Page 32 of Written with Love

Chapter Ten

While Juliette sat at the table in his destroyed dining room, editing the footage from the day, he headed outside to hose off the layers of dust and sweat. When he came back inside refreshed, she was still bent over the laptop and was chuckling to herself.

“I wasn’t that bad was I?” he asked, pulling up a chair next to her.

She glanced over and shook her head. “No, Palmer just dropped the hammer on his foot. Some of the curses are just… Well, here, watch.”

Max leaned in, watching the screen as Juliette replayed the footage. The camera had caught the exact moment Palmer lost his grip on the hammer, sending it straight onto his foot. A string of colorful curses followed, some of which Max was fairly certain weren’t even in English.

“Damn,” Max muttered, shaking his head. “I didn’t know he could even put words together like that.”

Juliette snorted. “Neither did I.” She rewound it again, letting it play at half speed this time.

Max chuckled as Palmer’s face contorted in pain just as the hammer made contact. The man stumbled back, hopping on one foot as Parker and one of the other guys burst out laughing in the background.

“Well,” Max said, smirking, “at least we know his foot’s not broken if he could still jump around like that.”

Juliette leaned against him slightly as she adjusted the camera settings. “I should edit this into a blooper reel.”

Max cocked his head. “You planning on publicly humiliating the guy?”

“Only a little,” she teased, grinning up at him. “Think of it as motivation for him to be more careful.”

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Remind me to never get caught doing something dumb on camera around you.”

She smirked. “Oh, it’s too late for that. I’ve got plenty of footage.”

Max groaned playfully, dragging a hand down his face. “Great. So, what’s the damage?”

Juliette tapped her chin, pretending to think. “Hmm… a few times where you forgot the camera was rolling and talked to yourself. One moment where you absolutely butchered the measurements for the cabinets⁠—”

“Hey, in my defense, that was Parker’s bad math,” he interjected.

“Sure it was,” she said with a wink.

He exhaled dramatically. “I’m doomed.”

She laughed and turned her focus back to the laptop, adjusting clips and cutting together the next segment of the video. Max watched her for a moment, admiring the way her brows furrowed slightly in concentration, the soft way she bit her lip when she was deep in thought.

“You’re really good at this,” he said after a beat, nudging her lightly.

She glanced up, a little surprised. “At what?”

“All of it. Filming, editing, making this whole project come to life.” He nodded towards the screen. “It’s not just a bunch of construction shots—you make it feel like a story. And people love that. You’d do great in Hollywood.”

A faint blush crept up her neck, and she ducked her head. “Well, it helps when you’ve got interesting subjects.”

He smirked. “Flattery will get you everywhere, you know.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “Oh, trust me, I know.”

Max glanced out the dark window, then into his kitchen. They’d made good progress today, and with the upper cabinets in, they were one step closer to finishing the space.

But right now, sitting here next to Juliette, watching her work, he realized something.

This—these quiet moments, the teasing, the way she made the chaos of this project feel like something more—was just as important as all the renovations they were doing.

And if he wasn’t careful, he was going to fall for her even harder than he already had.