In Too Deep

He knocked on Chloe’s door.

“Who is it?”

At least this time, she asked without just swinging her door open. “Ronan.”

She opened the door. “I told you I—”

He didn’t wait for her to finish. He handed her the grocery bag and pushed past her. “I’m not here for sex, Chloe.”

She wore some soft-looking flowy pajama pants and a tight tank top. Her hair was piled on her head. She definitely hadn’t been expecting company. He pointed toward her couch. “Go back to watching whatever sappy stuff you have. The shower will be fixed within the hour.”

Instead of going to the couch, she followed. “First of all, that’s Criminal Minds. Nothing like a good serial killer show when you’re feeling murdery. Second, I didn’t ask you to fix my shower.”

“I know you didn’t.” And it irked him a little. This was what he did for a living—fixing shit, building shit. Her not asking sent a pretty clear message. In the bathroom, he surveyed the damage. She hadn’t even picked up the broken showerhead.

“You don’t have to do this,” she said from behind him.

“I know.” He unboxed the new showerhead and took out his tools.

She grunted, but finally gave up and stomped off, grocery bag rustling as she moved.

Ronan had the old plumbing taken apart and prepped for the new parts when Chloe came back. She set a bottle of beer on the sink.

“You brought me chocolate ice cream and cheesy popcorn.”

He shrugged. “I’ve been around women. I took a guess. Salty and sweet foods are usually a safe bet.”

Chloe reluctantly smiled. “Thank you. That was thoughtful.”

“You had a shitty day.” He attached the new showerhead and tightened it. When he turned around, she was gone again. He probably managed to screw that up, too. He stepped from the tub, took a swig of beer, and then turned the shower on. Water flowed without issue.

His boots had left mucky footprints in the tub, so he let the water run a minute. Then he looked under the sink for something to clean his mess.

“Oh my God. You don’t have to clean my tub,” Chloe said from the door.

“My boots left dirt everywhere.”

“You clean the tubs of all your customers?”

He turned off the water and stood. “You’re not a customer. You’re a friend, right?”

She crossed her arms. “You clean your friend’s tub?”

He laughed. She had him there. “No, I’d tell him that I just did him a favor and he should clean his own damn tub. But like I said before, you had a shitty day. I was making it better, not worse.”

“I don’t need to be taken care of, Ronan.”

“Didn’t say you did.”

They stared at each other, unmoving. The heat and attraction were still rolling between them, but there was more. An uncertainty.

Finally, she dropped her arms. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Want to take it for a test drive? See if there’re any problems?”

She chuckled. “Can’t possibly be worse than having it fall on my head.” She rubbed a spot on her scalp.

“It really hit you?”

“Yep.”

“Your landlord’s an asshole.”

She lifted a shoulder. “He’s okay.”

Ronan moved around, gathered all the trash, and put his tools away.

“You want to stay for a while?” she asked. “I mean, I know you have to get up early for work, so if you need to go, that’s fine. I just thought maybe you might want to share some ice cream and watch murderers be brought to justice.”

Chloe was rambling. She was cute.

“I can stay for a while.” He was all for justice being served.

Her face lit up. “Give me ten minutes. I want to try the new shower. Make yourself at home.”

He left the bathroom and threw away the packaging. He sat on the couch and drank his beer. Last time he was here, he hadn’t paid much attention to the apartment. He’d been too focused on getting Chloe naked, but he looked around now. She didn’t have a lot of stuff in her living room. More furniture than he had, but not too much else. She had a few family photos on the table beside her TV. Next to the couch, she had a bag of yarn and stuff. A tray on the table had more yarn and a hoop thing that must’ve been one of her projects. He laughed just as Chloe came back into the room.