6. Kate
Kate was torn.
She was finding Elias more and more attractive as the night wore on—and it wasn’t because of the alcohol. She’d stopped drinking almost two hours ago, and the pizza had soaked up most of what was left, leaving her with a gentle, happy buzz. She knew exactly what she was doing and saying, and she knew Elias wanted her.
But it was edging closer and closer to midnight, and she knew if she didn’t start her health plan at midnight, she’d be annoyed at herself for sabotaging all the previous planning she’d done. Not to mention the wasted expense.
She couldn’t let one flirty guy ruin everything.
Even if it was Elias. Levi’s brother. The fact she already had a connection to Elias through Levi made him feel familiar. And then there was that night she’d looked after him in the emergency room. But he was young… was that a problem?
They arrived at Elias’ place—a cute two-storey Queenslander with a literal white picket fence as the balcony railing. The building was painted a pale yellow, but the small shop connected to its left was white.
‘I did not expect this,’ she said as she got out of the car and looked at his home.
‘What did you expect?’ he asked. ‘An industrial concrete man cave?’
‘Well, yeah. Especially since you do metal sculpture. I expected your taste to be a little less… soft.’
‘I don’t like to be predictable. But I’m actually a fan of this traditional style. And as you can see, I’ve enlarged the windows to let in more light.’
‘I did the same with my place,’ she said. ‘I don’t know why some of those older houses had such tiny windows.’
‘Do you know back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in England, there was a tax based on the number of windows in your house?’
‘Weird. I did not know that.’
Kate was quickly realising the guy was nothing like her first impression of him.
Elias walked ahead of her to the front door and unlocked it, switching on the lights in the process. He then stood aside and ushered her into the hall.
The living room was as traditional as the outside, with white walls, an old-fashioned fireplace, and a linen couch. The only thing that made it unique was the artwork on the walls. They seemed to be framed sketches of items he’d presumably turned into sculptures.
‘Again, not what I would have expected from you,’ she teased as she inspected the one resembling the angel sculpture.
‘Would you like a drink? And I don’t necessarily mean alcoholic. I also have tea, coffee, and sparkling water.’
‘Whatever you’re having,’ she said, continuing to circle the living room. ‘Where does all the magic happen?’
He snorted, and when she realised what she’d just said, she blushed. ‘You know what I mean.’
‘Do I?’ He walked through a doorway into the kitchen. Kate followed him in, and he poured two glasses of sparkling water. She almost would have been less on edge if he’d poured some whiskey. He was being too sensible and nice.
She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was just after eleven. She had less than an hour until she turned into a pumpkin.
‘I’ll show you where the magic happens now,’ he murmured, handing her a glass and nodded his head at a door to his right.
When they entered, Kate realised they were in the shop part of the building. It was chaos, but Kate liked it that way. There were several workbenches set up against each wall, scattered with scraps of metal and all kinds of unusual tools.
‘What are you currently working on?’ she asked.
‘I only just completed everything that you saw at the exhibition, so I don’t really have anything new here I can show you. I only work on smaller stuff in this space. I have a warehouse for the bigger projects.’
She approached a wooden display case with a glass front and peered inside. ‘You made all these?’
‘Yeah. I’m not happy with them, but I couldn’t bear to throw them away.’
‘But they’re so beautiful!’ There had to be at least twenty rings and half a dozen bracelets on its shelves.
‘I’m kind of a perfectionist when it comes to what I make. I won’t bore you with the flaws of each one. Just know that they’re there.’
‘What are you going to do with them?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe melt them down and re-use the metal?’
She pointed to a silver cuff bracelet with an intricate design embossed on the outside. ‘You can’t melt that down. It’s a work of art.’
He joined her at the case and pulled open the door, removing the bracelet.
‘The pattern is wrong here,’ he said, pointing to an almost non-existent imperfection.
‘But that’s what makes it one of a kind,’ she pointed out. ‘It’s more special that way.’
‘Would you like it?’ he asked.
‘Oh, no. I wasn’t saying it to get something from you.’
‘I’d like you to have it. Let me just prepare it for you.’
‘Are you sure?’ Kate felt guilty sounding like she was fishing for gifts. ‘I’ll pay you.’
‘You will not.’ He went over to one of the workbenches and polished it with a cloth. He then switched on a machine and picked up a small wand. She watched as he painstakingly engraved something into the inner side in a classic, almost medieval font.
He then polished the bracelet again and handed it over.
She held it up to look at what he’d engraved.
For Kate
Why did such a simple message have such an impact on her? It wasn’t like he’d even made the bracelet for her.
Her eyes welled with tears, and she worried Elias would think she was a weirdo. But when he looked at her, he smiled gently and took the bracelet from her hand, sliding it onto her wrist.
‘I’ll take that as you liking it,’ he whispered.
‘I love it,’ she whispered back.
He traced the side of her cheek with his fingers and then picked her up, placing her in a seated position on the surface of the workbench.
Normally, Kate would have checked to make sure it was clean and that she wasn’t going to cut herself on the metal scraps, but she didn’t care about anything that inconsequential right now. Elias lowered his face to hers and kissed her, his firm lips setting hers on fire.
She kissed him back, pulling him close as she wrapped her legs around him.
It was like flicking a switch, and Elias suddenly took charge. His fingers tangled in her hair as he moved his mouth to her neck and earlobes before making his way to her collarbone. As he pushed the strap of her top to the side, it vaguely occurred to her that they were in his shop. Were there windows to the street where people could look in?
‘We’re not going to have the cops called on us for indecent exposure, are we?’ she asked breathlessly.
He chuckled. ‘No. Look.’ He pointed to the front wall, where the windows were covered in an opaque vinyl sticker. ‘I didn’t want anyone seeing all my equipment, but it seems there’s another perk I didn’t consider.’
‘So you’re not in the habit of bringing women into your workshop, giving them jewellery, and then having your way with them?’
She expected him to tease her about her assumption they were about to sleep together, but he suddenly turned serious.
He held her face between his hands so she couldn’t look away.
‘No. You’re the only one.’