Page 13 of Riverbend Gap (Riverbend 1)

“Move aside.”

“It’s stuck.” She backed out, her hair hanging in wet ropes around her shoulders. “I can’t shut it off.”

He fiddled with the faucet, then took her place beneath the sink. The water valve was good and stuck. A moment later it finally gave, squeaking as he turned it. The water stopped.

He inched out of the cabinet and hunched back on his knees in the pool of water.

Kate squatted beside him, cheeks flushed, hair askew, her wide blue eyes locked on his.

And then they were laughing.

“You look like a drowned rat.” He ran a hand over his wet face.

“So much for my beauty shop hair.” She pushed the wet strands from her face, still laughing. “I don’t know what happened. I was just trying to water my plants.”

They grinned at each other, caught in the moment—at least he was. Drowned rat? The woman was beautiful, with the light streaming through the windows behind her giving her a golden halo.

Her gaze swept over his damp button-down and climbed back to his face. “You’ll have to stop coming to my rescue, Deputy Cooper.”

“Part of the job.”

“I think plumbing falls way outside the line of duty.”

She tilted her head. “You called me Kate.”

“What?” He blinked at her. “Oh. Sorry. Do you prefer Katie? Or Katelyn?”

She seemed to weigh the question. “No. Kate’s just fine.”

He stood and offered her a hand, relishing how small and soft it felt in his. He was reluctant to let go. And there was that thumping heart again. He towered over her. He’d been too shell-shocked last night to notice much of anything.

“Jeez. How tall are you anyway?”

“Six two.” He scanned her head to toe. “You must be all of five feet.”

She lifted her chin. “Five two, thank you very much.” She looked down at the puddles of water. “Ugh. What a mess.”

While she took a towel from a drawer, he grabbed the one off the stove. “You get the counter; I’ll get the floor. You should be taking it easy today.”

So much for quick in, quick out.

“How can one little faucet make such a big mess?” she asked.

“Tell me you weren’t out in this heat planting flowers.”

“I wasn’t out in this heat planting flowers.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, I was, but I was just about to call it quits.”

“I’ll spare you the lecture since you’re a nurse and all.”

“I guess we don’t make the best patients.”

When the water was cleaned up, she took the sopping towel from him. “Thank you. This was really above and beyond. What brings you by anyway—official business? You’re not going to give me a ticket for reckless driving, are you? I think I’ve probably suffered enough.”

“We can probably pin this one on the deer.” He reached for her phone and handed it to her.