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Eventually, Jodie stopped noticing that she was supposed to be sidelined. She carried stakes. Marked posts. Held panels upright while Mac pinned them together. When Colin handed her a shovel, she took it before anybody could object and dug out loose dirt around one of the holes, careful not to twist her ankle.

Mac simply handed Jodie whatever she needed when she asked for it.

By noon, her jeans were dusty, her ponytail had started escaping, and sweat dampened the back of her shirt.

She felt fantastic.

Mac stepped beside her as they looked down the first finished run of panel—six feet of pinned steel, gate hung and latching from the outside.

“Not bad.”

Jodie bumped her shoulder lightly against his. “For a receptionist?”

“No.” His expression turned serious. “For anybody.”

Suddenly, Jodie was very aware of how close they were standing. Closer than they’d been in the parking lot.

A camera shutter clicked somewhere behind Jodie, startling her.

She turned to find Sandra twenty feet away with her camera raised. Jodie didn’t think she’d ever seen the woman without one.

“Don’t mind me,” Sandra said. “Pretend I’m not here.”

“I can’t pretend you’re not here,” Jodie told her.

“Yes, you can. I need more candids for my capstone project.”

“It’s not candids if we know you’re here.”

“Please, Sandra,” Mac said. “I have to deal with paparazzi on the job. Today’s my day off.”

Jodie became painfully aware that neither of them had moved apart.

“I’m not paparazzi, I’m…” Her voice trailed off as Sandra glanced toward the fence line. “Actually, stay right there a second.” She raised her camera.

“Oh, absolutely not.”

“Jodie,” Sandra pleaded.

“No. I’ve got work to do.”

“You’re literally standing beside the thing you helped design while everybody else builds it. That’s part of the story.”

Mac looked down at her. “Sorry. She has a point.”

Jodie narrowed her gaze at him. “You were my favorite ten minutes ago.”

“Still am.”

And damn if his eyes didn’t sparkle as he looked at her. She was instantly transported to the parking lot again, staring up at him, hoping beyond hope that they could get past friends and on to a kiss.

“Yeah, okay.”

Jodie forgot Sandra was holding a camera until the shutter clicked again. Sandra smiled at whatever she saw on the screen. “Perfect.”

Jodie’s heart rate ticked up. “I’m deleting your memory card.”

“No, you’re not. Besides, wait until I get pics of you at Sand Wash. You already gave me permission to photograph everything.”