Not Just Friends. Kate Hoffmann

the screen. I keep hitting my thumb with the hammer.”

      Adam glanced over his shoulder and nodded. “I’ll just be a minute. I’m going to show Julia how to do this so she doesn’t keep bashing her fingers.”

      Mason looked back and forth between the two of them. Adam groaned inwardly. Mason wasn’t blind. He knew when someone was trying to hide something. Hell, he was a schoolteacher. Schoolteachers had a built-in bullshit detector.

      Adam picked up the needle-nosed pliers and put a small nail between the grips. “See, you can hold the nail with this and then pound. Once it’s started, it’s no problem.” He quickly handed the pliers to Julia.

      “Thanks, I’ll give that a try,” she replied.

      “Right,” Mason murmured. “Well, carry on, then. Kate says dinner is in a half hour. I’ll just be up on the roof until then.”

      They both watched as Mason walked outside. Neither one of them moved until they heard his footsteps on the roof. “Sonuva bunny,” Adam said softly.

      “I don’t think he suspected anything,” Julia whispered. “It wasn’t like he caught us doing anything.”

      “Well, I wish he would have,” Adam said. “Sneaking around like this is stupid. We’re nearly thirty years old and we’re acting like a couple of teenagers.”

      “This is the way it has to be,” she said.

      “Why?” Adam asked. “Give me one good reason.”

      “Because if you decide to dump me after three days, I won’t be humiliated in front of all of my friends.”

      Her words hit him like a slap to the face. Is that really what she thought of him? That he’d be so shallow, so cruel as to seduce her on a whim? Adam stared at her in disbelief, his gaze fixed on hers.

      “I’m sorry,” Julia murmured. “But I don’t want to look like a fool.”

      “Jules, I would never do that. I care about you.” He shook his head. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

      “Don’t say anything,” she replied. “I’ll be fine if this only lasts a week. In fact, that would be perfect. I don’t expect more and I’m not sure I want more. But, I don’t want my friends assuming the worst about you or me.”

      “And what is the worst?” he asked.

      “That you’re a shallow creep and I’m a pathetic loser.”

      He drew a deep breath, then let it out slowly. Discussing this was going to take a lot more time and privacy than either one of them had right now. But he did intend to address it the very next time they were alone. “I have to go help Mason. We’ll talk about this later.”

      She nodded silently, staring down at the pliers in her hands. Adam reached out and covered her fingers, drawing both her hands up to his lips. He kissed her wrist and she managed to meet his gaze again. “This is not just about sex,” he said. “And I would never do anything to hurt you. Do you believe me?”

      She paused before she nodded. “You should get going. Mason is going to be wondering what’s taking you so long.”

      With a quiet curse, Adam turned and walked out of the cabin. When he got outside he paced back and forth on the gravel path, fighting the urge to go back inside and set Julia straight. But all the talk wouldn’t change her mind. She was working off an image she had of him that was eight years old. He’d have to show her that he’d changed.

      He circled the cabin and climbed the ladder, crawling up on the roof, then crossing to where Mason stood.

      “Everything all right?” Mason asked.

      “Fine,” he said. “She just needed a little help.”

      “Is there something going on with you two?” Mason asked.

      Adam shook his head. “No. Why would you think that?”