Free Dear Emily by Julie Ann Levin

and sixty percent of the time it works
out.”
    He said nothing and continued stroking
her upper arms.
    “Stop that.” She was wet and loving
the heat that was coming off his body, or maybe that was just her
reaction to him. “I can do this on my own, you know?”
    “I know you can,” he said. His eyes
were so kind that she felt her heart squeeze. “How about I take a
look and see if I can finish what you started?”
    Natalie warred with her inherent
stubbornness. “Don't you have somewhere to be?”
    “It's just a faucet, Nat.”
    “Yes...just a faucet that I couldn't
fix.”
    “That's not what I meant.” He relaxed
his posture.  “I've done this before.”
    Natalie nodded and took a step back
from him. “Why are you here again? Ellie isn’t here. You know she’s
out of the country, right?” She removed a leaf from his hair,
something he must have picked up while looking for the
valve.
    Chase stopped to look at her. “Yes, I
know where my sister is, thank you very much.”
    He moved around in the small bathroom.
“Where's the box the faucet came in?”
    Distracted, Natalie stared at his
strong muscles shifting beneath his thin shirt. “It's behind the
door. Wait! Don't close the—”
    He did just that.
    “Door,” Natalie said, pressing the
heels of her hands to her eyes. This was not happening. She was not
stuck in a bathroom with Chase Hammond. Her shift at the hospital
started in, oh, two hours. Everything remained broken. She was
soaking wet, and did she mention stuck in a bathroom with Chase
Hammond?
    “Nat?”
    She peeked from behind her hands.
“Yeah, Chase?”
    He slid his hands into his pockets and
rocked back on his heels. “Why shouldn't I have closed the
door?”
    “Fixing the door lock,” Natalie said,
placing her hands on her hips, “was next on my list of things to
do.”
    Chase clicked his tongue. “Right after
fixing the leaky faucet?”
    Natalie nodded. “Right after fixing
the leaky faucet.”
     
     
     
    Chase tried the door handle. It didn't
open. He closed his eyes, exhaled, and jiggled the knob, a little
harder, but still, nothing.
    “Hey, watch it. You're going to break
it.”
    He gave her a long look.
    “Even more. You're going to break it
even more.”
    He turned around in a circle. “What is
it with you and handles?”
    “If you're looking for tools, they're
on the other side of the door. All I have here is this
wrench.”
    He took the wrench from her, but set
it down on the shelf. “A wrench isn't going to do much
good.”
    “I'll call someone,” Natalie said. She
picked her phone up off the shelf just as the phone vibrated,
signaling a text message. “Oh, wait, it's your brother.”
    “Which one?”
    “Dylan,” Natalie said.
    Chase's shoulders relaxed. Dylan would
get them out.
    “What?” Chase asked after she'd
texted.
    “Nothing,” Natalie said, looking down
at her phone. “I hear you need a place to stay.”
    “What's the verdict? Make it worth
your while.” Dear God, was he flirting with her?
    At that, Natalie's eyes swept up and
down Chase's body before locking in on his gaze. She looked away,
blushing. “Well,” she said. “I haven’t seen you in ten years. I’m a
little in shock; embarrassed to begin with. Give me a second to
assimilate.”
    He winced. “It’s been eight years, and
I’ve looked into every other option.”
    “I didn’t say no.”
    She didn’t say, “yes” either. “Listen,
I’ll stay with my parents.”
    She wrinkled her nose. “That’s not
even a cottage for two, Chase. It’s a blessing your mom isn’t over
five feet tall and doesn’t take up much room. It’s like goldfish in
there.”
    “Like goldfish?”
    “If you keep them in a small bowl,
they stay small. You put them in a big bowl; they get big.” She
went back to the text messages.
    “Why are you embarrassed?” he
asked.
    “Because, you know.” She shrugged. “I
broke everything,” she said, sweeping her arm across