She had said:Good start. I like this one.
Then she sent a screenshot of the dome that he also liked best.
That’s my favorite one, too. Eye to eye, he texted back.
Ani replied:We should get started as soon as possible. Do you have time for a call?
He did. He couldn’t lie that it sent a bit of excitement through his body when Ani asked him to chat. For fuck’s sake, one of the last things she’d said to him in person had involved sticking fingers in places they didn’t belong. She took her job seriously, and she also was feisty as hell. And she’d dressed him down multiple times. Color him intrigued.
“Parev, Ani.”
There was the tiniest pause before she replied. “Parev, Raffi.”
Speaking in Armenian didn’t count as flirting, right? Maybe it did. Time to course correct.
“You wanted to chat? What’s up?”
“Yes,” she said, without skipping a beat this time. “If we’re going to finish the brides’ wish list in time, we have to get started ASAP. I’m working on designs right now, but I have to be honest that I don’t know any contractors, so I’d just be searching around the internet and getting bids. I wanted to see if you had any contacts.”
He sure did. “Oh yeah, I have a guy.”
Ani responded quickly. “This is not the type of job where you can just ‘have a guy’ and it’s some unlicensed family friend who can’t even caulk a shower properly.”
He tried to not think about her saying the workcaulk.
“You seem to be speaking from experience.”
“I might be. So? Is he legit?”
Raffi smirked. “You mean did he just build Thomas Keller’s new personal residence by hand? Yes. He’s legit.”
He heard her intake of breath on the other end of the line, and it sent a small wave of pleasure through him.
“You’re not kidding, right?”
“I would never joke about caulk work.”
A frustrated sigh now. God, why had he said that? Then she replied, “And he’d be available?”
Raffi stretched out in his chair luxuriously, knowing he’d done well despite his stupid comment. “He’d better be; he’sone of my best buds. Plus, he owes me a favor. And this would be a nice payday for him, too, so I’m betting he’s in.”
“Fine,” she said, sounding slightly irritated. “Can we start on Monday? I’ll come up to the site. Say nine a.m.?”
Raffi stopped himself from saying “It’s a date” and instead went with “See you then. Have a great weekend, Ani.”
Another quiet pause. “You too, Raffi.”
5
Ani
Ani walked upto the winery at nine that morning with Sanan at her side. As they approached the villa, Ani noticed a thin piece of plywood, painted gray with red outlines, sitting atop the death-trap rocks. And as they drew nearer, she read words that warned “Caution: Watch your step” printed in neat handwriting.Raffi’s?she wondered.
“That’s an odd choice for the winery,” Sanan commented, not knowing the particulars. “Doesn’t match the beauty of the rest of the place. I wonder if they already started construction.”
“Oh, uh, that might have been my doing,” Ani said as she stepped across it. The plywood held well and she did not go flying to the ground this time. “Long story.”
“You got it, boss.”
