Best Woman for the Job (Jenkins Family Series Book 0)

by Sharon C. Cooper

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter One

  Best Woman for the Job

  By: Sharon C. Cooper

  Copyright 2012 by Sharon C. Cooper all rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For permission, contact the author at www.sharoncooper.net

  ISBN: 978-0-9855254-1-5

  Published by: Amaris Publishing in the United States

  Disclaimers

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Please be advised that this story has adult and sensitive content not recommended for those under the age of 18.

  Dedication

  Crystal Jones and Loretta Cunningham

  you ROCK!

  Chapter One

  If Craig Logan was surprised to see a female plumber standing at his door, he didn’t show it. Instead, he leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded, wearing a police uniform—gun and all—looking sexier than any man had a right to look.

  “And who did you say you were again?” His voice rang with authority, but was as smooth as silk.

  “I’m Toni Jenkins from Jenkins & Sons Construction.” She handed him her business card. “You called regarding some plumbing issues.”

  Used to men checking her out, she didn’t take offense when he did a slow perusal of her from head to toe, before his eyes returned to her face. His lips curled into a cocky smile and Toni drew in a breath. In her line of work, she was around men all of the time, but none that looked as good as this one. With smooth skin the color of sandalwood, intense eyes that seemed to see into her soul, and a body that made you want to rake your hands over every muscular inch of it, she had no doubt that he made women’s heads turn wherever he went. The brother was fine.

  His hazel eyes crinkled around the edges as he released a hardy laugh, and she was awed by the rich bass sound of it. Hold up. Is he laughing at me? She didn’t care how gorgeous he was, she wasn’t about to stand there and be some Robocop’s form of amusement.

  With her clipboard in one hand, she shifted her weight and her other hand flew to her hip. “I must’ve missed the joke. What’s so funny?”

  His smile faded and he straightened before stepping out onto the concrete stoop, towering over her by at least a foot. “What’s so funny?” He moved close enough to entice her with the scent of his woodsy cologne. “You’re kidding, right? I can’t believe you’re the person they sent to take care of my plumbing. Can you even lift a pipe wrench?”

  Not another one.

  Why was it so hard for people to believe that she was a plumber, especially men? Not only had she completed a five-year apprenticeship just like every other journeyman plumber, but she was a master plumber with advanced skills. Yet, on almost every service call, she had to take crap from some idiot who didn’t have a clue that this was the twenty-first century, where women could do anything a man could … except pee standing up.

  “As a matter of fact, I can lift a pipe wrench, as well as a toilet auger, kitchen sink, and a bathtub if I have to. I’m not going to stand here and argue with you about what I can or can’t do. I was under the impression you wanted the best person for the job. Well, I’m her, but if I’m too much of a woman for you, then I suggest you call someone else.”

  ****

  Craig didn’t know how long he stood outside staring after Toni once she pulled her van away from the curb, but he eventually turned and went back into the house. Most people were intimidated by his imposing height, as well as his uniform and gun, but apparently not her. It wasn’t often he got told off by a pint-size female plumber. Scanning her business card, he chuckled.

  “Toni “TJ” Jenkins, huh? No way am I letting some woman wanna-be plumber anywhere near my pipes, no matter how attractive she is.”

  Tradesmen sure don’t look like they used to, he thought on the way upstairs to his bedroom. As the old guys used to joke, ‘She was short on both ends, a few inches over five feet, and she probably barely tipped the scale at hundred and ten pounds’. However, he had to admit, he liked her curves, the way her red T-shirt stretched across her generous breasts, and the girl was working the blue jeans. He shook his head. What happened to the beer belly, pants hanging, butt-crack-showing plumbers?

  With the business card in one hand, he unbuttoned his shirt with the other as he walked up the stairs. He made the turn at the top of the landing, ambling past two bedrooms and down the hall to the master bedroom.

  The house remodel was coming along nicely. Two years ago he’d inherited the four bedroom, three bathroom Colonial from his favorite uncle. He was still amazed that he he’d been the beneficiary of the house and not one of his four brothers, or his mother for that matter. The only reason he could think of for why he had been the recipient was because he had been engaged to be married and had talked to his uncle about his plans to buy a house.

  The telephone rang the moment he walked into the master suite. After putting in twelve hours on the streets of Cincinnati, the last thing he wanted to do was talk to anyone. He tossed TJ’s business card onto his nightstand before answering the phone.

  “Yeah.”

  “We grew up in the same household, so I know you know how to say hello or good morning,” his brother, Derek, said.

  Craig snorted, placed his gun in his nightstand drawer, and then sat on the edge of his king-sized bed to toe off his shoes. “Good morning, my brother. How’s life?”

  Derek, two years older, was not only his brother, but his best friend. Growing up, they were inseparable and even attended the same college in their hometown of Columbus. When Derek relocated to Cincinnati a few years ago, Craig followed.

  “Things are going well. I’m heading to Columbus this weekend to see Mom and the gang, and I was wondering if you wanted to tag along.”

  “I wish. I can’t go anywhere until I take care of my plumbing issues.”

  “I thought you called a plumber yesterday.”

  “Man, don’t even get me started. They sent over some woman claiming to be a plumber.”

  His brother laughed. “Was she claiming to be, or is she actually a plumber?”

  “I guess she’s a plumber, or at least her business card says she is. I ain’t letting some woman near my pipes. That’s all I need is for her to screw something else up.”

  “Don’t you think you’re being a little sexist? Just because she’s a woman, doesn’t mean she doesn’t know what she’s doing. So what’d she look like? Were you intimidated that her biceps were bigger than yours?”

  A vision of Toni flashed across Craig’s mind. As fine as she was, he bet she’d be good at a few things, but he doubted plumbing was one of them. With those sexy bedroom eyes and lips designed for kissing, he just couldn’t imagine her walking around in steel toe boots with a tool belt hanging around her slim waist.

  “She looked all right, but it doesn’t matter. I want you to call your plumber friend who installed the upstairs toilet.”

  “He’s not really a friend, just someone I know. I thought you said you didn’t want him in your house again.”

  He did. Leroy Jones was a total idiot. Craig didn’t like the asshole, but he guessed he could stand his cocky, jacked up attitude for a few hours. “Call him anyway. I ne
ed someone to figure out why the downstairs toilet is overflowing for no reason, and why water is now coming through the wall down there.”

  “Aw, man. That doesn’t sound good. I’ll see if he can get over there today.”

  ****

  Toni stormed into the building, slamming the door behind her, and flew past their receptionist en route to her cousin’s office. Without knocking, she burst into the room and dropped into one of the chairs in front of Peyton Jenkins’ desk, folding her arms across her chest.

  “I can’t stand simple-minded, conceited, arrogant, stupid men! Why do I always end up with the jerks?” Before Peyton could respond, Toni continued, “The guy this morning was the biggest jerk of all. You would think that as a cop, he’d have some sense, but no. He was as ignorant as all of the rest. Questioning my abilities without even giving me a chance! Why is that? Why are men so stupid?” She glared at her cousin. “Aren’t you going to answer me?”

  Peyton shook her head and smiled. “I would if you’d stop talking long enough for me to get a word in. I guess I don’t have to ask how things went.”

  “The same as usual. He took one look at me and laughed. He assumed there was no way I could be a plumber. I just wanted to wrap my hands around his thick neck and strangle his fine ass.”

  “Ah, so therein lies the problem.” Peyton leaned forward, her arms resting on her desk, hands clasped together. “How fine was he? Michael Ealy fine, or Dwyane Wade fine?”

  “Definitely Michael Ealy, but taller,” Toni conceded, and slouched in her seat as a visual of Mr. Logan formed in her mind. “He had the most amazing brown eyes I’d ever seen, the color of honey with a speck of green, and a smile that could light up Fountain Square. And don’t even get me started on that body—Lord have mercy—even his cop’s uniform couldn’t hide the fact that he was well built, all muscle.”

  “So he’s a police officer.”

  Not realizing she had closed her eyes, Toni’s eyes flew open and she sat up straight. She couldn’t believe she was fantasizing about that chauvinistic simpleton. She cleared her throat and eased off her baseball cap, unclipping the barrette that held her ponytail in place and shaking her hair out. “It doesn’t matter how he looked. The fact is, he didn’t even give me a chance to prove just how good I am at what I do! I should go back over there and force my way–”

  “Uh, not a good idea. Didn’t you say he was a cop? We can’t afford to have you arrested for breaking and entering.”

  Of course Peyton, Ms. Level Headed, was right. That’s why she was the boss. Out of all of her six cousins who worked for Jenkins & Sons, Peyton was the sharpest. Their grandfather had hoped one of his sons would want to take over the business once he retired, but neither of them was interested. So when Peyton showed an interest, their grandfather handed the reins over to her. She’d joined the team straight out of high school over fifteen years ago and now was a certified electrician, and the senior construction manager at Jenkins & Sons. Considering Toni and her six cousins had key roles in the business, and were all females, they’d thought about changing the name to Jenkins & Daughters, but the family business was well known and respected throughout the city, so they decided to leave things the way they were.

  Peyton stood, walked to the file cabinet, and replaced a file. Slamming the drawer closed, she turned and said, “When we return from the Shallowford’s construction site, I’ll give Mr. Logan a call to see what his problem is.”

  Toni ran her fingers through her long hair, wishing she hadn’t cancelled her appointment with the stylist last week. “Don’t call on my account. I’m done with the bozo.”

  ****

  Two days later, Craig was ready to hunt Leroy Jones down and shoot him. He’d just returned from a five-mile run and walked into the downstairs bathroom to find water all over the floor. Shit. This is getting ridiculous. It had taken the guy five hours to do whatever he did, and the problem still wasn’t fixed. I need a real plumber, he thought as he grabbed an armful of towels from the linen closet, too tired to go in search of the mop. He spread them over the floor and backed out of the room. No way was he calling Leroy again. He’d already had to put up with hours of his nonstop talking the other day, bragging about how great of a plumber he was. TJ immediately came to mind, but Craig shook his head, not liking where his train of thought was heading. Then again, maybe Derek was right. Maybe he was being a sexist for not believing that Toni could do the job.

  An hour later he stood in the lobby of Jenkins & Sons Construction, flowers in hand. After doing some research on the company, he found they had mostly five-star ratings. Out of hundreds of reviews, he’d only run across a couple that were unfavorable, and those were from men who didn’t think women should—or could—do the work of a man.

  He wasn’t sure what the proper protocol was for asking for forgiveness when it came to plumbers, but he figured he’d do what he did when begging any other woman for forgiveness. He brought flowers.

  “Hi, may I help you?” the receptionist asked, looking from him to the flowers and back.

  “Yes. Is Toni Jenkins in by any chance?”

  “As a matter of fact, she is. Hold on a sec, let me go get her.”

  Craig watched her disappear down the hall. He glanced around the inviting space, noticing new carpet, pale pink walls, plants near the windows and in some corners, and various photos of what he assumed to be family members and customers.

  “May I help you?” Toni asked from behind him.

  Craig turned toward the sound of the smoky voice. The friendly expression on Toni’s face disappeared immediately, and her hands flew to her hips.

  “What do you want?”

  Okay, so this wasn’t going to be as easy as I originally thought. Besides, a woman who had to work around men all of the time was probably immune to receiving flowers as a peace offering.

  He glanced at the receptionist and didn’t miss the smirk on her face though she tried to pretend she wasn’t listening. He returned his attention to Toni and had to admire her feisty attitude. Standing before him was a beautiful woman with skin the color of toasted caramel and long, curly hair that cascaded past her shoulders. She was cute in a baseball cap, but she looked like a real woman with her hair down, a real woman who didn’t take any crap. In his line of work, he ran across plenty of gorgeous women, but Toni was definitely in a class of her own.

  “Can we go somewhere and talk?”

  She hesitated, then glanced at the receptionist before looking back at him and lastly at the flowers, as if she’d just noticed them. He saw her face soften and knew he’d done well with the idea of bringing lilies.

  They walked across the hall to a nicely furnished conference room. The large mahogany table in the center of the room was the focal point with seating for twelve. He looked around the space, noticing wood blinds covered the wall of windows and black and white photos of construction projects graced the taupe colored walls. He gave Toni a once over as she closed the door behind them, and then watched her walk over to the windows. Craig couldn’t help himself. He didn’t look away when he caught sight of smooth, dark skin peeking out from under her fitted T-shirt when she reached up to close the blinds, shutting out some of the sunlight. Again she wore a pair of jeans that hugged her derriere so perfectly he wouldn’t be surprised if they were sprayed on.

  Catching him staring, she cleared her throat. “What can I do for you, Mr. Logan?” she asked coolly, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

  He sauntered over and handed her the flowers. “I owe you an apology,” he said just above a whisper. He stood before her for a few seconds, staring into her exotic eyes without speaking. A sudden anxiousness soared through his body, sparking something inside of him that he hadn’t felt since Cynthia, his fiancée, died.

  “Are you okay?” Toni touched his arm. “You don’t look so good. Maybe you should sit down.”

  He did as she suggested, but didn’t speak. Instead, he leaned forward in his seat, his el
bows on his thighs, and took several deep breaths. He hadn’t thought about Cynthia in a long time, but since meeting Toni, he’d thought of little else. There was something about Toni that reminded him of his ex-fiancée. He remembered his oldest brother telling him that once in a lifetime you meet someone who takes your breath away, but it would seem now that this was Craig’s second time experiencing such a sensation. The first was with Cynthia.

  He ran his hands down his face, still surprised at the unexplained emotions.

  “Are you feeling any better?”

  He swallowed and nodded, before sitting back in his seat. She stood in front of him, a small smile on her face.

  “I like the way you apologize, and I absolutely love white lilies, but the almost passing out part was a little over the top.”

  He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I didn’t almost pass out. I just …” He wasn’t sure what had happened, so he shook his head. “Never mind. I’m glad you like the flowers.” He studied every aspect of her lovely face, from the slant of her eyes to her high cheekbones. “I’m really sorry about the other day. I was way out of line. I had just arrived home from doing the night shift, dog tired, hungry, and ornerier than usual. Regardless, it’s no excuse. I know you were there to do a job. I’m sorry for the way I treated you, and for not giving you the opportunity.”

  Toni pulled out a chair and sat next to him, stretching her legs out in front of her. “Thank you. Really, I mean it. You have no idea how many jobs I go on where people judge me by the way I look before giving me a chance to show them what I can do. So your apology means a lot to me.”

  Craig took in a deep breath. Now comes the hard part. “Does it mean enough to you to come back and do the job?”

  She sat back in her seat and folded her arms across her generous breasts, something he noticed she did often. She stared at him for several seconds before she spoke.

  “I take it you got someone else out there and they didn’t fix the problem.”