Page 120 of Next Time I Fall (Excess All Areas 2)

He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her. “Was just thinking the same thing. If someone had told me during the particularly painful Christmas dinner at Nan’s house—”

“With pasting tables?”

Jase laughed. “Yeah, with pasting tables, that I’d be standing in this lift with you right now, I’d have laughed.”

Cerys stepped into his space, pressing her body up against his. The feel of her gave him all kinds of ideas that couldn’t be carried out in the seven seconds it would take them to get to the top floors. Instead, he settled for kissing her forehead and savoured the way she leaned into him.

“Ready?” he asked as the lift shuddered to a stop.

“Ahh,” she squealed, standing so close to the doors he was worried she’d hurt herself. “Yes. I’m ready.”

Large multi-paned windows ran along a brick wall. Exposed pipes, beamed ceilings, and wide planked floors revealed so much of the original bones of the building. Large metal doors with a hefty latch opened into a second space, and two sets of staircases ran up to a mezzanine upper level.

Cerys bounded into the space and threw her arms wide. “Look at her, Jase. Isn’t she beautiful?”

Yeah, she fucking was. But Jase was pretty sure she was talking about the studio and not herself. “It’s an incredible space. I saw the plans you got drawn up while you were still in the States, but talk me through it.”

“Okay, so reception desk goes here,” she said, pointing to a space near the lift. “Then, I’m going to add a wall across here to create a lower-level recording studio. I’ll make a kitchen and lounge space right here near the windows. Then upstairs is the largest space, like Studio Two in Detroit, and a smaller space that can double as recording or rehearsal space. Each recording space has this amazing recording console with this phenomenal stereo buss compressor with side chain—”

Jase grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers. Not that he didn’t care about the thirty-six-channel console she’d told him about, repeatedly, since she’d ordered them. But because it was hot when she wasthisCerys. Confident, capable, excited. Heck, she didn’t even need him here.

But he kissed her. Hard at first, then softer as she sank into his arms.

“What was that for?” she asked, placing her palm on the side of his face.

“Just slowing you down from a seventy-eight to a forty-five.”

“Did you just compare me to the revolutions per minute of a record player?”

Jase laughed. “Figured you’d get the analogy.”

Cerys grinned. “It’s a good job I love you.”

“Yeah, it is. I’m a lucky man.”

They stood for a minute, grinning at each other as rain lashed against the windows.

“I’m slightly terrified,” she admitted quietly.

“I know,” he said, reaching for her, kissing her forehead as she curled her arms around his waist.

“What if I can’t do all this?”

He rubbed his hands up and down her back. “You can. And if you get stuck, you can ask your dad for advice. He doesn’t want you to fail.”

He felt her sigh. “I know. But I feel this tension. Like I want to get it all perfect without his help because I want to prove to him I can do this, that I’m capable.”

“You’ll probably impress him more if you demonstrate that you know when to ask for help or advice rather than screwing things up.”

“Stop being sensible, Jason,” she muttered into his jacket.

“That’s not normally a word I get associated with very often.”

Cerys gripped the lapel of his coat, raised up onto her toes and kissed him softly. “Thank you.”

“Does Little Jase get a thank you too?”

She glanced down at her watch. “Not right now, because the construction crew are going to be here any minute.”

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