Finn's Fantasy (Maine Men #1) - K.C. Wells Page 0,56

to wear.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Finn told him. “I’m gonna be at the house Saturday, working on the deck. I’m pretty sure I can find five minutes to take a look at the contents of your closet. I’ll have you looking like a million dollars.”

“I don’t want to look like a million dollars—I just don’t want to look out of place.” Could his heart beat any faster?

Finn locked gazes with him. “You’ll be fine.” Another whine from Bramble brought a smile to his lips. “You’d better walk that dog, before he does pee on the rug.” He glanced at the pieces of wood. “And I can keep working on Grammy’s chair.”

Joel got his feet and grabbed the end of Bramble’s leash. “I’ll leave you to it. See you Saturday?”

“Bright and early.”

Joel smiled. “I’ll have the coffee ready.”

Finn laughed. “You’re gonna need more than coffee—you’ll need gloves.”

Joel blinked. “I thought you don’t like it when clients butt in.”

“I don’t, but I do need someone to hold the wood while I do my thing. Now, that can either be you, or I’ll call up some of my friends, see if they can help out.”

Joel decided to ensure all his work was completed by Saturday. “I can do it. All I have to do is hold wood?”

“That’s it,” Finn said with a smile. “You hold, and I clamp, drill, or screw. I could do it alone, but it would take a damn sight longer. And seeing as I have you right there…”

You could have me wherever you want me. Christ, all he’d said was screw, and Joel’s mind had gone straight there, like a horny teenager.

Bramble whined again, and Joel flushed with guilt. “I’d better go.” Finn walked him to the door, and Joel stepped outside. He gave Finn one last smile. “Maybe we’ll get as far as the coffee next time?”

Finn’s eyes widened. “We were so busy talking. Okay, you got it. You walk by here again, and if I’m home, I’ll make you a cup of coffee.”

“Sounds good.” Joel crossed the street, Bramble tugging again. He turned and waved to Finn, then waited until Finn had gone back inside.

“Come on, boy. There’s a beach down here that’s crying out for you to play on it.”

As he walked along Belvidere Avenue, Joel’s mind was full of the prospect of dancing with Finn. But what kind of dancing? Slow dancing? So close that we’re almost touching?

He had a feeling he’d be thinking about it long into the night.

Chapter Sixteen

“Is it plumb?” Finn asked, his hammer poised to secure the post with a structural nail. He glanced at Joel who was kneeling on a mat beside him, holding the post.

“The little bubble is in the middle—on both of them,” Joel added quickly.

“Okay. You hold it steady, and I’ll hit it.”

Joel chuckled. “Sounds like an old comedy routine. You know, where one guy ends up hammering the other guy’s fingers.”

Finn laughed. “As long as you keep your fingers out of the way, we’ll be fine.” He tapped the nail into position.

“Aren’t these posts a little high?” When Finn peered at him, Joel flushed. “Oops. Sorry.”

Finn chuckled as he got to his feet. “You can let go of it now.” He went over to his tools and picked up his chalk line. “Now we measure all the posts so we can saw off the tops to get them to the right height.” He beckoned to Joel. “I need you over here,” he said, pointing to the rear wall of the house. Joel followed him, and Finn pointed to a mark he’d made on the wall. “I need you to hold this end of the chalk line on that mark, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And don’t move. This has to be accurate.”

Joel rolled his eyes. “I think I can hold it steady.”

Finn laughed and pulled out the line, walking to the farthest post. He clipped the little level onto the line and peered at it, adjusting the line a fraction. “Okay, hold it there.” Finn snapped the line, leaving a blue chalk mark on the post. Then he proceeded to mark off the other posts.

“Now what?”

“Now, you hold the posts around the base while I cut off the tops with the Sawzall.” Finn grinned. “Unless you wanna do the cutting?”

Joel snorted. “I think I’ll leave that up to you.”

Finn gave him a sweet smile. “I think that’s best.”

He’d never had this much fun working with someone else.

Joel came out of the bathroom to the sound of Finn singing in the yard,