Page 10 of The Distiller's Darling

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“Aclient?” Naomi balanced her phone with her chin. She’d managed to answer it with her wrist, since her hands were covered in the grey slime of wet clay. “I don’t know, Noah, I’m pretty busy. I told you about Z Gallery, right?”

“At least three times.” Noah’s dry tone came clearly through the phone.

“I’ve gotten two of the three exclusive pieces done, but the last one’s giving me some trouble,” she said. The misshapen lump of clay on her work table reproached her silently. Her creativity was quickly approaching burnout after the sheer amount of work she’d been doing lately.

“Maybe a change of pace would do you good.”

“I don’t know if I have time for a change of pace.”

“He seems like a nice guy. Beverage industry dudes need to stick together, and he said those new labels you did for me were the sort of thing he was looking for.”

“Uh-huh.” She traced a finger through the clay, drawing squiggly lines and curlicues over the lump.

“Didn’t that craft beer job I sent you pay for those new windows in your studio?”

“Yes,” she admitted grudgingly.

“Nay, you have a perfectly good degree in graphic design and a reasonably successful company with leads falling in your lap. You might as well use it.”

“It’s not art, Noah.”

“Just take a break from whatever weird clay ritual you’re doing and meet him, please? I told him I’d set it up.”

“Look at you, making promises. Who would have thunk it?”

“Funny girl. Speaking of promises, Angelica will be back from filming next week. Want to have dinner with us?”

“Why, what are you trying to convince her of?”

“To get married.” Noah didn’t even try to pretend he didn’t have ulterior motives.

Naomi snorted a laugh. “You think having your former sex buddy over for dinner is going to convince your girlfriend to marry you?”

“No, I think one of my best friends is going to convince her for me. Come on, you know Angelica loves you. You’re part of the ’Noah Package’ I’m trying to sell.”

“Ugh, keep your Noah Package away from me.”

“I’ll put you down as a yes, then.”

“Fine. What day?”

“Not sure yet. I’ll get back to you on that. And on the meeting.”

“If I must.”

Maybe Noah was right, and she did need a break. She could definitely use a new computer, and the advance from Z Gallery wasn’t going to cut it after the rest of her bills got paid.

* * *

“You’re literally an artist, and NK Designs is the most imaginative name you could come up with?” Max looked at the business card she’d handed him, brows wrinkled dubiously.

“Words aren’t really my favorite medium,” Naomi said. “Somebody once told me it’s better to use your initials than your full name, because people have all kinds of gender biases when it comes to female business owners. So, I went with it.”

Max shrugged. “I guess I can’t really argue. My name’s Max and I own a restaurant called Frankie’s.”

She grinned. “You wouldn’t argue anyway. Drop me an email with what you’re thinking about for your menu redesign and I’ll get you a rough draft.” She was killing two birds with one stone. Max had mentioned getting his menus redesigned a few weeks ago, and since she’d taken Noah’s advice to heart, she’d had him schedule her meeting with his new friend at Frankie’s so she could also talk to Max about the menus. They’d agreed on a price—the friends and family discount, of course—and now she was headed to the booth in the corner, the leather folder she kept her design portfolio in tucked under her arm.

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