Page 22 of Troubles

L: Give me a sec. I just got out of the shower.

That was stupid. Why did I text him that?

A: Are you needing help?

L: Thanks for the offer. I’m good.

My phone starts vibrating as soon as I hit send. Shit. “Hello…”

“Well?” The smoky timber of his voice sends a shiver down my spine.

“Well, what?” My teeth dig into the side of my lower lip as I try to hide my physical response to just his words.

“Are you wanting me to come by or are you free tomorrow mornin’? I’ve the dark room at ten o’clock for a couple hours.” I can hear bar noises muffled in the background.

“Um, I’m free tomorrow, all day. You sound like you’re busy anyway. I’ll just meet you there.” I try to stifle my yawn, but am not at all successful.

“Yeah, I came to the bar to grab a bite to eat and ended up working for Jimmy. You might’ve given him more of a run for his money than he let on. He’s lookin’ a bit peaked and asked me to stay for him.” His chuckle is low and deep, rumbling straight through me. He definitely affects me more than I am ready to admit. “You sound like you’re ready for sleep yourself? I’ll text the address and see you in the morning, yeah?”

I yawn again. “Uh-huh. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Sleep well, love.”

It’s been ages since the last time I was in this part of town. I pass the building three times before I text Aidan that I’m here. A steel door creaks open down the alley and Aidan steps out. The sun is behind him with rays streaming down around him, highlighting his silhouette. He is breathtaking.

I slide through between his body and the doorframe, brushing up against him slightly. “’Scuse me.”

The whole building stinks like chemicals—rotten eggs. It does nothing to enhance the 1970s plastic and linoleum decor. I wrinkle up my nose taking in the room. “This is…nice… How’d you find this place?”

Aidan huffs out an amused chuckle and reaches for my hand. “I asked at the college—I hoped they would let me use theirs, but this’ll do. Not many people have a need for the labs now. But I learned the old ways when I was in school.”

I raise my eyebrow at him—he’s not that much older than me, right?

“Come with me, I’ll show you the ‘magic.’”

It’s kind of creepy moving through the empty building, past offices, and storage rooms. We are very much alone in here. Aidan soothes me with his warm hand—stroking my fingers with his thumb and squeezing me a little as we enter the darkroom. I check my watch. “What time did you get here?” The red light is on and there are shallow trays lined up on the work surface. It’s a crazy, organized chaos.

Aidan quietly closes the door behind us and leads me over to a table with a folder and a small box. “Just before you. I mixed up some chemicals and got things ready.” He puts one hand on my shoulder and leans into me a little grabbing the box. “Do you want to look and see what we’ve got?”

The room feels almost cold after coming in from the glaring sun and I’m suddenly very aware of his warmth at my back. I shiver when he straightens, opening the box.

“It’s cool in here. Are you okay?” His warm breath on my ear sends another shiver through me.

“Um…yeah. I’m good. Let me see.” I grab at the proof sheet, again feeling Aidan lean into me. He slides the sheet out of my reach and holds it away from me.

“You’re eager, then.” He smirks. Pressing his left hand into my lower back, he slips around to my side. He holds his hand there for a beat longer than he needs to, but not nearly long enough. Something changes, and he shifts his eyes from mine. Pulling back from me, he mumbles, “Well, erm… Right. Let’s just get this set.” He starts moving around, putting distance between us. Slipping the proofs under some weird magnifying thing—adjusting knobs, and buttons, and lights.

Is he nervous? This man has been touching me in some small way since I got here and now he’s stepping away, keeping clear of me. He was all flirty on the phone last night. He’s…I don’t know. Trying to give me space?

“Can I see now?” We’ve killed half an hour with this little dance. It’s obvious Aidan is stuck in his head. Maybe he’s nervous? Scared to show me the images.

He blows out a big breath pursing his lips, and steps back. “Erm—you can. Just look through at the contact sheet and, erm…let me know when you’re ready for the next one. We’ll just…”

I’m a little freaked by this viewing thing he’s been messing with. It’s intimidating, but the image that greets me is nothing short of amazing. “Wow. That’s…” I’m completely speechless.

“They get better,” Aidan whispers as he reaches over and adjusts the sheet so the next frame comes into view, his confidence coming back.

After a few awkward minutes of sliding the frames through slowly and clumsily, we start to fall into a rhythm, relaxing into each other. Aidan gets a little lost in his craft and forgets whatever it was that made him put distance between us earlier.

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