by Xyla Turner
“No. This was from your company. His name was Hank. He’s the one that came every time I called.” She replied.
John poked his head down under the sink again, then called for Mike. “Rookie, get down here.”
Once Mike poked his head in, John asked, “What do you see?”
“A mess.” Mike responded.
“Yeah, but what about the mess?”
“Uh, it looks like this pipe needs to be replaced, but instead of doing that, it was patched up.”
“Right. Okay, call the office and tell them, we’ll need some reinforcements from the city.”
“Okay, boss.” Mike stood up, then went downstairs to the car to make the call.
John emerged from under the sink and stood, towering over the small woman. He tried to keep his distance since he was a 6’3 black man looked larger in the tiny bathroom and they were alone. She did not seem phased by him at all, which he was glad about since most people were. John was very muscular and though his best feature was his dashing smile, he did not do a lot of that. At the moment, he was scowling.
“Ma’am, uh. Do you have a place to stay?”
“What?” She asked as her cute little nose bunched up.
“Do you have a place to stay?”
“Uh, no. Why?”
“Because your pipes are corroded and probably corroded throughout the entire house. These homes were built around the 50’s and although they put in top of the line, state of the art appliances, they did not do any of the interior work that was needed, like replacing the pipes in here.”
She swayed a little and said, “What? I cannot believe this? You mean to tell me I have to replace every pipe in this house. I just bought this place and I knew there needed to be things done, but the pipes need replacing. I cannot afford that. I put everything into this house. Dios mio. I can’t do this.”
She was shaking her head. John wasn’t sure what prompted him to take a step towards her, but he did and said, “It’s going to be alright. You have home insurance, so they’ll cover this and the stay.”
“But I’ll have to pay the $1000 premium.” She looked as if she were going to cry. “I can’t pay that right now and my family lives in Dallas. I can’t go there.”
A tear dropped from her eye and John took another step.
“Tiffany,” He grabbed a tissue off the counter and held it out for her. “It’s going to be okay. I can help. I feel partly responsible anyway.”
“What? You can’t help.” She took the tissue but didn’t wipe the tear. “This is what I get for thinking I can do this alone.”
At that moment, John understood exactly what she meant. He set out to start Plumber’s Haven and was turned down for loans, space and equipment on a consistent basis. People told him to stop, even his ex-girlfriend, his estranged brother, and his mom. Some said he would need to have a partner and some even said, he’d need to wait for a while. This was fuel for John’s fire because he set out to prove all of them wrong. He opened up a business account, started doing the work under his business name, hired some side contractors and once the bank saw that he was pulling in a lot of money, they happily gave him a business loan and was suggesting other things that he did not need. John bought the place on Scudder Street, had the neighbors put Plumber’s Haven tags on their lawns, his plumbers left business cards and business had been booming for the past five years.
“Look,” John started. “I have a place you can stay.”
Her eyes grew the size of saucers, “Uh.”
“No, no. Nothing like that,” He smiled. “The place where my business is located has two floors above it. I own the entire building, so the second floor is rented out already and the third floor is free. You are welcome to stay there for free until we get this done and that is one less thing you have to worry about.”
“That’s really nice and all, but I’m not going to be able to make that payment. I know this will cost a lot of money and I don’t have it right now. I’m a personal assistant for authors and other businesses, but I don’t have money like that. I put all my money into buying this house and this is what I get.”
“Listen, there are ways to get around the co-pay. I’ll give you a significant discount because this should have been taken care on the first visit. I’ll add the thousand dollar co-pay to my price that the insurance company will have to pay and we’ll pay it up front, then get it back when they pay you. You can stay on the third floor of the store, it’s furnished. Not as nice as this, but it’ll do for a week or so and then you will be able to live in a shit free zone. Your insurance will pay for your house to be redone and you’ll be fine. How about that?”
She wiped her tear and asked, “Why are you so nice to me? I don’t understand.”
“Well, this is partly our fault. For that, I’m deeply sorry you had to endure this and plus, I understand what trying to make it on your own entails. It’s hard as shit and sometimes, we all could use a helping hand. Let’s say, you can do a few hours in the plumbers office if you want. We have a system, but some re-organization would be very helpful.”
Her careful brown eyes assessed him for a minute, then she smiled and said, “John, you have a deal.”
Everything stopped.
In spite of her red tear-stained doe eyes, she was beautiful. No make-up, nothing fancy, just plain pretty. John could have sworn his heart rate increased and his breath quickened with that smile. Her cheeks were flushed and her slightly tanned in the winter time look did not hide the rosy coloring spreading across her face.
The door opened, then Mike peered in and looked at John.
“Uh, we have a few people lined up,” he said slowly.
John swiveled his head towards Mike and said, “Good job.”
“Ma’am, I w---”
“Call me Tiffany. I’m not that old.” She laughed.
John smiled and said, “Tiffany, pack a bag for about a week and I’ll run you over to the store, so you can get settled in and get the key. It has a television, Wi-Fi, a small kitchen, etc. If you need anything heavy, I can have my guys bring it over to you.”
“Uh, okay. Wow, this is happening so fast. I definitely need a TV, but if you have Wi-Fi, then I’ll be good. I’d like to grab some food from my refrigerator, but that might be too heavy, so I’ll just pack for now.” She started to leave the small yellow bathroom, then stopped and turned. “Thanks, John.”
“Not a problem.” John smiled back.
The smile must have been still on his face because Mike said, “Earthling, I think we have a winner.”
John blinked and saw Mike moving in a stiff robot manner, so he went to swing at him, but he ducked and laughed. He shook his head and said, “Listen, this is a major fuck-up for our company. We need to do everything to get this shit right. Starting with making that client happy. You stay here and map out where the pipes are, like I showed you, so we can get started right away.”
“Yes, boss.”
John left and went downstairs to check out the rest of the piping situation. The house was old, but the contractors for this property definitely took advantage of this woman. John did not like situations like that, actually he hated them. When Miss. Fox had completed packing her belongings, Mike brought down her enormous suitcase that looked like she was going away for much longer than a week. She also had a book bag on her back, along with her purse dangling from her shoulder.
John took the suitcase from Mike and instructed, “Miss. Fox, go with Mike, so he can grab the food that you need along with any pots and pans and someone will bring that over later.”
She nodded and led the way into the kitchen as John put the suitcase in his work truck. When he returned, she was still giving Mike careful instructions about what food could remain and what she absolutely needed. Just like John thought, high maintenance. A personal assistant was the perfect job for her, but not anyone he’d be interested in. Even though he had to adjust himself as he watched her in those running pants, displaying her toned
curves. The woman definitely took care of her body, no one could argue about that.
“Ready,” She called as she left the kitchen, with a perplexed Mike standing in the center of a food explosion.
John reached for her book bag because it was huge and she willingly gave it to him.
“Be careful with the bag,” she started. “It has liquids in them.”
“Okay, Miss. Fox,” John turned and rolled his eyes.
“Tiffany,” she corrected him.
John kept walking towards the car and opened the passenger seat door for her. Once she climbed in, he closed the door and put the book bag between the two boxes in his truck’s bed. After starting up the truck, he texted for Boomer and Drake to get to her address and help Mike. Then he pulled out and went back to the store.
After he had helped her get her bags and belongings to the third floor, he gave her the quick tour. Showed her both rooms, the kitchen, living room, dining room and bathroom. The place was clean since John had someone come on a bi-weekly basis to make sure it was rent-ready. It did not have state of the art appliances like her house did, but all of them worked and were in good condition.
“This is really sweet of you,” she said when the tour was over.
“No, it’s the least I could do. Again, I apologize for the interruption of your life like this. Your issue should have been resolved weeks ago.”
“Right, but then I wouldn’t have met you and all of this wouldn’t have happened.”
John paused at her comments and then brushed them to the side.
“Yeah, I guess.” He gave her a key to the apartment and the front door.
Then he took a piece of paper off of the table and wrote his phone number down.
“If you need anything, just call me. Okay?” He handed her the paper.
“Yes, I will do that.” She smiled again, causing him to start moving towards the door.
“So,” She said as she followed him, “If I wanted to cook you dinner, would your wife or girlfriend mind?”
John stopped dead with his body still facing the front door and his back towards her. That was a line he would use to see if the person was taken or not. Slowly, he turned and looked at her. She had to be in her mid-twenties and if she was living in Freeport alone, she was probably running from something or somebody. On top of that, she was a bit too much for him.
“Tiffany, I don’t have a wife or girlfriend and I wouldn’t be able to do dinner until your job is done anyway. But that’s a moot point because you got bigger things to worrying about than thanking me. You want to thank me? Enjoy your stay here, until your house is done, call the insurance company with the information and start that process. Have a good evening.” John stated and left.
All to be heard were his
About the Author
Xyla Turner is a USA Today Bestselling & award-winning, bestselling romance author. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, an avid reader of romance novels and a sucker for sassy women and dominant males. She is a high school educator and an awesome Auntie. Outside of reading, Xyla likes to spend time with her family and friends and travel. She writes different genres, but her favorite is romance.
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Also by Xyla Turner
Legion of Guardians Motorcycle Club Series:
Just Ride: Legion of Guardians MC (eBook & Audio)
Let’s Ride: Legion of Guardians MC
Just Right: Legion of Guardians MC
Just Dream: Legion of Guardians MC
Double XX Series:
The Chase: Part I & II
Line of Duty Series:
10:80: Line of Duty Series
10-99: Line of Duty Series
Stetson Series:
By Chance, No Choice: Stetson Series
Meet Me Half Way: Stetson Series
Pro Series:
Under Further Review: The Pro Series
Backcourt: The Pro Series
Far Rockaway University Series:
Love Under Attack: FRU Series
The F Student
Bookstore Chronicles Series:
No Returns: Part I & II
Bookstore Chronicles III
Non-Series Book:
BOMBSHELL
Across the Tracks
Power of the Pen
Extraction
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