Working Man Read Online Free Page B

Chicago is a big city and I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” he said with a sexy twinkle in his eye.
    She could feel her eyes widen at his flirtatious words, but she disciplined her face to stay neutral. Ignoring his flirting, Dakota turned so she could watch him work, sniffing the fresh scent of her bouquet as he took a few small tools out of the belt and went to work. He fiddled around with a small pick, and, in minutes, the door popped open.
    â€œThat lock is worthless,” he told her. “You’re going to want to replace it as soon as possible.” He opened the door and held his hand out to help her up. She took the hand he extended to her and tried to get up gracefully, but it wasn’t really possible. She suddenly remembered that she was not looking her best, in a pair of gray sweats that were so old they were legitimate antiques and a tattered sweatshirt that had once belonged to her father. Well, there was nothing she could do about it now. She gathered what was left of her dignity and invited him in.
    As they crossed the threshold, Cha-Cha leaped from her post in the window and made a dive at Nick’s feet. Dakota clicked her tongue in mock disgust. “See how you are? You lock me out looking like a bag lady and then you try to put the moves on the man who rescued me. You’re a real piece of work, aren’t you?”
    Cha-Cha ignored her and concentrated on Nick, wrapping herself around his ankles and purring loudly. “You’ll have to excuse her,” Dakota told him. “She loves men, especially good-looking ones. She likes the sound of their voices or their smell or the feel of their hands or something.” As the cat sniffed Nick’s feet, she began to purr loudly until Nick bent down and picked her up, something that surprised Dakota. She hadn’t pegged him as a cat lover. He let Cha-Cha twine around his upper arms and nestle in his neck while she emitted a low rumbling noise interspersed with little squeaks of joy. Dakota rolled her eyes at the spectacle and looked around for something to put her flowers in.
    She excused herself and went into the kitchen, only to have Nick follow her with his new girlfriend draped over his shoulder. “Thanks for the flowers,” she said as she looked around for a vase of some kind. There was nothing to be found but a bottle that had once contained mineral water. Nick surprised her again by taking the bottle from her hand and using his pocket knife to trim off the narrow top of the bottle, leaving an unorthodox but effective vase. She took it from him and looked at it. “Thanks again. That was a good idea,” she said with a smile. She turned the water on to fill the impromptu container and jumped when a loud rattling sound came out of the tap, followed by a bang and a gush of nasty-looking brown water. “Well, that’s just the cherry on the cake of my day. What else can go wrong with the Amityville horror?”
    â€œYou need to have your pipes bled. Whoever put them in should have done that before you moved in,” Nick said.
    â€œIf I ever meet him, I’ll be sure to mention that, right before I blow a hole in his butt,” she retorted. Cha-Cha appeared to have changed camps because she looked at Dakota with disinterest before giving Nick’s ear a contented little lick.
    â€œYou never met your contractor? How did that happen?”
    â€œIt’s a long, stupid and pathetic story and I’m sure you don’t have time to listen to it,” she muttered as she looked again at the drywall, the crummy workmanship on the counters and the cheap cabinet fronts. Something occurred to her and she turned her eyes to Nick’s. “By the way, what are you doing here anyway? You didn’t just run by to pick my lock, so I’m guessing you have another reason for being here.”
    â€œYeah, I do. Or I did. Let me take a look around here for a minute and then