Seducing my hot maintenance man

Aubrey’s POV I’m really moving up in the world, I think with satisfaction as I unlock the door to my new apartment on the 12th floor of a downtown Seattle complex not far from Pike Place market. Not only have I got a new place without a full time roommate, but I’ve also recently ditched my nerd girl look for a sleek professional glow up, got a great new job at a law firm, and am hoping for an all new life to go with it! If only it were as easy to ditch the insecurities and anxiety as it was to ditch my old wardrobe. “Wow! This is really our new apartment?” My younger brother Nick asks in awe just as soon as I open the door and we drop off the boxes we had both been carrying. “It’s MY apartment,” I remind him as he starts checking out the new digs immediately. “You’re only staying in my guest room during the school holidays.” “Good, because I can’t stand staying with Dave and Cheryl when I’m not in Arizona!” Nick replies, and I don’t say that I blame him much for feeling that way. Nick has to share a bedroom with our 3 year old half brother Paxton when he was not at college. “Nice view of Elliott Bay you’ve got here, sis!” Our father Dave had married your typical 20 year younger mid-life crisis affair partner and promptly had two more do-over kids with her the moment he wouldn’t have to pay child support for either of us. It had been a cold and calculated maneuver on the part of our father. One that had not endeared him to either of his older children. Thankfully I had been away at law school at the time. But Nick had still been a few months from graduating high school at the time, and had not taken our parents divorce very well. Especially since most of our father’s money had been inherited, and thanks to a prenup our mother was barely scraping by these days and living with her own parents on a farm in Oregon. “You can stare at the view all you want later,” I remind him. “Let’s go get more boxes from the car while we wait for my new furniture to be delivered.” “Hold on a minute!” Nick replies. “I need to take a dump.” So I point out the bathroom and head down to grab more boxes. I have no intention of waiting around all day for my little brother. Nick is going to take a while, if I know anything about his character. He will be taking out his phone and playing games or texting while he does his business in there as slowly as possible, to avoid doing anything that might resemble work. After two trips to the car and back I hear shouting from the bathroom. “Hey, sis?” Nick calls out. “Aubrey? I need toilet paper!” I pick up the box marked bathroom supplies that HE had brought up earlier, and told him it was next to the door. As well as the fact that he had brought it up here. “OK, thanks,” he replies sheepishly. And now that I know he’s about done in there, I decide to wait for him. I start putting away the foods into the frig from the cooler I had just brought upstairs while I wait. But then another issue pops up. “Hey, Aubrey!” Nick opens the bathroom door and shouts at me. “The toilet won’t flush!” “Seriously?” I grumble out loud as I head to the bathroom to check things out. “I’ve barely even moved in, and already there are maintenance issues with this place? Did you clog the toilet, Nick? Because the box also contains a plunger.” “The toilet won’t flush at all!” Nick replies irritably to my accusation, while showing me that the flush handle is wonky. “See?” I try it myself. Yup, busted. “Fine, I’ll call maintenance and have it sorted,” I tell him, accepting the fact that even a very modern and expensive apartment in downtown Seattle apparently won’t be completely maintenance free. The place I’m moving out of had so many issues I had been on a first name basis with the maintenance guy, and not by choice. “Meanwhile, can you keep bringing up more boxes? I made two trips to the car by myself in the time it took you to break my toilet!” “I didn’t break nothing,” Nick grumbles, but he does just as I ask. When I call the office about the toilet issue I’m told that the maintenance guy has two other higher priority issues to deal with before he can get to mine. “He should be able to get to your toilet in two to three hours, tops!” Linda in the office assures me. “Does maintenance have permission to enter your apartment if you’re not there?” “Yeah, I guess,” I reply. “I’m still in the process of moving in, so I’ll be in and out all day long.” “Great! I’ll just let Greyson know,” Linda replies and we hang up. Soon the truck from the furniture store arrives and starts bringing up everything I had ordered. I was super excited to have saved up enough money for all new sleek modern furniture, and that all the bargain and used furniture of my first adult apartment could be left to my roommate, or head off with whomever was willing to cart it away for free if she didn’t want it. The furniture was quickly unloaded, assembled, and set up ready to go by the delivery guys. I just needed to add bedding and pillows to the beds, and voila, instant home! “What do you think?” I ask Nick. “Umm, yeah,” He replies unenthusiastically. “It’s fine, I guess.” “You don’t like it?” I ask, looking around and not seeing anything wrong. “Nothings wrong,” he tries to backtrack. “It’s great, really! It’s just that everything’s kind of beige.” “Yeah,” I agree happily. “I’m going with all neutral tones, which is supposed to be calm and soothing. It’s my own personal oasis of calm in the middle of the city!” “It’s boring, is what it is,” Nick grumbles quietly, but I still hear him. “Just you wait!” I tell him and begin to describe my vision to him. “I’m going to add artwork to the walls and add a pop of color with throw pillows. Once everything is in place, it’ll be wonderful.” “If you say so,” Nick says, rolling his eyes. “Can we go get lunch now? I’m starved!” “Sure,” I say, grabbing my purse. We end up walking to a crowded little place nearby that serves pho. The only place left to sit is at a bar along the front window overlooking the street. We manage to grab the only two barstools next to each other. “The pho must be really good here if it’s this crowded,” I tell my brother, who seems far more interested in his phone than pho at the moment. I see that he’s texting someone. “Who’s McKenna?” “Just some girl from Arizona,” he says, suddenly shutting off the phone and storing it in his back pocket. “Is she your girlfriend?” I tease him. “Is she cute?” “No!” Nick claims, but he’s acting really suspicious about it. “Where is our food?” “We only just ordered it, and this place is really busy,” I remind him. “Give them a minute. In the meantime you can tell me all about this McKenna who’s not your girlfriend.” “There’s nothing to tell,” Nick says defensively. “She’s dating one of my friends, but she suspects he’s cheating on her and so she’s asking me what the deal is.” “Is your friend cheating on her?” I ask, wondering when my baby brother grew up and how did I manage to miss it? “Yes,” Nick admits reluctantly. “And did you tell her that?” I probe further. “Not yet,” he says quietly. “I don’t know if I should or not.” “You should always tell the truth,” I remind him. “Lies almost always end up coming out in the end, and hurting the people even more than the truth would have. I should know, since I’m a lawyer! It’s better that McKenna should be told the ugly truth rather than believe the pretty lies.” “OK.” Thankfully our bowls of pho arrived just then, and we get busy doctoring our bowls with the condiments provided, along with the toppings of choice, including plenty of jalapeño slices, sriracha, and lime juice for mine. “That looks good,” a gentleman says who sits down in the chair beside me that had just been vacated by the previous diner. “I like things pretty hot myself!” I glance over at the guy, and oh my word is this guy drop dead gorgeous! Young-ish. Short wavy brown hair. Blue eyes. And he looks like he works out regularly. I think I might have just soaked my panties! “Yeah, my sister likes things really hot,” my brother tells the gorgeous stranger. “The spicier, the better!” I giggle a bit uncomfortably, and elbow my brother in his side. “Oof!” Nick grunts. “Watch what you’re doing with those elbows, sis! It’s crowded in here!” “Oops, sorry bruh!” I apologize, even though I had totally done that on purpose. “If you’ll excuse us, we need to eat and run!” “Yeah, my sister’s busy moving into an apartment near here,” Nick says and I’m tempted to elbow him even harder. “I’m sure the nice man doesn’t care about that, Nick!” I say, feeling exasperated by my i***t brother. “Ah, I live near here, too!” He says, smiling at me with what looks like perfect teeth. A server comes up and hands the stranger a bag of takeout. “I’m getting my food to go. Maybe I’ll see you around!” “He he, sure!” I say and watch him leave. Then I turn on my brother who starts laughing like a loon. “He he, sure!” He mimics, and I elbow him again for real. “Ouch, stop that!” “Eat!” I order him testily. “We still have to finish unloading the car, and grab another load from the old apartment!” “Fine,” Nick grunts. “See if I ever try to help you get a date again.” “I don’t need your help,” I remind him. “I can screw up my love life all on my own, without any help from you!” Which was entirely too true.