the room so he couldn’t see my face. I wasn’t sure how obvious it would be that butterflies rippled through my belly.
Reaching into the clean laundry basket I’d yet to fold, I pulled the first bonnet I saw and yanked it down on my head. I rushed back into my office to find him inspecting the ladder’s security.
“Yeah,” I teased confidently. “You started thinking about the risk of plunging to your death.”
“Yes,” he answered as he started turning around. “The three-foot drop—” His sentence stopped abruptly when he laid eyes on me.
“Um…”
“Did you think I was going in my room to get a hardhat? It’s a bonnet,” I quipped, rolling my eyes.
“I can see that,” he said slowly, still staring at my head.
I narrowed my eyes at him as I approached. “You’ve never seen a woman in a bonnet before? You think my hair would look this good without protection? Why are you looking at me like you don’t know what a bonnet is?” My questions flew out of my mouth in quick succession.
He shook his head sluggishly. “No, I know what a bonnet is. I grew up in a house full of women.”
“So why are you staring at me like that?” I stopped a foot away from him and put my hands on my hips. I gave him the death-stare as I waited for him to answer me.
Instead of speaking, he reached out and touched my forehead—or so I thought.
“You had this stuck to your bonnet,” he uttered finally, pulling a pair of crotchless panties from the top of my head.
His tongue moved slowly from one corner of his mouth to the other as he stared at the sexy, lace material. Tearing his gaze away from them, he locked eyes with me.
My entire body heated.
And it wasn’t from embarrassment.
The heat started at my core and unfurled slowly through me.
Blinking rapidly, I took the panties from his hand and squared my shoulders. “It’s not what it looks like.”
“It looks like crotchless panties.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “It’s exactly what it looks like.”
We both burst out laughing and I tossed the little lacy number on the desk, near my phone.
“I’m—uh—I need to finish this,” he chuckled, gesturing behind him before he turned around. “Where are you going tonight? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t mind,” I exclaimed. “It’s called Black Lotus. Thursday night is open mic night. My best friend and I go every week. It’s a lot of fun. You should check it out if you haven’t.”
“Sounds like something I should experience.”
“It is. The talent around here is crazy.”
“Are you singing?”
I scoffed. “God, no.” I stuck the earplugs in my ears and then adjusted my goggles. “I’m ready,” I told him.
He went up the ladder and I held the base. The sound of the drill was dulled by the earplugs as he created holes where the chalk marks were located. He stopped temporarily to pull out his level to make sure it was even and then we moved the ladder and did the same thing where the other marks were. When he signaled, I backed away and he came back down.
I took the plugs out of my ears. “So, how long have you worked at the studio?” I asked as he eyed his work.
“I’d have to get paid for it to be considered work.” He glanced over at me. “But I’ve been helping out since it opened last year.”
“Are you an artist?”
He shook his head as he put the tools in the toolbox. “Nah, I didn’t get the art gene. My mom and my sisters are artists. I take after my dad.”
His daddy probably fine, too.
Ignoring the thought, I pressed, “Oh? How’s that?”
“I handle business in the kitchen.”
I bet you handle business everywhere, I thought as my eyes danced over his body.
When he closed the toolbox and stood, my eyes snapped back up to his face as he continued. “My grandmother taught my dad because she said he had the gift. And my dad taught me because he said I had the gift.”
“What’s your best dish?”
“I know how this is going to sound and I wholly own it, but there’s too many to name.”
“Come on!” I giggled at his brashness. “You have to have one stand out dish.”
A smile played on his lips as he watched me. “If you’re forcing me to choose, it’ll be the dish that I don’t break out too often because it’s for special occasions. My signature steak dish.”
I pursed my lips and lifted an eyebrow. “Signature?”
He