He snorted. “I’m not sure it would bepossible to pay less attention.”
Laughing, I shrugged. “Okay, that might betrue. But I noticed when you came into the coffee shop the other day.”
Lane grinned. “Eli is kind of hard to miss whenhe’s in drama queen mode.”
“Okay, you might have a point there. But Istill noticed. I’m going to count that as a win.” There’d been no way Icould’ve missed Eli. “Why was he screaming about the UPS man?”
The guy was quiet and slightly mousy. Icouldn’t imagine him doing anything that would upset someone.
Lane’s laugh was almost a giggle and wasthe cutest sound I’d ever heard. “The guy is really curious about what happensat the company. At least, that’s what we figure. But he won’t come out and askabout the clothes or the models or whatever has caught his attention. He justfinds reasons to wander too far back into the studio. Eli wasn’t really upsetabout it; most of the time he finds it funny. He was just frustrated aboutsomething else and was taking it out on the UPS guy. This time he kind of had apoint, though.”
The look on his face said there was more tothe story than he’d let on. “I really can’t see him doing anything. He’s soquiet.”
Lane nodded. “He is quiet and cute, but theother day he came in to drop a package off and most of the office staff were ina meeting so he came upstairs. We were all in the middle of a shoot and he gotan eyeful. Eli didn’t appreciate being interrupted, especially since he wasshooting something with Roman at that moment. Those two are nearly combustible,they’re so hot.”
“I can’t believe we're talking about thesame person. The short guy with the brown hair that’s on the longer side?” Icould see why Lane described him as cute, but he was so reserved I might neverhave noticed if I hadn’t seen him so often.
“Yeah, that’s him. We can’t decide if he wantsto be a model or has a crush on someone who works with us. Roman fussed at Elifor scaring the guy, though. At least he didn’t make the guy cry like the pizzaboy.”
I wasn’t sure asking about the pizza guywas a good idea. “It sounds like you work with insane people. You know that,right?”
Lane nodded, grinning widely. “Absolutely.It’s one of the reasons I love it.”
We both seemed to be finished with dinner,so I leaned back on my hands and cocked my head. “Are you ready to show me someof the other reasons you love it?”
If he wasn’t, I’d understand. But I wasn’tgoing to back down until he told me he wasn’t ready. I had a feeling that if Ilet it go he’d take it the wrong way. I wouldn't give him any reason to think Iwasn’t interested in seeingeverypart of my sweet stalker.
Lane seemed to take a moment to make adecision or maybe just to gather his courage before he spoke. “Yes. Is there aroom I can use to change?”
I probably shouldn’t have teased him, but Icouldn’t help it. He was too cute. “What? I distinctly remember hearing Eli saysomething about a striptease the other day.”
Lane blushed and shook his head. “He likesto make me insane. He’s going to get us kicked out of that coffee shop oneday.”
“It wasn’t that loud, so I was probably theonly one who heard.” Well, besides the barista; she’d been standing closeenough to hear but hadn’t seemed to take offense. She was probably used to Eliby that point.
“You can use my bedroom or the bathroom.The bathroom might be easier, though.”
I loved the views and the open feeling ofmy apartment, but the bedroom wasn’t really designed for privacy. The staircaseleading up to the sleeping area loft was beautifully done and looked like thestairs were simply coming out of the wall. The bedroom area was a good size andhad plenty of storage, but the half wall that blocked it from the living roomwouldn’t hide much.
Lane glanced up before shaking his head.“I’m not going to try to do those stairs in heels. Bathroom it is.”
Laughing, I nodded. “I agree. I wasn’t sureif you were going to put the heels back on.”
Lane grinned as he stood up and startedwalking toward the door. “Heels make everything sexier.” He leaned down andgrabbed his bag before heading back over toward the living room. “Any requestsfirst?”
I’d seen too many fascinating things on thesite to be able to pick. “Surprise me. But I don’t think there’s anything youcould pick that I wouldn’t find sexy. Am I just allowed to look at the model,or is this a special case where I get to…handle the clothing?”
Lane blushed as he started walking towardthe bathroom. “I’ve never encouraged it before, but I think I’ll make a specialexception just for you.”
Before I could give him another comment, hewas in the bathroom with the door shut. Realizing it would probably take him aminute, I stood and started cleaning up the living room. The bathroom was frustratinglywell insulated, so I couldn’t hear anything as I took the leftovers back to thekitchen.
By the time I had the trash thrown away andthe food in the fridge, I was checking the bathroom door about every tenseconds. I wasn’t sure where all my patience had gone, but I didn’t seem tohave any where Lane was concerned.
I headed back into the living room and movedthe coffee table out of the way, then sat down on the couch to wait. It had agood view of the small hallway where the bathroom was tucked, so I wouldn’tmiss a single moment.
When the door finally started to open, Iwas nearly holding my breath. The anticipation just kept building and as slowlyas the door opened, I knew that where I was excited and eager, Lane was stillnervous. “If you make me wait much longer, I might die of impatience.”
Laughter came from the bathroom. “I’m notsure that’s possible.”
