He doubted it, but maybe.
David managed to get off work a little bit early, which gave him a chance to clean up and change into real clothes. Even though he spent his whole workday down in the IT dungeon, the higher ups still had a hard-on for the dress code.What I wouldn’t give to wear something other than a polo shirt. He showered, taking maybe a bit longer than he needed to so he could enjoy it, then threw on a white long-sleeve covered in faded patches of paint. He’d been struck by inspiration once two years ago and didn’t think to change out of the shirt. After that, he just kept using it when he painted until the splotches made an interesting enough pattern. Then he slid on a pair of baggy jeans, checked his appearance in the mirror, and headed to the meeting room, sketchbook in hand.
It was surprisingly empty. The cameras and lights were in place, and Eliza was hovering near the same guy she was in David’s sketch.
Mason was as well, bent over his laptop with the back of his shirt riding up, showing off pale skin that shouldn’t have done anything for David at all…but it did. More than when he walked in, the idea of that painting filled David’s mind.It would be so striking to paint in white and color on a black canvas. Maybe that would capture something different.
Mason finally turned around and his eyebrows went up when he saw David. He strode over, pulling at the hem of his shirt as he approached. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“It’s fine. You have things to do, right?” David gestured to the room with a slight circle of his wrist. “Did everyone else die in a horrible condo-related accident?”
“Not as far as I’m aware. We just were talking and thought maybe I should run this on my own.” He sighed. “There’s apparently more work than was initially expected. When you had the new floors put in, somehow they managed to do some structural damage.”
David’s belly tightened up. “Structural? As in I could fall through the floor?”
Mason nodded. “From the way Jake was cussing up a storm, more as in you’re lucky you haven’t yet. We need to get that squared away before we can do anything more interesting, so I hope you don’t need to go back up there any time soon. We’re going to be working around the clock.”
Mason gestured to the table and, after a moment, David finally managed to move. “I’ve got to say, I wasn’t expecting that. How did they damage the structure by just putting in some flooring?”
“Heck if I know.” Mason took a seat right next to him, in front of the closed laptop. “Apparently there’s water damage. Robinson talked to your downstairs neighbors, and he and Jake checked over their place. Good news is, it seems to be totally localized to your condo. Then the water damage led to some warping, and the warping led to some stuff shifting around.”
David tried to breathe normally and slowly, but the reality of what he was hearing pressed down on his chest. “I was living with that? Wow. Um, I guess it’s a good thing that you guys came in.” Because David sure as hell wouldn’t have noticed it. Well, he probably would have when he was falling into the Camachos’ living room. Might have been able to put the pieces together then.
Mason got up and left him alone for a few seconds. But only a few seconds. Then he came back with a bottle of water that was covered in condensation. “Here. This always works for me.”
David tensed up when the cold hit the back of his neck. For a second. Then, he was finally able to draw a breath that seemed close to actually filling his lungs. It was still a few more seconds before he could say anything, the icy calm spreading across his face and shoulders. “Wow. What was that?”
“Cold can activate the parasympathetic nervous system.”
David nodded. “Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. That’s about where my biology knowledge stops.”
Mason handed him the bottle of water. “Sorry. It’s the part of your nervous system that helps you sleep and rest and slow down. So when you get nervous or keyed up or anything, sometimes all you need is something cold. It tells your nervous system to slow down. There’s other things you can do. Deep breathing didn’t feel like an option, and telling you to rub your lips would have made me seem like a total creep.”
David could think of a lot of things that suggestion would do to him, but none of them involved Mason being a creep. A lot of them involved David staring unnecessarily at Mason’s lips and imagining what they would feel like under his fingertips.
“I’ll keep that in mind.” David took a long, slow drink from the water bottle, and just like when Mason pressed it to the back of his neck, the cold seemed to shock through his system and calm him a little bit more. It also bought him a bit of time before he had to respond properly. And when he finally did, the water helped him speak more smoothly as well. “What’s the plan, then? Are we postponing the meeting for a little?”
“We can if you want. But like I said, I’m more than capable of handling that part. Ozzy and Evander will be down before we get through it all anyway so they can get a look at what we spit out of the model.” Mason opened up the laptop and tapped the space bar, bringing up the login screen. “If you’re okay with that.”
Time alone with Masonanda distraction from the apparently horrid state of his apartment? “Sign me up.”
Chapter nine
Mason
Masonmostlystayedquiet,just watching as David clicked through to make his design collage. He also didn’t want to be chattering while David might have been trying to process the news. They’d called him a few times while he was at work, but him walking into that door was the first time they’d actually been able to get hold of him.
He hated delivering news like that, but it had to be done. The good side was, unless something drastically changed once they started diving into it, the problems sounded solvable. At the very least, Jake was a hell of a lot calmer once they actually broke into the floor and took a look at the extent of things.
They hadn’t yet gotten around to the other side of things, but he and Eliza had already discussed if there was anything that Homescapes could or would do to help David out. She’d called the higher ups at the company and spoken with them, and theywere willing to offer the advice of their in-house counsel. Not to represent him in any sort of action, but to at least talk with David and let him know what recourse he might have. That flooring job was a hack-fest that could havekilledhim. Mason was pleasantly surprised by that, but he shouldn’t have been. Homescapes had treated them all very well this entire time, and seemed like they had genuinely good people in charge, as far as Mason could tell.
After about half an hour, David was through and the system was processing. “What now?”
“Well, we wait. It shouldn’t take too long.” Mason pulled out his phone and opened up his notes. “In the meantime, anything you’re thinking about? Something you have in mind that you can mention now?
David raised his fingers to his lips, rubbing them, and Mason tried not to smile. He also tried really hard not to think about what Jake and Bunny had said the night before. They didn’t know what they were talking about. They didn’t live Mason’s life. Still, it was hard to ignore. David was apparently listening to him, borrowing that little technique for calming himself down. He was also touching his lips, which drew attention to his lips, which made Mason think about touching his lips.
“I had one thing I was thinking about, but it’s not…I don’t know. It’s not quite related to the condo, I guess is the thing.”
