Preston sighed. “Shit. Let me see what that was.”
He pulled back but took my hand as we headed out of his office. When we got to the front door, it became obvious what the crash had been. The UPS man.
Well, several boxes he’d been holding, by the looks of the situation.
He was crouched down talking to himself as he picked up the boxes and started stacking them on his cart. As we got closer, I released Preston’s hand and stood back as he continued forward. His voice was deeper than usual, and I could hear a hint of impatience. “Is there a problem?”
The guy shook his head and swallowed. “No, I…I’m sorry. There was someone and it…I…I’m sorry. Was anything fragile?”
Shaking his head, Preston looked at the boxes. “No.”
Then Preston sighed, looking a little less frustrated. “I’ll remind the models they need to stay at the back of the building once a shoot has started.”
The still-startled driver couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to shrug or nod or just hide. I could commiserate with him, so I was glad to see Preston relaxing. When the boxes were on the cart, the man nodded. “I’m sorry about the…about dropping the boxes.”
“It’s fine. We appreciate your help.” Preston tried to look calm and relaxed as he signed the man’s electronic pad and watched him walk out of the office. When the man was clear of the building, Preston started shaking his head.
Since the man was gone, I didn’t worry about hurting his feelings. “What was that about?”
He’d been more nervous than I had the first time I’d seen a photo shoot.
Preston couldn’t seem to decide if he wanted to smile or sigh again. “He gets…flustered being in here. Sometimes he’s overwhelmed, other times he’s clearly curious, but we’re not sure what’s going on with him.”
I glanced back toward the stairs that led to the second floor. “I can understand him being curious.” And overwhelmed.
Preston nodded. “This drama has been going on for almost a year, ever since he took over this route. We’re the only company he seems to have problems with. Initially, we thought he was homophobic, but now everyone else has started taking bets on when he’ll try to sneak upstairs again.”
I tried not to smile, but it came out anyway. “I bet Eli’s having a field day with him.”
“Oh yes.” Preston looked toward the front door again. “Eli has been banned from talking with him.”
I swallowed back a giggle. “Probably a good idea.”
Walking back over to me, Preston took my hand again and smiled. “Let’s head upstairs. I want to see how everything looks, and hopefully, you can talk to Eli and let him see that you’re not mad.”
Eli hadn’t texted me in days, so I had a feeling he was still worried about upsetting me. Nodding, I leaned into Preston’s arm. “Okay.”
According to Preston, Eli had been a little on edge since the embarrassing drink incident. Honestly, he hadn’t struck me as the type to worry about other people, but Lane had said he was trying to be more considerate of others, so I thought that had something to do with it.
As we made our way upstairs, the chaos from the shoot got louder, and I could finally pick out individual voices. Stepping into the crazy atmosphere, I couldn’t help but imagine that I’d fallen into an alternate universe. One with sexy, mostly naked men everywhere and panties as far as the eye could see.
My first reaction was to go back downstairs and wait until everyone had clothes on, but I knew around there that could be hours, if not days, before everyone was completely dressed. I had to remind myself as I stood there that it was their job and they were a family, so it wasn’t weird. It was just who they were.
Honestly, the family part might be a bit weird, but they were happy and loved each other.
Well, everyone was happy except Eli. He wasn’t pouting and wasn’t even snapping at anyone, but there was something calm about him that was almost frightening. I glanced at Preston. “I can see what you mean.”
He sighed. “He should be the one to go to you and beg your forgiveness, but something about this has made him incredibly…uncomfortable. I’m not sure if it’s dragged up bad memories or if he just feels like he let you down or Lane down…I don’t know.”
Hearing him admit his confusion made me feel a little better. If Preston wasn’t sure what the problem was, then there was no way I could be expected to know. I reached for Preston’s hand and looked around the room for a spot to stand because Lane’s boyfriend was sketching in the chair I’d sat in before, and he looked so focused I didn’t want to risk bothering him.
Preston smiled at me and moved us over to the corner. He leaned against the wall, then pulled me so my back was pressed to his chest. I let my head fall back to his shoulder and just relaxed as he stroked his hands along my arms.
The heat from his body and the feel of him wrapped around me kept the chaos at bay, and I found myself closing my eyes and just listening to the sounds that echoed around the room. When a soft cough made me realize how comfortable I’d been against Preston, I opened my eyes.
Eli was standing there focused on Preston, holding several pairs of panties. “Roman wants to know if you think the pink ones need the longer shoot or if we should focus on the red ones. He and I disagree.”
I found myself wanting to smile. It didn’t surprise me at all that they had completely different opinions.
