Dirty Secret Read online

  Chapter 2

  Max

  I'D SEEN HER BEFORE. But she knew that, didn't she? When the door first opened, I almost turned around and walked away before she slammed it in my face.

  She had seen me.

  This woman knew everything that was wrong with me. My stomach churned from what I had done.

  "I'm Heidi . . . Heidi White."

  I stared at her wide and inviting hazel eyes. She's even more beautiful close up. And her home, chic but warm, was like something out of a magazine.

  The layout was the same as mine, but that was where the similarity ended. The last time my house was considered stylish, Ronald Reagan was president.

  The only things up-to-date in my place were the pipes. My dad made sure the pipes were in good shape—he saw them as the bones of the home. He considered anything else in a house superficial. And now that it's my home, I never really considered fixing it up.

  But looking around this place, perhaps I might consider some do-it-myself projects over the weekends. That way if I manage to find time to date again and was lucky enough to bring a woman back to my place, she won't feel like she stumbled onto the set of a Back to the Future remake.

  "It's nice to meet you, Ms. White."

  I'm anxious. It's obvious in my tone, but I don't care how weird I sound. To finally see Heidi up close . . .. Well, she's more stunning than I realized.

  Despite slamming the door in my face, she acted as if nothing happened. Heidi put on a good act but didn't all these rich Washingtonians? Based on her clothes, her house, and the fact that her assistant, Debra, referenced my wealthy lawyer client so I would come running, I guessed she took advantage of her upbringing. Money made a lot of things happen in this town, but power got you everything.

  "Please, call me Heidi." She smiled and my heart tripped over itself.

  I didn't want to be here. Yes, from afar, Heidi was nice to look at. And, yes, it may have been a while since I had my pipe lubed, but rich folks like her didn't mix with people who got their hands dirty for a living.

  Watching Heidi pretend she wasn't repulsed by me hadn't made the moment any easier. But my eyes were the real traitors. They kept staring at her damp golden hair that was falling like rope over her shoulder. I willed my arm not reach over and wrap it around my hand, to pull her close. It was all so tempting.

  "Okay, Heidi. Now, let's get down to business," I said with a shake of my head. Focus, Max. "Where is this leak of yours?"

  Taking a breath, Heidi fists her hair, flinging it over her shoulder. My eyes bounced up to find her smirking at me.

  She had to know.

  "In the basement."

  She motioned to the other side of the stairs, but I didn't have to look. I knew where the basement was; it was the same as my home. But I was sure her basement wasn't piled with boxes of old toys, decades of old receipts from clients, and workout equipment that was gathering dust.

  We moved past a large round table in the middle of the room, a vase of colorful flowers sprouting from the center. She opened the door behind the stairs and turned on a light, revealing plank steps that led down.

  To my surprise, the basement was bare—just pipes, cinder blocks, and one wall of exposed brick. The decor consisted of various wet boxes scattered around, random pieces of furniture, a laundry area, and a clothesline dripping water that ran through the middle of the room.

  I'm glad she hadn't updated anything, it made my job easier. I could easily access the pipes to fix them and get out of here in time for lunch.

  "Right here. I couldn't tell until I shut the water off, but I noticed this as I was looking at the pipes." She pointed to a thin pipe.

  Shining my flashlight up, a horrible realization settled in the pit of my stomach. Instantly, I understood the problem.

  "Hmm, I might be down here for a bit to make sure there aren't any more leaks. So, you'll be without water for about an hour. Is that okay?"

  She nodded. Her smile was sweet, and she was totally unaware that I was lying to her.

  This whole project, what really had to be done, was going to take much longer than an hour. If her other rooms were as bad as the basement, this project would take weeks. But I wasn't going to be the plumber to fix it.

  "All right. I'll be upstairs in the kitchen when you're done," she said with a curve of her lips.

  Her smile is painfully beautiful. The innocence behind it made my throat burn with each lie I told.

  Heidi turned, and I watched the back of her colorful yellow shorts as her ass bounced with each step. Licking my bottom lip, I wondered what it would be like to sink my teeth into that plump flesh.

  Max, patch up the leak and get the hell out of here.

  I stood there alone after I heard her close the basement door and hated myself. How pathetic had my life become? A horny plumber that fantasized about the woman in his neighborhood when he was alone.

  Scanning the room, everything about her surrounded me. The room smelled like damp cement and something sweet. And I knew that sugary scent would ruin me. My fingers itched to pick up anything, knowing she touched it. But that would be pathetic. I may be an infatuated loser, but I wasn’t about to cross the line into stalker territory.

  That was why I couldn't be the man to fix Heidi's problem. It would destroy everything my father and I built. Brighton Plumbing couldn't handle anything a rich, connected woman like Heidi threw at it.

  It took me less time than I expected to patch the leak. To delay giving her the bad news, I sat on the bottom step and checked my phone for messages.

  There was something from my daughter's school. She had been throwing pencils and ripping up assignments again. Rubbing the back of my neck, I felt lost. How do I help my little Kat?

  The only thing that gave me relief was that the school called me and not her mother.

  I placed the phone back inside my bag. Which was going to be worse? Meeting with Kat's teacher or explaining to Heidi the extent of her pipe problem?

  Suck it up, Max. You're a good plumber and an even better father, you can do this.

  Grabbing my stuff, I climbed the steps and entered the hallway to the main floor. It took a moment before my eyes adjusted to the flood of natural light. My vision cleared, and I noticed Heidi around the corner in the kitchen.

  "Mom, I can handle this. The plumber is here right now." She groaned before continuing, "I'm a grown woman. I don't need to move back home. One broken pipe isn't going to break me. You act like I'm five."

  What I had to tell her might just break her . . .

  I leaned against the entranceway to the kitchen, struggling to suppress a smile as I watched her hand move wildly in the air. The perfectly reserved woman I met at the door less than an hour ago had turned into the wacky waving inflatable tube man at the gas station a few blocks over. She was adorable and very much off-limits.

  Heidi turned. Her eyes grew wide, and she stopped talking as she caught a glimpse of me staring at her. There was a flush to Heidi's cheeks, and she had a crumb on the corner of her mouth. My mouth watered, wanting nothing more than to lick it off.

  Focus, Max.

  "Mom, I have to go. The plumber is finished. Fine, I'll come to the dinner next month. Goodbye," she said before placing the phone down on her white marble counter.

  "So, what's the damage?"

  There was that smile again. Her sweetness was suffocating.

  "I didn't mean to interrupt." I pointed to the black phone.

  "Trust me, you did me a favor. Once my mom heard I had an issue with my home, she thought it was the perfect excuse to try to get me to move back home." Heidi snorted and rolled her eyes.

  How could one woman be this adorable?

  "At least she cares about you. Wants what's best for you. That's a good thing."

  "Something like that. So, you are probably eager to get out of here." Heidi wiped her hands together and white dust billowed everywhere around her.

  "Something like that," I mumbled.<
br />
  "Huh?"

  "Oh, nothing. I do have to run. A minor emergency."

  Getting up from the stool, Heidi moved around the kitchen island to meet me.

  "Do you bill me later or now? Sorry, I've never had to deal with a plumber before." Heidi turned her head away as her cheeks reddened. "It's the first time I've lived on my own."

  I ran my fingers across the back of my head and down my neck. When I had to inform clients that the problem was bigger than I expected, I was understanding and sometimes, if it was obvious they might have trouble affording the work, I gave them a discount.

  By the looks of Heidi's home though, I suspect a discount was the last thing I needed to worry about. But this was my job. Based on the numbers for the work Heidi's home needed, this job would be the answer to my prayers.

  But every time I thought I could do the work, my father's voice popped into my head. "There's one type of client you need to stay far away from, Max. The one that you can't stop thinking about. Especially, if that client has enough money to take everything away from you if you break their heart."

  I doubt anyone, even someone with not much to his name, could break Heidi's heart, but she does seem to have plenty of money to hurt me.

  "I patched the leak, so you can turn the water on now. But, I'm afraid I found a bigger problem. Something you will need to take care of sooner rather than later."

  My heart was beating wildly in my chest as I watched her eyes widen. I only had to patch one pipe today and yet, this felt like the worst job I've ever had.

  "Oh no. Is it bad?" Her hand lifted to her neck to shield herself.

  I nodded and turned my eyes down like a coward. "All your pipes need to be replaced . . . The one that burst is just the first of many that are corroded away enough to burst. This house was built in the early 1900s, and the pipes look to be original. They're cast iron, and I can see rust everywhere on them. I'm assuming the pipes in the rest of the house are the same but can't be certain. I'm surprised they lasted this long, to be honest."

  Finding the strength to glance up, Heidi had her hands on her cheeks as all the color drained from her face. Please don't faint.

  "What should I do?"

  She dropped her hands and began to walk around the island. For a moment I held my breath, believing she was coming to attack me. I let out a breath as she moved past me without lifting a finger.

  "You are more than welcome to get a second opinion. In fact, with something this big, I encourage it. Also, shop around to find the best deal. Something like this you're going to want to save money where you can."

  I always told clients they were more than welcome to shop around, but I didn't emphasize it. They usually called a few numbers but realized I was the best deal in town. I even directed them to the review sites of the plumbers in the area, knowing that Brighton Plumbing always had four- and five-star reviews.

  Not only did Heidi have the money, but she knew a powerful lawyer, Felipe Aragon. What could I do if she caught me staring, or worse, if we did something together only for her to write me off as just having fun with the hired help?

  I would have to take it. My business wouldn't survive any attack she levied against me. Without Brighton Plumbing, how could I keep a roof over my family's head?

  "The best deal?"

  This was the part I feared the most telling her. But since I wasn't going to be the one to do her plumbing, I inflated the price just enough that when she did find another plumber, she would never want to use me again.

  "Yes. Something like this will take weeks to fix, maybe over a month, and cost you at least thirty to forty thousand dollars." I choked a bit at the made-up number.

  Chapter 3

  Heidi

  "THE PICTURE OF HAPPINESS," Felipe said sauntering into the café.

  I tried my best to attract my friend's attention to the round wooden table with a wave. But it was his astonishing smile with teeth that gleamed like a flashbulb that captured the room. He's gorgeous with a thick head of wavy chocolate hair, and silky, caramel skin any model would pay a lot of money to replicate.

  The hum of the room dimmed as everyone turned around for a peek.

  "How is the hottest lawyer in DC? Still killing it with the guys?" I asked with love, affection, and the tiniest hint of jealousy.

  Felipe sat, and everyone took notice. I felt their eyes melt for him as he eased into the small wooden chair. The man was born to be a model or actor or something that placed his face and that mythological body of his on a screen for all to see.

  An all too familiar quirk of his lips formed before he corrected me, "Men, Heidi. Guys are good for watching sports and eating sloppy food with, but men are good at everything else."

  He raised his finger toward the front counter catching the cashier's eye. That's all he had to do. Felipe exuded confidence, charisma, and could turn a glance into a request that would happily be filled by anyone.

  "Now, how did my perfect plumber fit your pipes yesterday?"

  My eyes dropped from his as heat crawled up my neck. Memories of me staring at Max's thick arms flipped like a picture book behind my eyes. As hard as I tried, I couldn't keep from falling for Max's delicious blue eyes. Did I embarrass myself coming across like a drooling creeper yesterday? Yes. Was it worth it? Hell yes!

  "No more leak. He patched it up." I stared at my fingers clasped neatly in front of me on the table.

  "But?" Felipe said.

  I shrugged my shoulders. The one thing I was good at in life—the one thing that had worked in my favor—was being clueless. Not that I was naïve or even innocent in the general sense, but I pretended to be.

  It's how I made it this far in life with senators as parents. I had learned to perfect the "I had no idea" expression like a child with sticky fingers pointing to the dog and the empty candy bowl. My parents taught me that most people judge a person by their appearance within three seconds of laying eyes on them. If a person had a scowl and closed off body language, even ratty clothing, they expected that person to do something bad. But a sweet smile and good posture could get that person an invitation into someone's home. As my dad said, "It could even get their vote."

  Therefore, they dressed me, emphasized manners, and made sure I always had a smile on my face, even if all I wanted to do was cry.

  Despite how I appeared on the outside, my inner wild was dying to break out of its gilded cage. As crazy as I tried to be when I was younger, my parents could easily cover up anything I did that wasn't appropriate for a senator's daughter. Even that one night at my university . . .

  "I knew it." Felipe slapped the table just as the waiter arrived with a plate of small sample squares of various sandwiches. He placed a glass of white wine in front of Felipe, and I made a note that Bake & Take served wine. As I smiled up to thank the waiter, he slapped down a glass of tap water in front of me, never taking his gaze off Felipe.

  Poor guy. He didn't realize Felipe had eyes for no one and everyone all at the same time. Eventually, the waiter gave up and returned to his post behind the counter.

  "Knew what?" I asked clinging to my innocence card.

  "Don't give me that knew what crap. I have known you since you started wearing big girl pants. The man is hot. Why do you think I gave his phone number to your father's assistant?"

  "Just because a man is good-looking, there is no reason to think of him in that way. Besides, my love life is none of your concern."

  With the strength of a thousand single ladies wanting to stay home on a Saturday night and eat cookies while binge-watching Outlander, I held Felipe's gaze. My brow itched as a bead of sweat tickled its way down, testing my resolve.

  "What love life? Last guy . . . yes, guy and not in any way a man, the last guy you dated was Sheldon when you were a junior at Georgetown. That was seven years ago, Heidi. No wonder you leer at men. Especially after the strip club incident."

  My intake of breath was swift but not enough to render me speechless. "I told you n
ot to bring up what happened with the stripper. My father paid good money to make that go away."

  "Yes, your father. Can't taint the White family name. Despite that, what you did on your twenty-first birthday was reckless, I was happy that for once you did the opposite of what your parents wanted."

  It was stupid to run off like that but I couldn't go through with the trap my father had laid out for me. The engagement he was forcing upon me. Running to a strip club wasn't the best idea, but I didn't expect it to go as far as it did.

  "That's the past. I'm over it. And as for my current association with men, the last thing I do is leer . . . don't I?"

  A soft chuckle rumbled from Felipe. He nodded but before he could say anything, his eyes settled on the sandwiches and that's where they stayed. Perfect. Food, his weakness. Licking his lips, he ogled the sandwiches, completely unable to focus on our conversation.

  Good time to change the subject. But he surprised me.

  "It's kind of sad how obvious it is. I felt bad. I'm your best friend. I can't watch you turn into some creepy hag who watches men through cracks in her curtains and fantasizes about what won't be."

  I frowned. He was right, of course, but how could I tell him that I had already turned into that hag?

  "I thought you were my friend?"

  He tore his sight from the sandwiches and leaned toward me. "I am your friend. That's why I'm here, Heidi. I love you. I want to see you happy, not held back by your parents, or worse, in some loveless marriage to a man who's only guided by political ambition. Some man your parents picked out for you. I have to be honest, I can totally see that happening."

  His words sunk to the bottom of my stomach with a sharpness that caused me to wince. "Happiness doesn't come from a man."

  "No, it comes from being free," he shot back.

  He needed to stop. Where was my funny and sometimes pushy friend? He was being too serious for my liking.

  I cleared my throat. "My creepiness is not the reason I asked to meet you at Bake & Take for lunch. I wanted to apologize about my father. I am assuming he is forcing you to take me to the gala?"