Page 43 of V is for Valentine
“Now that you’ve gotten that out of your system,” Felicity said calmly, “we have a tight deadline.”
“Right.” Stevie bent to her bucket, then made a flicking motion, and Felicity felt a tiny splat on her forearm.
“You areso luckywe’re on a tight deadline,” she said to her sister, speaking through her teeth.
“I know,” Stevie said with a laugh, picking up her bucket. “I’ll start upstairs.”
“Me, too,” Tess said. Neville sprang to his feet and headed to the wide staircase as if he understood every word.
“I should have made them keep the lids on the buckets until after I gave my totally unnecessary pep talk,” Felicity muttered to Danny, who’d barely spoken a word since arriving, but he was watching her, as if waiting for a signal as to how they would proceed. He knew her well enough to know that she had a battle plan where they were concerned.
“Why did you give it if it was unnecessary?” he asked.
“It’s my role as older bossy sister. I needed to make certain we were all on the same page.”
“Are we?”
Her gaze came up to his. He was not talking about spackling or mud flinging. “I guess that depends on the book,” she said coolly.
“Right.”
He crossed the room to collect his bucket and knives. “I’ll start applying the final coats in the far east office if you want to continue seaming in here.”
“Sounds good.”
He left without another word, and even though Felicity told herself that she should feel relieved that he left so easily, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they still had more to say.
*
Do not push.
Timing was everything. Push Felix too soon, or too hard, and she became an immovable object. While Danny wanted to demand that she admit to being as affected by that mind-blowing kiss as he’d been, he did not. That would have been a stupid move with anyone, and particularly stupid with Felix. That said, her departure date was barreling toward them and he did not have a course of action, which killed him because it was unlikely that he’d ever have this much uninterrupted time with her again.
Time he was having a hard time utilizing because one did not push Felix.
Or did they?
He finished the seam and wiped the excess compound off his knife. On the other side of the wall Tess and Stevie chatted away. As near as he could tell, there’d been no mud-flinging, but the day was young. He moved to the next seam, scooting the almost empty compound bucket along the floor with the side of his boot until it was once again in position.
What was the worst that could happen if he gave Felix a nudge?
She might dig in her heels and became the immovable object, but what other choice did he have with their time together quickly evaporating?
At five o’clock, Felix’s sisters called it a day, Tess having duties at the animal shelter and Stevie having a food bank meeting.
“I haven’t seen much of you today,” Danny said to Felicity as the door shut behind Neville and her sisters.
“All part of my plan,” Felicity said.
“I figured.”
Felicity tapped the lid on the joint compound bucket, then stood, pressing a hand to her hip and stretching. “Not out of avoidance.”
“No,” he said solemnly. “I would never have taken it like that.”
She made a face at him and started sweeping up the residue left from sanding the seams between wallboards, focusing on the fine white powder with a touch more intensity than necessary. “It was just a kiss, Danny. A really good kiss, but not anything more.”
“Do you think we can go eight days without kissing again?”
