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“Thank you, for explaining. I’d never have guessed that was the reason.”
“I guess it’s become more a part of me than I thought.”
“But in private? Like now, when no one else is watching? Do you ever loosen up?”
“I’m willing to try.”
She gripped his bare forearms and pulled him back in for a kiss. “Good,” she murmured against his lips. “Because getting you a little dirty is a massive turn-on.” She rubbed a dusty thumb over his cheekbone and he shuddered.
“Hmmm,” was all she heard as she kissed him again, pouring all of her excess energy into him. She needed to reward his honesty. She wanted more kisses for herself. Win-win.
Letting him go, she handed him the level again. “Come on. You’re so good at staying balanced, this should be a piece of cake. I’ll line up the holes, and you can check the level before I screw it in.”
Jake snorted again.
“You really are twelve, aren’t you?”
“No, just my sense of humor. The rest of me is all grown up.”
Frankie gave the bulge at the front of his jeans a cheeky and appraising glance. “That I can confirm. Now get over here and help me finish.”
As they traded tools and innuendos, laughing and teasing each other, the wall of wine racks took shape. Frankie's wit, forged as the baby of the family, was sharp enough to keep Jake on his toes. He took out his phone along the way, recording more snippets of her competence and humor. She wondered how he juggled all of the seemingly random footage into a coherent episode. Just thinking about organizing all of that made her brain hurt.
When the last screw was tightened and all of the tools stowed, they sat side by side against the blank wall still waiting for the back-ordered shelves and admired their handiwork.
"You want your ten minutes now?" she asked. The elephant crammed into the tiny room with them needed to be addressed. She might as well pin him down while he couldn't walk away.
Jake nodded and picked up a leftover screw, turning it end over end between his competent fingers. "I've been trying to work this out." He waved his hand between them.
"Yeah? How's that going?"
"Not great. I like you, Frankie."
"That doesn't sound not great." She couldn't see where he was going with this.
"I'm only here through the end of the show. I've got to get back to LA to capitalize on the gains I've made here. I've been away too long."
Frankie's mind zoomed ahead. He was desperately trying to find a reason to stay away from her and maintain his precious control. If she could give him anything, she wanted it to be the knowledge that it was okay to lose control every now and then. She wanted to be that safe space for him, even if it was temporary. She'd just have to keep her heart in line. The alternative—ignoring this growing attraction—left a bad taste in her mouth. She was real tempted to kiss him again and cleanse her palate.
"I see. So now that we've established that I'm not too young, it doesn't matter that we work together, and you're not the asshole you seemed to be, distance is going to be a problem? You are working real hard to throw these roadblocks up, Jake."
"The last thing I want to do is hurt you. And thinking things through helps avoid that."
There's that need for control again.It must be exhausting to constantly be ten steps ahead.
Frankie reached over and stilled his hands. "I have an idea." She waited until he made eye contact with her before she continued. "I want you, and you want me. With me so far?"
He nodded.
"And we both need this show to succeed, agreed?"
He nodded again.
"That will be easier to manage if we have a smooth working relationship instead of bickering all the time, don't you think?"
"Sure."
"In an unrelated observation, orgasms make me super energetic and easygoing, which will make me much nicer to be around." Jake chuckled and pulled her into a side hug. "I'm just saying, I think we should take advantage of wanting each other for as long as we can by screwing ourselves silly."
