Seth's Cravings: An Endless Series: Book 2 (9 page)

     I returned it with a look of derision. “Seriously! Have
you seen the number of underage drinkers at the parties we go to? At least I
leave standing and walking straight.”

     “Yeah, you do, and I was wondering about that. A half
pint of vodka is a lot of alcohol for someone with such a slender frame. How
are you not stumbling around after consuming all that?”

     That was a very valid question and something he’d shown
an interest in last time. If it had been a true half pint of vodka I would be
flat on my face, but that was between me and my vodka bottle. I sensed that
he’d set up me up with those questions.

     “I grew up on vodka, it’s like drinking water.” I smirked
at my hidden meaning as I wrapped the tape around each of the pipes ends.  

     “Water, huh?” He repeated.

     His thoughtful tone had me glancing down to see him
looking at me as though he were trying to solve some new-fangled puzzle. My
eyes locked with his intense navy ones and unexpected tingles of awareness quaked
throughout my body. This startling reaction had me losing my balance and I
wobbled slightly on the ladder. Seth’s hands instantly latched onto my thighs
which only amplified the quivers further.

     Grasping the ladder I steadied myself. “I’m stable now,
zank you.” I said breathlessly wanting him to let go. Only he didn’t.

     “Are you sure?” He asked his eyes a turbulent blue as
he stared up at me. It only escalated things further inside me.

     I nodded quickly and swallowed. “
Da
, you can let
go.”

     His hands moved off me…slowly… until he was back to
holding the ladder. Our eyes stayed connected the entire time and I saw the
heat in them telling me he was just as affected as me.

    
Derr’mo
! This was not happening. Taking the new
PVC coupling I began affixing it hurriedly to the pipes.

     “Is that a half inch galvanized coupling?” Seth asked
gruffly.

     I stopped twisting the wrench to stare down at him in
astonishment. “You know about plumbing?”

     “I’ve worked construction for years. I know about all
the aspects of building a house.” He stated with a smirk. “I’m not some
pansy-ass rich boy.”

     I found myself grinning. So, he wasn’t some idle rich
kid. It was somehow good to know that. I returned my attention to the pipes.
“Yes, it’s a half inch galvanized when it should be a three-quarter, and it
will fix the leak in this spot, but I have to tell you whoever did the heating
and cooling in this house did an appalling job at it. It should be redone
completely, and I’m not just saying that to get business.”

     What appeared to be approval flashed across his face. “No,
I know your not. I noticed it as well. It
does
look like Mr. Bean slapped
this together.”

     My lip twitched as he repeated my words from earlier.

     With one last twist of my wrist I finished the
coupling. “
Conchila
! Turn on the water and lets find out if it works.” I
said with satisfaction. In a way I’d been forced into plumbing but it wasn’t a
terrible career to have. I enjoyed it and the people I worked with. It was good
money and I had good benefits which was really important.

     Seth walked over to the valve after I stepped down from
the ladder. With a twist of his wrist the water moved back through the pipes
without any more leakage.

     “You can go tell Landon he can take his number two
now.” I declared with a cheerful grin.

     Seth flashed his dimples again but his eyes were
curiously somber as he stared at me. Unsettled, I turned away to pack up my
materials. I didn’t have time in my life for curious or interested and that’s
how Seth was staring at me…if I was reading him right. Hell, I could feel my
interest rising…at an alarming rate… and that was worse.

     “Well, you guys are set and I need to get back on the
road. A plumber’s work is never done.” Snapping the tool box closed I went to
lift it but Seth was there before I even saw him move picking it up for me. He
was rather light on his feet for a big guy.

     We moved together up the stairs. Passing the living
room Landon glanced up from whatever paperwork he was working on. “Done
already?”

     “I nodded. “Yes, you’re all set to go. Pun intended.”

     He smirked. “Thanks, Nadezhda. Going a half day without
water sucked. It felt like I was living in a third world country.”

     “A little suffering is good for your character.” I
responded austerely.

     “Too much suffering would have had me backed up and
uncomfortable.” He countered.

     “TMI Landon.” I strode away with a shake of my head as
he laughed behind me.

     Seth set my tool box in the back of my truck and we
stood there staring at each other awkwardly, the tension rising between us.

     “Well, thanks for the help.” I expressed with a casual
salute of my wrist.  

     “I really didn’t, but thanks for pretending that I
did.” He said with a twist of his lips.

     I shrugged one shoulder. “You held my ladder and helped
pass the time. Don’t knock it.” I opened the truck door and slid into the
driver’s seat shutting the door behind me.

     Seth walked up to the open window as I started the
truck. “Nadia, I…”

     I wasn’t sure what he was going to say, and I was a
little afraid of what it might be so I interrupted him talking fast. “Seth,
I’ve got another appointment in ten minutes that’s twenty minutes from here so
I’ve got to get gone, but I’m glad we got that misunderstanding cleared up. Remember
what I said and let it go, because I have. I’ll see you around.”

     Jamming the truck into gear with a quick smile his way
I accelerated slowly away until I knew he was clear and then I punched it. Looking
in the review mirror I could see Seth watching me drive away with a solemn
expression on his face. He might just have been about to apologize again, but
there had been a part of me that thought he might ask me out. I hadn’t wanted
to stick around to see if he did…because I realized he was too tempting.

Chapter Six

SETH

     I watched Nadia peel out of the driveway like her ass
was on fire. She’d looked completely panicked there right before she’d driven
off, and her sudden skittish behavior made no sense. I thought everything had
been going really well there between us…really, really well. She’d been
surprising forthright answering my questions, but I’d noticed that she’d done
it without revealing anything too personal. Her poker skills weren’t just for
the gaming table.

     Striding around the house to the backyard I sprawled
out in one of the deck chairs and closed my eyes. It was the end of September
and the weather was still warm, bordering on hot. The sun shone down on me and
I soaked up its rays as I contemplated what I’d found out today.

     I couldn’t believe how different Nadia was away from
the gaming table. She was an almost entirely different person. She was still
outgoing, but it had been in a more friendly way rather than the overt flirting
she normally employed, and this had me reanalyzing the way I’d previously
viewed her. 

     I could admit now that I had been looking at her
through biased eyes, but that bias had been forcibly stripped from me at
finding out what nearly happened to her. Yes, it could be because of regret, and
that I was inundated with guilt, but it had more to do with the multitude of
particulars that had been thrown at me in the last hour.

     She wasn’t some wealthy society chick. She worked for
her money; not only that, she’d made significant career plans at a young age
and been working toward them for fours years already. She was further in her
career than most people her age. A journeyman plumber at twenty years of age
was pretty damn remarkable.

     But why did she gamble her hard earned money? Most of the
guys I gambled with did it for fun and because of the competitive aspect of it.
I know most didn’t care that they gambled away thousands of the allowances they
received from their parents, but I was careful with the way I gambled. My
parents were wealthy, but I earned my money and valued it more. I sometimes
lost and sometimes won and it generally evened out in the end for me. Playing
with Nadia however had upset that ratio quite a bit.

     Did she do it for fun, or did she have a problem with
gambling? If it was a problem it’s not like she had to worry about it because
she seemed to win substantially at every game she was in. She had impressive
card skills and she also seemed to have set limits on how long she sat at the
table. When she was up in winnings she quit not risking what she had. She
played smart.

     The only problem I was still having with her was the
explicit way in which she flirted with all the guys at the tables, and she seemed
to accept sexual innuendo’s as her due. Before today I thought I was revolted
by her conduct, but I could admit now that I was damn resentful of her behavior
toward those other males. I didn’t like it.

     The only thing I could say on the positive side was
that I’d never heard any rumors about her sleeping around, but then I’d been
closing my ears to all talk about her. That’s why I hadn’t heard the Dale
rumor, so I couldn’t really be sure what her sleeping habits were.

     I was damn curious though. Landon was right; I wanted
her bad. She’d called to me the first time I’d seen her. The intense lust had
been instant and unexpected. I’d never had a reaction like that to a female
before, and my umbrage of it had made everything more confusing.  

     I needed to figure her out because my attraction to her
didn’t seem to be diminishing. If truth be told my feelings had only gotten
more complex.

     What to do about it though was the issue? Landon had
been right in another matter; Nadia was like an onion, and there were definite
layers to her.

Chapter Seven

NADIA

     “Nadia, you know that job you did two days ago near the
college?”

     I raised my head tentatively from the paperwork I was
filling out to look up at my sixty-two year old boss and the owner of
Anderson’s
Plumbing and Heating,
Tom Anderson, as he walked through the door. “Yeah.”

     “Well, the owner called back yesterday and asked if I
could come and look at the rest of the piping. Seems he thinks he might have
gotten taken to the cleaners by the people he hired to put the present ones in.
He was quite correct in his assessment. It was inferior workmanship all the way
around, from how it was put in to the materials they used. Guy was quite upset
about it. He wants me to look at a few other properties that he had the guy do.
I assume that you made mention of what you observed when you stopped in there?”
Tom gave me a pleased smile at what he thought was my initiative.

     I couldn’t hold back my own smile. Tom was too
grandfatherly adorable not to smile at. “The owner wasn’t there for me to
butter up, but I did mention it to the guy who rents the house. Not that I
needed to because it seems he has a background in construction and took note of
the shoddy workmanship, I just backed him up.”

     “No matter, no matter; either works for me.” He said
grinning. “The guy says he’s suing the previous installer and that he would
like us to replace the whole thing as soon as possible; said the renter’s have
no problem dealing with the hassle of the instillation so were all good to go.”
He kept grinning as my heart started beating double time. “A comment was made
that they were very impressed with your work and since you’ve already been over
there I’m putting you and Jerry on the job.”

    
Derr’mo
! I can’t believe this. I’d made a
resolution to try and stay as far away from Seth as I could, but it seemed it
wasn’t going to be up to me. At least not for the next week.
And
I was
going to have to work with
Jerry
. The day just kept getting better.

     “Sounds good.” I said with a forged smile.

     “I’ve written up the estimate and the materials that
are needed. Jerry has already made a start on gathering the supplies you need
from the back. You can head on back to help when you’re done with that
paperwork. Good job, Nadia, and I’m glad to see your hand free of the splint.” Tom
praised me as he walked toward the door.

     The smile remained fixed to my face until Tom exited
the room and then it slipped away into a scowl. Life just had to keep throwing
out the curve balls. I took in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. It was a
good thing curve balls were my specialty.

     After finishing up my paperwork, at a slower rate than
I normally would have, I made my way to the back room to find Jerry hard at
work staring at his cell phone. Probably watching internet porn. Blah!