He removes the earplugs, a smile playing on his lips. ‘I like you this happy.’
I grin. ‘I’ve got a lot to be happy about.’
He sets his laptop aside and pulls me in for a kiss; something I’m more than willing to indulge him in. There’s half an hour to go before I can take him downstairs for his surprise, but unfortunately the kiss doesn’t turn into sexy time on my hoard room floor. We really have to make that a priority as soon as possible.
He pulls away and lifts his laptop back onto his lap, then clicks into an email that Ayo forwarded him—a very familiar one. ‘Anything you want to tell me?’
There’s no judgement in his hand movements, no strong emotion through the bond, but as I look at the speculative proposal I sent Ayo anonymously from my new company, I’m hit with guilt.
‘How did you know?’ I ask.
‘Ayo loved your ideas?—’
I brighten. ‘He did?’
‘—but I wanted to check out the person behind them. I was concerned by the fact it was a newly registered firm and wanted to make sure it wasn’t someone trying to scam Ayo. It didn’t take long to find out it was you.’
‘Ah.’
He nudges my shoulder with his. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? Or approach Ayo directly, for that matter?’
Yep, this is where that guilty feeling is coming from. I really don’t like feeling this way, but Raj isn’t being unreasonable.
‘I wanted Ayo to make an unbiased decision based on my proposals, not the fact that he knows me. Yes, I’m qualified, and yes, my specialism has always been period property renovations and extensions, but I’m still young and relatively inexperienced, and this is a big project. I know him well enough to guess that if he knew I wanted this, he’d make it happen regardless of whether it’s the right decision for him and the building.’
Raj smiles. ‘You’re right that he’d rather hire someone he knows personally, but don’t underestimate his commitment to doing the right thing for his family’s ancestral home. He not only has a lot of happy childhood memories here from when his parents were alive, he also wants the best for our pack—and that will only happen with the right renovation design.’
I sigh. ‘I know how much this matters to him. Whenever we discussed magic, he often got distracted and went off on tangents about exactly how he envisions everyone living here. I wanted to help him make that happen in a way that’s sympathetic to the original features and character of the place.’
Raj clicks on the attachment to the email, which shows a 3D model of a section of the ground floor and how it could look, as well as a sample apartment design for the first floor. ‘I know these few rooms only represent a relatively small area, but it’s honestly the best design so far. Ayo loves the way you’ve combined the Garden Room and the Smoking Room into a huge kitchen diner. As soon as I saw that working fireplace next to the table, I mentally claimed the closest chair. And using the other fireplace for the range is such a nice touch.’
‘I’ll be honest; an interior designer will come up with a lot of the same ideas.’
It’s not my job to do those finishing touches, but I felt it was important to show an example of what a finished room could look like. It’s difficult for a lot of people to visualise how knocking two rooms into one will work for day-to-day living if the plan just shows empty spaces.
His hand movements are enthusiastic. ‘Maybe, but don’t underestimate the impact of this. Ayo hadn’t even considered moving the kitchen to this part of the house, and he was beginning to wonder whether it was even possible to knock walls down and still retain the character. I could see this becoming the hub of the house for our pack, and we’d definitely ditch that stuffyconference room for an unofficial meeting space with easy access to snacks.’
Realistically, that might not be possible given the confidentiality some of their work requires, which is probably why the formal dining room was converted into a conference room by the previous task force. Still, now doesn’t seem the time to spoil that particular fantasy. I can easily incorporate a secure meeting space close to the kitchen into the final plans, or suggest they install a snack cupboard and coffee station instead.
‘The apartment is stunning too,’ he signs. ‘Ayo adores how you’ve worked with the positions of the existing walls and fireplaces but still been able to add in a bathroom and kitchenette.’
It means a lot that Ayo likes my designs that much. Even if these sample rooms and apartment don’t end up the way I’ve suggested, it’s a good representation of my design style.
‘Each apartment will likely be different in layout because of the current floor plan, and there will be hidden changes that require a lot of work, like pipe routes, but those are details I could work out with Ayo and Dante. And I know it would be a lot of work if Ayo does decide to hire me, but my current job doesn’t have long hours. I can work around it until I finish in June.’
A colourful fae named Trent reassigned me to Forest Flight Furniture for the remainder of my time on the work programme, and assured me that no one there would hold Lance’s downfall against me. So far he’s been right. I sand and varnish tables all day, and although it’s only marginally better than lugging boxes around, it’ll leave me with plenty of spare brain capacity to work on Ayo’s project in my free time.
Raj leans over and kisses me. ‘You’ve obviously worked hard on this already. I’m impressed.’
My dragon preens at our mate’s praise, even though that side of me had absolutely nothing to do with it.
‘It took time for me to accept that I actually can rebuild my career. Whether Ayo wants to go with me or a different architect,I’ve got a business plan that includes multiple ways to attract clients. There are a lot of period properties of varying sizes in and around the city, and unlike my aunt, I have no problem working with humans.’
‘I’m really proud of you.’ He closes his laptop and kisses me again. ‘Come on. Let’s go tell Ayo that you’re the one behind Heritage Architectural Designs. He’ll be thrilled.’
That’s a little nerve-wracking, but my more immediate concern is whether it’s time to bring him downstairs yet. I check my phone and deem it close enough, so I fire off a quick text to theRaj’s Surprisegroup chat warning them we’re on our way. I start getting a series of thumbs ups, so I shove my phone into my pocket as we get up off the floor.
We hold hands as we head down the sweeping staircase, and I only start to feel his confusion through the bond when I lead him towards the west side of the house where the ballroom has been prepared.
