Yuletide Hearts by Ruth Logan Herne Page A

so neither one of us ends up with a backache later.”
    â€œAnd you didn’t leave for the diner today. How about tomorrow?”
    Callie shook her head, eyes down, working the nail gun as they edged right. “Nope.”
    Matt fought off the quick glimmer of appreciation her answer inspired. Focus on your work. Remember that you’re on a rooftop and concentration might be in everyone’s best interest. But he’d be lying to say that Callie wasn’t a pretty nice distraction, totally against the norm of women he’d known.
    â€œI switched with Gina,” she continued, working as she talked. “She’s a single mom, too, and she can use the extra shifts. She’ll do doubles, which will help her out at this time of year.”
    â€œChristmas.”
    â€œChristmas and winter clothes,” she told him as she shifted her angle to give him more room. “With kids you go right from back-to-school clothes to winter clothes and then Christmas. There’s no such thing as saving a dime in the fall. Not with children.”
    Tom’s truck pulled back in a few minutes later. He climbed out, surveyed their progress and whistled, appreciative. “Nice work.”
    Matt grinned, showed a thumbs-up and jerked his head toward Hank and Buck. “Can you finish up with Hank and Buck?”
    â€œAnd let you have the pretty girl all to yourself?” Tom drawled. He tipped his wool hat toward Callie, ever the gentleman. “Good thing I’m a happily married man. I might be giving you a run for your money.”
    Matt shook his head, pretending indifference, but when he glanced Callie’s way, twin spots of color brightened her cheeks.
    The wind, he decided.
    â€œReady here.”
    He started feeding her shingles again, her speed and concentration commendable when it was all he could do not to notice how she moved, the way she handled the nail gun as though born to it, her manner decisive, her gaze intent, her lower lip drawn between her teeth as she squared up each section.
    She didn’t talk, she worked, and Matt appreciated that. Talking slowed things down, and they were already racing the clock. Callie understood the time line and stayed focused on the job at hand while Matt had a hard time focusing on anything but her.
    A car pulled up. Amanda climbed out, toting a drink tray of fresh coffees from the convenience store at the crossroads.
    â€œShe’s a lifesaver,” Callie muttered from behind Matt.
    Matt met her gaze and smiled. “I’ll say. Now if she only thought to bring doughnuts…”
    Amanda set the tray of large coffees down on the saw table tucked inside the garage of number seventeen, then headed back to the car and pulled out a big box of doughnuts.
    â€œNo wonder he loves her.”
    Callie laughed out loud, Matt’s easy humor a comfortable draw. “And times aren’t easy for them.”
    â€œExactly.” Matt nodded her way, before tilting his gaze toward Amanda. “But they go the distance. That’s why I contracted Jim initially, but the closing took weeks longer than expected and he was already treading water.”
    â€œTough business climate for builders,” Callie noted as she climbed down the ladder ahead of him, pretending not to notice how nice he looked from behind in his jeans, his movements sure and steady. A guy who looked that good in denim ought to be doing TV commercials.
    This is a work relationship, it’s money in the bank, Callie. It’s a chance to get through this winter in the black, instead of the red. You can’t afford to let anything mess this up.
    She knew that, but couldn’t deny the pull. She’d been a soldier for years. A good soldier learned to assess and acclimate, then decide.
    She’d assessed Matt, all right, and she was tempted to get a little more acclimated, but when it came to the decision-making part of things, she had one job first and foremost: