Free Bad Boy of New Orleans by Mallory Rush

faucet, fiddling with the spout.
    "Anyone ever show you how to change a washer?"
    "A what?"
    "A washer. Look. See how this faucet leaks? Here, first I'll turn off the water supply.
     Okay, here, take this."
    Micah reached out and accepted the thin rubber circle Chance held in his palm.
    "This is a washer?" She examined it curiously. "Hard to imagine how a dinky little piece of rubber like
     this could stop a leak."
    "That's right. Now, watch how I unscrew this piece of the faucet here... and you put
     the washer in there... that's good, very good... okay, now we screw the cap on the
     faucet back in place." He handed her the cap. "You do it."
    Micah followed his directions, intrigued with the simple job as he talked her through.
    She finished and turned the water supply on and Chance turned the faucet.
    "Look, Chance! It doesn't leak!"
    "Well fancy that. And just think, Micah. You did it all by yourself."
    "I did, didn't I?" She grinned ear-to-ear with her unexpected accomplishment, then
     turned to Chance and impulsively squeezed his hand. "But you helped. You told me what
     to do."
    He squeezed back. "Just investing my time wisely. You can go through later and do
     the rest by yourself. See how simple this is? I show you how, then you do the rest.
     Do you still have a problem with that?"
    Micah remembered what she'd said about the handout, and could feel herself flush from
     the misplaced pride.
    "No. No, I have no problems with that."
    "Good. Now what were you about to say before I called you over here?"
    She'd totally forgotten her resolve to call the deal off while they'd worked side
     by side. But she'd fixed a leaky faucet! It was just a little thing, she knew. But
     it represented so much. She could learn. So what if Chance had to show her a few tricks
     of the trade? She'd make it up to him. She'd work so hard there would be no doubt
     she was doing her part.
    No. It was a ridiculous notion to call the deal off when she had this opportunity.
     And it wasn't charity. As for Chance and what this might mean to their relationship...
     well, that was just the risk she'd have to take.
    "Micah?" He broke into her silence.
    "Oh, it was nothing. I just wanted to see the rest of the house. Try to get some ideas
     going on, what we need to do to make our money back."
    Chance nodded in approval. "Now you're talking. I'll make an offer today and have
     my lawyers expedite the papers. Right this way... cherie."
    He extended his hand. She hesitated only a moment before lacing her fingers with his,
     and tried to ignore the bubble of delight from her accomplishment that lapped into
     an even greater ripple of pleasure at hearing the name he used to call her so long
     ago.
    * * *
    "And that, my dear woman, is how you hang wallpaper." Chance laid the wooden roller
     down and motioned Micah closer. "Your turn."
    Micah shook her head as she reached for the pasted sheet of heavy paper. "I don't
     believe it. Last week it was paneling, this week it's wallpaper. Where in the world
     did you learn all these things?"
    Chance's laugh was a little jagged. "Where in the world is about right. I managed
     to work my way across Europe doing odd jobs like this." He caught the end that was
     trying to curl up on itself. "Careful, or you'll have paste on the wrong side. Here,
     let me get that started for you. I'm taller, which happens to come in handy at the
     moment."
    He took the sheet from her sticky grasp, and Micah couldn't help but notice the way
     his arm muscles rippled in the sleeveless old football jersey as he strained to reach
     the upper edge of the wall. The jersey rode up, giving more than a glimpse of the
     taut dark skin of his waist, the even darker hair tapering from his chest and plunging
     beneath his jeans. It left her with little doubt that Chance had managed to only get
     better with age.
    "You're not watching... at least not where you should be."
    Micah's gaze swung upward, encountering an amused, if not possibly smug