Page 123 of Golden Ruin

“It’s okay to ask for help,” she says quietly. “At this point, we’re never going to watch the movie.”

“We’ll get to it.” I keep my defense short when I find a video of a guy who’s using fishing line and PVC pipe in his design. It looks cool, but I’m nowhere near that committed.

Which means I’ll have to concede.

I lower my phone, and Lexi’s still staring, arching a brow because she knows I’m about to give in.

“All right, Rodriguez. I’m officially letting you take over.”

“Letting me?” she laughs, crossing both arms over her chest. “I think you mean begging me.”

I sigh and the sound somehow feeds her amusement. “You’re not gonna make this easy, are you.”

“Guess you should’ve taken the free offer before it expired ten minutes ago.”

She’s so fucking cute that I smile despite her being the biggest smartass I’ve ever met.

“This should be good,” I breathe.

“Trust me, it will be.”

My laugh grows a little. “Fine. Tell me what I have to do.”

“Okay, to start, I need to hear you say I’m the best fort builder in Cypress Pointe.”

“To start? There’s more?”

She nods big. “Oh, there’s definitely more. You know me. I don’t do simple.”

“No. You don’t.”

It’s so hard not to grab her chin, kiss her. And when her eyes slip down to my mouth, I’m guessing she’s thinking the same thing I am. That we could sneak one in while Jax’s face is covered.

“Fine. You’re the best fort builder in Cypress Pointe. What else?”

She’s grinning even harder. “The hoodie and baseball cap I borrowed to go to the park? Their mine now.”

I’m shaking my head, pretending that’s a bridge too far. “Deal’s off. I’ll figure this out on my own.”

Laughing, she shoves my shoulder, and I catch her waist, unable to fight the urge to touch her any longer than I already have tonight. After making sure Jax’s humming is still coming from underneath the fallen sheet, I steal that kiss I’ve been wanting all night. It’s soft and quick, but it’s enough to hold me over.

“If you wanted the hoodie, you could’ve just said that,” I say, letting her go even though that’s the last thing I want to do.

“Well, since you’ve accepted my terms, stand back and watch how it’s done.”

Shaking my head, I step back and let her take over. She ties sheets in knots, borrows couch cushions to use as support beams, and even gets the coffee table involved. It’s like she’s been planning this all week, scoping out building materials so she could show me up when I ultimately failed. It’s oddly attractive watching someone be so overly committed to something as ridiculously unimportant as a blanket fort, but it is. And when she finishes ten minutes later, I have to give credit where credit is due. The woman’s just built a masterpiece.

“Hope you were taking notes,” she says, stepping back with a proud look on her face.

I nod slowly. “Not bad.”

Her mouth falls open. “Not bad? Seriously?”

“Solid effort.”

“Sterling.”

I shrug just to get under her skin even more. “I’d give it a six and a half. Maybe a seven. I docked points because the roof’s a little ambitious. And the sheet tension? Super questionable.”