Effortless With You by Lizzy Charles Read Free Book Online

can’t believe they trust me with this.”
    My confidence soars.
    “Not that you should be worried … I’m awesome.” He smiles at me, and it is genuine. He can’t be over fifteen.
    “Thanks. Where can I start? Near the ground?”
    “Ha. No way, girl. If I start you there, you’ll never get up that ladder.” He nods to the humongous metal structure leaning against the house.
    “I’ll be fine,” I lie. “It’ll be nice to just get the feel of the paintbrush before climbing up that thing, you know?”
    “Nope. I watched Troy make that mistake with Luke. Look at him, always clinging to the ground.” Luke stands, grounded, painting the edge of a lower windowsill. “He only paints up high when he’s forced. He’s a slacker.” He puffs out his chest. “My protégé won’t be a slacker.” Tapping the ladder, he lifts his eyebrows. “You know you want to.”
    I take a deep breath. I can already feel my feet flying through the air.
    “Come on.” He motions with his hand.
    I take a step back. Nope. I’m not getting up on that thing. It’s over fifteen feet tall.
    Alex watches me, his fingers tapping his lips. “Okay. What if I can promise that the ladder won’t move and there’d be someone here to catch you if you fall?”
    “Alex, there’s rarely anyone to catch you when you fall,” I say matter-of-factly.
    He looks at me blankly, not quite understanding if I’m talking about falling or life. His face scrunches up. He’s thinking too hard. I can’t have that.
    “That’s why they call it a fall. If people caught you, wouldn’t they call it a catch?” I try to lead him astray. He smiles. It works.
    “Okay. Then, at worst, you’ll have a catch today.” He beams and holds out his hand. He has a little dimple in his right cheek. “Come on … please? The boss’ll be pissed if I don’t get you on that ladder.” Alex is so sweet and too young. I can’t make him suffer. I take a breath and walk up to the ladder. I can at least try.
    I reach up, grabbing the middle of a rung. Alex moves my hands to the side rails. “It’s easier this way. Don’t worry. I’ll stand at the bottom all day if I have to.” His voice drops to a whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, but I hated the ladders in the beginning too.”
    I like Alex. He is good people.
    “Okay.” I clear my mind with the same deep breath I used to take before every free throw. “Here we go.” I start climbing. I don’t need to be told not to look down. Thankfully Alex knows better than that. But I can totally imagine him staring at my butt. Good kid, but still a guy.
    “Great,” Alex says. “Now stop. You’re halfway. How does it feel?”
    “Ugh, okay.”
    “That’s as high as you have to go today.” My stomach relaxes. I can deal with this. “Tomorrow we’ll work higher up.” I let myself look down. At most, it’d be like an eight-foot fall. Not fatal, just a broken arm.
    “Now come back down and I’ll set your supplies up nice.”
    I take extra caution stepping back down the ladder. I can hear Alex behind me, taking supplies out of a huge bucket and moving around the base of my ladder. When I get down, the ground has transformed. Large drop cloths cover the grass. A variety of brushes and rollers are arranged on the ground. He grabs one and hands it to me. He shakes his head and grabs another. I hold it and he nods. Alex assesses the remaining supplies. He knows his stuff.
    “How old are you?” I have to know.
    “Fourteen. Almost fifteen.”
    Younger than I thought.
    “You look older than that,” I offer. He straightens his shoulders, making them broader. He’s kind of adorable. “You know a lot about this painting stuff, huh?” I give him a little ego boost. I need an ally.
    “Of course I do.” He hands me a small bucket of paint while he climbs up my ladder. He holds out his hand, and I hand up the bucket. “I’ve been with the company since it started.”
    “When was that?”
    “Two summers ago.” I