"Good catch," Ignacio said.
"Please tell me we can put him in his enclosure without having to clean him first," Rachel said, backing up as Irvine squirmed.
"Absolutely." Irvine slipped out of her hands again. Ignacio managed to grab a back leg before Irvine could launch himself towards the pipe. His other hand scooped him up by the middle.
Irvine was not deterred. He continued to wriggle, push and pull, slipping first out of his hands, and then out of Rachel's. Somehow they got to their feet and began moving towards the wide space between enclosures. On one particularly good escape attempt Irvine managed to make it to the wall of an enclosure before Ignacio could grab him.
"Watch out for the tail!" Rachel reached out to grab him when he slipped through Ignacio's hands again.
"I'm the one who warned you of that, remember?" And then it was Ignacio's turn to grab the slippery newt.
Rachel laughed as Irvine slipped out and landed on Ignacio's shirt. She grabbed him, more oil dripping on her dress. "You know, this could be a party game."
"Not with my newts, please."
Irvine squirted out to land on Rachel's dress. Ignacio felt a little bad at how he had to make a grab for him, sure he'd really offended her this time. But, she only laughed. Of course, she got him back when Irvine slipped away again and landed smack in his face, with a set of legs attached to his forehead, and a set near his jaw-line.
Ignacio wasn't sure how they were able to get to the enclosure, but all of a sudden they were there. Then came the next logistical problem. "We're here. Can you hold him long enough for me to get the door open?"
Rachel set her legs and reached out above his hands as Irvine started coming free. "I'm ready. Do it fast."
The moment Irvine came sliding out and Rachel had ahold of him, Ignacio started working to get the door open. Not easy with his hands slippery with oil.
"He's coming free," Rachel's voice rose as she made the announcement.
"I almost have it." He jerked on the door, finally getting the latch to come free.
He swung the door open and turned towards her just as Irvine came slipping out of her hands. He lunged forward, catching him in midair. A turn and he tossed Irvine back into his pond.
Even as Irvine splashed to a landing, Ignacio closed the door and secured the latch. Irvine hissed at them as he swam around his pond to make his way back towards the door.
Rachel leaned up against the enclosure, laughing down at him. "And stay in there."
"You really don't like him, do you?"
"I like his keeper better," she said with an evil grin. "Even when he's destroying my dress."
Destroying was a good word to use. Dark spots on the front of the dress marked all the points oil had come in contact. He cringed. "I would offer to pay for it, but I'm not made of that kind of money."
She smiled at him. "Did I ask for a replacement? I don't think so."
Still not mad. Most women would be furious at how tonight's date ended. Not Rachel. She stood there with her dress ruined and a sparkle in her eyes. She smelled of light perfume and the specialized newt oils. He hadn't realized it could create such an erotic combination.
Standing so close, still laughing about a newt escapade, not the least bothered by the comical dance it took to get Irvine back in his enclosure. Why was he so willing to run from this?
"Perhaps I can offer other payment?" He found himself saying.
Her eyes sharpened. "What did you have in mind?"
And he closed the short distance for the kiss he suddenly realized he'd been waiting all night for.
CHAPTER NINE
RACHEL WENT INTO her next shift feeling light as a feather. The date the previous night started out great, almost crashed and burned in the middle, and at the last minute, thanks to the annoying antics of Irvine, somehow ended up fantastic. Wow, what an ending.
She checked all the pouches of her tool belt and then over the supply cart, all with her head in a cloud, trusting her instincts to make sure everything was set up right. Her bot followed her around, trying to look up in her face, as if attempting to figure out what might be wrong with her.
Rachel gave a contented sigh. What a beautiful morning.
Her bot grabbed hold of the handle of the cart and followed her out onto the main maintenance platform. Everyone appeared to be busy, so she quickly ran through the service orders for her department, putting them into order for what she wanted to get done for the day.
"Rachel, there are two emergencies I would like you to take care of today," Arthur said, handing her a flex-paper.
Rachel glanced down at it and fixed the locations in her mind. "You got it, boss."
There must have been something wrong with her tone or expression, because Arthur stopped to stare at her.
"Are you feeling okay today?" He asked.
"I feel great." Then she realized the reason for the stare. He'd handed her emergencies, one of them sure to be a messy repair, and she sounded completely happy.
Well, too bad. She felt happy. The first disgusting clog would likely ruin it, but until then she would enjoy it. Bask in the feelings.
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Right. Let me know if you come down with a fever."
Tish divined the reason right away. She came to stand next to her, looking down at the same flex-paper Rachel was staring at. "Good date?"
"Ended lovely."
"What about the rest of it?" Tish asked, elbowing her arm. "Come on, details. Where did he take you? What did you do? Did he treat you well?"
"Middle part was a bit rough. Did I ever mention Pookie? We met up with him on the picnic."
Tish swallowed hard. "An old flame showed up?"
What a silly thing to say about Pookie. "Nah, he just thinks I'm one of his moms."
Tish frowned even more. "One of his moms?"
"The first part of the date in the reserve was wonderful, too." Rachel smiled softly at the memories, setting down the flex-paper on top of one of the consoles. "I didn't even mind the oil. Not really."
"What?"
Rachel snapped out of it at the outraged and shocked question. "What? It was the standard first date. Some of it went great, some of it didn't."
"Oil?" Tish glared at her. "I'm not sure if I want to know more, but I think as your friend I must insist on detail. What did he do to you?"
"Nothing," Rachel said quickly. "Why are you insisting? Daisy said the dress didn't cost that much anyway, so it doesn't matter if it's ruined."
"He ruined your dress?" Tish's outraged raised voice stopped everyone in their tracks on the platform.
"What did your date do to you?" Came the response from several of her male coworkers from different directions all at the same time.
Damien and Arthur converged on her from opposite sides, murder in their eyes. Rachel's bot squeaked with concern. Other bots stopped their activities to stare at them.
"What is this about a ruined dress?" Damien demanded as he came to a stop on one side of her.
"Who did you go out with last night?" Arthur asked in the next breath from the other side.
From Tish's outraged expression, Rachel got the feeling she wouldn't find any support from that direction. She wasn't quite sure what they were all so mad about, anyway.
"It was no big deal. It was an accident," Rachel said.
"Manhandling one of our ladies is not an accident." Arthur put his hands on his hips, the upper muscles in his arms flexing. "Who is he? Where does he live?"
Rachel had never seen them so mad before. Even the people she rarely worked with waited for an answer. She'd dated before without this response, and most of those had been absolute disasters. Why now with her date with Ignacio?
"Dress, ruined. How?" Tish demanded.
"Okay, I think there's been a misunderstanding," Rachel started, her mind spinning on how to fix the misunderstanding before Ignacio found himself confronted with several angry maintenance engineers on his front door, all wanting blood.<
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"Then explain it before we hunt him down," Damien said.
"Nice date, pleasant dinner, encounter with flying squirrel. Checked in on his newts and one tried to escape. Had to use oil to get the escaped newt out of a drain pipe. Oil dripped on silk. Silk dress ruined." Rachel paused to see the effect. The expressions of outrage slowly turned to confusion. "Did I mention Ignacio breeds rare newts and salamanders? One of them likes pipes."
"Newts? As in reptiles?" Damien asked with a disbelieving laugh.
"Some of them are cute," Rachel said, automatically starting to defend them. "I got to see the birth of baby silky newts the other day. They're lovely."
"Oiled newts?" Arthur continued, his eyebrows shooting up. "This is all about oiled newts?"
"Oven cooked or pan fried?" Someone from the back of the room asked.
"Grilled is best," someone else said.
"Knock it off. These are special newts," Rachel called towards the back, recognizing Simon Mang as one of the teasers. "Some of them are really rare."
"He didn't touch you, right?" Damien asked, his scowl still in place.
Rachel could feel herself blushing, which caused Damien's eyes to darken. "Just a kiss. A very nice kiss, even if it was a little short."
"You sound disappointed," Tish said with a grin.
"She probably wanted to kiss the newt," Vasiliy Lukin said as he passed by on his way out of the platform, giving her a cheeky grin.
"Not funny," Rachel said after him.
"Okay, everyone, time to get to work." Arthur glanced around the platform, his stance finally relaxing. He gave Rachel an amusing look. "Glad you had a good date, but if he ever touches you inappropriately, we're after him."
"The alpha protector," Tish whispered to her as Arthur went back to helping one of the crew wrestle a large part onto the back of a freight-bot.
"There are worse things," Rachel said with a shrug.
"Like wrestling oily newts." Tish threw up her hands at Rachel's glare, laughing. "I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.
Rachel picked up and waved the flex-paper. "Sorry I can't stay to be tormented. Time to get to work."
"Okay, fine. I'm done with the oil and newt jokes." Tish grabbed the flex-paper out of her hand to read it. "I have a repair in the same area. Could be related."
"Think, or know?"
"Who knows, with how this station communicates. I won't know more until we get there." Tish slid the flex-paper back on top of one of the consoles. "This is great. You can tell me more about this date on our ride there."
Rachel tried to convince Tish to work on other repairs first, but the woman refused. She next tried to move the conversation to Tish's own dates with Arthur, but Tish always managed to turn it around. To add to it, Rachel had the uncomfortable feeling all four bots were listening in, eavesdropping for juicy tidbits.
As they arrived at the site of the repair, Tish said, "Just tell me. I'm not going to leave you alone until you do."
"And then you can relay it to Arthur?"
"And if it's a good enough story he won't try to track down your boyfriend and beat the truth out of him," Tish said with a cheeky grin. She gestured to Aqua. "Start taking the converter switch out. We'll need to replace it."
Rachel stopped her cart in front of where her instincts told her the plumbing problem was. "We just arrived, and you already know what's wrong?"
"Like I said, I know when I get there. Just like you do with your pipes."
Rachel stared at the spot of the problem, also sure she wouldn't like what was causing the problem. "Yeah, but why couldn't my station special gift be with a more glamorous job. Life-support, the inner ring systems, the transit tubes. Even floor maintenance."
Tish laughed, squeezing her arm as she passed by. "You're good at what you do."
Rachel lifted the flat scanner and ran it a short distance down the pipe and then back to where she started. She'd found it the first time. Worn joint leading into a three-way split. "Still would prefer something more glamorous."
"Speaking of glamorous, where did Ignacio take you again?" Tish asked as her bot gave her a small part with wires sticking out in all directions.
Which Rachel had never told her. Probably on purpose. Most people wouldn't think a picnic in a nature reserve the least bit romantic. Still, Tish hadn't been as bad with the newt jokes as the others. "It was a nice simple date."
"No way, you aren't getting out of it that fast. What is this about a 'pookie?'"
"You visited Pookie?" A female voice asked from down the corridor.
Rachel flinched, afraid to look. No way. They couldn't have found her clear down here while she was on the job. It was impossible.
Yet, when she looked up, there they were. All three of the regulars from the Naughty Knitter's Club, coming down the maintenance corridor towards her, each of them carrying something in their arms. Before she knew it, they were right in front of her, setting up a small round table in the middle of the corridor. Out of a box came a full tea setting. Out of the other came a flask of hot water and an assortment of teas.
Tish stopped to stand next to her looking as dazed as she felt at the appearance. "What is this?"
Velda poured out the tea in perfect form, complete with little pinky up. "To catch up on local gossip, of course."
"The job of every knitter's club in existence," Eddie said.
Daisy handed a cup to first Rachel and then Tish. "First, how did he like the dress?"
"His eyes glazed over," Rachel said, taking the small teaspoon on the side of the saucer to poke at the tea bag floating in the water.
"I knew it," Daisy said with a pleased smile.
"Yeah, ask her what happened to it later," Tish said. "Because I'm still trying to get the details out of her."
The ladies froze, pinning Rachel down with their stares. Tish on one side, the three ladies of the Naughty Knitter's club on the other. Rachel knew she didn't stand a chance.
She glanced at the pipe before fishing out the tea bag. "Okay, let's make this quick. We have repairs to do."
"Of course, dear. That's why we brought the tea to you in the first place," Velda said with a nod of her cup in Rachel's direction. "Now, start at the beginning."
She could easily relate the beginning. Even describing the event of Pookie finding her, setting Tish into giggles when she learned who and what Pookie was. Explaining what happened later proved a lot harder.
The ladies did better at that part than she thought. They listened carefully as she described Ignacio's change in mood. They nodded in approval when she described how she tried to get the mood back by going inside to look at the baby newts.
"Sometime the woman has to take the lead," Velda said before letting Rachel continue the story.
Then came the episode with the oil and the newt. Even Daisy shared in the laughter even while bemoaning the destruction of such a rare rummage sale find.
"It might not be completely destroyed. Remember the fabric experiment thing we wanted to try?" Eddie said with a nod towards Daisy.
Daisy's eyes brightened. "Oh yes. Rachel, give the dress back. Let us see what we can do."
"The dress is inconsequential to the true mystery of the night," Velda said, pausing while she took a slow sip of tea. "Why did he draw back?"
"And will he do it again?" Daisy asked.
Rachel couldn't answer the question, and wasn't about to try. It confused her all over again when she thought about it. All she knew was that it ended well. "The kiss says something. I left right after, but I left him smiling. A full smile, all the way to his eyes."
"Very good, dear," Eddie said with a smile of approval. "Just what you should have done. Left him happy and confused."
Her ID band chimed. Another message. As the three ladies who usually left her messages were currently with her, she decided she better take the time to see who it was. Probably another emergency someone wanted her to take care of.
"Thank you for the tea, but work calls."
Rachel set the tea cup on the table and lifted her left wrist to look at the information displaying on the top of the ID band.
"Oh, from Ignacio." Not who she'd expected at all.
"He's probably arranging for the next date," Velda said.
Daisy poked at Eddie. "Go on, read it out loud."
"'We should leave last night as our last farewell. I wish you well on your future.'" Rachel read, her disbelief building with each word.
What? She stared at the last word, not finding anything after, and wanting more. It must be a mistake. It just had to be.
CHAPTER TEN
RACHEL'S ARM WAS nearly twisted off as Velda grabbed it and pulled it towards her, demanding, "What?"
The other two ladies crowded around to read the words for themselves.
"See. He's pulling back again," Daisy said, pointing to the ID bracelet. "Something is going on."
"I don't really care what is going on. No one hurts our Rachel," Eddie said, putting her hands on her hips and scowling.
"That's cold. No explanation at all," Tish said, shaking her head.
"He's not a cold man," Rachel said, taking back her arm and rubbing it. "There must be a reason."
"Some men simply don't know how to love," Eddie said.
"It's sad, really," Daisy said, nodding in agreement.
"He does know how to love. He was married before," Rachel said, feeling she needed to do something to protect his good name since he wasn't there to defend himself. She didn't know why he suddenly insisted on breaking up with her, but he knew how to love. He showed it even to his newts and salamanders.
"Oh, now we're getting somewhere," Velda said, taking a dramatic sip of her tea. She raised her eyebrows. "Divorced?"
"No, widowed."
All three women started, sucking in their breath. They glanced at each other, giving each other all-knowing nods. None of which made sense to Rachel. She quickly said, "You don't know him. You can't judge him."
"Wow, am I glad this is you on the hot-seat and not me," Tish said. She pointed to a cavity in the wall of the corridor not far away. "I'll just be in there fixing things."
Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) Page 8
