“What are you thinking?” Noah turns me to face him and fastens my tie. Something I hate doing.
“I’m thinking about how much I’d love to be in jeans and working by your side all day instead of having to attend a meeting before catching up on paperwork.” I smile and lean forward to steal a quick kiss.
The quick kiss turns anything but, and as Noah seals his mouth over mine, my breath catches in the back of my throat.
He tastes of Colombian coffee and the unique taste that is completely Noah.
The kiss stays gentle. By the time he pulls away, our breathing is uneven and I’m fighting with myself to not finish what was started in the bedroom.
“Later,” he pushes me away, “you have a meeting.”
I growl, wanting to forget that we both have commitments and stay here.
Noah laughs. “Let’s get the shit stopped and then we can take a vacation. Just you and me. Somewhere without cell phones and girders and babies being born…and people bugging us at all hours. It’ll be just us.”
“I, sure as fuck, like the sound of that.” I slam my lips down on his in a much too brief kiss. “Let’s go.”
Noah
With Ramon being away from the site for most of the morning at his meeting, I’d been able to concentrate and got more work done than I’ve managed all week. He’s been back for a couple of hours and my concentration is shot to hell, again. I shouldn’t find it so difficult to keep my head on the job, but fuck if I’m not.
I’ve seen Jackie going back and forth between her own office and Ramon’s so many times that my head is spinning. Even from the fifth floor, I can read the frustration clear on Ramon’s face whenever he glances out. All the windows and blinds are open in his office, affording me with a perfect view. No doubt he’ll have some tale to tell about her when we get home later tonight. I hate not knowing things, so his day with Jackie is going to come up in conversation.
Every now and again, I’ll check around me to make sure there isn’t anyone here who shouldn’t be and so far so good. It still makes me feel uneasy being up here. The others are working below, which is one of the reasons I opted to start laying the groundwork for the fifth floor.
Most of this floor is open to the outside elements, which causes the wind to whip around me, making it unsafe to really be up here without a harness attached to one of the safety hooks.
I find them damn inconvenient, but while working alone and away from the edge, I don’t see the need. Health and safety, and Ramon wouldn’t see it like that, but what the hell.
Not only do I find it easier to work alone, the quiet lets me think. I seemed to have been thinking a lot lately. About anything and everything, but mainly my future. Every time I think along those lines, Ramon is always in the picture. Until we visited Sabrina in the hospital, and I had Alexander in my arms, I’d never given thought to having children of my own. I’m not sure if having children through adoption is even a possibility since we’re a gay couple.
I sigh. What am I thinking? Ramon has never even mentioned marriage or kids. He’s mentioned forever and I guess I should have asked his definition of forever so that we were both on the same page with our relationship.
What’s stopping you from mentioning it?
I hate my conscience sometimes, but it’s right. Why can’t I be the one to bring the conversation up? For all I know, Ramon might be thinking along the same lines as me in regards to our future together. He may be waiting for a sign from me that I’m interested.
Hopefully, if all goes well on the site today, and after we’ve been to visit with Lily and Michael to meet Sirena, I might bring it up or mention something that could lead up to the conversation. But what?
A gush of wind nearly takes my ball cap so I turn it around and place it firmly back on my head while I’m trying to come up with an easier way to find out Ramon’s thoughts about us.
Nothing comes to mind so I push it from my thoughts as I move closer to the open section that is a skeleton right now and feel more of a chill in the air than I have as of late. If I were a betting man, I’d say there was a good chance of snow. This means Ramon and I can hit the slopes on our snowboards. It’s been a hell of a while since we enjoyed the winter months together. Up in Canada, we had a blast and I was sad when we moved down to Lexington. Ramon did promise me, at the time, that they had snow and plenty of it during the winter months so we’ll see. I’m looking forward to it really. Perhaps our getaway could be in a mountain retreat with a fire to keep us warm.
Liking this idea more and more, I turn to catch my cap, again, and have the fright of my life. Tripping, I end up on my ass before quickly jumping to my feet again.
“Surprise,” she snarls.
How the fuck did she get up here without anyone seeing her? Or did they?