Page 27 of Developing Hearts (Pine Point Fixer-Uppers #5)

Chapter twenty-seven

David

“I can’t believe how efficient you all are.

” A week. It had been a week since they’d hooked up, with no sign that they were going to immediately go at it again, and David still found himself gravitating toward Mason.

David was more than a little impressed…and surprised.

He knew himself at least a little bit, so he knew that sticking around with Mason wasn’t a given.

Obviously, he thought Mason was hot. Obviously, he still wanted a chance to paint Mason but hadn’t gotten up the nerve to ask him.

Obviously, he liked spending time with Mason, since they were on a brief pause in the day’s work, and rather than going literally anywhere else, he stuck himself to Mason’s side to have some coffee.

And Mason didn’t get annoyed with him, either.

He’d been at his computer, typing away and checking something on his screen against a notebook, but as soon as David had set down a coffee cup next to him, Mason smiled at him.

And now they were in conversation, with Mason leaning back in his chair and sipping coffee while the work day bustled around them.

“We’ve done this a few times.” Mason sipped his coffee, but his eyes were on a near constant swivel, taking in anything and everything that could be going on.

That seemed to be his normal state of being during a job, at least as far as David had seen.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention to David.

Every time, his gaze landed back on David, and a slight smile pulled at his mouth.

“You happy with everything? We’re closing in on the point of no return, so if you want to make any changes, now’s the time. ”

“No. I think it’s all in order.” He gestured toward the second bedroom, where a couple of workers were hauling out bags of trash. “You should weigh in there more than me. You’re the only one I’d be inviting to come to stay.”

“Oh, I don’t get to sleep in your bed?” Mason kept his voice low, but his tone was playful all the same. “I’m offended.”

“What if I piss you off?”

“Don’t piss me off.” He takes a heavy swig from his coffee, then raises his voice back up to normal. “It’s going to see more use as your studio than any guest room anyway, so are you good with it? We can take a swing through and check on everything.”

“It’ll be fine.” It seemed like a good opportunity to change the subject and finally ask the question he’d been holding back.

He did a quick check to make sure there was no one else around.

Then he sidled up closer and leaned his hip against the edge of the table.

“Maybe we can make use of both parts of the room.”

Mason’s smile widened. “If you’re asking if I want to fool around in every room of your condo, the answer’s yes.”

“Well…good to know.” It was, if for no other reason than it meant Mason wasn’t done with him just yet. “But I’ve actually been thinking about something. Since the other night. I was watching you…finish. You’ve seen the paintings I had in my bedroom.”

Mason nodded, sucking his lips in as pink brushed the tops of his ears. “I did, yeah.”

“Well, I was hoping you’d be willing to sit for a painting.”

Mason nodded and his gaze grew distant for an instant.

Then they sharpened back up as one eyebrow arched up. “What about your sketchbook? Did you finish it?”

He’d put that down as soon as he’d actually gotten a good drawing of Mason. “Not yet. Inspiration can be a fickle friend.”

Mason’s smile returned and he shook his head.

“I expected that.” He curled his index finger, beckoning David to come closer.

Then he moved windows around on his laptop, pulling up…

a calendar. A busy, very well-organized calendar because of course it was, and with a big red square taking up the date a week from now.

There was only one line item there: David Condo Wrap-Up

Mason typed on that box, adding a new line and a new bullet point. “I’ll make you a deal.” He didn’t look up, watching his screen as he typed and spoke. “I want that sketchbook done, inspired or not. You do that and I will pose however you want me to for one of your dirty little paintings.”

When he finally looked up, a new item had been added: David Sketchbook Due Date.

David couldn’t help but smile. “Homework?”

“No. Coercion.” Mason grinned wide. “I’m not here to change you, but I just want one finished project.”

A strange panic bubbled up in David’s belly, one he hadn’t felt in quite a while. “That’s an ask.”

“Not a big one, though, right?” Mason stood up and grabbed David by the shoulders. “I really mean it when I say that I think you’re brilliant. The stuff you’ve finished honestly floors me. I would pay good money for that birds of paradise quilt you had in your closet.”

David smiled, but his stomach was still upset, his heart rate spiking. “I…boy, I guess this is what you probably felt like when I wouldn’t stop pushing you to—”

“Probably.” Mason pressed a finger to his own lips. “Let’s not air sex life talk in front of everyone else. Especially since we’re not even official yet.”

“You want to be official?”

The pink in Mason’s ears brightened to nearly red and crept down the sides of his face and into his cheeks. He shook his head. “Yes, but I’m not letting you change the subject.”

“You can’t just say yes to that and then try to move on.

” Somehow, though, it didn’t seem nearly as important as Mason asking him to finish off that sketchbook project.

Them being an item hadn’t felt fully confirmed, obviously, but after that night last week, it almost felt inevitable.

They’d connected together. Their shapes were right, and they fit into each other properly.

Once David had finally broken through all those insecurities that were holding Mason back—or at least the ones he’d known about—it almost seemed preordained.

They were too comfortable and too happy around each other to drift apart again.

The idea of having to knuckle down and finish something when he was no longer passionate? That was a hell of a pill to swallow. “If this is how you felt, then I am so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Mason cocked his head to the side.

“I’m glad you got your message through my thick skull.

But that’s not going to change the terms of the deal.

” He sat back down. “You want to paint me naked, you fill that sketchbook for me. Then I’m all yours.

” He hit save on the calendar, that went back to the document he’d been working on before. “Thanks for the coffee, by the way.”

David nodded. Then he pulled out his phone.

If he was going to get through Mason’s request, he was going to have to go back to the hotel first. He’d tossed that partially completed sketchbook onto the hotel room’s cuck chair, and then thrown a bunch of his crap on top of it.

So he was going to need to dig it out if he was going to make this work.

He really wanted to add Mason to that collection of paintings. And maybe ask him if he’s weirded out about me hanging paintings of other guys I’ve slept with in my bedroom. If we’re going to be a proper couple. Which raised the thought of him filling multiple canvases with nothing but Mason.

And that made him book his ride share faster.