Ajay boldly smiles in the face of my glare and takes Beau’s hand. “I hear you’ve been enjoying the city. And Sonia.”
My glare intensifies.
“What are your intentions with my cousin-who’s-like-a-sister?” Ajay throws a paternal look my way.
Ew. “Please don’t answer that. Ajay has to leave, because I don’t want him to be late for the many important things he has to do.” There’s fake sweetness in my voice, but I hope it’s not as obvious to everyone else. Well, not obvious to Beau; who cares about Ajay?
“Late for what?” Ajay sends me an even wider smile.
“You have to personally edit the catalog for the upcoming contemporary Indian art show.”
“Right, I’m going to leave before she assigns me more work. See you around, peachperson.” Ajay drops a quick kiss on my head, nods at Beau and strolls in the opposite direction, heading home. To not work on that catalog.
“Peachperson?” Beau looks down at me, eyebrows lifted.
“We started at cowboy and I just barely convinced them you’re not a moo Old MacDonald and you’re a peach Old MacDonald.” I shrug. “Can’t tell those city folks nothin’.”
Oh man, a few days with him and I’m ready to lasso a hot dog cart.
“Hmm. Yes.Thosecity folk,” he says dryly, putting his other arm back around me. Heat flares in my stomach, expanding to every extremity to keep me warm in the cold air.
“Ready to buy some more art?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” He has all the enthusiasm of a kid gearing up to eat vegetables.
“I thought you’d be that excited. So we’re going to change things up. I convinced the warehouse manager to let us into storage. You can see some of the pieces on our online sales in person. And I’ve staged a couple of scenes so you can see the pieces together.” If Loot does this long term, we might need a space for this that isn’t storage. I’ll have to look up those costs before I present the idea to Chacha.
I lead him back into the building, around the public spaces and into our warehouse. “Watch your step, because things are stacked precariously, and we’re not supposed to have people back here for lawsuit reasons. Also, please don’t sue us.”
“I can promise to stay away from lawyers.”
Shelves fill the entire space, all overstuffed with furniture, statues, and paintings.
“A lot of our stuff is Indian, but Priya’s been pushing to sell all types of art. I’ve pulled the relevant pieces here. And by ‘I’ve pulled’ I mean the very kind warehouse employees did the heavy lifting.”
I lead him to the largest open space in here, where I have some groupings set aside. “I know you already have desks and chairs, but I put these in for reference. See how you feel. Have a wander.”
“This is all a lot of art.” He moves his head around, scanning the shelves around him.
I gently direct his head back to the art in front of him. “You can look anywhere, but I thought you might want to focus on the pre-screened pieces so you don’t get overwhelmed. And these pieces are all ready now, through our online auctions.”
“These are nice. Everything you showed me is. And I can understand why they’re helpful for what I want. Well, now I can.” He flashes me a smile. “But it’s still overwhelming.”
“Sit down. Get acquainted with the pieces and how you’ll interact with them on a daily basis. Here.” I push him down on one of our more modern couches, gently, because it’s expensive. “You sit there.”
I back up and pantomime opening a door. “Hello. I’m here for some fancy energy.”
Beau raises his eyebrow at me.
“Well?” I sit on a chair across from him and cross my legs. “Ah! Lovely eighteenth-century Zeus you’ve got there. I feel very comfortable with this company all of a sudden. Take my business money!” I pantomime extending money his way.
Beau’s outright laughing at me now. “Don’t you want to hear about our product?”
“Nope. You’ve got electricity, and I’ve got a TV. And there’s something soothing about this place. Especially the Priapus.” I wink at him and direct him a piece he clearly hasn’t seen.
He turns his head and then jumps up in his seat when he sees it. “That erection! It doesn’t feel appropriate for a workplace.”
“Maybe. But Romans put statues like that in their gardens for prosperity of crops and as protection against trespassers. Maybe some of that would be helpful in a business?”
