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CHAPTER ONE
There was a shirtless, muscled man in Piper Townsend's shower, and that was just not going to work for her today.
Or ever, quite honestly.
But especially today.
She put her hands on her hips as her landlord, Declan Jones, reared back with a freaking sledgehammer and aimed it at her still-intact shower wall. "Declan, don’t?—"
Her grumpy, ex-cop demolition squad slammed his sledgehammer into the tile, shattering the wall and eviscerating the last vestiges of composure she'd been clinging to when she'd walked in.
"Declan!" She strode into the bathroom and poked him in his shoulder.
He spun around so fast that he bumped into her, knocking her off balance. She tripped on his toolbox, and he grabbed her arm, swearing as he averted her certain death and hauled her upright again.
Of course he could toss her effortlessly to her feet. That was so irritatingly attractive in a man, and she didn't have time for irritatingly attractive men.
He removed his earbuds and scowled at her. "Don't sneak up on me when I have a sledgehammer. It's not safe."
"I shouted your name twice."
He frowned. "You did?"
She pointed to his earbuds. "Noise-cancelling?"
He looked down at his hand, then swore. "Sorry." He shoved the earbuds in his pocket. "You okay?"
Okay was such a vague term. "Technically, yes."
His brows went up. "You're not okay?"
"You didn't hurt me," she clarified, because did she want to have to explain to him what had happened to her in the last few days? No, she didn't. Home was her oasis, and Declan was probably the only human within a few hundred miles who didn't know what had happened.
Or maybe that was an exaggeration, but that's what it felt like, so she was going with it.
"All right." He picked up the sledgehammer. "What do you need?"
"My bathroom, but that feels like a reach right now." Normally, a glimpse of Declan's gorgeous shoulders was enough to boost Piper's mood in an art-appreciation kind of way, but today his royal hotness was simply a big mass of muscles and man in her path. She did not have time for her bathroom to be in a pile of rubble.
Declan glanced over at her with those bright blue eyes that always startled her with their intensity. "I told you I was starting the renovation today." He sounded cranky and tired.
Well, that was great for him that he was cranky and tired. So was she, and it was her bathroom that he'd just punctured a hole in. "Wednesday. You said you were starting Wednesday."
He frowned. "I said today."
"No, you said that you had to finish the molding in your kitchen, so you weren't going to start until Wednesday." It was currently Monday afternoon at five, which was not the time for Declan to be in her shower.
Well, in an alternate life, maybe any time would be the perfect time for Declan to be in her shower, but in this life? Never.
He narrowed his eyes, staring at her.
"Hello?"
"I think I did say Wednesday," he finally said.
Piper blinked. "I don't think I've ever heard you admit you were wrong about anything."
He flashed her a grin as he rested the sledgehammer against his leg. "I'm not that stubborn."
