Greg laughed, loud and robust, as Dylan busted his ass trying to keep up. “I never imagined you two would be competing against each other like this. You know you aren’t going to win this. She’s been doing this a long time and could probably build a house in her sleep.”
“Does she ever sleep?” Dylan asked, sweat trickling down his spine.
“I don’t think so,” Brian said. “Some mornings I show up here early and she’s already working and looks like she’s been here for hours. It’s scary and intimidating all at the same time. She’s some kind of witch when it comes to construction.”
“Are you ladies going to sit over there gabbing at each other, or are you going to get to work?” Jessie snapped at them and finished another row.
Dylan breathed heavily, sweat glistening on his forehead, running down his neck. Greg and Brian both looked disgruntled at Jessie’s jibe and called down for two more nail guns and started hauling ass on the roof. Even Jessie couldn’t keep up with all three of them working against her.
“That’s cheating!” she yelled from her side of the roof.
“You never said I had to do the job alone, only that you could finish before me.”
“Do you really think I’m going to go out to dinner with a man who cheats?”
“I think I’m going to finish this roof before you, and you’ll have no choice because I’ll have won.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Life’s not fair. I thought you’d learned that by now.”
“Don’t I know it. Even the sheriff can’t be trusted.”
“You can trust that I love you, honey, and one way or another I’ll make you believe in that and me. Even if it takes the three of us beating you at this stupid contest.”
“You’re the one who bet me you could do the job faster. The fact that I, a woman, can beat you must be a real ego buster.”
Dylan laughed. It was a real ego buster, but he’d get his date, and in the end that’s all that mattered. Greg and Brian busted their asses trying to get ahead of her, and after about half an hour they overtook her. After two hours, the roof finished, he turned to her side and smiled as she sat on the roof drinking a bottle of water one of the men had thrown up to her. She still had about four rows left to do on her side. The men below were exchanging cash between them and cussing about cheating and women who thought they could do everything themselves. Jessie hadn’t asked for anyone to help her. It wasn’t her style, and his accepting Brian and Greg’s help wasn’t Dylan’s, but he had fun watching her try to beat them.
He sat beside Jessie and smiled at her, bumping his shoulder against hers. She didn’t look happy. “Oh, come on. Admit it, we had fun.”
She pressed her lips together and nodded, the truth eating at her. “You had fun. Just like old times. You and Brian fooling around and working together again. It always made things easier when the two of you had each other to throw insults back and forth and mess around. The job always went faster for you two. You even managed to get Greg on your side this time.”
She stood and glared down at the men. Brian and Greg sat on the back of Brian’s truck drinking water and talking. They looked like the best of friends. It hurt her feelings to see he’d taken sides against her. Greg wanted her to be happy, and he thought that happiness would come from being with Dylan. Still, it would be nice to have someone on her side no matter what the circumstances.
“I’ll get cleaned up and we can go to dinner. I’ll drive my truck, so you won’t have to bring me back here to pick it up.”
She headed for the ladder before Dylan called her back. “It isn’t us against you.”
“Sure looks that way to me. The three of you on one side and me, alone, on the other. You won.”
“Did you really want to win, so you wouldn’t have to go out with me?”
“No. I wanted to show you, at this”—she spread her arms—“I kick ass.”
“I know you do. You don’t have to impress me.”
“No? I’m not exactly the woman of every man’s dreams. I work a dirty job that leaves me looking and smelling like dirt, wood, and sweat. You’re more likely to find me wearing dirty jeans and work boots than a dress and high heels. My hair is usually a mess, and I don’t wear makeup. I cuss like a sailor when I’m pissed, and I can do this job as well as or better than any man on my crew.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“I’m trying to tell you I’m not like the other women you’ve dated or had in your life. I don’t know how to play these games and make you see I’d like to find a way for us to be friends and maybe turn that into something more.”