Page 106 of Neighbors With Benefits

Work was busy the next day, which helped take my mind off things. When I got home, Dante was already in my back yard measuring glass with his tape.

“Got started without me?” I asked.

“Only the prep work,” he replied. His dark hair hung down over his eyes, but he didn’t look up. “Get changed and join me. You look good in that pencil skirt, but it won’t help you on a ladder.”

The compliment made me smile as I went inside and changed. I selected my clothes carefully, choosing Lululemon leggings and a tight-fitting top that were functional for the work, but still accentuated all of my best features.

I did all of this unconsciously, but I realized what was happening as I joined him outside. “So is that how this works?” I said, with just a hint of annoyance. “You treat women like crap at first, so that they swoon over you when you do compliment them?”

Dante stared at me for three seconds. “I treat everyone like crap until they give me a reason not to. Grab that glass and follow me.”

He carried an A-frame ladder into the greenhouse while I followed with the pane of glass. The interior was mostly empty, with a few beds that were overrun with wild plants and weeds. Dante had also moved a workbench inside for cutting the boards that would later be used to make the individual flower beds, but there were two small potted plants on the workbench.

“Already moving stuff in, I see?” I asked.

“Squirrels keep getting at those on my porch. I’m hoping they’ll be safer in here.”

“As soon as we fix the hole in the roof,” I said. “But I’ll have you know that you need to fill out a request for plant asylum before moving anything else in.”

“Plant asylum?” he asked.

I nodded. “Your plants are refugees. It’s important that they have the proper paperwork.”

“Noted.” Dante positioned the ladder over in the corner, then gazed up at the hole in the ceiling.

“That pane is going there,” he said pointing straight up. “I’ll need you to hold it into place while I tighten down the brackets.”

I gazed up at the ceiling. “You want me to climb way up there?”

“It’s eleven feet,” Dante said mildly. “You’ll be fine. Unless you’re afraid of heights.”

“Nope. I’m fine.”

“I’ll climb up this side, you climb up the other,” he instructed.

“Are two people supposed to be on the same ladder at the same time?” I asked.

“It’s fine,” he replied while continuing climbing. “Our weight will balance each other out.”

“Are you sure? Because there’s a safety diagram on the side of the ladder that specifically shows the opposite.”

“I’m not much of a rule follower,” he said. “Didn’t take you to be one, either.”

When he was at the top of the ladder, I handed him the pane of glass. Then I climbed up the other side of the ladder, meeting him at the top rung. We were just inches apart, but the pane of glass separated us like a prom chaperone.

“You steady?” he asked.

I tested my footing on the rung. “Think so.”

“Hold it like this.”

He raised the pane of glass up into position. When I planted my palms on it, he removed his hands. I was holding it up by myself. It wasn’t hard now that he had already brought it up.

“Just like that,” he breathed while pulling a small bracket and screws from his pocket.

Both arms raised high above him, Dante screwed the bracket into place. Even with the task at hand requiring most of my focus, it was impossible to ignore his physical presence. There was his body heat again, making me all warm. Or my brain imagining it. Either way, I felt my skin flush with heat while he installed the first bracket.

“One down, three to go,” he said. “You good?”

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