In Too Deep

ChapterFourteen

Chloe hadn’t spoken to Ronan since he left her house the other night. Although it was Sunday and she’d told him they’d be clear for sexytimes, they hadn’t made plans. But Mrs. Adamos across the hall had stopped her at least five times to ask if Chloe could have her friend with the tools stop by to fix her door. All summer she’d been dealing with the swollen wood, but often she hadn’t been able to lock it.

A request like that was beyond the boundaries of her arrangement with Ronan. It was one thing for him to fix something in her apartment, but this wasn’t something she knew how to ask for. So here she was, wasting her perfectly good day off stressing about making a phone call. Finally, at lunch, she dialed his number.

“Hey,” he answered.

“Hi. I know it’s Sunday, but are you busy?”

“I’m actually on a job right now.”

“Really?”

“Side job. Why, what’d you need?”

“It’s not me, but my neighbor. She asked me to see if you could maybe fix her front door. It sticks real bad and our landlord...”

“Is an asshole,” he finished. “Yeah, I can come by after I’m done here. You working today?”

She smiled broadly, even though he couldn’t see it. “Nope. I have the whole day and night off.”

“When I’m done here, I’ll go home and change then come to you.”

“You could come straight here. When you’re done with the door, I can wash your work clothes. You can try out the amazing new showerhead in my bathroom.”

“Amazing, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s that good.”

“Will you be joining me for that shower?”

“I might be able to arrange that. We can come up with a payment plan for the work.”

“Sounds good. I gotta go finish this fence. See you in a couple hours.”

A couple of hours turned into more like four hours, but Chloe did let Mrs. Adamos know that Ronan would be by sometime this afternoon, so she was satisfied. Chloe spent that time cleaning her apartment and doing some more cross stitch. She had orders to package and prep for shipping. Her online shop was building. While she wasn’t getting rich off it, it had become a nice side hustle income that would allow her to splurge on things she normally wouldn’t.

When a heavy knock hit her front door, she was surrounded by envelopes and mailing labels. She carefully shifted the piles so she didn’t confuse anything and went to the door.

Ronan stood there grimy and sweaty, which should’ve been a turnoff, but damn he looked good.

“Hi.”

“Sorry it took so long. The fence was more involved than we thought it was going to be and it had to be done today.”

“No problem. Mrs. Adamos is thrilled that you said you’d try to fix it.” She pointed across the hall. “She’s over there.”

Chloe took a step forward, but he made no move to go to Mrs. Adamos’s apartment. Instead, when he stepped closer, he grabbed her hip with one strong hand, lowered his mouth to hers, and kissed her. It was hot and demanding, and nothing she had been prepared for.

Then suddenly, he released her and stepped away from the door for her to lead the way across the hall. She stumbled around him, a little dazed by the power of his kiss. “Wow,” she said quietly.

“Been a few days and you’re looking downright edible in those shorts.”

She glanced down at her outfit, which she’d given zero thought to this morning. They were the same shorts she wore all the time. She knocked on Mrs. Adamos’s door.

“Coming!” The announcement was followed by the knob turning and thumping and rubbing of the door.

“Step away from the door,” Ronan said. “I’m going to shove it open.”

“Okay.”

He turned the knob and rammed his shoulder into the door.

“Unf.” The sexual sound came from Chloe’s throat without warning.

Ronan shot her a look over his shoulder, one raised brow to call her on her reaction.

Her cheeks became warm, but she smiled.

Mrs. Adamos was on the other side of the door. “You see? It’s like this all the time in the summer.”

“Mrs. Adamos, this is my friend Ronan.”

Ronan wiped a hand on his dirty jeans and then extended it to the older woman.

“Ronan? What kind of name is that?”

“Irish, I guess.”