Babe in the Woodshop by Ashlyn Kane & CJ Burke

Author:Ashlyn Kane & CJ Burke [Burke, Ashlyn Kane, Claudia Mayrant & CJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: gay romance
ISBN: 978-1-63477-706-3
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2016-09-30T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

ONE WEDNESDAY a few weeks later, Bell breezed into the shop just past noon, balancing a pizza box on his shoulder. He’d been delivering Chris’s Wednesday noon pizza for over a month now. Today he was going to get answers.

“Hey, Joseph,” he said cheerfully over the sound of a saw singing in the workshop. He put the pizza on the counter. “I’m assuming the boss man is hard at work.”

Joseph looked up from what he was doing—from the looks of things, mailing overdue invoices. Praise God. Chris could be taught. Or at least taught to delegate. “How’d you guess?” he asked wryly.

Bell grinned. “I’m gonna go bug him, okay?”

“I’m sure he’ll be very annoyed.” Joseph was already nose deep in invoices again.

Bell left the food on the counter to avoid sawdust contamination and stuck his head into the workshop. “Order’s up,” he said when Chris noticed him and stopped the saw.

Chris pulled his headphones off and moved closer. “What?”

Never mind. “How come you order pizza delivered when you work right across the street?”

“I’m bad at remembering to take lunch breaks.”

“So what, you wait until you’re too hungry to think and call for delivery?”

Chris nodded toward the saw. “Nah. I set it up ahead of time. Trust me, that is not something you want to mess with when you’re dizzy or cranky from hunger.”

Bell looked at the sharp teeth of the saw and back at Chris’s hands. “Definitely not.”

“Besides, it’s not like I eat out a lot. It’s a treat, it’s cheap, and Wednesday lunch isn’t the busiest time, so I never have to wait long.”

“If we don’t come in thirty minutes, it’s free,” Bell quipped and then realized what he’d said.

Chris cleared his throat and grinned. The tips of his ears were red.

“Shut up,” Bell said before he could make it worse. He hoped poor Joseph hadn’t overheard.

“What’s it cost if it’s under thirty minutes?” Chris asked. He grabbed Bell by the waist and tugged him close.

Sighing, Bell checked the receipt in his hand. “Twelve fifty.”

“A bargain at twice the price,” Chris teased and kissed him.

Never in a million years, Bell thought ruefully, was it going to take longer than thirty minutes—unless Chris decided to tease him to death. “I have to go,” he said after a minute, pulling away and rubbing at his chin. He would have to see about some kind of cream for stubble rash. “I just wanted to, well”—he gestured at Chris—“ask about your weird pizza-ordering habit.”

“Did I mention the new delivery boy is cute?” Chris said innocently.

“Oh, well, now that I know you’re the kind of guy with shady motives,” Bell teased.

“Now what?”

“Now I know I have to meet up with you under the cover of darkness, lest my reputation suffer.”

“Get out of here, you.” Chris leaned in to peck him on the cheek. “Can’t have you consorting with unsavory types on the clock.”

With a smile on his face and a spring to his step, Bell left Chris to his lunch. His good mood was so apparent that Jenny shook her head when he came back in for the next pickup.

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