Center Stage Read Online Free PDF Page B

He nodded toward the wall where the bed was stacked up.
    “Yep. I want to sleep in my own bed tonight. I love that you set up the air mattress, but two nights is long enough. If we don’t get this together soon, I might have to sleep in your bed.”
    She’d turned to gather another box in her arms and throw it in the corner, but he stood there with his mouth hung open, trying to make his heart beat normal.
    He’d better get to work on that bed. There was no need to have Zach’s sister-in-law making comments like that and getting him all worked up.
    One thing John would say, after nearly forty-five minutes of piecing together the bed, they were a good team. Arianna was a strong woman, physically. She never minded lifting something or doing the hard work, where most women would have grunted or complained.
    “Looks like one sturdy bed,” John complimented, giving it a shake.
    “Yes, well, those stupid movers put all the mattresses in the other room. So now I have to lug them over.”
    “I’m here to help.”
    “Good. And this time I promise to repay you, and you’ll let me buy you dinner.”
    John tucked his thumbs into his front pockets. “You’re determined to do that, huh?”
    “I am.”
    “You know what sounds good? A steak on your grill.”
    Her eyes opened wide. “I am not a good cook. Your steak is going to end up a burnt brick.”
    He laughed. “I’ll let you buy ‘em. I’ll grill ‘em.”
    “Let’s get this bed together first. Then we can make some deals.”
    She walked past him, leaving her scent in her wake.
    The mattresses were flat on the floor, which he knew would be a bitch to get up especially since they were king-sized mattresses. From the looks of them, she’d spared no expense, just as the heavy oak bed.
    “We’d be best to attack them from one side, lift vertically, and then we can push them out the door.”
    “Once we get over the stupid box springs.” She looked around the room. “I don’t remember this room being so small.”
    “I think your mattresses are just that big.”
    She laughed. “Pretty sad for a single gal, huh?”
    “Space when you sleep is very important.”
    “I sleep on one edge. Only one edge. When I wake up, all I have to do is pull up the cover on that side.”
    This time he laughed. “I nearly have to start from scratch every morning. No wonder my wife left me. I must be a maniac when I sleep.”
    “Hmmmm.” She turned as he looked at her, acknowledging the low hum that had resonated from her.
    “C’mon. That cow ain’t gonna get here on its own. Let’s get this put together.”
    John bent his knees and took his position. Arianna watched him and then bent over at the waist and took her position, after a very obvious butt shake. When he felt the heat rise in his cheeks, he knew she’d seen it by the grin that settled on her lips. Then she bent at the knees, and together they hefted the heavy mattress onto its end.
    They’d managed to clear it from the box springs and push it to her bedroom. They set it up against the wall and repeated the process for the box springs.
    With the box springs in place, they pushed the mattress to the edge of the bed and gave it a hefty push, letting it fall.
    “Now get on that side and pull while I push it into place,” he said.
    Arianna grabbed hold of the edge of the mattress, and John gave it an enormous shove that sent the mattress across the bed and right into Arianna’s gut, causing her to slip and fall to the hardwood floor.
    “God, are you okay?” He hurried around the bed.
    There she was flat on the floor, holding her elbow, and laughing.
    “You’re not hurt, are you?”
    “Just my pride, my ass, and my elbow.”
    He knelt down and took her arm. She winced as he straightened it.
    “Looks okay.”
    She bent her arm and tried to look. “Eh, nothing to write home about.”
    “C’mon.” He stood and held out his hands to help her up. She took hold of his hand and he pulled her up, sending her entire