“Okay, then…” He sighed dramatically. “I’ll do my best to save enough energy tonight to see if I can remedy that problem. But if you fall asleep in the middle of a round of hot making out, that’s on you.”
“Hey…” One of the newest single guys, Vincent, came around the side of Knox’s trailer and stopped. “I heard y’all were a couple, but I’m having trouble believing it. I thought you were saving yourself for me, Lottie.”
“You were a day late and a dollar short,” she told him.
Knox motioned toward the food sitting on the step between Lottie and him. “Have a biscuit and muffin as a consolation prize.”
Vincent reached for one of each and chuckled. “Are you as good at framing out a house as you are at cooking?”
Knox shrugged. “You can judge for yourself after you see how our team works.”
“We’re almost a week ahead of schedule, so that should tell you something,” Lottie smarted off.
No one, especially not Micah or Vincent, was going to play passive-aggressive games with Knox—not when she was within hearing distance. She had never worked with another partner who worked as hard as he did. His expertise and, of course, working through the night after the break-in, were what had put them so far ahead of schedule.
Vincent held up his hands with a half-eaten biscuit in one and the muffin in the other. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything by saying that. I’ve already listened to Thomas and Eddie singing Knox’s praises. Are y’all going to El Paso to work for Walter when we finish up here?”
“Are you?” Lottie asked.
“Probably,” Vincent replied. “I like the idea of being in a bigger city where there is more nightlife.”
Knox shook his head. “Not me. I’ve got plenty of work waiting for me at home. With seven sisters and two brothers, there’s always something for a carpenter to take care of.”
Vincent finished off the last of his biscuit and asked, “What about you, Lottie?”
“Probably not,” she answered. “I need to be closer to my folks, and El Paso is a very long drive from here, but I will go for the summer to help Walter out that long.”
“You do know that every one of us is going to try to talk you into joining us. I can’t imagine a job without you beingthere, so get ready for some serious conversations. Who knows, maybe your long-distance relationship with Knox will fizzle, and one of us will get lucky.”
Lottie shook her head. “Knox is the exception to the rule. If things go south with him, then I’ll double down on my rule not to date another coworker.”
Vincent removed his cap and ran his fingers through his brown hair. “That just means I’ll have to work harder to change your mind. If I hurry, I’ll have time for an extra cup of coffee in the rec hall before me and my crew try to keep up with y’all. Thanks for the food. I’m keeping the muffin for break time.” He waved as he walked away.
Knox turned to focus on Lottie. “Do you think wewon’tsurvive a long-distance relationship?”
Lottie shook her head. “Mama says you get out of any relationship exactly what you put into it. Even without a good make-out session these past few days, I’m all in.”
Knox wiggled his eyebrows. “Oh, really.”
“Get your mind out of the gutter. I don’t go to bed with guys I’ve only dated for three days,” she said.
“Right back at you,” Knox said. “But honey, we’ve been together about sixteen hours of every day for two weeks. If you divide that out into four hours for each date, then we’re way ahead of the normal schedule.”
“How many women have you dated for only three days?”
He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I’d have to take my shoes off to count them all, and that would make us late for work.”
She cupped his cheeks in her hands and kissed him properly.
When the kiss ended, he whispered softly, “And that erases the memory of every one of those women.”
That kiss ignited the steamy, hot sparks that were already between them. Lottie had never believed in that old crap about friends becoming lovers.
But maybe she had been wrong.
* * *
The game, as well as a few bets, was on when they reached the building site for the fourth cabin that morning. The guys working on the outside, as well as the ones who were taking care of getting drywall up and painting, had made their brags that morning that they could keep up with them.
