Oh no, she wasn’t going to take a chance on watching him play bass again.
“I’m good. Thanks, Gretel.”
Kate tugged Maya to the sunny table by the window and plopped her down. “You knew Darius wasn’t from Oregon. You even knew he was renting the Fairview Court house.”
“Guilty.” Serenely, Maya sipped at her coffee. “Your point?”
“Not only did you not warn me, you pushed me toward him!”
“You didn’t need any pushing.”
“Fair point. So why didn’t you tell me who he was?”
“Because.” Maya tore open a packet of sugar and stirred it into her coffee. “You would have shut it down. I like Darius. I think you’d be good together.”
Kate’s mouth fell open. As teenagers, Maya had never approved of the boys she went for. “You were playing matchmaker?”
“Sort of. Believe me, if I didn’t know Darius was such a standup guy, I would have warned you. Really, I should have warned him about you.”
Kate rolled her eyes at that. “You know my Naughty Kate days are behind me.”
“So you say. And yet you still won’t tell me what’s going on with you.” Maya’s expression turned strict, more in tune with the police chief uniform she was wearing.
“I will. I promise.”
Maya waited a beat, but Kate wasn’t about to spill everything in the middle of the breakfast rush at Gretel’s. “So how’s the house-sharing working out?” Maya asked.
“Good,” Kate admitted. “He’s an excellent tenant.”
“Not surprised. Told you he’s a good guy. I gotta get to work.” She gathered up her things, and they both headed out to the sidewalk, where they waved goodbye and went their separate ways.
Kate headed for Fairview Court, enjoying the radiant sunshine pouring from the cloudless sky.
Good to know that Darius had the Maya Badger seal of approval.
Not that it mattered. She barely saw the man. Not only did he work a lot, but he had a busy life beyond the firehouse. Hockey practice, jam sessions, city council meetings at which he delivered reports. He was rarely home, and when he was, he took care not to disturb her.
Then there was her worry about the lack of a security system. She added an extra deadbolt and slept with her can of bear spray nearby, but it turned out that living above a big strong fire chief made her feel much safer than living alone.
She slept like a baby knowing he was downstairs—that was, when she wasn’t thinking naughty thoughts about him.
Darius also had a habit of doing thoughtful things that took her by surprise. He trimmed the unruly hedges that Emma had planted. He shoveled moose poop off the lawn. When they started running out of hot water in the mornings, he let her get first crack at a shower.
And then there was the railing of the blue staircase, which had broken during her move-in. Fixing it was obviously her responsibility.
But there he was, on this beautiful sunny morning, hard at work on it.
Tool belt and everything.
She practically had a hot flash when she caught sight of him. It took several moments for her to catch her breath as she came down the sidewalk.
He stopped in the midst of hammering the last nail into the new length of wood he’d installed.
“I was going to fix that,” she told him. “That’s what landladies are for.”
“I had a few minutes, and it’s an easy fix. I had the wood in my stash already.”
“Your stash?”
“Leftovers from other repairs around here.”
“Well, I’m happy to take it off your rent.”
He laughed and tucked the hammer back into his tool belt. “Not necessary. I had to get a box of threepenny nails, you can reimburse me for that if you want.”
“Sure, how much was that?” She reached into her back pocket, where she still had change left from a fertilizer purchase.
“A dollar and seventy-six cents,” he said dryly. “Or a return favor, if you prefer.”
“What kind of favor?” she asked warily. Chances were, it would be harder to deliver than a dollar and seventy-six cents.
“Ever heard of the Lost Harbor Puffins?”
“Your hockey team?”
“Yeah. We have a game tonight, and I promised S.G. I’d bring her. But it turns out I have to get out to the rink early to help set up. She knows you, so I thought maybe you could bring her.”
She pretended to think about it, tapping her finger on her chin. “Can I just drop her off or do I have to watch the game too?”
His smiled dipped. “Up to you. I can take her home, no problem.”
“I’m just joking.” She gave him a light tap on the arm and got yet another reminder of how damn hard his muscles were. “There’s nothing I’d rather do than watch sweaty men fight over an inanimate object while skating across the ice.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You know it’s not just men, right? We have two women on the team. So I’ll thank you to keep your sexist remarks to yourself.” He followed that up with a grin.
She actually did feel a bit embarrassed by her assumption. “Point taken. Thanks for enlightening me.”
He lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
“I can admit when I’m wrong,” she said with all the dignity she could manage—even though she hated being wrong.
Still smiling, he began unbuckling his tool belt.
“What are you doing?” she asked nervously. It was such a sexy move, whether intentionally or not.
“Gotta get out to the rink. The railing’s fixed, though it could use a coat of paint. The game starts at seven, and S.G. won’t want to miss a thing. I’ll leave you both tickets and I’m happy to spring for popcorn or peanuts or—”
She stopped him with a gesture. “That’s okay, I’ll take care of it. See you there at seven. Knock em dead. Or knock their teeth out, whatever it is that hockey players say for good luck.”
He laughed as he headed for his own door on the other side of the garage. She turned as he passed her. Yup, the rear view was just as mouthwatering as the front one. “We generally just say ‘have a good one,’ or ‘loser buys the first round.’ But thanks for the visual.”
She could definitely say the same as she watched him disappear around the corner.
That visual was just a tease, as it turned out. An even better visual awaited her at the hockey rink. She’d never been inside the building that contained the rink, but she’d passed it many times on her way to the harbor boardwalk. To her, it seemed strange that a place with so many frozen lakes and ponds would have an ice rink.
But once she saw the way the game was played, she understood. They needed those boards along the side for the players to crash against. What fun would it be if you couldn’t body slam a piece of plexiglass while skating fifty miles per hour?
She actually had no idea how fast they were going, but she could barely keep track of who was who as the players sped back and forth across the ice.
Except for Darius, of course, who was the tallest person on the Lost Harbor team. The other team, from Kodiak, had an extremely tall Russian player, but they wore dark blue jerseys instead of white, so it was easy to keep track of Darius.