26. Twenty-Six
TWENTY-SIX
“ W hat’s this?”
Tallulah was a little reverent when she walked into the studio—early, I might add—and caught sight of the pottery wheel I was having installed.
I glanced over at her. “You can’t make sculptures without a wheel” was the only thing I could come up with as a response.
She didn’t look convinced. “But … I work with stone a lot.” The way she gnawed on her bottom lip told me that was by necessity. She was excited about the pottery wheel but didn’t want to show it.
“See, I thought maybe you could work in more than one medium.” I gave her a sidelong look. “I’ve personally been considering working with metal, which will require a blowtorch.”
Her eyes went big. “I’ve always wanted to use a blowtorch.”
I laughed at the excitement in her voice. “Me too. The thing is, I don’t want to do that here.”
Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. “Why not?”
“Because there are homes in this building, and as much as I enjoy my art, I would hate for an accidental fire to start in a residential building.”
“Good point.”
“I thought so.” I moved closer to her, my hand roaming her back. I didn’t realize I was going to volunteer new information until it was already coming out of my mouth. “I want to save enough to put a studio in an old garage.”
She snapped her head toward me. “Give up this place?” She looked inexplicably sad about it.
“No.” I shook my head. Because of her, I never wanted to give up this place.
“I was thinking that we could keep this place for just us. Eventually, though—and this is still a bit down the line—I’ve always wanted to open a huge industrial studio.
Other artists could come in and pay a fair amount for rent to offset the cost.”
She seemed surprised by the admission, but her expression settled quickly. “That’s … interesting.”
“Yeah?”
“A garage makes a lot of sense,” she admitted. “Metal work is fun but dangerous.”
“I like to consider myself a conscientious artist,” I said. “A stand-alone building makes the most sense for metal work. I’ve done some research. They’re converting a lot of the older gas stations and garages. Those spaces would be perfect.”
“A garage, especially,” she agreed. “The bays are already set up.”
I grinned at her. “I like the way you think.”
“Yeah?” Her smile was flirty, and she burrowed in at my side. “I like the way you think too.”
This was the moment, I realized. It was time to tell her all of my dreams. I would be careful when easing into the relationship stuff—she would need to be brought around to the idea of that slowly—but would not only understand but be excited about the other stuff.
“I have a dream,” I admitted, my voice lower than I expected. “It’s not just for studios. It’s for galleries too.”
Her eyes were wide when she turned to look at me. “Galleries?”
“Local artists. I think, in a place like Vegas, the eclectic stuff will sell.”
“Absolutely.” She bobbed her head, clearly excited. “Is your father going to invest?”
I snorted before realizing I was going to. “No, he would never invest in that. I’m saving up. It will have to be something I do slowly. The studios would be first. The rent will help me eventually open the galleries.”
“How long?”
“I’m thinking a good three or four years, although the money I’ve been making in the lounge makes me think I can move that timetable up some.”
“As long as Kyla doesn’t try to rip it away from you.”
“She seems more focused on you than me.”
“Yes, but if she gets her way and I’m moved out, I can see her messing with you on principle even though she has no idea that we’re a couple.”
My heart swelled at that word. Couple .
She seemed to catch herself. “I mean, doing what we’re doing,” she corrected.
The shift didn’t bother me. Her initial instinct had been to call us a couple. It was fine if she wanted to correct herself. At least for now.
“She might know,” I said, opting not to mention her slip. “Rex and Zach figured it out.” When I glanced over at her, I found her cheeks turning red. “What?” I asked, my stomach constricting.
“I think they all know,” she admitted. “I had a spa visit with Ruby and Olivia yesterday. They’ve all seen us.”
Did she think that was going to upset me? “I’m well aware.”
“You know?” It seemed like a whoosh of relief blew through her. “I was afraid to tell you.”
I opted to take a practical approach. “Why?”
“Because…” She searched for an answer but seemingly didn’t come up with anything.
“Because nobody was supposed to know about us,” I filled in.
“Yes, that’s it exactly. I was worried they would ding us on the fraternization, but do you know what Ruby said?”
“That the rule is old, and antiquated, and not enforced,” I supplied automatically.
Her eyes went wide. “How did you know?”
“Because Rex and Zach laughed at me when I brought it up.”
“Right.” She pursed her lips. “Well, Ruby says it’s not a concern, so if Kyla finds out we’re … fooling around … we’ll be fine.”
“Fooling around, huh?” My lips curved. “Well, I want to keep fooling around. Even if it was a concern, I wouldn’t be all that worked up about it.”
“Yeah.” She absently scratched her cheek. “Ruby and Olivia are kind of invested in us.” Discomfort rolled across her features. “They don’t think we’re just fooling around.”
It shouldn’t have been possible to smile wider, and yet I did. “What do you think?” I asked in a soft voice.
“I want to know what you think.”
Of course she did. She wouldn’t be the first to admit she’d caught feelings. She didn’t have it in her. “I think that we might be doing more than fooling around.”
“You do?”
I laughed at her amazed expression and brushed her hair behind her ear. “Yes. It’s been months, Tallulah. I might have gone into this thinking that things between us were going to cool down, but that didn’t happen.”
“You still feel hot around me?”
“I feel hotter around you.” I paused a beat, debating, then exhaled heavily to center myself. “I don’t know where this is going. I want to find out, though. Honestly, what felt impossible when we started feels not only doable but like something I want to do.”
“I feel the same way.” She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. When she spoke again, it was in a soft voice. “I just don’t know if I’ll be any good at this. I’ve never had a real relationship that’s lasted.”
“Well, maybe we’ll figure that out together. I mean, we have the same interests. When I picture my gallery down the line, you’re there, right next to me.”
“I am?”
“Don’t sound so surprised. Even if, for some reason, this doesn’t work out as a relationship, I would still want to be your friend.”
“And you would want me to do the gallery with you?”
“And the various studios.”
“But … it’s your dream.”
How could I tell her that my dream had expanded since getting involved with her? It was the same dream, only better because she was part of it. “It could be our dream” was what I came up with.
“Wow.”
I waited for her to say something else. When she didn’t, I smiled crookedly. “Is that all you’re going to say? Wow?”
“That’s all I can say right now. It’s all just … wow.”
I pulled her to me, marveling at the way she fit against my body. It was as if she was always meant to be there. Nobody else had fit me this way before.
“We don’t have to make any big decisions right now,” I whispered into her hair. “We can take it one day at a time.”
She buried her face in my chest and held tight, which was all I needed at this moment. She didn’t even have to say she wanted to try. I could feel it when I held her.
“Um, sorry to interrupt.” A gruff throat-clearing sound invaded the moment, and I looked up to see the delivery guy watching us with wary eyes. It was almost as if he expected us to strip naked and do it right there on the floor.
“Yeah?” I asked, confused.
“I need a signature … and then to get out of here before you guys christen that pottery wheel in a way I didn’t see coming.”
I had to bite back a laugh. Reluctant as I was to release Tallulah, it was for the best. “Absolutely.” I let her go and took the tablet from him. “The product is fantastic. Thank you for dropping it off.”
“No problem.” The guy grinned. “I think you’re going to have fun with it.” His eyes darted to Tallulah.
“Oh, I know I’m going to have fun with it.” Maybe for the rest of my life.
TALLULAH WANTED TO JUMP IN WITH both feet and start working with clay. I had no supplies, however, so I suggested dinner and a shopping trip. Pottery making could wait until the next day. We both had shifts to work yet tonight.
She was disgruntled—I didn’t blame her—but she agreed, as long as she got to select the restaurant. We ended up at Netflix Bites, a restaurant located in the MGM Grand that had been on my list to take her to eventually.
“Oooh.” Tallulah shimmied on her chair, seemingly in a good mood despite having her pottery dreams delayed. My ego wanted it to be because she was more relaxed about us admitting that maybe this wasn’t a temporary thing, but I couldn’t get ahead of myself.
“What are you getting?” I asked. With Tallulah, I found that I wanted to know everything that was going through her head. It didn’t matter how mundane it was. If I didn’t agree, I didn’t care. Knowing what made her tick made me happy.
“Good question.” She clucked her tongue. “Orange is the New Mac seems right up my alley.”
I glanced at the menu option. Macaroni and cheese with Hot Cheetos dust. “That’s weird,” I said without thinking.
“It’s not weird. I love mac and cheese. When I was a kid, during one of Sharon’s sojourns, I ate it for two weeks straight. I had one box a day to get through the whole period. Dinnertime was my favorite time that week.”