“What do you need for thelightingand the otherelectrical?You know, the stuff I’m actually on this job for?”
Ozzy sighed, then walked around the perimeter. “Like I said, fairy lights, but sophisticated. Match the vibes without the cheap aesthetic.”
“Raised beds or planted directly in the ground?”
“Raised beds.” Ozzy gestured from the edges of the patio in toward the center. “They give a little more safety against the roots pushing through and cracking the slab.”
“LED ropes along the top edges of the beds. They can go whatever color you want, low power, waterproof, and they’ll be gentle. Plus they can go into different patterns, so the lights move.”
“For the twinkling.” Ozzy nodded. “Are they enough light for the whole patio?”
“Probably not. You’ll want something else. If you do a pergola or an umbrella or something, we can put some small lights there to help, but probably want to have a sconce or two by the doors for safety. Use the small lights out here for aesthetics.”
Ozzy nodded. “All right. So does that take outlets wired out here to pull off?”
“No. But I can wire one up if you think it’ll be helpful. For a fountain or whatever.”
“A fountain.” Ozzy nodded, eyes pointed straight to the sky. “Maybe I will do a fountain.”
“So do I get part of your paycheck now? Since I’m doing the landscaping shit?”
Ozzy pointed to his crotch. “You can suck my dick.”
“Hard pass on that. I don’t know where Ev’s mouth has been.”
Which at least got a smile from Ozzy. “Go back to your work, wire monkey.”
Aras flipped him off over his shoulder as he walked back into the house. Wiring a new outlet was child’s play, even if he hadn’t planned for it.
“Hey.”
Dane jogged over and Aras’s back stiffened. “Hi. Everything okay? Did I fuck up some of the lighting or get in the way of a shot?”
“No. Not that I know of.” Dane shook his head extra hard for emphasis. “I just had an idea I wanted to run by you. I know it’s not my place to weigh in on the design stuff, and you can tell me to sit on something sharp and sandpapery if you want, but—”
“I wouldn’t do that.” He would. But…he wouldn’t say it to Dane. He didn’t deserve that, and Aras hated even thethoughtof any hurt that might put on his face.
“Right. Anyway. I just…I don’t know, we’re both busy. But would you and I be able to talk about something after work? At the hotel?”
“I…suppose. As long as I don’t get hauled into another meeting.” Was this actually about work or was Dane angling for some kind of sneaky date? Aras wasn’t opposed to either option.
Though if he had a gun to his head, he would have to admit, he preferred the latter.
Chapter nine
Dane
Danedidhisbestnot to consider his little meeting with Aras as any kind of date. Hedidhave some ideas that he thought would be good for the carnival glass situation, and that had only been further confirmed when, toward the end of the day, Evander presented the idea of a display room for her collection. They had an entire extra bedroom, and they could have made it into a guest room, but he could just as easily get her a good pull-out couch for the living room. And after a couple seconds to process, Caroline had shown her excitement, clapping her hands together and jumping up.
However, everything Dane had to say could have been passed on at the house. To the entire team. It wasn’t a revolutionary idea, but his stupid hormones and his ridiculous fantasies had spurred him on to make this a totally-not-a-date situation where they just got drinks or dinner or something. Alone. And talked about his pretty simple idea, then had to fill in the conversation.
His silly crush was getting…concerning. But he couldn’t convince himself to abandon it all together. Maybe if this went badly. Or maybe that would just deepen this infatuation into something more desperate. It wouldn’t be the first time Dane had gotten rebuffed by a crush, only to double down.
No way to know until I know. He checked himself in the mirror, scrubbing his fingers over his hair to muss it up. His mohawk could be a little restrictive, but he’d had it long enough, he knew how to coax different styles out of it. Tonight, he went for a messy wad, loosely held together with mousse. Which sounded bad, he knew, but it was accurate: his red hair had little natural curl or wave to it, but he took advantage of what was there to make it a stylized puff down the center of his scalp. Or, in his own words, a wad of hair.
He’d talked himself out of overdressing, since this clearlywasn’ta date, but had changed into something clean, and a bit snugger than his normal work wear. Black jeans that he knew accentuated his butt, and a striped, black and white T-shirt with pointed silver studs on the shoulders, and a hem that just barely hit low enough to brush his belt.
Just because itwasn’ta date didn’t mean he couldn’t try to draw a little attention from his new work crush. He didn’t know if Aras was an ass man, or if he would even care if Dane stretched and showed off his midriff, or maybe most importantly of all, if Aras had any interest in him at all. But it couldn’t hurt to look good.
