Bodie by Nyssa Kathryn

Chapter 5

Maya woke to the morning sun peeking through the curtains. She instinctively snuggled farther into the blankets.

Holy crap, it was freezing.

The first thing she’d done when she’d stepped inside last night—after checking her string security system, of course—was say a little prayer that the heating would work before switching it on. When it had, she’d just about dropped to her knees in relief. It had been cold. Much too cold to sleep without it. It was only a wall unit, but because the house was small, it was pretty effective at heating the whole place.

Clearly, the thing had decided to stop working during the night.

Maybe she’d just stay under the blankets until her shift at the bar. Tempting, but unfortunately she would require food at some point.

Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

Argh, okay. She needed to get up. She also needed to grab some groceries, because she was pretty sure her cupboards were completely barren.

Scrubbing her eyes, she tried to work up the courage to climb out of bed. At least she was wearing socks, so her toes wouldn’t freeze. Before moving to Keystone, she’d never realized how cold floorboards could get.

Really cold.

Sitting up, the blanket dropping to her waist, Maya rubbed her arms. Goose bumps were already forming on her skin.

Okay, definitely too cold to step straight outside for her jog. She doubted her heart would let her reach the speed she’d need to get sufficiently warm. Maybe she’d have a quick, hot shower first. Or maybe a long one. Maybe the longest one in history.

Gritting her teeth, she climbed out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom. She cursed the whole way there. What she wouldn’t give to still be in her cozy, warm New York apartment right now.

Maya turned on the hot shower tap and waited for the water to heat. No way was she getting undressed first. The other morning, the water had taken a good sixty seconds to heat up. That may not sound like long for some, but when you were standing in an igloo-like house, it felt like a damn eternity.

She was pretty sure she’d actually turn to ice if that happened today.

A minute passed, and the temperature didn’t change. Then another.

It wasn’t until after five full minutes of nothing but icy-cold running water that Maya finally accepted she wasn’t going to get her hot shower.

Darn it to hell. No heating and no hot water left her with a very cold home. Just another thing to go wrong in the Maya Harper chronicles.

Closing her eyes, Maya breathed in a calming breath. Falling apart wouldn’t help. She needed to focus on finding a solution.

She could contact the landlord; after all, he should be the one fixing any problems with the place. But when he’d given her the key, he’d wanted to see her ID. She’d told the guy she was waiting for a replacement. If she called him, there was a good chance he’d ask to see it again.

So, no. That was not an option.

She couldn’t afford to hire a professional to come look at the heating or hot water. Not even close.

Moving back to the bedroom, she rummaged through the dresser drawer for her warmest sweater. As she pulled it out, her gaze caught on her phone, which was sitting on top. Her mind quickly flicked back to Bodie giving her his number the previous night.

Was there a chance he might be able to look at either the hot water or heating? Some people were really handy at home maintenance.

Shaking her head, she quickly dismissed that idea. She couldn’t call him. She’d known the guy for a week, she couldn’t be asking him for favors.

Once she was dressed in leggings and a sweater, Maya made her way to the kitchen. A hot drink before her run was her last resort. She’d just switched the kettle on when she noticed her breaths were coming out in soft wheezes.

Stopping what she was doing, she put her hand to her chest.

Crap.Was the cold affecting her heart?

Maybe she’d just call Bodie and ask if he could help. What was the worst that could happen? He could say no. Sure, she’d be a bit embarrassed, but at least she would have tried.

Grabbing her phone, Maya hit dial before she could talk herself out of it.

He answered straightaway. “Bodie speaking.”

He sounded wide awake.

Maya bit her lip as she worked up the courage to talk. “Bodie. It’s Maya. Sorry to call so early.”

“You don’t need to apologize, darlin’. That’s why I gave you my number.”

Heat filled her cheeks. She would never tire of hearing him use that endearment. “I was actually wondering if…if you had any experience with fixing hot water or heaters? If you don’t, that’s completely fine…”

Maya would freeze her butt off, but she’d survive.

“I’ll pop over now.”

Maya’s jaw dropped at the speed with which he agreed to help. “Are you sure? If you’re busy, I don’t want to disrupt you—”

“Not busy in the slightest. Give me five minutes.”

“Okay, um, thanks.”

Hanging up, Maya quickly made the bed and tidied the few things that were laying around. Not that she had much.

She also removed the thread from the bottom of the front door. Even though it was very unlikely he’d see it, she felt better with it out of the way. Like her secret was safer.

* * *

Bodie twistedthe pipe back into place before turning around to face Maya. Even though he’d told her she could leave him to it, she’d continued to pop back into the bathroom every five minutes to offer assistance.

He’d fixed the heating first simply because she’d looked absolutely freezing. It pissed him off to no end that she’d been living in such subpar conditions. The place was unquestionably a dump. He didn’t like her living here one bit. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

“All fixed.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Really? Just like that?”

Bodie chuckled. The woman clearly had no faith in him. Either that, or she was so relieved she was in shock.

“Just like that. There were no big issues. Just small things that the landlord should have, but clearly hadn’t been, maintaining. Did you give him a call?”

Maya’s eyes darted to the ground, giving Bodie the answer before she’d said anything.

“Um, he didn’t answer when I called.”

That was a lie. The avoidance of eye contact and hitch in her breath gave her away. Not that Bodie would be calling her out on it. He had a feeling he knew why she hadn’t called the landlord. And it had everything to do with her not wanting to bring attention to herself. When on the run, a person’s goal was to be forgotten and invisible.

Maya looked up again. “Thank you for coming. I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but I was a bit desperate. Mostly because of this heart thing of mine.”

Bodie took a step closer. “Are you okay?”

He knew from his own research that almost half of atrial septal defects close on their own. But if they didn’t, if symptoms worsened and the hole was too big, surgery was required. He’d been hoping Maya’s defect fell into the former category. But her symptoms were pointing more and more toward the latter.

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m managing.”

That wasn’t an answer. Before Bodie could comment on it, Maya turned and headed toward the living room. He followed.

“Sorry, I only had instant coffee,” Maya said over her shoulder. “I know the stuff tastes terrible.”

It tasted like cardboard. Not that he cared. He’d had worse. “It wasn’t so bad,” he lied. “I appreciated the coffee. Are you going for a run?”

A small frown marred her brow as she glanced out the window. “I am. It’s a bit later than I would usually go, but,” she lifted a shoulder, “I’m addicted. You know that high you get from running? That’s the best part of my day.”

Bodie did know about the high from running. The kick of endorphins could be epic. But he wouldn’t go so far as to say it was the best part of his day. Particularly not over the last week.

“I haven’t been on my run either. Care for some company?”

He almost laughed at the way her brows shot up. Her mouth opened and closed twice before speaking. “You want to run with me?”

He sure did. Not only was it the easiest way to keep an eye on her, but he also worried about her heart. Particularly after he’d found her out of breath and about to pass out the previous week.

The woman would already know that she shouldn’t be running so much, but sometimes people were irrational. He had a feeling this was Maya’s way of trying not to lose the last semblance of her old life.

“If that’s okay with you?”

“I’m not very quick. I used to be faster…” She shook her head. “That’s a bit irrelevant. What I mean is, you look like you could run circles around me.”

Bodie was quick enough to run circles around literally everyone but his teammates, but he wouldn’t be admitting that just yet. “It’s not so much about the speed than it is the company for me. Please. Put a lonely guy out of his misery. Give me a running friend.”

Maya nibbled on her lip. “Okay.”

Triumph.

As Bodie waited for Maya to slip on her shoes, he subtly scanned the living room window. There was a thread running along the base. Very similar to the one he’d seen on the bathroom window.

When he shifted his attention to the front door, he noticed there was nothing there. Perhaps she’d had thread on the base of the door but removed it for him.

Clearly, Maya was trying to watch for intruders. If they came while she wasn’t home, a broken string would tell her.

Unfortunately, if those intruders were men from Project Arma, a broken thread wouldn’t give her the heads up she was hoping for. By the time she noticed, it would already be too late.

She was smart. She’d know that. It was probably the only thing she could think to do to help her feel safe.

Maya stood. “Ready?”

Bodie smiled at her and they headed outside.

The sun was now higher in the sky, taking the edge off the cold. Good. He hated the idea of her running in such icy weather. As they started to move, he felt the energy shift in her immediately. The rigidity in her limbs visibly lessened, and the tension faded from her face.

She almost looked like she was at peace.

Bodie had watched her run before. He knew she loved it. This was where she felt free.

“You enjoy running?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from her.

“I love it. Always have. Any time my life’s gotten hard, running has been my escape. The part of my day where I can push my body to exhaustion. Forget the bad.”

“It’s freeing,” Bodie added.

She glanced at him, looking almost surprised at his words. “So freeing. And invigorating and calming.”

“The endorphin kick you mentioned doesn’t hurt either.”

“Very true. I’m always a nicer person after a run.”

“And I’m always a lot better looking,” Bodie joked.

Maya chuckled. “I don’t think you could get better looking.”

She snapped her mouth shut as soon as the words were out. This time Bodie chuckled. She clearly hadn’t meant to say that out loud. He loved that she had.

“You know, I try to tell people that very thing and it rarely goes down well.”

Maya threw her head back and laughed.

Bodie’s entire body tightened at the sight. He wouldn’t be surprised if he ran into a tree with how little he was focusing on the path in front of him. The woman beside him was radiant when she laughed. He wanted to see more of this side of her.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

Confused, Bodie’s brows pulled together. “For what?”

“Helping me feel human again.”