IT WASN’T UNTIL she’d gone that he realized he’d forgotten to give her the tickets for his show. Or even let her know he had a show coming up.
He stalked back to his workroom, pausing for a cigarette after he was sure all his welding supplies were shut off.
French. One of his small indulgences. He slid one from the pack and the scent of the Turkish tobacco rose. Distinctive. Connected to his work.
He loved the act of tapping the edge against his lighter. The ritual of putting it between his lips, the flick of the lighter and that first rush of nicotine into his system.
Yes. He knew they were bad for him. His dentist told him so every six months. His doctor told him so. He’d cut back to two or three a day. Almost always while he worked.
The light was good, he thought as he smoked, looking at the flames of metal. The color was also just right. Nearly bronze in places.
He smiled as he thought of how Wren had understood nearly immediately that he’d been creating flames. Intuitive, that one.
He really didn’t need to have tea. He’d known exactly what needed to be done next. But more and more often as their friendship had grown, he found himself delaying her departure to spend time with her.
Gregori picked up one of his hammers and moved to his worktable where several sheets of metal he’d cut earlier that day sat. He worked, still thinking of her, of the way she’d teased him and of how he’d teased her back.
It wasn’t that he never flirted. He was rather shameless about flirting, as it happened. He loved women. Came by that love honestly as he got it from his father. He flirted as easily as he breathed.
But with her it was different. She wasn’t world-weary. Wasn’t a social climber. She flirted back but it was...not pure, no, he was quite sure Wren Davis knew what she was doing. It lacked artifice. Which made her dangerous.
The artist, named after a bird, who delivered packages and envelopes to pay for art school. He stubbed the cigarette out, exhaling the last of the smoke from his body as he thought of her.
Long and tall. She moved as if she knew exactly where she was going and what she planned to do once she arrived. She often had her hair braided, held back from her face, exposing that beauty so easily.
Freckles danced over the bridge of her nose. Her eyes, bold and bright blue, took in the world all around her. Gregori always got the feeling she weighed, accepted, approved or rejected things as she went.
She wore jeans a lot, though in the summer she’d worn shorts. She had lovely legs. Powerful, probably from bicycling up and down the hills in downtown. He liked the warm days because she wore T-shirts and tank tops, exposing the outline of some seriously gorgeous breasts.
Glasses often perched on her nose. He wondered why she hadn’t gotten the surgery to fix her eyesight. Glasses worked for her in any case, though he wondered how they affected her when she worked on her animation for long hours at a time.
Art school. He scoffed as he began to pound the metal, shaping it, giving it texture. He’d gotten a few peeks at her work. She had a lot of talent. She didn’t need art school.
Wren was vibrant and clever and certainly one of the best parts of his day when she stopped in. A constant in a world he knew was filled with mostly temporary people and experiences.
He blew out a breath and fell back into his work. He’d deal with the tickets the next day.
* * *
WREN FOUND HER friends already seated in a booth near the back windows of the tavern. They waved, calling her name as she made her way through the already burgeoning Friday night crowd.
The music was loud, but not so loud she couldn’t hear Kelsey tell her they’d just ordered her a margarita.
“Yay.” She shimmied from her coat and ordered tacos when the server came back with her margarita. She sipped it happily, leaning forward to listen to Kelsey talk about her new boyfriend—apparently now ex-boyfriend—and the way he’d sprung on her that he lived in his mom’s garage.
“He tried to say it was all right because it has its own entrance. I wasn’t impressed because she came in to do laundry when we were about two minutes away from pants being off.”
“Well, at least when you smell Tide the next time, you’ll have happy thoughts.”
Kelsey took a drink. “Not only does he live in his mom’s basement, but he tried to get me to see if Gregori could get us into Fixe.”
Fixe was Seattle’s hottest nightclub. Gregori knew the owner so he hung out there from time to time.
“Well, this is the guy who used a coupon to pay for dinner on your first date.”
Wren had nothing against coupons. After all, they were all at the tavern just then because it was happy hour. Half-price drinks and four-buck appetizers were a great deal. But coupons for dinner were a long-term couple thing. Or a high school thing. And you didn’t use your girlfriend to see if her boss could get you into nightclubs.
“I know.” Kelsey nodded. “You told me he was bad news.”
“But he has a great ass. And good hair. Did you dump him?”
“Yes. When his mom opened the door to the house and yelled down at him to change the laundry over when the buzzer sounded, I made my escape. He had the nerve to call me today to ask about Fixe. You know, since we’re still friends and all.”
“Get out!”
“I wish. Anyway, I managed to find it in me to laugh as I hung up on him.”
Zoe, Wren’s roommate, raised her glass. “Good riddance.”
They all joined her in the toast.
“So now that we’ve heard Kelsey’s news—” Zoe leaned closer “—what’s today’s hot Russian artist update?”
“Working shirtless when I went to his loft. Sweaty, but in the right way if you know what I mean. Man.” Wren fanned her face. “He gets so intense when he’s working. All that focus on what he’s doing. It’s so sexy. Makes me wonder—” like every twenty minutes
“—if he’s that intense in the sack.”
That got a laugh, but plenty of quiet moments afterward as they all totally went there.
“He made me tea. Flirted as usual. But he didn’t pull the trigger. He flirts with everyone, though. I don’t read anything into it. Though I’d like to.”
“He does flirt with everyone. But he talks about you differently than the scores of chicks he’s got on his speed dial.” Kelsey shrugged. “He’s got you in the employee camp. So you’re safe to flirt with because he tells himself nothing is going to happen.”
“I’m not his employee.” Though she’d be lying if she denied the image of some naughty boss fantasies hadn’t just run through her head.
“Nope. Just keep at it. He’ll see it eventually. I mean, maybe. He’s...well, you know. He’s not a permanent type of guy. He’s one of those live-in-the-moment people.”
Sure, sure, Wren knew that. Knew he’d tried marriage once, years before and that it had ended up a smoldering pile of rubble. Knew that ex of his had meant his distrust of people had grown.
But she wasn’t his ex. She wasn’t his employee. She liked him. Wanted to know him better and it wasn’t the worst thing in the world to imagine that he wanted to know her, too.
“I’d tell you not to go getting hurt, but you’re not a dummy. Still, he’s sort of...magical. Alluring with all those pheromones of his rushing around when you’re near him.” Kelsey shrugged. “He’s a total handful. I like him. He gives great holiday presents and he pays me well. But I would not want to manage a man like him.”
“Gregori is not a man to be managed. He’s the one who likes to be in charge.” Wren waggled her brows as they all laughed. “That’s okay, I don’t mind a man in charge. Well, in bed I mean. I can pay my own bills and order my own dinner. Anyway, he’s an interesting, titillating part of my week. He’s in a totally different world with models and hipster girls and jet-set travel.” He was fun and sexy, but she knew reality from fantasy. Flirting was great, but Kelsey was right and Wren had no intention of getting serious about a dude who was a fun crush.
The conversation shifted to Zoe’s new job at a design firm in town. Wren and Zoe shared a two-bedroom apartment just a few blocks away from the school where, up until a few months ago, both of them had attended.