Adrian finished tightening the last screw to brace the final beam to the damaged one, fixing the damage caused by the leaks. By supporting the weakened beams with sister beams, the kitchen floor would be stabilized, and there would be no further risk of the refrigerator ending up in the crawl space.

He wished all foundations were this easy to shore up. After Sofia’s rapid retreat the night before, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about how he could help her. If she had less stress in her life, maybe she’d be more open to starting something with him. It never hurt to be the guy who fixed things. He’d had no idea that she was feeling all those stressors so deeply. She hid it well. So often, she was the loud and confident business manager ribbing him. He hadn’t realized that her snarking wasn’t a joke and that he needed to change his habits. He seldom got to see her softer side. It was easy to forget that it even existed.

She needed a little support while they navigated these changes, and he was going to be right there for her every step of the way. It wouldn’t hurt if he could keep her happy about the partnership proposal, too. He had a deep, driving desire to be the man this strong woman leaned on. Her tears last night had unlocked that goal, making him feel like a goddamn hero when they’d stopped.

He could get used to being her hero. Going home alone had taken every ounce of heroism he’d had left, but earning her trust was worth it.

He laid down the fresh subflooring and screwed it into place. One more hiccup handled. That should make her smile. He would also make more of an effort to fill out those damn order forms better. It was a pain in the ass to try and track down part numbers on his phone when his hands were covered in spackle, but he didn’t want to be the reason she was in the office until nine every night. Not when he could be the reason she was in his bed at nine. Maybe they could figure out a shortcut or some middle ground that worked for them both, but until then he could make this work.

Now that the floor was repaired, he could install the cabinets and then start tiling. He liked the part where everything started to look finished best. He would love to see what finishing with Sofia looked like. He shook his head at his own rambling thoughts. He was getting turned on over cabinet installations.

I’ve got to stop thinking about her. These cabinets aren’t going to hang themselves.

“Hey, handsome. The strong, silent type might work for your dating game, but it makes for shit TV. Pull your head out of the clouds, and talk me through what you’re doing.”

Adrian looked up at Trina and grinned. She was an attractive woman who dressed like a twelve-year-old boy, swore like a sailor, and handled that camera rig like a professional wrestler. He couldn’t help but like her. He realized he’d gotten caught up in his thoughts again and wondered how much had shown on his face. He explained his next steps for the camera.

“Now that we’ve got the supports reinforced and the subfloor down, we can hang the cabinets and install the island. Seth and I were able to alter the prefab cabinets to make them fit the existing space by cutting down the door widths and reassembling the trim, creating a custom cookie sheet drawer next to the sink. Once we get the island installed, we’ll start laying tile in here. This space is really starting to shape up.”

“Did I hear something about an island?”

As if his thoughts had conjured her, Sofia rounded the corner of the kitchen door, all smiles.

“Yeah, you did. I hear Hawaii is beautiful this time of year. Want to go?”

“Ha ha. How’s the floor?”

“All fixed. I’m going to hang the cabinets now, and we should be ready for the island by tomorrow. Then we can start laying the tiles.”

“You’re moving along faster than I expected.”

Was it him or did she look nervous? They had the island, right? He’d seen it on her cut sheets. Something wasn’t quite right, but he wasn’t going to call her on it on camera. He’d learned that lesson yesterday. Trina was right there catching the whole conversation. “So, what’s on your schedule today?”

“I was coming to check on your progress in here, and meet up with Trina to go do a walk-through of the Shahs’ current house to see if there are pieces worth moving or repurposing before I stage the house.”

“She’s all yours. I’m going to break for lunch and then hang cabinets with the crew. Will you…” He paused, unsure if he should ask. But he couldn’t help her if he didn’t spend time with her. “Will you be coming back here after that?”

“I think so. I might have pieces to transport. Why?”

“I had an idea I wanted to run past you, but it can wait until later.”

“Okay, if you’re sure…”

“I am.” He was absolutely sure that he wanted to spend more time with her.

“Then I guess I’d better get going. Trina? Are you good?”

“Sure thing. I’ll round up some grunts to follow us in the moving van and swap batteries real quick. I’ll meet you at the car.”

* * *

“So what’s up with the sexy head contractor?”

The non sequitur from Trina as she buckled her seat belt threw Sofia for a loop.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh. Sure. The camera doesn’t lie. There’s something going on between you, and I can’t tell if it’s good tension or bad. All I know is that Jake is eating it up with a spoon. The sparks between you are a major plotline of this pilot.”

Sofia squirmed in her seat, not sure how to take the news that her tension with Adrian was visible enough to be a plot point. “But there’s nothing…” No, she couldn’t lie. There was something, but damned if she would put a label on it and sell it on TV. “I don’t know what it is, but you’re right about one thing. He sure is hot.”

“I have to tell you, this is one of the best reality shows I’ve ever gotten to work on. No flies in the jungle or mud races, and watching these guys swinging hammers all day is no hardship.”

“I envy you.”

“Why? You get to work with them all the time.”

Sofia rolled her eyes. “Exactly. Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink. I’m the boss’s daughter, and I’m in charge of everyone’s paperwork and payroll. No one wants to mess with that.”

“That sucks. So then you and Winston never?” Trina was fiddling with her camera and avoiding eye contact.

“Winston? No. Never. He’s kind of a loner, but does solid drywall work. We use him on a lot of jobs. Why?”

“Just curious.”

“Just curious, or just interested?” Sofia prodded as she turned onto the Shahs’ street.

“Oh, look here we are!”

“So you can dish it but you can’t take it?”

“There’s a reason I’m behind the camera, honey, not in front.” Trina hustled out of the car the minute it stopped moving, and Sofia chuckled before she let it drop.

If the camerawoman had the hots for one of her guys, she didn’t care. Good for her. As long as it wasn’t her guy.

Trina got her camera up and rolling to catch Sofia approaching the door. Farha Shah answered the door on the first knock.

“Hi. It’s good to see you. Are you ready for the furniture walk-through?”

“I’m a little nervous. I tried to get everything cleaned up, but I can’t reach under the sofas anymore.” She ruefully rubbed her belly.

“Don’t worry about that. I promise no one will be judging. Why don’t you take me on a tour of your house? Tell me which pieces you love, which have sentimental value, and which you want to pitch in the dumpster.”

“That’s easy enough. Let’s start in here.” Trina sprinted ahead of them to set up the shot as Farha led Sofia into the living room.

“What pieces in here really fit your style?”

“I love the TV cabinet. We took an old wooden sideboard and repurposed it. But it’s looking old, and I’m afraid to keep the flaking paint around the baby.”

“But if we could redo it, would you want to keep it?”

“I’d love that. Gautam and I picked it out together, our first piece of furniture together. I just want it to be safe.”

Sofia cheered internally. If Seth could work miracles, she’d just solved the kitchen island problem. “Is there anything else in the room that you like?”

“I like the sculpture in the corner. My roommate from college does metal work, and she made it for our wedding.” The geometric twisting form definitely spoke to two lovers entwined. Sofia could see exactly where she’d put it in the new house.

“I want her number. That is stunning. What else?”

“Nothing else. I hate the couch. I hate the coffee tables. The dog has peed on the rug more times than I can count. I want it all gone.”

“I can do that. I’m thinking a darker neutral, maybe with a pattern on the couch since it’s going to be well-loved by children in the coming years. Do you like the style of the couch? Maybe I could recover it…”

“No. I hate the whole thing. It doesn’t fit our style at all. It was a hand-me-down, and we are ready to upgrade.”

Damn. There went that idea for saving money. Thank goodness she had her game face on today. “No problem at all. Why don’t we see if there’s anything worth salvaging in the dining room?”

“Cut!” Trina called out. “That looked great. Let me go get set up in there so I can get a good shot. I’ll call you when I’m ready.”

Farha turned to Sofia and put a hand on her arm.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking on this project. I know it’s kind of hectic with the show, but you’ve been so great to work with. When Jake showed me the pictures of the chandelier, I just fell in love with it. Thanks for taking our style into account with the design plan.”

Her mind stuttered. Why was Jake encouraging Farha to change the design plan in the middle of the project? She kept her show face on, and smiled through her reply.

“Every good designer makes the plan with the client in mind. I’m just sorry that the production schedule on this is twisting things around. Normally, we’d have had this conversation back when we did the initial consultation. But it’s okay. We are going to give you a beautiful home no matter what. I promise.”

“Okay! Come on in!” Trina’s voice cut into their conversation.

“Ready?” When Farha nodded, Sofia pushed aside her concerns and turned on her TV voice. “So, tell me about the furniture in here.”

* * *

After the walk-through was done, Sofia asked the production crew members to help get the TV cabinet packed into the back of the van. While they broke down cables and figured out how to carry it out, Sofia called her cousin Seth.

“Hey there, cuz. How’s it going?”

“Great! I’ve got a project for you.”

“Oh no. You’re using that fake perky voice you use when you want me to do something I’m not gonna like.”

There was no use denying it. She was asking a huge favor.

“Listen, it’s for the show. I’m at the Shah house, and they’ve got a TV cabinet that I want to turn into their kitchen island.”

“What?”

“No, really! It’s a sideboard they were reusing, so it’s got a ton of drawers.”

“What’s the catch?”

“I need to add two legs to support the overhang of the marble countertop for the breakfast bar, and I need to add two deep storage cabinets with doors on one end to make the dimensions work for the section under a butcher block countertop. Oh and we need to sand down the old paint, and repaint it all to match and look like weathered paint.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad. I can get it to you in…two weeks.”

“I need it in two days.”

“Sofia Amelia Regina Valenti. Have you lost your damn mind?”

“Please? I need to cut costs and stay on schedule, and the only way I can see to do that right now is to return the island I bought, and repurpose what she has. And I might need you to donate your labor…” She trailed off into a mumble.

“What? Are you kidding me? I get why you need it fast, but you can’t not pay us. That’s not right, and you know it. We’ve got bills to pay too, and this is a rush job.”

“Family discount, then?”

“Fi…”

“Think of it as an investment in your business. If the show takes off, we’ll get more business through our doors. More business equals more money. I can’t afford to screw this up on the pilot.”

“Well, whose fault is that?”

“This stupid filming schedule! I had to submit plans for this before I even got to see the inspection report, so I overpromised, and now I’m scrambling. Adrian kept finding more problems behind every wall and floor he opened up. You know how that goes.”

“I do. Don’t you? Why didn’t you plan for this?”

“I thought I had. Do you really want Dad’s retirement to get screwed up because I messed up my first project budget in three years? Come on, Seth. I need your help. What will it take?”

Her cousin was silent, and Sofia’s nerves began to twitch. She really needed Seth to come through on this one. She could ask Adrian to delay by a day, but she couldn’t put him off much longer than that without tipping off the production team that there was a problem. She had no doubt that he would be able to pull this off, but she was wary of what it would cost her in return. She also knew he loved nothing more than busting her ass. He knew the quiet was killing her. Finally, he spoke.

“Two full days, to make up for the two days I’m going to spend busting my ass to finish this. You will do dinner duty/carpool/babysit Brandy’s brother and sister for two days, so I can surprise her with a long weekend away.”

“Done. You’re the best, Seth.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“I’m driving the piece over to you right now.”

“I’ll be here.”

“Thank you, Seth.” She did a quick happy dance. She wasn’t out of the woods yet, but this would go a long way.

“Don’t thank me until I pull it off.”

“Deal. Love you.”

“Love you, too. Most of the time.”