GRAYSON CHECKEDhis phone for the umpteenth time as he walked along Fourteenth Street. The Restoration Channel offices were on Ninth Avenue, near Chelsea Market, and Grayson knew his way around the neighborhood pretty well, but apparently his nerves about his impending job interview were manifesting as certainty that he’d never find the building.
But he did, and he got to the reception desk; then he was led to a conference room. Then he almost passed out.
Grayson had met Garrett Harwood a few weeks before. Sitting beside him was a woman Grayson didn’t know. But sitting beside her was Nolan Hamlin.TheNolan Hamlin.
Lordy, he was hot.
But now was not the time. Grayson was here for a job. If he got it, this would be his big break, something that could propel him to having a career like… well, a career like Nolan Hamlin’s. Grayson wanted the whole thing: the interesting design jobs, celebrity clients, his own line of home goods.
“Please have a seat, Grayson,” said Harwood. “Guys, this is Grayson Woods. He’s a New York–based designer. I met him through Marla Greene. Grayson, this is Helena Bloom, the producer for our new show,Residential Rehab. And this is Nolan Hamlin, who will be cohosting the show.”
“Yes,” said Grayson, still feeling starstruck. Then he remembered he was trying to impress these people. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”
“Marla Greene?” said Nolan. “How do you know Marla Greene?”
Grayson took a deep breath. Marla Greene was a home-improvement media mogul. She had her own Restoration Channel show, as well as several magazines and a series of books about interior design. “I met her at a wedding,” Grayson said. Then he realized how stupid that sounded. Nolan’s discerning gaze was really throwing him for a loop. “Actually, I designed the wedding. This friend of mine from high school, he married a high-profile lawyer. You know, the guy who argued that LGBT discrimination case in front of the Supreme Court last year? They asked me to do the decorations for the wedding because they thought there would be some press attention. So I did everything. It was at this old mansion in Connecticut. I picked out the chairs and the flowers and all the decorations. I helped both grooms pick out their suits too, actually. And thenMarla Greene Weddingscame up to take photos and feature the wedding in one issue. So Marla was there, and she loved my designs so much, she did a feature on me for her main magazine too.”
“Yes,” said Harwood. “I love your stuff too, I have to say. Really clever design work. You’re an outside-the-box thinker, which I think we’ll need here. This show will require some creative problem-solving.”
“Thank you.”
Grayson glanced at Nolan, who looked impressed. He wrote something down on the pad of paper in front of him.
It was hard not to stare. Grayson knew Nolan had taken a much-publicized year off after his husband had died, and he looked like he’d aged some in that year. He was still gorgeous, of course; remnants of an LA tan, warm, light brown hair, a square jaw, a delicate nose. He was a little thinner in person—either the TV really did add ten pounds or Nolan had lost weight in the year he’d been out of the public eye—and he had a few strands of silver in his hair. He had startling green eyes, as well. Grayson could have spent the whole day staring into them.
“As I mentioned when we met a couple of weeks ago,” said Garrett, drawing Grayson’s attention back to him, “we want a young, up-and-coming designer to work with Nolan on the show. So I wanted to bring you in today to do a screen test and have you meet Nolan. I think you’re great, but Nolan and Helena have the final say. They’re the ones you need to impress today.”
“I believe I am up to the challenge,” said Grayson, sounding more comfortable than he felt.
“Before we get to the screen test,” said Nolan, “I’d love to hear more about your design aesthetic. Garrett gave me some photos. You seem to like color, but don’t mind toning it down when the occasion calls for it.”
“I love color. I love making patterns that shouldn’t go together work in the same space. But, you know, you have to do what the client wants sometimes too. That wedding, for example. They wanted soft, muted colors, nothing that would distract too much from the venue itself.”
“Sure, that makes sense,” said Nolan.
“I’m kind of a minimalist when it comes to objects. It makes me crazy when designers over-accessorize.”
“Sure. What kinds of clients do you have now? You do a lot of weddings?”
“Well, during the day, I work as an assistant to a design firm on the Upper West Side. Right now I mainly help out the senior designers, but that’s changing. I’ve just started to find a few of my own clients, people who aren’t friends.” What Grayson didn’t mention was that a couple of the photos in his portfolio were of his own apartment. He shared a place in Brooklyn with two roommates, and they’d let him go crazy designing the common areas. And his boss had let him design a few individual rooms in some of the houses they’d worked on as well, giving Grayson a lot of confidence in his own abilities. He knew he was young—he wasn’t much past his twenty-fifth birthday—but he could do this job, and do it well. And he wanted the opportunity to work with his idol more than he wanted his next meal.
Unfortunately, that same idol was staring at him now as if he was not impressed. “So, your experience is limited.”
Grayson didn’t like Nolan’s tone. “I mean, I went to design school.”
“So did we all, kid.” Nolan sighed. “I like the designs in your portfolio, so I’m willing to give this a shot, but I want to see how you do on camera, if that’s all right.”
This was the part that made Grayson nervous, but he said, “Yeah, of course.”
TWO THINGSstruck Nolan as he watched Grayson Woods’s screen test.
First, Grayson was practically a fetus. He was young and wide-eyed and had an earnestness about him that told Nolan the kid hadn’t been beaten down by life yet. And he had the arrogance of a recent design school grad who thought he was an expert at everything but hadn’t been truly challenged yet.
Second, Grayson looked fucking fantastic on-screen. He had curly brown hair that was likely difficult to manage, cut short on the sides and long on top so that it fell over his forehead a bit. He had bright blue eyes and smooth skin. His clothing was a little eccentric for a job interview—worn skinny jeans, a purple-and-white plaid button-down, and a well-fitted leather jacket, with a pair of clunky motorcycle boots, odd choices for a kid who likely got here by subway—and he had the sort of fit body that showed he had enough vanity to go to the gym regularly.
That was… interesting. Nolan never gave much thought to how attractive men were anymore. After Ricky passed, something in Nolan had died with him, and everything had gone hollow and dormant. He could see a man and think,He’s objectively handsome, but nothing really stirred in him.
Until he set eyes on Grayson Woods.
