Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 196(@200wpm)___ 157(@250wpm)___ 131(@300wpm)
“You’re saying he’s not here?”
“I’m saying that the people who live here don’t need you climbing their fence. It’s time to leave.”
He led the dejected teens to the gate and made sure they weren’t watching as he keyed in the code, then watched them leave. He knew fame came with a price, but he still couldn’t understand why people believed they had a right to just barge into someone’s life like this.
He’d seen it before, of course. Ajax wasn’t his first famous client. There’d been that last job with the diva who’d never been without his phone. He’d welcomed the invasion of his privacy.
Ajax was so very different. In so many ways.
When he got back inside, Ajax was moving around in the kitchen, the scent of sautéing onions in the air, so Finn walked down the hall that led to the kitchen. Ajax appeared in the doorway and leaned slowly against the jamb.
“Was someone out there?”
“Yeah, some teenagers. One actually seemed properly ashamed so there’s hope for her.”
“So, my whereabouts are out,” he said softly, then sighed as he walked back to the onions. “It always happens, but I thought I’d have more time. How did you know someone was inside the fence?”
Finn walked into the kitchen. He couldn’t very well tell him he could sense them climbing the fence. “Just a gut feeling. Comes in handy with my job.”
“I bet.” Ajax grinned as he used a wooden spoon to stir. “Dinner won’t take long. Hopefully it’s better than last night’s. Your friend, Ivor, was polite, but it was seriously bad. This one smells better already.”
Turned out it smelled way better than it tasted. Bland was the only description Finn could come up with as he tried a third bite of the chicken.
“This sauce actually tastes like nothing. How can something with all those ingredients taste like nothing?” Ajax scowled and shoved his plate away. “Okay, that’s the third recipe I tried off one site. And the chef is popular. I can’t understand why. I followed the recipe exactly.” He shook his head. “This is what I get for doing recipes with easy in the title. I’m sorry, Finn.”
Finn picked up the salt and sprinkled a liberal amount over the food. “It’s still nice that you’re trying. Still a hot, filling meal.”
“That tastes like paper. How about I order us something else?” Ajax pushed away from the table and carried his plate into the kitchen. “You’d have to meet them at the gate.”
“Ajax, I don’t mind eating this.” He put a little more salt on it. Then grabbed the pepper.
“I’m going to have a sandwich. Flavorless food gives me texture issues. And tomorrow night, I’ll use a recipe from a different chef. Something that doesn’t have easy in the title.”
“You really don’t have to cook for me. Most clients don’t.”
“I wanted to learn while I was here anyway.” He’d built himself a thick roast beef sandwich he brought back to the table. He moaned when he took a bite of the sandwich, the noise going straight to Finn’s groin.
He abruptly stood, ignoring Ajax’s startled look and took his plate to the sink. “I’m going outside to make sure we don’t have any more trying to climb the fence.”
“Okay,” Ajax said slowly.
Finn felt the man’s eyes on him as he walked out of the kitchen.
Chapter Seven
Finn
A small crowd grew overnight outside the gate. Finn stayed out of sight but kept an eye on them the whole next morning. He felt bad for Ajax, who only wanted time alone to create his solo music. Of course, he’d chosen a career that could bring fame, so he had to be used to this.
When Finn let himself into the house, it was filled with someone else’s music. It was a dreamy sort of music with a soft male voice and an appealing melody. He walked into the kitchen to find Ajax slowly dancing in place, a rapt expression on his face as he sang along with lyrics that talked about losing themself in the feeling and taking it back to that moment before starting to feel broken.
When the song was over, Ajax opened his eyes, caught Finn watching him and instead of being startled or embarrassed as one usually does when caught dancing alone, he only gave Finn a smile. “Enjoy that song?”
Finn nodded. “Why did you get into the harder music when you love this kind so much?”
“Because I love that, too. I’m currently kind of obsessed with Sleep Token. There’s beauty to be found in all kinds of music. That was “Be Slow” by Harrison Storm—just love his work. But I’ve yearned to write this sort of music for years, and it was finally time to take a step back from the band and get these songs down.”
Even though it was personal and hella nosy, Finn couldn’t help asking, “Did your breakup have anything to do with the timing?”