Cleats in Clay Read Free Page B

phone.”
Bobby gave her a friendly wave. “Heya.”
Gertie started to say something else, but her eyes drifted over to the clay horse on the worktable. “Odis.” She sucked in a breath. “That thing is hideous!”
“That’s why I backed out of the equestrian job. Unless you think maybe they’d want it?”
“Lord have mercy, no! That thing needs destroyed!”
“No!” Bobby yelled out, surprised by the sound of his own voice. “It’s Art. Can’t destroy Art.” He almost giggled from the way his voice gave art a capital letter.
Maybe he did giggle.
He glanced over and Odis was grinning at him. He could feel the heat of Odis’s handprint still on his arm.
Gertie looked over at Bobby. “Odis!” She clucked her tongue. “Honestly, I send you a client and you get him stoned out of his gourd.”
“Just a couple of tokes to help the man relax.”
“You sure it wasn’t a couple of bongs?”
Bobby giggled at the way the word “bong” seemed to keep echoing in his head. Bong . Bong . He looked over at Odis again. He was still talking to “his sister,” to Gertie, but their words were boring and he didn’t pay any attention. Bobby just looked at Odis’s face as he talked. The way his darkpink lips moved to form words. The way his Viking nose sat boldly on his face, strong and straight. The way the tiny lines around Odis’s eyes seemed to flicker and dance as he spoke.
Odis had a very handsome face.
Bobby gazed lower. Odis had a nice body. Odis had big feet.
“Mr. Lane!” Gertie’s voice said again.
Bobby looked over at Gertie. “Me?”
“Yes, you. I’m glad you found the place. I would offer to have you follow me back to the B and B and I’d give you a room, but you’re obviously in no condition to drive. So there’s a free room at the B and B when you sober up enough to make it back to town.”
“In town, the B and B in town.”
Gertie smiled tightly. “Right. Free room.”
“Free room, okey dokey.”
Bobby looked up again at the door, but Gertie had disappeared.
Odis put his hand on Bobby’s back. “Right, then, let’s get you back in the house.”
The hand on his back felt so large and warm. Bobby took careful steps as the hand gently pushed him forward. The floor didn’t seem to be exactly where it was supposed to be.
Chapter 2
     
A
FTER some walking, Bobby was back at the patio table. Odis said something about a drink.
    Heim came over and sat next to him, putting her chin on his knee. Bobby reached down and touched her head. Her fur felt so soft, like warm melted chocolate. Heimdalla looked up at him with kind eyes as he rubbed and patted her head.
    Odis set a mug of coffee on the table in front of him.
Bobby sat up and took the mug. He carefully took a sip. It wasn’t coffee at all. It was sweet and chocolaty with just a tiny hint of bitter. The warm flavor danced on his tongue and in his throat. This was the best chocolate he had ever tasted.
Bobby looked up when he heard a chuckle. Odis was smiling at him. “You seem to be enjoying that mocha.”
Bobby smiled. “Yep. It’s good.”
Odis laughed. “You’re stoned,” he teased.
Bobby just grinned without replying and took another sip. He gazed up at Odis over his mug.
“So,” Odis said. “You keep lookin’ at me.”
“You keep lookin’ at me,” Bobby warmly echoed back.
“I asked you first.”
Words. Bobby didn’t want words. Words got in the way. After all the friendly touching in the studio, Bobby wanted action. “Just kiss me.”
Odis looked surprised. “And what makes ya think I’d be inclined to do that?”
“You keep lookin’ at me.”
“Really, now?” As he tilted his head, Odis grew a crooked grin. “But what if I’m mostly straight?”
“Mostly? That leaves a bunch a wiggle room.”
Odis chuckled. “And what exactly are you looking to wiggle?”
Bobby sat forward. The buzz was thinning out, but he still felt strangely comfortable. “What do you mean by ‘mostly straight’?”
“Like most artists, I