“Thank you,” he said after overthinking her nice compliment.
“You’re welcome, dingus.” She still sounded mildly exasperated.
“Aww, now you’re just trying to embarrass me.” Sandwiching about ten books between his hands, he transferred them to yet another box. Then he straightened up and stretched his back. “You know what you said about enjoying the process?”
“You mean what I said about three minutes ago?”
“Yeah, smart-ass. That.” He leaned against the bookshelf and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do you think you might even go as far as taking a lunch break?”
She snorted. “Let’s just finish clearing this bookshelf first. I promise we’ll break for lunch after that. It’ll be my treat.”
“Wow. I like this stop-and-smell-the-roses Lizzy.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes. “You like the bossy-workaholic me, too.”
She was right, of course. He liked every facet of her. A little too much for his own good.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Too. Many. Muscles.
Lizzy didn’t have a handyman fetish. She had a Jack fetish. There. She’d said it. Admitting the problem was half the solution.
He held one end of the bookshelf while Shannon and her son held the other. Lizzy was yelling out directions while trying not to get distracted by the rippling muscles in Jack’s arms, chest, and back.Gah.
“A little to the right,” she hollered. When three annoyed heads turned to her, she quickly clarified, “Okay. Shannon and Elliot are going to take a step forward, and Jack’s going to take a step back. Ready?”
Once they mumbled, grumbled, and nodded their assent, she said, “Go!”
As the three moved to Lizzy’s right, Elliot stumbled a little. For a heart-shrinking second, the shelf seemed to lean too far forward, but Jack stabilized it with a grunt. An oh-so-sexy grunt.
“Perfect,” she murmured dreamily before she snapped herself out of it. “Now move up against the wall just like that.”
With a collective sigh of relief, they lowered the last bookshelf to the ground. Jack and Shannon shook out their arms and pounded on their backs. Even Elliot made a show of stretching his back, mimicking the grimaces on the grown-ups’ faces.
Shannon had closed the shop for a couple of days so they could relocate the bookshelves. After working their asses off all day, the tall bookshelves were lined up against the walls. Even so, Lizzy had to reassure herself they werenothalf a day behind schedule, and taking a lunch break yesterday hadnotbeen a waste of precious time.Geez.She was so uptight sometimes. In her defense, she had less than three weeks to work through a three-page to-do list.
It wasn’t anxiety that plagued her, though. In fact, she hadn’t struggled with anxiety since her call with her mom. The realization dawned on her like sunlight breaking through the clouds. Living with constant anxiety had become the norm for her, but… it didn’t have to be. Look at her now. The only thing driving her to finish the to-do list was excitement. Well, excitement and impatience—she couldn’t wait to see Sparrow transformed—but she had promised herself and Jack that she would enjoy the process.
A calm she hadn’t felt in a long time—a feeling she hardly recognized—seeped into her and filled her. She was going to relax into the project ahead of her and savor every moment of it, because relaxing didn’t make her feel anxious anymore. Had her short time in Weldon already changed her? Or had this been her all along—forgotten in the rat race that was her life in Los Angeles?
The four of them stepped back and took a moment to admire the fruits of their labor. The center of the store was now bright, open, and filled with promise.
“This looks amazing,” Shannon said, turning in a full circle.
“Yeah,” her son agreed. “Who knew this place was so big?”
To prove his point, Elliot ran laps around the shop with his arms outstretched, letting his fingertips skim across the bookshelves they’d just relocated.
Lizzy walked over to the cash register and picked up the clipboard with the to-do list on it. Her heart rate kicked up a beat as she prepared to check off their latest accomplishment. Then she paused. “Shannon, do you want to check this off the list?”
“No, you go ahead.” Her friend smiled with a knowing look in her eyes. “I know you’re dying to do it.”
“Here.” Jack walked over to Lizzy, wearing a teasing grin. “Let me check it off.”
“Stay back.” She brandished her number 2 pencil like a weapon. It was recently sharpened. “I’m not afraid to use this.”
He grabbed Elliot, who was running past him, and held him out like a shield. “Tell the scary lady she can do whatever she wants.”
