Page 10 of Load Bearing
She showed him the tricks for measuring the placement of the interior walls, double-checking every number off of her plans and by measuring again from another source. “There are going to be little errors everywhere. Don’t let them compound.” She showed him how to run a chalk line and snap the mark down, and then they were laying first a bottom sill and using a plumb bob to site the top sill exactly above it.
They had six studs and a door framed in by the time they stopped for lunch, and Hunter felt a remarkable sense of pride when he stepped back and looked it over. His first few nails were sloppy; too deep or too shallow and had to be hammered in by hand, but by the end, he understood his tool and had a solid rhythm and good technique.
He was also starving.
Then Trixie took off her hard hat and Hunter had a whole new kind of hunger.
“Can I take you to lunch?” she asked.
The words caught Hunter by surprise because he’d been turning them over in his own head, trying to decide if Trixie would insist on keeping their relationship professional for the time he was working to catch her thief. She seemed like the kind who would be firm about boundaries, even if shewasinterested.
He was already sure she would be worth the wait. With every word, he was more convinced that this was a smart, intriguing woman. She was a patient teacher and clearly invested in her topic. She didn’t mind that Hunter was starting from scratch and she was willing to challenge him and give him tasks of increasing complexity as theyworked. She didn’t pretend that she was stronger than he was or feel threatened when he could reach or wrangle something that she couldn’t.
Was this falling in love? This slightly dizzy feeling that everything was settling perfectly into place? He’d never enjoyed working with someone so much before. She was cheerful and challenging to keep up with, not so much as pausing for breath between tasks.
Hunter could not imagine someone more perfect.
8
TRIXIE
Hunter was glowering at her like she’d just grossly overstepped and Trixie wondered if she’d imagined the moments where she thought he was standing just a little closer than he needed to watch her do something and maybe his gaze was lingering just a little longer than it ought to.
“You don’t have to,” she said quickly. “It’s been a long morning, and I thought it was just a friendly thing to do.”
“Just friendly.” Hunter’s voice was sexy and low, even when he was dashing her hopes.
“Fast Eddy’s is a local standby, but there are also a few other food trucks that are still open for the season if you’d rather pick up something and come back,” Trixie said, trying not to sound disappointed.
“Fast Eddy’s is fine.” Everything Hunter said sounded like a growl.
“We can take my truck,” Trixie offered. Then she remembered that she was storing stuff in her passenger seat, so there was an awkward moment while she had tothrow everything in the back to make room for Hunter and he stood there looking down at his boots like he was bored.
Even after a morning of hard work, he looked like he’d just stepped out of an advertisement for the jeans he was wearing.
“Music?” Trixie asked inanely, once she had turned on the truck and caught her Taylor Swift disc before it could start and kill her with embarrassment.
Hunter gave a grunt that sounded like a shrug and Trixie found a local classic rock station.
Hotel Californiagot them without conversation into the main drag that called itself Tok and Trixie pulled up in front of the bar. “It doesn’t look like much, but they’ve got great food,” she said apologetically, meeting him at the front of the truck. “My treat. I often take new recruits out on their first day, to break the ice a little.”I’m not flirting, she wanted to insist, but she knew that she was a mess of mixed signals. She couldn’t stop herself from gazing at Hunter’s gorgeous muscles, or trying to suss out what he was feeling behind his facial hair. She never would have guessed herself to be weak for a beard, but most of the bearded locals looked homeless and Hunter looked like he ought to be on the cover of GQ.
They were seated at a bench by the window. It was fairly crowded with the regular Sunday morning crowd, and Trixie nodded to a number of familiar faces.
“We should have a cover story for you,” she said in a low voice when Hunter requested a cup of coffee and the waitress had left them with the menus. “Where do I tell people I found you?”
“I’m a tourist from Colorado, up to visit my brother in Anchorage. His new girl knew you were looking for help, and my brother dared me to do it. I thought it would be a chance to challenge myself and didn’t have anything elsegoing on. Part favor, part desire to stay out of their way and see the real Alaska.”
“A nice mix of the truth and believable fiction,” Trixie said approvingly. “I don’t think we could contrive a convincing existing relationship, and no matter what kind of teacher I am, I don’t think I could pass you off as a career carpenter.”
“You’re a good teacher,” Hunter said unexpectedly. “I bet you could.”
Trixie flushed happily. Hunter didn’t seem like the type for empty flattery. “You’re a good student,” she said.
“Can I take your order?”
Trixie realized that she hadn’t looked at the menu yet. “Halibut burger,” she said from memory. “Salad with ranch. Sprite.”
“Same,” Hunter said, passing over his menu.
