Shaking off the niggling unease, she tipped her head back, shading her eyes with her hand. From this angle, she saw fresh boards and the edge of the last row of shingles that had been nailed down. “Are you happy with the progress?” she asked.
“Amazed by it.” He shook his head. “I never expected a turnout like this. Most of the guys have worked their butts off, too. We should finish tomorrow, easy.”
“So you’ll be able to move in.”
“Yeah.” His eyes glinted with amusement. “You didn’t say what you think.”
“You mean about the house? I love what I’ve seen of it. I didn’t go upstairs.”
“There’s not much up there. One decent-size bedroom and a smaller room that might have been a study or, I don’t know, nursery or sewing room. I intend to turn it into a second bathroom.”
“That’s a good idea. I will say, if I were you, I’d tackle the downstairs’ bathroom before anything else. Except maybe the front porch.”
He laughed. “Before I lose a UPS man through the rotten boards, you mean? And you’re right. The porch and bathroom are running neck and neck at the top of my list.”
Someone called his name. He waved at the man and bent to pick up his tool belt, fastening it around his waist. “Back to work.”
Tess looked around for her heavy gloves. “Me, too.” She and a couple of other women had tried to keep up with the debris, hauling everything that wasn’t too heavy to the two Dumpsters Zach had rented.
His hand on her arm stopped her. It was the first time he’d touched her today. “I don’t know if you can make it tomorrow...” he began, his voice low, velvety-deep.
“Do you want me to come?” She didn’t know why but she spoke softly, too.
“Yeah.” His eyes were intense. “You don’t have to, but...”
“I’ll be here.” She was almost whispering.
“Good.” He cleared his throat. “You can call me in the middle of the night, you know. If anything happens.”
“And wake you up, too?”
“I worry about you,” he murmured.
The expression in his eyes was so compelling, Tess couldn’t look away. She was afraid she swayed toward him.
But suddenly Bran was there, standing between them and the rest of the crew. Glaring at Zach. “Dial it back, bro,” he snapped. “Watching out for her is one thing, sleeping with her is another.”
Tess’s lips shaped the word What?
Zach’s teeth showed. “We were talking. That’s all. And I didn’t ask you to chaperone.”
“You should have,” he snapped. “And if you’re not sleeping together, you want to be.” He gave Tess a brief glance that was probably supposed to be apologetic but failed in its intent. “Sorry.” He scowled again at Zach. “Let’s get back to work.”
Knowing her face was beet red, Tess slipped away, leaving the two to glower at each other. Oh, God—was that what everyone was thinking? That she and Zach—
Oh, who was she kidding? Isn’t that what she had been thinking?
But Bran was right. They did need to be careful. Andrew Hayes might get away with beating Antonio to death if what she and Zach had said was cast into doubt because they were seen to be in collusion.
Hayes needed to pay, she thought fiercely. That meant...she shouldn’t come tomorrow.
She shouldn’t have come today, either.
Tess didn’t let herself look toward Zach, now climbing one of the ladders. She went back to work, scooping up armfuls of thick moss and damp, pulpy shakes while being cautious about protruding nails and making repeated trips around the corner of the house to the Dumpsters.
If Zach took off his shirt that afternoon, she didn’t see him. She couldn’t let herself look.
* * *
WHAT SHOULD HAVE been satisfaction the next day wasn’t. Because Tess wasn’t there.
She had called first thing in the morning to let him know there’d been no phoned-in threat last night. He didn’t know if that qualified as good news or not.
Then she’d said, “I figure you can do without my limited labor today.” Her tone was light but hadn’t fooled him. “Your brother was right. We should avoid being seen together.”