Fuck. What was with me and this woman? I wasn’t usually such a damn horn dog.
Billie waved her hands Vanna White-style when she reached the big condenser in the back of the room. “Here’s the offending equipment. I’ve named him Kaiden since it’s useless and blowing hot air.”
I laughed. “Good to know. And where’s your thermostat?”
She pointed to a wall ten feet away, then hooked her thumbs into her belt loops. “Well, I won’t stand on top of you while you work. Just yell if you need anything.”
“Sounds good.”
After I checked the basics in the air handler, making sure nothing was frozen and the filters were clean, I walked over to the thermostat. While I unscrewed the cover, I listened to the conversation going on behind me between Billie and Deek.
“It would be good for you,” he said. “I think you should do it. Just ignore her.”
“You’ve met Renee. She’s not someone who’s easily ignored.”
“You know what I think your real issue is?”
“No, but I’m sure you’re going to enlighten me.”
“You suck at taking help from anyone.”
“I do not.”
I glanced over. The big guy frowned at Billie. “Do I need to remind you of the ridiculous interest rate you paid on your loan to open this place?”
“No, I think the other six-hundred-and-thirty-seven times you’ve reminded me so far is more than sufficient.”
“Could have been interest free from me.”
“I didn’t want to risk your money.”
“You’re one of the most sought-after artists in a city of eight-million people, and it’s trendy for people from all walks of life to get ink these days. It wasn’t a risk.”
Billie shrugged. “Whatever. There’s nothing wrong with doing things for yourself.”
“I agree. But there’s also nothing wrong with taking a little help from people who love you once in a while.”
“I’ll think about it. Now rub my neck more.”
I lost track of their conversation after that, probably because it was driving me nuts that some dude was touching her, so I needed to drown them out altogether. Twenty minutes later, I was pretty sure I’d found the culprit of the AC break down. Two old, yellow wires in the thermostat were practically shredded and no longer connected. Since those were usually the wires for the cooling, I hoped a quick rewire might solve the problem. Luckily the toolbox had a spool with some copper wire, so after I stripped back the rubber casing with a wire stripper, I figured I’d let Billie know what was going on.
Another guy had just come into the shop. He walked right over to Billie, grabbed both of her cheeks, and planted a big kiss on her lips. My jaw flexed. But then the dude strolled to Deek and kissed him on the lips, too. He also rubbed Deek’s arm. “Are you ready to go? I’m not paying the late charge for doggy daycare anymore because you have to stick around work and gossip like a bitch.”
Deek rolled his eyes. “It’s ten bucks.”
The guy put his hands on his hips. “It’s ten dollars I could be putting in the Botox-fund jar.”
Billie chuckled. “Goodnight, boys.” She yelled toward the lobby, “You go home, too, Justine! Lock up on your way out, okay, babe?”
“Will do! ’Night, Billie!”
The two men bickered some more as they walked out of the shop. Billie watched with a smile on her face before turning back to me. “What’s going on, Daddy-O? Did you fix Kaiden? Actually, maybe we need another name for that unit. Because Kaiden isn’t fixable.”
I smiled and held up the wires. “I think I might’ve found the problem. Won’t know until I rewire the thermostat, but these don’t look too good.”
“Alright, awesome. Because if it’s not fixed very soon, I might be peeling these jeans off and walking around in my underwear. They’re stuck to my legs.” She fanned herself. “I can’t take the heat.”
“Well, on second thought, maybe I don’t know how to fix it.” I smiled. “You want a hand with those pants?”
She laughed. “I’m an angry person when I’m hot. That first night you were here, I wasn’t even warm. So you might want to get that repair done.”
My mood had definitely improved after finding out Deek wasn’t interested in Billie. Now that it was just the two of us, she followed me to the back and sat down on the floor next to my toolbox.
“So what do you do all day, Mr. Landlord? You wear a suit. Are you in real estate as your full-time job?”
I started to twist the new wires to connect them to the old as we talked. “Nope. I’m an architect.”
“Really?”
“Yep.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who’s an architect.”
I grinned. “Is it as exciting as you imagined?”
Billie laughed. “Definitely more.”
After the first wire was connected, I started to twist the second one, but when I touched the ends together, they sparked, and I got a little shock. Then all the lights went off. “Crap,” I groaned. “I blew a circuit.”