More Than Enough (A Completed Novella)

CHAPTER 2

Henry wasn't much for lingering around MC unless it was expressly required for meetings. He'd been with the restoration company for four years, and it was by far the best job he'd ever had. Any job that wasn't unclogging toilets on a regular basis was a pretty sweet deal for a plumber.

Unfortunately, the tight-knit group he worked with were forever hounding him to be more a part of the non-business side of things. He dealt with this by being scarce. Or hiding behind the business manager Kyle's steadfast standoffishness.

Unfortunately, Kyle had gone and fallen in love. Which meant Henry was the only enigma left. If he had a dollar for every time Kelly or Susan had tried to pry more information out of him, he'd be a wealthy enough man to live out his dreams of hermitism.

"Henry!"

He froze. He was hallucinating because of the shock of Ellen showing up yesterday. The shock she was going to be living right next to him. Sharing a wall with him. The only positive in the situation being Ellen never stuck with anything for long.

Henry swallowed and turned to face Ellen. She was standing in the lobby of MC, coat hung over her arm, her body clad in some green, tight…thing that made every curve very…

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, probably too harshly.

"Oh, Henry, there you are." Leah, MC's electrician, appeared from the kitchen, an I've-got-your-ass-on-a-platter grin stretched across her face. "This young lady was looking for you."

"Thanks," he said curtly.

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" Leah's amusement set his teeth on edge.

"No."

"Rude," Ellen said, stepping forward, arm outstretched, big smile stretched across her face. "Hi, I'm Ellen. An old friend of Henry's."

"Old friend, huh? You don't look very old."

"Bye, Leah." He took Ellen's elbow, propelling her toward the door. "I was just heading out anyway."

"Oh, good, I need a ride." She looked over her shoulder. "Bye, Leah, nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll see—"

Henry pulled the door closed behind them before she could finish. Which earned him a nose-scrunched glare.

"Are you embarrassed of me or something?"

"I did not invite you here."

Her mouth curved downward. Not really frowning, more like wilting. Damn it all to hell.

"I looked up where MC was and thought you could drive me home instead of having me hike around in the ice and snow, but heaven forbid—"

"Why don't you have a car?"

"I needed new brakes."

"I—" Henry raked his hands through his hair. Why oh why did she have to be so…here? "You can't drop by my place of work."

"Well, I'd say you can't be a jerk to your oldest friend, but you're doing a fine job of that."

"Ellen."

"Henry," she said, mocking his grave tone.

He'd never understood it, for years upon years, how her making fun of him always made him want to laugh. Usually being a standoffish dick wasn't exactly something he found humorous, but something about the way Ellen called him out on it made it funny.

What the hell was that about?

"What are you afraid of? Your friends will think you have the pervy hots for me?"