From the Blurb:
One disaster bi single dad. One sexy plumber on a house call. One hot-as-hell romance….
Rhys
If I was a hot mess before becoming a single dad, my life’s pretty much an on-fire garbage can now.
Okay,
maybe that’s a tad melodramatic—my bestie/baby momma/ex-girlfriend is
still awesome, currently in the throuple of her dreams. And my kiddo
Sammy’s amazing, albeit exhausting. I’m the one who’s too intense and
rambling, too obsessed with random trivia, too liable to set dinner on
fire. Essentially, too much for any relationship.
However, when a
hottie plumber drops by to fix our toilet—thanks, Sammy—and gives me
his number? My luck might just be turning around.
Cole
After my dad moved to a retirement community, he left me with the big, old house I grew up in and a whole lot of loneliness.
I
thought by now I’d be settled down, but no one’s looking for the guy
who likes long hikes with his dog, stargazing, and fixing shit around
the house. They want fun, entertaining, flashy—not me.
Except
when I give Rhys my private line for an emergency house call, I show up
for the job to discover it’s a date. It seems like I might’ve met the
one man on earth who’s just as interested as I am—if only we can find
the guts to admit it.
Excerpt:
I paced back and forth in front of my door.
This was probably the lamest thing to do before a date, but I was fucking rusty. It had been a couple of years at this point, and zero chill existed. Cole said he was fine with meeting at five at night, so I’d already thrown chicken in the oven and prayed for the best. I’d learned a handful of recipes to take care of my kid, but most of my repertoire was mac and cheese from a box and frozen chicken nuggets. Since Kels and I split, I’d become king of takeout, but tonight, I wanted to try.
We didn’t specify dinner, so maybe I shouldn’t have cooked anything, but I also didn’t want him to show up and think I was a shitty host for not having food prepared? Fuck, I should’ve clarified the plans better. Maybe we should’ve met at a restaurant? It was like I’d never gone on a fucking date before.
I stopped in front of the mirror near the door and ran my hands over my dark finger-length strands, trying to smooth any stray hairs poking out. I’d trimmed back my scruff, even though I still had a five-o’clock shadow, and my eyes looked fucking tired, but there wasn’t shit I could do about that at this point. My attire was at least better than the day he’d met me—I’d changed out the ratty tee for an olive button-down, and the athletic pants for black slacks.
Though, clearly, he’d seen me at my worst and that hadn’t deterred him, so that counted for something.
I glanced to my phone for the thousandth time, even though it wasn’t even five yet—still a few minutes away.
The doorbell rang, snapping my attention to front and center.
My palms broke out in a sweat, and nerves rushed through me in an intense sweep. I sucked in a deep breath, smoothed down my shirt one last time, and headed for the door. Fuck, what if we had nothing to even talk about? We’d barely chatted when he came to fix the toilet. All I’d done was drool over him and chase after my son.
Too late now.
I gripped the handle tight and tugged the door open.
Cole stood at the entrance, looking just as tall, broad, and gorgeous as the first time I’d met him.
Exactly like the first time I’d met him.
My brows drew together as I processed the fact that he stood there in his plumbing coveralls with his bag of equipment in hand. “Did you come from a job or something?” I asked, even though my brain had begun a slow creep of realization that I wasn’t a fan of.
Cole shook his head, those bushy brows drawing together as he scanned me from head to toe, confusion clear in his light blue eyes.
“I mean, yeah, I had one right before this, which was why the time slot was open,” Cole said slowly as he seemed to soak in everything. His gaze was scrutinizing, and I blinked as I registered what he’d just said.
Time slot.
Oh, fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I was a total idiot.
“This isn’t a date…” Mortification reared in a big way. I took a step back from the door and brought my hands up to my face, as if I could somehow hide from this horrifying moment. All the anticipation, the preparation for this date flushed down my clearly-working toilet. God, I was such a fucking idiot.
He’d given me his personal number for a job.
Not a date.
Sweat Connection releases on Tuesday August 8, 2024 and will be available on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
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