him to join her by the wood pile.
“Choose four boards and we’ll sand them. Then we’ll paint a base coat and choose a stencil set. After that, you paint your words in your second paint color over the base color.”
“This is seriously cool.” Matthew grinned. “So, what’s the occasion?”
Aubree blushed. “I got another hanky-panky challenge.”
“Oh yeah?” He remained calm and casual. He didn’t want her to know yet that he was the one sending her the challenges.
“Uh huh.” She continued. “This one is called labor of love. You are supposed to do a fun activity that requires a little bit of work with someone you care about.”
“I like that.” He selected four pieces of walnut wood planks and she chose maple, then they headed to the sanding station. They worked on sanding the wood planks, while talking and laughing as they prepared their projects.
“Oh! I totally forgot.” She rushed over to a cooler by the door. “The drinks. Did you know there’s a Labor of Love cocktail?”
“I do.” He laughed.
“Of course, you do, Mr. Bartender. Want to show me how to make some?”
“I’d be happy to.” He left his sanded wood in a stack and they both washed their hands in the. Then he helped her lay out the supplies for the drinks. She’d come well prepared.
“You muddle the basil, rosemary, lime juice and simple syrup in the mixing glass.” He tossed in all the ingredients and used the bar spoon to crush them together as best he could. “Then you add the citrus vodka and two spoons of chartreuse before shaking with ice.” He handed her the shaker and she completed the process. “Strain it into two highball glasses over more ice and stir in the club soda, then top with a bit of pomegranate juice and garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.” He handed her one of the two glasses.
“I like this one,” she said after a quick sip.
“Me too.” He took a taste and nodded to himself. “So, we sanded. What’s next?”
“We paint the boards with a base coat.”
Matthew chose black as his under color and a white paint for his words. Aubree chose a light khaki for her base coat and black for her words. After they painted the base coat and waited for it to dry, they collected the stencils for the quotes they wanted to paint on their sights. They worked in a quiet but pleasurable silence as they laid their stencils down and painted letters upon the board. When they were both done, Aubree looked up at him from across the table in excitement.
“You show me yours first,” he said.
Blushing she revealed her sign. It read: “Love is friendship that has caught fire.” The name Ann Landers was written beneath it. She had used different stencils for the words friendship and fire so they were bolder and cursive.
“Now you,” she said, grinning.
Matthew turned his sign to face her, his heart hammering and his hands a little sweaty with nerves. She read the words aloud, her face glowing.
“I love her, and that’s the beginning and end of everything. – F. Scott Fitzgerald.”
When her eyes met his, he saw a heartrending longing in them and his heart flipped. He was entranced by her, this gorgeous, smart, and fun woman. Something intense, indescribable but overwhelming, flared between them.
“Matthew, would you like to get out of here?”
“What?” He was confused. He thought the night was going well.
“I mean, do you want to come home with me?”
Beneath the heat in her eyes, he saw vulnerability. She was afraid of rejection.
“Yes. More than anything,” he promised.
Relief washed over her face. “Leave the signs. We can pick them up tomorrow when they’re dry.”
They packed the ice cooler and Matthew carried it outside and down to the curb while she hailed a cab. Once they were sitting next to each other, he reached across the black leather seat, clasped her hand in his and squeezed it. She squeezed his hand back and he felt like he was wrapped in visible warmth. Being with her was so easy. Had it ever been this easy with any woman before? If so, he couldn’t remember.
When they reached her apartment, he helped carry the cooler into the elevator. She really did live just a block from the bar. Inside his building, in fact. When she got off on the same floor as his apartment, his mouth fell open in shock.
“What?” she asked as she inserted her key into the door.
“I live across the hall