“Sorry!” Lyra pulled the laundry basket onto her hip and threw an apologetic look at her friends. Savannah and Tracy both knew what it was like to have your hands full with laundry. Savanah had three kids under seven and Tracy had two preteens. “I’m so sorry. Give me two seconds to throw this laundry in and then we can go.”

She grabbed her purse with her free hand and tried to dig for the keys one-handed.

“Give me that.” Savannah took the laundry basket.

Tracy lifted a pair of Prentiss’s jeans from the pile and laughed as the three of them started down the staircase to the basement laundry room. She held up the spot on the knee where Lyra had stitched a ladybug over a hole. “If only I could figure out how to make a Justin Bieber knee patch, I might be able to get away with this on my girls’ clothes.”

Tracy’s girls had entered the dreaded pre-teen years, something Lyra only thought of with shivers.

Their laughter died when they entered the laundry room.

A low muffled curse floated out from under the large utility sink across the room. That wasn’t what stopped the women in their tracks, though. It was the jean clad legs sticking out. Lyra’s eyes began at the well-worn boots and traveled the length of the legs. Legs that filled out the jeans a little too damned nicely. Hips that made her blush thinking about . . .

Damn, she needed to stop.

“Hi there.” Savannah’s tone dripped with amusement.

Luke grunted as he pushed out from under the sink and took in the audience he’d collected. He sat casually, long arms leaning on his knees as he leaned back. When he got to Lyra’s face, he smiled.

“Hey, Lyra. Sorry, I’m just wrestling with the sink. It’s got a leak.”

Lyra laughed. “Oh, I know. I told Kyle about that leak two weeks ago. He tried repairing it with some plumber’s tape, but that lasted about a day.”

He grinned. “It seems he tried some kind of glue after that.” He held up a saws-all. “I’m going to have to cut through the pipes and replace them to undo the damage he did.”

Lyra shook her head. “He’s a nice guy, but there are some things he needs to learn not to do on his own.”

Tracy cleared her throat.

“Oh, sorry! These are my friends, Tracy Burrows and Savannah Williams.” When Lyra glanced in the direction of her friends, she tossed in a look that said don’t embarrass me in front of this man. The women were all innocence and raised brows. “Tracy, Savannah, this is my temporary super, Luke Reynolds.”

Luke stood and wiped his hands on a rag before shaking hands with both women. Neither woman heeded Lyra’s glare. Savannah fanned herself theatrically and Tracy absolutely leered.

“Wow,” Savannah said, her hand not ceasing its flapping. “Lyra didn’t mention this development to us.”

Luke grinned and glanced Lyra’s way, seemingly not bothered by the attention or the fact Lyra’s face was likely bright red now. At least, it felt bright red to her, if that was possible.

“Pleasure to meet you.” His tone said he was sincere and Lyra just hoped Savannah and Tracy didn’t embarrass her any further.

The thought was fleeting and hopeless, apparently.

Tracy tossed a cheeky grin Lyra’s way before leaning toward Luke. “Just how long is temporary?”

“A month.”

“A lot could happen in a month.” Savannah’s expression filled in the rest of her innuendo and Lyra didn’t waste any time shoving her friends past Luke and over to where the two washers and dryers sat.

“Enough, you two. Luke has work to do and we have to get to lunch. My lunch break doesn’t last forever.” Lyra worked from home most days, but she still had to keep a regular schedule to communicate with clients and the others in her office. She also had to finish her workday in time so she could get the girls. She didn’t have the luxury of stretching out her lunch break and adding the time to the end of the day.

At least the women waited until they left the building minutes later to grill her. Luke had smiled and waved at them all on the way out the door, and Lyra had to admit, it had brought a stupid flip flop response to her stomach. She wasn’t about to admit that to anyone other than herself, though.

“You didn’t feel the need to tell us about the Baldwin?” Tracy asked as the women climbed into her Mazda.

“The Baldwin?” Lyra asked, with a small shake of her head.

Tracy shrugged a shoulder. “The hot guy—as in, as hot as a Baldwin brother?”

Lyra laughed. “Where did you come up with that?”

Another shrug from Tracy, this one with a haughty sniff. “I know things.”

Savannah leaned over the front seat. “I’m pretty sure no one says that anymore, but never mind what you call him. From my calculations, if he’s taking over for the super for a month, that puts him in the apartment across the hall from you for that month. That’s some seriously advantageous geography.”

Tracy quickly nodded her agreement. “That’s a lot of chances for accidental run-ins.”

“And what a body to run into.” Savannah wasn’t going to stop, despite the looks Lyra was giving them both.

They had a point. The man was fun to fantasize about.

Savannah’s next words had Lyra’s mind screeching to a halt. “He likes you, too. You should take advantage of the access this month and have a fling. You need it.”

“What are you talking about? You’re crazy!”

Savannah shook her head while Tracy laughed. “You can look at me like that all you want, Lyra. It’s not going to change facts. That man was eying you like you were dessert. Or a side of beef, or whatever it is that men think about when they think of a hot woman. Personally, I think of chocolate when I think of a hot man. Licking melted chocolate off those muscles would sure be worth my time.”

“You just compared me to a side of beef. Thanks for that.” The words were softened with the smile on Lyra’s face and the laughter in her voice. Ten minutes with her friends and she was relaxed and happy. Life couldn’t get any better than that.

Not true. Ten minutes with Luke . . .

“You’re welcome.” Savannah sat back in her seat. “And I’m not crazy. That man wants you. Time to let yourself live a little and run with it. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Lyra didn’t answer. She could think of a lot of things that could happen. Plenty, in fact.

Luke might be nice to look at, but she wasn’t about to let anything or anyone derail her plans right now. She had too much riding on things she’d lined up. Keeping her eye on the ball right now could mean the difference between getting her girls into a house she owned with a yard of their own instead of the apartment building. It could mean the difference between being able to start a savings fund for them to go to college someday and leaving them on their own to try to support any aspirations or goals they had.

She wasn’t about to put any of that at risk for a man. No matter how many muscles he sported or smiles he threw her way. No ma’am.