Cerys stepped into his space, pressing her body up against his. The feel of her gave him all kinds of ideas that couldn’t be carried out in the seven seconds it would take them to get to the top floors. Instead, he settled for kissing her forehead and savoured the way she leaned into him.
“Ready?” he asked as the lift shuddered to a stop.
“Ahh,” she squealed, standing so close to the doors he was worried she’d hurt herself. “Yes. I’m ready.”
Large multi-paned windows ran along a brick wall. Exposed pipes, beamed ceilings, and wide planked floors revealed so much of the original bones of the building. Large metal doors with a hefty latch opened into a second space, and two sets of staircases ran up to a mezzanine upper level.
Cerys bounded into the space and threw her arms wide. “Look at her, Jase. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Yeah, she fucking was. But Jase was pretty sure she was talking about the studio and not herself. “It’s an incredible space. I saw the plans you got drawn up while you were still in the States, but talk me through it.”
“Okay, so reception desk goes here,” she said, pointing to a space near the lift. “Then, I’m going to add a wall across here to create a lower-level recording studio. I’ll make a kitchen and lounge space right here near the windows. Then upstairs is the largest space, like Studio Two in Detroit, and a smaller space that can double as recording or rehearsal space. Each recording space has this amazing recording console with this phenomenal stereo buss compressor with side chain—”
Jase grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers. Not that he didn’t care about the thirty-six-channel console she’d told him about, repeatedly, since she’d ordered them. But because it was hot when she was this Cerys. Confident, capable, excited. Heck, she didn’t even need him here.
But he kissed her. Hard at first, then softer as she sank into his arms.
“What was that for?” she asked, placing her palm on the side of his face.
“Just slowing you down from a seventy-eight to a forty-five.”
“Did you just compare me to the revolutions per minute of a record player?”
Jase laughed. “Figured you’d get the analogy.”
Cerys grinned. “It’s a good job I love you.”
“Yeah, it is. I’m a lucky man.”
They stood for a minute, grinning at each other as rain lashed against the windows.
“I’m slightly terrified,” she admitted quietly.
“I know,” he said, reaching for her, kissing her forehead as she curled her arms around his waist.
“What if I can’t do all this?”
He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “You can. And if you get stuck, you can ask your dad for advice. He doesn’t want you to fail.”
He felt her sigh. “I know. But I feel this tension. Like I want to get it all perfect without his help because I want to prove to him I can do this, that I’m capable.”
“You’ll probably impress him more if you demonstrate that you know when to ask for help or advice rather than screwing things up.”
“Stop being sensible, Jason,” she muttered into his jacket.
“That’s not normally a word I get associated with very often.”
Cerys gripped the lapel of his coat, raised up onto her toes and kissed him softly. “Thank you.”
“Does Little Jase get a thank you too?”
She glanced down at her watch. “Not right now, because the construction crew are going to be here any minute.”
Jase pouted. “He’s offended. And kind of pissed he has to book time in your busy calendar to get affection.”
Cerys’s laughter filled the space. “He’s already had plenty of time with me today. He’s being greedy.”
“He wants to know if he can book eight o’clock tonight. And maybe nine. Ten if you are feeling up to it. And seven a.m. tomorrow. And maybe—”
“Will you stop?”
“He just needs to see you as much as possible before you move out on him. And me.” Furrows formed in her brow, and he kissed the tip of her nose in reassurance.
“You understand, right?”
“I do. Little Jase is having a harder time with it. When the person he likes hanging out with is wilfully independent and chooses to rent a house rather than moving in with him, it means he now has to worry that they are home safe at night.” He kissed her again, deeper this time. Slow, drugging kisses that had the ability to make his heart race and knees go weak.
“It’s not wilful independence. You know why I needed to get my own place, for now,” she muttered against his lips.
“Yeah, yeah. Only known each other two months. We should live together because we want to, not because we need to, which I do, by the way. You want to move in with Zoe so she can get out from her parents’ house, and you want room for your mum to come and stay. Not fair to Alex for you to be there all the time. Not fair to Alex for me to bail on him partway through the lease, even though we all have enough of a salary to live on our own. Blah, blah, blah,” he recited. “Did I remember everything?”
He hoped the smile in his eyes reassured her he was teasing.
“Yes, you did. It’s not that I don’t like the idea of living with you. In fact, it would be the easiest thing in the world to just merge our lives. Simpler and more cost-effective too. But I also don’t want to rush this. Not because I’m not sure of where it’s going, but because I want to savour every step.”
“Such a sweet thing to say. You’re good with words. But it’ll be tough to find the time to travel to come see you. Little Jase isn’t cut out for a long-distance romance.”
Cerys stepped back and raised an eyebrow. “I’m moving seven houses down the street from you and Alex. You will walk past my front door every time you go to the tram stop or Nan’s.”
He shrugged and grinned. “Feels like a long way when you wake up with a boner and nowhere to put it. And what if I want midnight cuddles and you aren’t there?”
“Would it kill you to pull on some joggers, the grey ones, and take a few steps down the street?”
“You like the grey joggers?”
“And the boner . . .”
Now it was Jase’s turn to laugh. “I got you a gift.”
“You did?”
Jase pointed to the mezzanine level. “It’s up there.” And he prayed to God that the company he’d ordered it from, and the landlord, had followed his instructions.
“What did you do?” she asked, hurrying to the stairs. He was happy to follow behind her because her arse looked great in the black denim. “Oh, my God. Jase.”
He came up behind her as she stood and stared at the black and white peg letter board. Not exactly the same as the one in Detroit.
There are two things I couldn’t live without. Music and you.
She spun in his arms and kissed him. “You are such a sweetheart. Thank you.”
“You are welcome. You should also know I intend to mess with whatever you put on there.”
A loud knock sounded on the studio door.
“I guess that’s the contractor,” Cerys said. “Are you going to stick around?”