Page 13 of Structure of Love
I took a step down, then realized Logan had moved closer, sliding a hand onto the small of my back and giving me a shoulder to brace myself on as I climbed down. The feel of his warm hand did things to me. A shiver danced along my spine, those fantasies from earlier making a comeback with a vengeance. I didn’t dare look at him, certain my face would give my thoughts away.
His efforts were completely unnecessary, of course. The ladder only had four steps.
Did I melt under the thoughtfulness? Like ice cream on the Fourth of July.
Please stop being sweet if you’re straight, I’m only so strong.
I started praying harder Logan was gay, or at least not straight.
Somehow, I managed to play it cool and give him a smile in thanks as I got boots back on the ground. “Shall we go up a level and do this again? I want to check what’s going on upstairs.”
“Sure.” Logan pointed toward the ceiling. “So wait, how high is this ceiling?”
“A good ten feet. It was a fad at different points to have lower ceilings. Something about heat and cooling being more efficient, which was kind of a lie, but anyway. You’ve got wonderfully tallceilings here. I’ll let Asher figure out the best way to use them, but you might be able to do a sort of industrial look here, if you’re interested.”
“Sure, sounds cool. Who’s Asher?”
“Ah, sorry, he’s our interior designer. He’ll salivate over this place.”
Cohen laughed. “You’re not wrong. All right, up the stairs.”
We trooped up the stairs to find another small foyer at the top of them, which made sense—you had to give an upstairs landing for the two apartments as well. I popped open another dropped ceiling tile, and when Logan came in closer to offer support, I wasn’t as surprised. He wasn’t shy about it, his hands firm without being pushy. Some part of me yearned for bare skin. Every place he touched left a phantom imprint that ached for more.
Damn, I needed to get laid. I shouldn’t feel this antsy under a man’s hands. Every place he touched sparked joy, and I hadn’t felt this sensitive to a man in years.
Focus, Gage, fucking focus. My flashlight panned the area as I took a solid good look. “Yup, same up here. I think this was originally one big open room. I do see some damage to some of the joists, but it looks like water damage? Melissa, has there been any inspection on this building?”
“Roof’s old,” she admitted. “I’m not surprised there’s leaks. Is there enough damage to warrant replacing the joists?”
“I can’t tell from here, honestly, but it’s something we need to factor in, that roof repair needs to be a thing. I want to tear down all this Sheetrock so I can get a proper look.” Walls frustrated me for that reason.
I came back down, Logan once again steadying me. I tried to stay calm and not flirt. A mantra played itself like a broken record over and over in my head: Do not flirt with client during consultation, do not flirt with client during consultation.Difficult to manage with this man giving me all the right signals. Or was I projecting?
Very strong possibility I was projecting.
At least I could give him the answer he wanted. “The short answer is yes. Yes, you can open everything up and we don’t need to put a support beam in place, saving you a lot of money. Still want to buy it, knowing the roof needs replacing?”
Logan shrugged. “I figured a building this old would need work. It’s the location I absolutely must have.”
I mean, that figured, and I couldn’t blame him.
Logan looked between Cohen and me. “Quick estimate, how much will it cost to renovate?”
“You’re looking at about a hundred and fifty thousand,” Cohen said. He opened an apartment and took a look inside. “Hmm, yeah, at least that. Maybe a bit higher. A lot of the cost is demolition, honestly, because we have kitchens and bathrooms to tear out, and all the dump fees that go along with it. We’ll need to completely redo the plumbing, electrical, all of that as well. I’m seeing signs of knob and tube wiring, which isn’t great.”
“It was retrofitted with A/C,” I said, as you could see the duct work. Hence the dropped ceilings, I’d bet, to cover up the ducts. “But I wouldn’t trust the system works. So that’s part of the cost as well.”
Most people would wince at the cost and amount of work, but it seemed Logan had expected our answer. He smiled happily at Melissa. “Then I’ll buy it.”
She high-fived him. “Love your answer. Let’s go back to my office and do some paperwork.”
“Sure, I’ll meet you there.”
Now, I’d expected some sticker shock from him, at the very least. But no, this man had done his homework. He knew what he was getting himself into and had clearly prepared for this eventuality. So he was the responsible type, too? One who couldplan and work to achieve a goal? Oh, that be sexy as hell. I loved men with ambition and work ethic.
The meeting coming to an end made me kind of sad, but I had other work to finish today. We all trooped back downstairs, Melissa pausing at the door to lock up again. For some reason, Cohen took the stepladder from me and headed for my truck. Eh, why? It wasn’t heavy, I had it.
A warm hand tapped my shoulder and I turned toward Logan, not sure what he intended to ask me.