbreak be happy that someone else might be going through the same pain?

  After what happened with Jonathan, she wasn’t happy to have had a hand in another woman’s unhappiness. Mica put the beer bottle in the recycle bin and turned to wipe up the wet spots. Jiggles pounced as she bent down to wipe up water. Fresh from her nap undisturbed by y Cam’s leaving, she wanted to play.

  Mica played with the white ball of fluff until the dog grew bored and pranced away to sit at the window. She pushed her curls out of her face and stood. Jiggles had once again rescued her from her doldrums.

  Mica checked her calendar. Jiggles’ owner was returning tomorrow for a short while and she would want her dog back. Mica wasn’t relishing the thought of returning the one living thing that comforted her when she was blue. Moving home had been unexpected. Moving into Alexa’s condo doubly so.

  She wasn’t used to being alone. She wasn’t used to having the freedom to do what she wanted. Johnathan had wanted her to fit in New York and when she’d lived at home, her mother had organized every moment of every day if it hadn’t already been booked.

  Mica forced herself to take deep breaths. She checked her calendar again as her alarm went off. “All right Jiggles, I’m off to feed the cats on the third floor.” She looked outside the rain had finally subsided. “Then I have to walk the Dobie from the penthouse.” Mica looked down. “But first I think I’ll change; a swimsuit isn’t really the thing to wear.”

  Her face went hot. She’d been sitting around in a swimsuit and a cover up the whole time. “Jiggles, I hope he didn’t think I was hitting on him.” The little dog didn’t spare a glance at Mica. “Yeah, he left quickly enough that I doubt it was on his mind.”

  Mica changed into a dress and slipped on a pair of flats before leaving Jiggles to her own devices.

  ~*~

  Cam tried Karen’s number again. She hadn’t answered his text and despite his decision not to pursue her anymore he still wanted to make sure that she had arrived home safely. He could be a dick, but that didn’t mean he was one on purpose.

  “Stop calling me.”

  He could hear voices in the background. Karen either wasn’t at home or had people over.

  “I’m just making sure you got in. That’s all.” He pulled to a stop in his driveway.

  “I’m not going out with you again. I meant it. We’re over.” It was obvious to him by now she had an audience and she was milking this phone call for all it was worth. Cam shook his head. “Glad you’re safe. Take care.” He hung up and climbed out of his truck.

  The automatic floodlights turned on and lit the way to his front door. The rain had done his new grass some good even if it had soaked him and caused pe
ople to drive like idiots. He unlocked the door and spotted the mud next to his walkway, reminding him that he needed to figure out what plants to put in. His mother had offered and he should have taken her up on it but some part of him wanted to do it himself or have someone to do it with.

  He shut the door behind him and flipped on the light. The house was a work in progress. The first thing he’d done was rip out the kitchen and update it with granite counters, all new cabinets and stainless steel appliances. It was the only finished room in the house. He dropped his kit on the bar, grabbed a bottle of water and surveyed the house he hoped to eventually share with a family, his family.

  It was never going to be Karen; he’d known that deep down inside. He’d mentioned his house and the work he was putting into it and she said something about him showing it to her when he was done. No, it was never going to be Karen.

  He stared out of the sliding glass door into the night. Maybe he just needed to take a break from his quest to settle down. It was time for him to admit he was just lonely and finding someone to settle down with would make the house feel so empty. Maybe he should just focus on the house and his job and if a girl caught his interest he’d just see where it went.

  The image of Mica popped into his head. Curly haired and curvy she seemed friendly if a bit nervous. He didn’t want a party girl. Been there done that. Mica didn’t seem like one, but she seemed almost too quiet for him. Not that he was considering pursuing the bane of his existence. That said, she looked pretty damn good in a bikini and a cover up.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The elevators doors slid open and Mica steeped out on to her floor a silent thank you to Cam left her lips. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone but every time she climbed into the cab she thought of him. It’d been a week since Mica had her strange encounter with the Cam. She still couldn’t get his words out of her head. She bounced between being incensed on the mysterious Karen’s behalf and sad for herself. Is that what Johnathan had decided, that it was for the best?