“I can’t wait.” Aud smiled at her, then stood at the door while she hurried out and got into the Cadillac just steps from the gallery.
Across the street, a figure that appeared to be Randal Hudspeth turned from looking in Aud’s direction and ducked into a T-shirt shop. Aud sighed. It doesn’t mean anything if it’s Randal. It’s a popular part of town. I just can’t see him getting a souvenir shirt. We didn’t find any evidence it was even a human who knocked over the grill the other night; the police still think it might’ve been a raccoon or stray dog. He turned from the street view the door and windows provided.
“Let me guess. She didn’t go for the cater waiters?” Heather asked from behind the counter.
Turning, Aud shook his head. “Nope. She doesn’t want to pay extra for them, and she didn’t even give me the chance to tell her how much.”
“She did strike me as the low-budget sort of artist.” Heather leaned against the wall.
Aud shook his finger at her. “We don’t call the clients cheap… especially when they’re driving Cadillacs.”
“So you and I both get to work Friday night?”
“Unless you know of anyone else working in the gallery. If she’d gone for the cater waiters, then I would’ve run out on you and taken Leo out.” Aud tried to keep the disappointment out of his voice.
“Why not see if he’d like to come? I know these openings can get boring sometimes, particularly if you don’t know anyone, but it would be an opportunity for him to see how things around here go.”
Aud nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. I’ll call him tonight and ask. It’ll give me an excuse to call him.”
She cocked a dark eyebrow at him. “You need an excuse to call him? I thought things were going really well.”
“They are. We talked the other night on the phone after our interrupted date. But we didn’t set any definite plans and I didn’t want to come across as too needy.”
“You.” She giggled. “You’re not going to come across as too needy. You’re one of the least needy men I know.”
“Clingy, then?”
She shook her head. “Nope. Not clingy either.”
“So you think it’s safe to call him?”
“Yeah, I think it’s safe. Get him in here for that opening and let’s see how he handles himself in public.”
“He did real nicely the other night at dinner.”
“Then let’s hope he can have a repeat performance here on Friday.”
“If he doesn’t already have plans.”
“YOU DON’T already have plans, do you?” Aud asked. He rubbed his hands on his jeans, trying to get the sweat off as he talked to Leo on the phone. I can’t believe I’m this nervous about asking a guy out.
“No. Once I get off work Friday, I’m free,” Leo replied. “I normally do laundry Friday nights, but I can put it off.”
The comment told Aud a lot about Leo. “You normally do laundry on Fridays?”
“Most of the time, the laundromat I use isn’t as busy then. I can go in and get my clothes done quickly without much fuss or drama.” Then Leo sighed. “It doesn’t say much for my social life, does it?”
“That’s okay. I think I like the idea that you aren’t hanging out at the bar every Friday night. Some of the guys I’ve dated did that. Those relationships never last long for me. I’ve got more to my life than being around a bunch of alcoholics.”
“I agree.”
Aud could almost see Leo’s sexy smile in his simple words. It brought a grin to his face. “So how have you been the past couple of days?”
“I’ve been okay. Stopped looking for folks lurking around the corners and accepted that whatever knocked that stuff over on your patio was just some kind of animal.”
“Yeah, I relaxed a bit more when I made my peace with that too.” Aud sat on the couch and flashed back to Leo sitting there with him as they made out before being rudely interrupted. Although seeing Randal across the street earlier that day had made him wonder again. He hadn’t been back to the gym since Randal came into the gallery. I have no idea if they gave him my home address too or not. That’s just being paranoid. Randal’s pushy but he’s not a stalker.
“I guess you’ve been busy getting ready for this opening,” Leo continued.
“Yeah. Well, not real busy. We’ve got most everything sorted out already. There were just a few last-minute details to get worked out, and I think we handled most of it today. Now all that’s left is for Concinta to bring her pieces in and get set up. We’ve got the wine and cheese ordered already and the invitations for Friday night have been mailed and ads have been run for the rest of the weekend. Heather handles most of that for me.”
“Okay, what kind of name is Concinta?”