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I started walking through the empty space. “You don’t want people to be impressed because everything is marble and gold. That’s easy. You want them to feel like they know something everyone else doesn’t.”
He followed me.
“We can do low lighting here. Walls a darker wood. Leather, but not everywhere because then it’ll look like a cigar bar.”
He laughed behind me.
I pointed toward the far wall. “Private dining behind there. Not completely hidden, though. I want people in the main room to know there’s something back there they don’t have access to.”
“That’s cold.”
“Bar goes there,” I continued. “Not where the architect has it.”
“Why?”
“Because his vision is wrong.”
“You gonna tell him that?”
“I charge extra for confrontation.”
“I’ll pay it.”
I turned around and Caleb was closer than I’d expected. He was close enough for me to catch the scent of his cologne instead of the construction dust. I stepped slightly to the side and his eyes dropped to my tablet.
“What are you writing?”
“That my client is annoying.” I said without looking up.
“Put handsome too.”
I looked up and swooned at that perfect smile mixed with that chocolate skin. I should’ve rolled my eyes. Instead, I laughed.
“Handsome isn’t relevant to the design.”
His smile grew big. “Could be.”
“How?”
“Maybe knowing your client is handsome inspires you.”
I went back to typing on my tablet. “I was inspired before I met you.”
“Damn.”
“Anything else?” I asked.
“Yeah.” He pointed toward the tablet. “Spell handsome right.”
I shook my head and walked away, but I was smiling.
Working with Caleb became easy and fun. By week six, I knew he hated brass fixtures but loved brushed bronze. He also knew I couldn’t think properly when I was hungry.
By week eight, I knew he drank coffee black until noon and switched to a disgusting green juice after lunch. He even knew my Chick-fil-A order.
By week ten, I stopped asking why an extra coffee appeared beside mine during our morning walkthroughs. He stopped pretending he hadn’t brought it for me.
None of it felt like dating. It felt like chemistry with plausible deniability. His hand would briefly touch mine when we looked through material samples. I pretended I didn’t notice when he watched me walk away.
