One of the things Becky had always prided herself on was being able to take care of herself. After all, she and Nikki had lived in Florida all their lives and had been through countless hurricanes. In fact, for the past twelve years, since she was twenty, she’d been on her own. Their parents had been killed in a car accident when Nikki was just twelve and Becky had taken on the task of raising her herself. She’d managed to put herself through college earning a degree in music while making sure Nikki got her education. She was a very together lady but today, with this gorgeous man having come to her rescue, she felt completely clueless.
“First thing we need to do is open up the house to get some light and air in here. What’s the weather forecast?” asked Kevin looking around after the door closed.
Staring at this perfect man wearing a pair of khaki shorts and an old T-shirt, Becky managed to say, “Scattered storms in the afternoon but otherwise, clear.”
“In other words, typical Florida weather. Cool. Well, at least there aren’t any more hurricanes in the forecast,” smiled Kevin seeing how she was watching him. “What were you going to do first?”
“I..uh…well, I was going to start in the kitchen. I need to get rid of the spoiled food,” she mumbled pointing to the kitchen.
Damn him for looking so incredibly sexy! She had known him for almost three years and they’d dated occasionally but nothing serious. For some reason today though, he was just….she couldn’t find the right words to describe him.
“Okay, while I take down the hurricane shutters, why don’t you boil some water so we’ll have hot water to clean with?”
Being completely numb, Becky said, “Kevin, I can’t boil water…I don’t have power.”
One of the things that Kevin had always found attractive in a woman was her ability to take care of herself and it was one of Becky’s strong points so this was not like her. He knew she was unsettled and he was pretty certain that he was the cause. Giving a soft chuckle, he said, “Bec….”
Oh dear god! He just called me ‘Bec’. I’m a puddle…he’s reduced me to a puddle.
“You’ve got a gas grill,” he pointed towards the deck. “Fire it up and use it to heat the water.”
That seemed to snap Becky out of the daze she was in because at that moment, she wanted to crawl in a hole and hide. Could she embarrass herself any more? Why couldn’t she be more like Nikki when it came to men?
“Oh..right,” was all she could mumble as she felt her face beginning to burn.
Kevin realized the best thing for him to do was to leave and give her time to pull herself together. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. I’m gonna put the shutters in your garage unless you want me to put them somewhere else.”
“No, that’s fine.” As Kevin started to leave, Becky said, “Thank you, Kevin.”
“Thank me later,” smirked Kevin as his green eyes danced.
Okay, the man had realized what a complete fool she’d made of herself and given her time to recompose herself. This was going to be a LONG afternoon if she didn’t. Letting out a sigh, Becky headed to the kitchen to get started.
