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"I couldn't have said it better myself." He covered her hand with his and kissed her on the forehead with a tenderness that almost made her cry.
She looked at the token he'd left in her hand. Yeah, she was screwed alright.
A loud scraping noise overhead sent them scrambling to their feet. She looked at her phone. They’d been down here for nearly five hours. She needed to get home, but she did wish they'd stayed trapped a little longer. At least long enough for one more big O. She was destined to be disappointed on that front.
Within moments, the countertop slid back and the door panels swung open, revealing a concerned Enzo.
“Frankie? Oh, thank God! There you are!”
She climbed out first and gave her brother a hug, hoping she didn't smell too much like Jake's cologne. “Enzo! How did you find us?”
“Us?” Enzo peered down into the dark cellar.
Jake stepped out of the shadows and joined them in the light of the nearly finished kitchen. Enzo gave Jake a thorough head-to-toe glare before Frankie cleared her throat and spoke.
“How did you know to come looking for us? I thought for sure we’d be stuck until morning.”
“Buster was going nuts and you weren’t answering your phone. You always call if you’re going to be late,” Enzo said, his eyes never leaving Jake.
Jake’s phone began to chime now that it had regained its signal and was downloading all of his missed messages.
The quiet had been nice, Frankie mused, her own phone buzzing away in her hand. “No cell reception in the cellar.” Frankie grinned and looked at her phone.
“Yeah, that makes sense. So I called Seth because I knew he’d been over here. He told me about finishing the cellar racks. Some idiot moved the rest of the racking in here when it arrived and leaned it against the island.” He pointed to where several large boxes were now tipped against the far cabinets, pinned by the sliding island countertop.
“That explains why it wouldn’t budge,” Frankie concluded. “Well, thanks for the rescue, big brother.” She patted Enzo on the chest. “Who knows what would have happened if we’d been stuck in there all night!”
Frankie strolled from the kitchen with a smug glance at Jake over her shoulder to confirm that he was biting back a laugh. Twelve-year-old sense of humor, indeed.
CHAPTER19
Frankie stoodfrom where she’d been laying flooring and stretched her back. It was mid-afternoon on Thursday, July second. She and the crew were staring down a four-day weekend, and everyone was anxious to get to it.
She strolled from room to room, satisfaction at a job well underway filling her chest, and told each crewmember to go ahead and pack it in. They had been pulling late shifts for months, trying to meet the insane filming demands on top of their construction goals. Her guys had earned every minute of these four days. She was happy to let them start it a few hours early.
The build site settled into stillness, the quiet profound after so many days of busy noise. She touched the textured walls, smoothed a hand over the built-in cabinetry, and marveled at how far they’d come. She could see her parents turning this beautiful space into a warm and inviting venue for wine tastings and events.
She was watching the sun filter through the new energy-efficient double-glazed windows when Jake stepped up behind her.
“Everyone gone?”
She nodded, and he wrapped his arm around her waist and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “Gah! I’m a sweaty mess.”
“Don’t care. I’ve wanted to do that all day.” He tugged playfully on her ponytail and she turned to face him, grinning like a loon.
It’d been like this for weeks. Ever since their quality time in the wine cellar, they’d been careful to keep things professional around the crew. But in private moments, Jake was remarkably tender with her. As someone used to being one of the guys, it made her knees melt when he reminded her that she was indeed a woman. A woman with needs he’d been fulfilling better than anyone ever had before. “Oh really?”
“Yeah, and that’s why I can’t be too mad about you letting the crew go early.” He leaned in and pressed a firm kiss to her lips, one that said,I missed you.
“They’ve earned it. I was just going to walk through and set the alarms. Do you want to do dinner later?”
They’d fallen into a nice pattern of sharing their evening meal a few nights a week, either out at a restaurant or ordered in at his place. It felt cozy, like a warm blanket on a cold night, just the right amount of comfort. Other guys had wanted her around all the time, suffocating her like a warm blanket tucked into the bottom of the bed so her feet couldn’t get free. Others hadn’t wanted anything but easy hookups, leaving her out in the cold, no blanket at all.
This thing with Jake felt just right. God, and now she sounded like freaking Goldilocks.
But it was true. They spent time together, but had their separate time too. They were each holding up their commitment to making the show a success, and still taking the time to get to know one another better.
“Sure,” he said. “Where do you want to go?”
