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“Hello? Is someone in here?”
Damn, is he psychic too?She heard the scuff of shoes over the sawdust and grit on the floor as Jake stepped closer. Daring a peek, she found him peering at her over the unfinished bar.
“So the bar’s not done?”
“Hi, Jake. It’s nice to see you too. My day’s been shit. Thanks for asking.”
“Where. Is. The. Bar?”
“The bar is on the side of Highway 101 with a flat tire, so everyone went home.”
“What?” Those lips pulled down in a frown as his eyes darted quick glances around the empty room, as if she was lying and a crewmember was miraculously hiding behind her cooler.
“The guys were on their way over with it…”
Jake already had his phone out, dialing. Resentment bubbled up in her chest. Seth wasn’t going to tell Jake anything different than he’d told her fifteen minutes ago. She counted to ten as she listened to a one-sided replay of her earlier conversation.
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.” As he disconnected the call, he strode for the door without even a glance in her direction.
“Hey! What’s the plan?” She rose from her seat on the floor and chased after him. As she brushed the dust off her butt, she noticed his eyes follow her hands and felt a tiny ping of satisfaction. But his gaze returned to hers, all business.
“Just stay here. I’ll be back in an hour. I’m fixing it.”
“Sit. Stay. Good dog.”
He didn’t comment since he was already out the door. Frankie was so tempted to leave. After all, it was—she glanced at her phone—five thirty on a Friday. It had been a hellish week, and all she wanted was a shower, a beer, and a bed, in that order. She didn’t even care that she’d be solo for all those activities. She was done.
But if he pulled it off and got the bar here, there was a chance she could still salvage her schedule for Monday. So Frankie stayed. She began to pick up the workspace. He’d better pull this off or she would seriously hold the delay against him. Hell, she was so horny, she’d hold any part against him.
No. Stop it.
He’d made it clear he wasn’t interested in any further holding or kissing or anything. She had to put it out of her mind. If only it hadn’t felt so right. If only he hadn’t made her want more.
She’d dated plenty of boys and kissed her fair share, but she’d never felt this compulsion for more.
She spent the hour he was gone convincing herself that it couldn’t possibly have been as good as she remembered. She was just coming off a long solo stretch. That’s why it had hit her so hard.
And yet when she heard the crunch of tires, her stomach still flipped upside down.
Judging by the smug smile on his face, he’d succeeded in his quest.
“So where’s the bar?” she asked, tucking her hands in her back pockets so she wouldn’t be tempted to use them on him.
“In a van in the driveway.”
“Are Seth and Nick bringing it down?”
“No, Seth stayed with the truck to wait for the tow, and Nick was late for an appointment with his wife, so I drove him back to his car.”
Frankie was calculating weight and angles. There was no way she could manage this alone. The space was awkward at the moment, being set into the hillside on a lower level than the rest of the house. Everything had to be carried down a set of construction stairs. Eventually there would be easier exterior access, but they hadn't gotten that far yet with the landscaping and parking lots. “How are we going to get this downstairs?”
“I can help carry it.”
Frankie snorted and bit back a chuckle as his eyebrows drew together above the bridge of his nose.
“I work out. I can carry it.”
She weighed the cost of humoring his ego against the cost of repairing a dented bar top. The bar itself was meant to look rustic. She shrugged. It couldn’t hurt to let him try, even if it turned into a controlled slide down the stairs. “We can carry it. Okay, let’s get it down here.”
