“Thank God you’re here, it’s all over everywhere.”
Katie made to run inside, but Rafe pulled her back and went in first. He didn’t know what the hell was going on around here, but damned if he was going to let Katie run into the heart of whatever trouble it was.
She was right behind him though. He took a moment to glance around, while looking for whatever disaster had happened. He registered the toy cars strewn across the floor and the wooden train set. Then he heard the trouble and his heartbeat returned to normal. No one was dying but it sounded like there was an indoor fountain on full blast.
The woman was talking to Katie, but Rafe was only half listening.
“I can’t turn the water off—it’s like the valve is frozen in place or something and there’s water everywhere and Connor was crying….”
“It’s okay, Nicole,” Katie said. “We’ll get it shut off and help you clean it up.”
He ignored the women and headed for the kitchen, following the loud sound of splashing. Not the way Rafe had planned on this first date with Katie going, but he could adapt. Water was shooting out from under the kitchen sink through the open cupboard doors. Already there was a small flood in the room and a kitchen rug was drifting out on the tide.
Cursing under his breath, Rafe sloshed his way through the kitchen. He crouched down in front of the sink, reached through the cascading cold water and blindly found the shutoff valve. Water poured over him in a never-ending jet. He blinked it out of his eyes, muttered an oath and grabbed hold of the damn valve. Hell, he thought, no wonder Nicole hadn’t been able to turn it. It took everything he had to budge the damn thing and it didn’t go easy, fighting him every inch of the way. By increments, he slowly shut down the torrent until all that was left was the mess on the floor and a steady drip under the sink.
The sudden silence was almost overpowering. Until the little boy in his mother’s arms started laughing.
“Boat!” he cried, pointing to a cell phone as it floated past them.
“Fabulous,” Nicole murmured and bent down to scoop it up. “Well, I needed an upgrade anyway.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry,” Katie said, dropping one arm around her friend’s shoulders. She looked at Rafe, soaking wet, and winced. “Rafe Cole, this is Nicole Baxter. Nicole, Rafe.”
The woman gave him a tired smile. “I suspect I’m happier to meet you than you are me at the moment.”
“No problem. I like an adventure every now and then.” He pushed his hair back from his face with both hands, then swept water off his palms. Wet and cold, he caught the glimmer of regret and amusement in Katie’s eyes and smiled in spite of everything. “I’ve got it shut off, but your pipe joint’s shot. It has to be fixed.”
“Of course it does,” Nicole said with a sigh. She hitched her son a little higher on her hip and added, “Thanks. Really, for shutting off Old Faithful. I never would have been able to do it.”
“Your husband should be able to replace it without a problem,” he told her. “My ex-husband’s in Hawaii with his secretary,” she said wryly and only then did Rafe see Katie shaking her head at him in a silent signal to shut up.
“Haven’t seen him since before Connor was born,” Nicole added, kissing the little guy’s cheek. “But we do fine, don’t we, sweet boy?”
Perfect, Rafe thought. He’d made the woman feel even worse now by reminding her of her creep of an ex. A bubble of irritation frothed inside him. What kind of man walked away from his child? Rafe didn’t get it. Sure, he knew that marriages didn’t always work out. But what man would walk away from his own baby? Shouldn’t he try to hold his family together?
While his brain raced, a quiet, rational voice in the back of his mind warned him that he was putting his own issues out there and it was time to draw them back. His old man hadn’t been even close to a normal father, but at least Ben King was always there when his kids needed him. Which was more than Rafe could say for Nicole’s ex.
Still, looking at Katie’s friend, holding her son so closely, reminded him of his own upbringing. Oh, his mother hadn’t stuck around or anything. She’d handed him off to an elderly aunt before he was a year old and only showed up for a visit when her money was running out. Ben King hadn’t married her, but he’d supported her until Rafe was eighteen.
Once he was grown, his mom had started coming to Rafe for the cash she required to live the kind of life she preferred. He didn’t mind paying. It kept her out of his hair.
Now though, watching Nicole and her son brought home to him again how hard the aunt who’d raised him had had it. Oh, she’d had money for plumbing repairs, but she’d been all alone raising a boy. Just as Nicole was. And Nicole didn’t have the luxury of calling a King for help.
Lucky for her, there was already a King in the neighborhood.
He looked at Katie and saw the worry for her friend shining in her eyes and he heard himself say, “Why don’t you two get the back door open and sweep out as much of this water as you can?”
“Good idea,” Katie agreed. “Come on, Nicole, I’ll help you get this straightened up.”
“You don’t have to do that,” the blond said. “We’ll be fine. Really.”
“Sure you will, I can see that,” Rafe told her with a shrug, not wanting to wound her pride. “But while you two get the water out of here, I’m going to run up to the hardware store. I’ll get a new joint in there and have you up and running again.” Katie beamed at him.
And he felt as if someone had just pinned a medal to his chest.
Their gazes locked, and the rest of the world fell away for one long, sizzling moment. Every heartbeat felt measured. Every breath a struggle.
Rafe was caught by the emotion on her face. The pride in him. The gratitude and the admiration. He had never known another moment like it. It was amazing, he thought, to have someone look at him as if he’d hung the moon.
And all he wanted to do was walk across the floor, take her into his arms and sweep her into a dip for a kiss that would send them both over the edge of hunger. Need was a gnawing ache inside him. He’d never experienced that before, either, he thought. Desire, sure. Want, absolutely.
But need?
Never.
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Nicole said, shattering the moment.
Rafe took a breath to steady himself and shook his head, clearing his thoughts, getting a grip on the emotions suddenly churning through him. As he regained control, he mentally thanked Nicole for shattering whatever it was that had so briefly hummed between he and Katie.