“Be my guest.”
While he ducked into the utility room, Sarah settled into one of the open workspaces. Tonight, she’d brought her own portable lamp and an extra power source for her laptop so she wouldn’t be tempted to work any closer to him. It might not be the most efficient use of light or energy, but these were desperate times.
With renewed determination, she opened her laptop and created a Wi-Fi hotspot. She put in her AirPods to drown out the soft sounds of his music and drilling as he worked. Before long, she was caught up in her own project.
The first cohort of GO-ers, as she liked to think of them, were weeks away from starting their overseas assignments. Though most of her clients would work directly with customer support, she’d taken on a group to manage for herself. She wanted to be involved in every step of their process to smooth out any hiccups that might come up.
That’s how she liked to work. She’d always been hands-on with LinkDigitals’s new products. She’d been the first person to download and use their ride-sharing app. She’d gone on a couple of dates when they launched XO On Demand.
And now, even if she wouldn’t be participating in GO first-hand, she could at least be in the trenches with this first batch.
She sent a link on applying for a work visa to the woman headed to Sydney.
She provided a list of potential flats for the woman London-bound.
She made a final plea to ask the woman going to France to consider picking an English-speaking country, or to at least take an accelerated course in conversational French.
Sarah was writing another email to the employer in question when a shout from across the room drew her attention.
Pausing the music, she pulled out an AirPod. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Beck called back, muttering something indecipherable under his breath.
“Problem?”
“Nope. It’s just a tight spot. I’m having a tough time fitting my hand in it.”
That wasn’t surprising. These old buildings were full of little nooks and crannies. In fairness to the builders, none of them could have imagined a day when they would need to leave room for electrical wiring, let alone cable cords and the like.
“Need any help?”
“I’ve got it.”
He’d all but shouted the response, and she masked a grin. Fine. If he were going to let his pride get in the way, she wouldn’t stop him. He could just toil around in the same spot for as long as he liked. It was his bonus.
She replaced the AirPod and resumed her work. Every so often, Beck would mutter something, and Sarah would pretend she didn’t notice the way he was struggling.
That was until he nearly lost his footing on the ladder. Once again, he jerked away, swearing under his breath. The ladder wiggled under the sudden shift in change and Beck grabbed hold before the ladder—and he with it—fell to the ground.
Enough was enough. Shoving away from her workspace, Sarah stalked across the room and came to a stop next to the ladder.
GO had already experienced enough setbacks for one lifetime. The last thing she needed was an injured contractor and a potential workman’s comp lawsuit on her hands.
“Okay, Beck. You’ve proved you’re a tough guy. Now trade spots with me.”
“I’ve got this.”
“No offense—”
“I hate when people say that. It’s like asking for a free pass to be rude.”
She held up her hands. “Fine. Feel free to take offense. I don’t care. But we both know we’ll be here all night. My hands are smaller. Let me help. Please.”
His jaw set again, but after considering a moment, he climbed down the ladder and gestured for her to go up.
She flashed a quick grin. “Thank you.”
He dropped a few small screws and washers in her hand. “It just needs to be screwed into place.”
“Copy that.”
She started up the ladder as he held the sides in place, keeping it from wiggling too much under her weight. “You’ll tell me what to do?”
“Yep.”
For the next few minutes, he held the flashlight steady and talked her through securing the tubes in the small crevice. A couple of times, she nearly lost her grip on the screw she was working into place. In this, at least, Beck had the good grace and manners not to give her a tough time. As though they were in some kind of truce, they worked together.
Before long, she had only one more spot to affix. It was a bit of a reach. She briefly considered asking to move the ladder but thought the better of it. They’d made it this far. She could make this work for another minute. Climbing up one more rung, she reached out, extending her arm as far as it would go. Her finger worked quickly, and she did her best not to look down at the concrete floor below her.
She gave the screw a final twist and let out a sigh of relief. She’d done it.
Adrenaline pumping through her veins, she started her descent down the ladder. In her rush, she missed one of the steps.
Time seemed to slow and speed up all at once.
Sarah opened her mouth to scream or swear, but nothing came out. She scrambled to reach for something—anything—but her momentum and gravity pulled her to the ground.
Beck spewed the expletive she’d so badly wanted to say. Reaching out, he somehow managed to grab hold of her, pulling her to safety, as the ladder crashed down on the concrete floor.
As metal echoed against concrete, she let out a shaky breath and threw her arms around his neck. Her heart pounding in her ears, Sarah was only vaguely aware of his arms encircling her waist as he pulled her close. Her chest rose up and down, struggling to draw a proper breath.
Setting her feet carefully to the ground, Beck kept his arms around her, moving one hand up and down her back in slow, soothing strokes. When she could finally draw a breath—and blood no longer pounded in her ears—she caught the words of comfort he was murmuring. She could also feel the pounding of his own heart against hers.
When at last, she felt able to stand on her own, she pulled back and glanced up at him. Fear and concern shone in his eyes. Her lips parted to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, her eyes fell to his mouth, only a breath away from her own. If she moved forward just one inch, they’d be touching.
That nearly knocked the wind out of her all over again.
“Thank you,” she said at last in a breathy whisper.
“You okay?”
“Thanks to you.”
Taking another deep breath, Beck released his hold on her and turned toward his cooler. Digging through, he came back with a bottle of water.
He screwed off the cap and thrust it into her hands. “Drink this. You’ll feel better.”
She did as ordered and allowed him to guide her into a chair. He crouched down in front of her, still eyeing her warily.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah.”
Or at least she was getting there.
“Seriously, thank you.”
He nodded. Then, hesitating a moment, he covered one of her hands with his. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to shit on your picnic.”
She let out a startled laugh at his choice of words. “That’s one way to put it.”
“I was out of line.”
Without realizing what she was doing, Sarah turned her hand over and linked her fingers with his.