Yeah, this wasn’t a terrible plan.

“Oh, you need to go do the furnace first and then help Mike and Larry,” Melanie said, waving her hand. “My fireplace can wait. It’s not our main heat source.”

“And our lights can wait,” Carol agreed. “If you can get to it, that’s wonderful, but Mike and Larry can use the help.”

“Okay, then,” Mitch said. “I assume Paige knows where y’all live?”

Paige could tell the drawl affected the other women as well. Their smiles all got a little bigger when he said y’all.

“She does, of course,” Linda said. “You can stop by any time. If you want to come around dinnertime, I’d—”

“No,” Paige cut in on the dinner invitation. For fuck’s sake. Linda was going to, what? Adopt him as a pseudo-son? Or had she been eyeing his biceps too? Or was it the drawl?

“No,” Paige said again. “Mitch will be fine. He can stop over and look at the furnace tonight and then get in touch with Mike and Larry. Then I’ll be sure he’s fed tonight.”

“And Tori?” Melanie asked. “She’ll be okay with sharing you with us?”

“She’s with her family tonight,” Mitch said. “I was gonna check on Paige’s furnace and then head over there, but she’ll completely understand if I hang out here and help y’all out.”

Blatant lying for her, Paige noted. That should not be sexy. She should not condone lying. Though she had put him the position to have to. She shouldn’t have done that either. She was clearly a bad influence on a man who was turning out to be a really good guy.

This had been a lot easier on her conscience when all she’d known about him was how good he was with his hands and mouth and… other body parts.

“Oh, you’ll have to invite Tori over to the festival,” Carol said. “And the friends you’re meeting up with. Especially after you save the entire thing by fixing the wiring.”

Well, that was a terrible idea.

Tori would probably love to come. She was now a Louisiana girl, but she’d maybe missed Iowa and the snow and other wintery things her new home didn’t offer. But that would mean she’d have to pretend to be Mitch’s fiancée. How would Paige get her to do that? And then what would they do with Josh? Make him stay with Tori’s family? No. He’d be a hot, single guy in town with Tori and Mitch, and Paige’s mother would try to set her up with him. That would be more than a little awkward.

“Tori’s mom has really missed her,” Mitch said smoothly. “As much as she’d love the festival, I’m sure, I think they want to spend every minute together that they can. I don’t want her to be even more annoyed with me for stealing her little girl to the South.”

A slow, sexy smile accompanied his explanation—that totally fixed the problem and kept Paige from having to lie even more—and the other women visibly melted a little.

Paige almost rolled her eyes. Except that she completely understood what they were feeling. The guy was potent. And quick on his feet. And could, apparently, fix just about anything.

Damn, she was in trouble.

“Well, you still be sure to tell her how her man saved the entire Apple Festival,” Carol said.

“It’s just a few lights,” Paige said with a smile. “I mean, saving the entire thing is a little dramatic, isn’t it?”

“It’s all of the electricity,” Carol said. “It’s the light and the sound system for the music and the PA system. It’s the outlets that will keep the cider and kettle corn warm. It’s everything.”

Paige stared at her. “You… didn’t say that.”

“I didn’t want Mitch to feel bad if he couldn’t fix it.”

“But he might not be able to fix it,” Paige said.

“Oh, he can,” Carol said with conviction and a huge smile at Mitch. “I mean, I didn’t know that when I first asked. It was just a hope that if he knew heating, he’d know electrical. But he’s clearly very confident.”

Paige agreed that he seemed sure of himself but to pin the success of the Apple Festival on him… a stranger… who had stumbled into the situation… and who she would really like to keep naked in her bed while he was in town…

But dammit, Mike and Larry shouldn’t be up on those roofs. Not that they weren’t able, but it was cold. An extra pair of hands—very capable and strong and big hands—would definitely help them out.

She felt a little pinch at the base of her spine. She looked over her shoulder at the pincher.

“It will be fine,” Mitch said, meeting her eyes before looking up at the other women. “I might need to borrow some tools, but I can do whatever needs done.”

“Tools aren’t a problem,” Carol said quickly.

“For sure,” Linda added. “Someone in this town will have anything you need. More than one someone, I’m sure.”

“Great,” Mitch said. “Then I’m your man.”

“Yeah, you are,” Melanie said, not quite under her breath.

Paige frowned at her again. That was so inappropriate. “Okay, so,” she said, stepping forward and gesturing toward the front door, “I’ll fill Mitch in on the festival, tell him where you live, connect him with my… some tools.”

Dammit. She’d almost said her dad. She was not going to introduce Mitch to her dad even in order for him to borrow tools. Her family was going to hear about Mitch soon enough, and she was certain the information would include that he’d been recruited at her yoga studio and that he was engaged to a friend of hers.

Fortunately, the word engaged would very likely be used and that would save her from having to answer questions about her interest in him.

But there was a niggle in the back of her mind that said she didn’t like the idea of having to pretend she had no interest. Or that he was connected to someone else.

A really stupid niggle.

She didn’t want them to think she was interested. She wasn’t interested. Not in a let’s-pick-out-bathroom-tile-and-maybe-a-couple-of-kids’-names way. And that’s what her mom would think “interested” should mean.

The women filed past her out into the chilly afternoon with various versions of “Nice to meet you, Mitch” and “See you later.”

She let the door close behind them and turned the lock. She didn’t have another class for an hour, and she could do without any more people ambushing them. What had started with a simple secret visit to town for a quickie had suddenly turned into Mitch helping the entire town with fix-it projects. And saving the entire Apple Festival.

She pivoted back and said, “Come on.”

She rounded the front desk and pulled open the door that revealed the staircase to the upper floor where she lived.

Paige was aware of his eyes on her ass as she climbed the steps in front of him, but he didn’t touch her or say anything until they were both inside her apartment and she had that door shut and locked as well.

“I’m engaged to Tori?” he asked.

That wasn’t what she’d been expecting. “It was the first thing to come to mind.”

“It’s really that big of a deal your mom think there’s no chance anything could happen between us?”