Page 29 of Unspoken Rules

“You were late first,” I retort.

He chuckles. “Come in. Have a seat.”

He gets up and points to his chair, which is the only chair in here. I sit while he leans against his desk in front of me, crossing his arms. The muscles bulge and I stare for a second too long, and when I pull away, I feel his gaze on me.

Ignoring it, I wake up my tablet and put in the password.

Stay professional, Bryson.

“So, this is what I came up with so far,” I say, turning my tablet around to show him what I did.

Cole takes the tablet from my hands, his brows shooting to his hairline. He points to it, looking at me with wide eyes. “You did this?”

“Yeah,” I say carefully.

“All by yourself? You did this on Photoshop or something?”

I huff out a laugh. “No, I drew it in a drawing program.”

“Drew this…”

“Like you would draw on paper with a pencil?”

He whistles. “Damn, Bryson. This is good.”

Cole has seen some of my work over the years. I’m not sure why he seems so impressed with this.

“Thank you,” I say, ignoring the fact my face is heating. I didn’t expect his approval to be so fulfilling. Seems praise and approval from Cole is my favorite thing.

“I didn’t realize you could draw something like this on a tablet. It looks amazing.”

“Technology has come a long way, old man.” It’s quiet as he stares at the logo. His eyes move over the entire image multiple times, like he can’t believe what he’s looking at. It’s honestly pretty simple compared to some of the other things I’ve drawn. He’d probably have a heart attack if I showed him what I do for fun nowadays. “So, what do you think?”

“Right—shit. Sorry, I’m just blown away by this. Um, so I like the slogan. Crafted with harp-like precision. Love the play on harp for Harper. And though the drawing is amazing—really fucking amazing—I’m not sure the guys will like a grown man in a diaper.”

I furrow my brow as I shift so I can look at the logo. “Does it look like a diaper?”

“No, no! It doesn’t. It’s done really well, I just don’t remember what they’re called.” He chuckles nervously, handing me the tablet back.

I take it and look over what I did, making sure it doesn’t look like a diaper.

“It’s a chiton. Or tunic, as it’s more commonly referred.”

“Yeah, that. Definitely doesn’t look like a diaper, I swear. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”

I take a breath, allowing my nerves to settle.

“It’s okay. I get it, trust me. I want you to like what I come up with for you. So if you aren’t honest, this won’t work. This is only one option, and it was without talking to you. I’m not offended. What are you thinking?”

I open up the program I drew the logo in, copy the image, and put it into a new file.

“Could you do just the harp, no man? But still in a circle like it is now.”

“Yeah, I could do that. What about a harp made of stone?” I start the new drawing, pulling the pieces from the old logo that I can use—the circle, the slogan beneath it, and I copy the harp and make it bigger to fix up.

“Hm, maybe? Yeah, that could work. Is it too much trouble to do it up both ways?”

I give him a quick smile. “You’re a client. It’s not too much trouble.”

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