Page 37 of Daily Grind
Bastard. He stifled the giggle that wanted to come out. “What if I’d wanted cream?”
“Mister I’ll-drink-this-wee-little-cup-of-coffee-that-will-cause-my-heart-to-go-a-mile-a-minute? Cream? Not in yourcoffee, anyway.” His smile waswicked.
Heat to Brian’s face… and elsewhere. Rob had him there. He preferred his coffee blackanddesperately wanted a replay of Wednesday night. Badly. “So what about you?” He picked up Rob’s coffee, and sure enough, it was a smooth, milky blend with a hint of cinnamon. “Suave.” He smacked his lips. “And creamy.” He put the cup back.
“Bloody hell, now I have your spit in my coffee!” Mock anger.
“You’ve had more than my spit in your mouth.” He’d nearly lost his mind when Rob had sucked him off Thursday morning. The benefit to that, and probably the sleep, was that he’d been mellow and calm the entire day. Managed to field several calls about positions and set up some interviews, too.
Rob’s laugh sank into Brian’s balls. Yeah, he wanted a repeat. More too, but he didn’t know how to ask. Didn’t know what Rob liked or didn’t or— He bit his lip and stared out the window, idly fingering the leather handle of the door.
Quite an expensive car. A bit much for an engineer’s salary. Despite having shared a bed and more than saliva, he didn’t know that much about Rob’s job.
They turned onto Braddock Avenue and headed down the hill. Rob shifted in his seat, the leather crinkling. “What kind of camera do you have?”
Brian pulled his focus from the window. “It’s a Nikon D750. Got it a couple years ago because my dad had a ton of old Nikon lenses and it seemed a shame to junk them. Plus it’s fun to play with vintage lenses.” He picked up his coffee and sipped.
Rob nodded and turned down another road that curved toward the Carrie Furnace site. “Mine’s a D4S. But I was starting from scratch.”
Brian nearly choked on his coffee. “With a D4S? That’s some scratch!”
Color crept up Rob’s neck and he looked—sheepish. “It seemed like the best model.”
“It’s a fantastic camera. And you use it well,” Brian said. “It’s just… high-end. Professional-grade.” Beyond what he could afford. “It’s not a Hasselblad, so at least you didn’t have to take out a mortgage for it.”
They pulled into the parking lot for the Carrie Furnace site and Rob shut off the car. “I looked at those,” Rob said. “But that would be like building a Michelin-starred restaurant to make a grilled cheese sandwich.”
Brian snorted. “Thereissuch a thing as gourmet grilled cheese.”
Rob flashed a smile. “I know, but I’m not a gourmet kind of guy.” He got out of the car.
Yes he was. Rob was 100 percentgourmet. Brian grabbed his bag, climbed out, and joined Rob at the trunk.
Rob slung a small camera bag over his shoulder. “Figure I’ll need only the camera and some lenses.”
“Ditto.”
Once the car was locked up, they found the meeting point for the tour and waited with the other folks who’d come for the mid-morning time-slot. Brian couldn’t help watching Rob examine the old industrial site. There was the artist’s gleam and the churning gears. Rob unzipped his bag and pulled out the camera.
Surprisingly, he didn’t use the screen, but looked through the viewfinder, obviously lining up shots, though his finger was nowhere near the shutter button. When he dropped the camera. He was smiling so broadly even his ears lifted. “This is fantastic!”
That joy was infectious. Brian patted Rob between the shoulder blades. “Kid in a candy store.”
A laugh. “Only this kid has more than a few gray hairs.”
True. “But they look good on you.” He leaned in and dropped his voice. “Like a dollop of cream.”
“You and cream,” Rob murmured. His hand brushed Brian’s but he didn’t take it. Which was probably wise, given some of the looks they were attracting.
Pittsburgh had its good moments and a share of bad ones. Some people were more liberal than others. Still, it rankled. Brian straightened and casually stared back at an obviously offended lady.
She blushed and looked away.
“That’ll happen often,” Rob said.
“Don’t care.” Fear had kept him from being himself for too long.
Rob’s voice took on weight. “Just… be aware. And careful.”
