Page 13 of Solid Foundation
“Oh! Yes. I can do that.”
“Good. We can take my truck.”
The next thing I knew, we were sliding into my truck, Max glancing in the back seat of the extended cab. I kept my truck fairly clean and tidy, so I didn’t know what he was looking at, until he spoke up.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for a guitar player.”
Instantly, I was on the defensive. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing, really. I just… I don’t know. I’m surprised, that’s all. I didn’t really think you had hobbies.”
“What, you just assumed all I do is construction and sleep?” He wasn’t far from the truth.
“No,” he protested. “Not at all. You’re hard to read, that’s all I’m saying. Private. It’s fine, it’s not, like, a problem or anything, I just didn’t think about it.” He took a deep breath. “I’mbabbling. Let’s start over.” As he buckled up, he glanced in the back seat again. “Ooh, you play guitar?”
I couldn’t help but laugh as I pulled the truck away from the curb. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do play the guitar. Why do you ask?”
“I noticed the case in your back seat.” He was quiet for a moment. “My dad taught me how to play.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You play?”
He nodded. When he spoke, his voice was soft. “Yeah. Not really well or anything, but yeah. I have so many memories of my dad teaching me, and of him sitting in the family room just strumming or jamming by a fire in the backyard. It was really special.” I didn’t know what to say. His memories seemed so precious and I didn’t want to intrude. Eventually, he blinked and looked at me, laughing self-consciously. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hijack the conversation. How did you learn?”
“My dad taught me, too. My granddad taught him, and I guess his granddad taught him, too. The guitar back there actually belonged to my grandfather.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. It’s like, when I’m playing, I don’t have to worry about anything. You know? I don’t have to be anyone to anyone. It’s just me, the strings, and the sounds.”
Max nodded. “I know exactly how you feel.”
By that point, we’d arrived at the hardware store. I pulled into a space and put the truck into park. We sat in the quiet for a moment, listening to the tick of the cooling engine.
“Ready?”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and let out a slow breath. As he did, I couldn’t think of anything except what it would feel like to kiss him, pressing our lips together and opening my mouth against his. It had been a long time—too long—since I’d let myself think things like that about anyone, letalone a man, and the truth of it coiled in my gut and made my body warm. Despite that, I knew I had to ignore the feelings. I couldn’t let them get in the way of my work.
Finally, he cleared his throat. “Yep. Let’s go buy my team some protection.” With a soft little laugh, he opened the truck door, and the spell was broken. I wanted to reach for him, but instead, I climbed out of the truck and led the way into the store, wishing for more.
Chapter Eight
Max
The first week of filming went by in a blur. Sterling was shining in his role, the construction crew was working at lightning speed, and I’d barely had time to breathe. Ihadmade time for the library, though, doing tons of research on the former owners of the home, trying to figure out where the letters could have come from and who the writer was. I’d learned a little, enough that I wanted to share withsomeone, but Jake didn’t seem interested in anything but work.
Near the beginning of the first week, Sterling approached me with a small issue while I was standing in the production tent, reviewing camera angles.
“Hey, boss?”
I smirked and looked at him. “Yeah?”
“Can you help me out for a second?”
I nodded and looked at the tech who’d been helping me. “Be right back,” I said, before following Sterling out to the front of the house.
“So, I know we agreed that my mark would be here,” he said, using his foot to nudge a tiny metal wire adorned with a plastic ribbon sticking up out of the ground. “But the electrician says they’re going to need to dig here starting tomorrow.”
I nodded slowly as my brain turned over the possibilities. Nobody had told me the electrician would be digging, and I wanted to confirm the plan with Jake. “How about we start you next to the front steps and pan out when needed?”
