"Can you help me change the foyer's lightbulb? It's dead," Elsa says as she carries the ladder to the house's entrance.
"Sure." He gets up from the couch and goes after her.
Moving the ladder a little bit to one side, then to the other, she positions it right under the burnt-out bulb. Once satisfied, she glances at Jack. "Hold the ladder for me?"
He nods, steadying its legs and putting one foot on the lowest rung for extra security.
She starts climbing the steps but stops on the second one. His eyes are on her, which Elsa figures is reasonable. He has to keep an eye on her to ensure her safety—she's the one who asked for his assistance in the first place. But there is no way to tell where they will wander to once her back is turned. And she is wearing a skirt.
Her eyebrows furrow. Her muscles tense up.
With her eye level higher for a change, their gazes meet. He smiles at her in return, tilted head in question.
"On second thought, maybe you should do it and I can keep the ladder stable," she says, trying to sound nonchalant, but a little hastiness makes itself present in her voice.
As they switch places, Jack says with false innocence dripping down his lips, "My, if I didn't know any better, I'd bet my money on this whole shebang being a ruse to check my butt."
Elsa rolls her eyes. "Say goodbye to your money then."
One knee bent, he leans his hip against the ladder, jeans stretching and very purposefully accentuating the contour of his legs, and smirks at her. "Whatever you have to tell yourself, lady."
"Dear Lord," Elsa groans, pressing her eyes shut and bumping her forehead against the cool metal frame. She can feel her cheeks burning up. "This is a lose-lose situation no matter what I choose."
Arms stretched over his head to unscrew the light shade, Jack roars with a cackle.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He hands her the covering, not before throwing her a beyond-satisfied wink that makes her want to crash the ladder—Jack, metal rods, shards of glass and all—onto the unforgiving cold hard floor. "I only see wins from where I'm standing."