Elements of Retrofit Read Free Page B

Mosconi job,” he murmured.
    I stood up and walked over to him. He’d seen enough job sheets and specifications to recognise it. “Yes, it is.”
    “It’s a beautiful building,” he said, almost shyly. He traced his fingers across the elevations of the plan, along the façade of the building. “The lines are definitive, it’s streamlined and geometric. It speaks of elegance that comes with history, yet it’s sustainable and retrofitted for modern living.” He spoke as though he was thinking out loud, then his eyes darted to mine and he blushed. “Sorry, I get carried away.”
    I’d never seen him shy or even remotely unsure of his own words. It was an emotional reaction, and I liked it. Something else I shouldn’t have noticed.
    I shouldn’t have noticed the blush across his cheeks, or the way his chest rose and fell with each breath. I shouldn’t have noticed how his eyes darkened and I certainly shouldn’t have noticed the lines of his neck, or his jaw, or those of his lips.
    I had to swallow so I could speak. “Don’t apologise. Architecture is a beautiful thing.”
    Cooper’s eyes darted to mine and he held my gaze. “Yes, it is.”
    The air between us was suddenly static and it made my heart thump out of time. Cooper opened his mouth to say something, something I was pretty sure I didn’t want to hear, so I walked quickly back to my desk, putting some distance between us. Jesus Christ. I couldn’t think, I could hardly breathe. He was just a kid, for fuck’s sake. He was the same age as my son.
    I shouldn’t be checking him out. I shouldn’t find him attractive. Or smart. Or clever. Or funny.
    I shouldn’t like the way his eyes sparkled when he learnt something new. I shouldn’t like the way his lips curled when he smiled. I shouldn’t wonder what they felt like, how soft they’d feel against mine.
    Oh, fuck.
    I shook my head and cleared my throat. “I uh, I think…” I tried again. “I’ll be working from home this weekend.”
    “Oh,” Cooper said. I didn’t know what his facial expression was. I didn’t dare look at him. He sounded like he didn’t care. “Okay.”
    “I have a few things to catch up on here, but you can finish early if you like,” I said, dismissing him. I didn’t watch him leave, but when the door clicked softly I looked up to my office and seeing it empty, I finally breathed.
    I needed some space, some breathing room, to get my head cleared of this nonsense. And, like the weekend before, two days working from home where I could lose myself in my work without any distractions was just what I needed.
    Only that was not what happened.
    Saturday morning I got up, threw on some jeans and a T-shirt and set about making coffee. Which became looking for coffee, which became ransacking the kitchen, pulling the pantry apart looking for fucking coffee.
    Then the intercom buzzed. I cursed at the interruption and pressed the button. “What?”
    “Sorry to bother you, Mr Elkin,” Lionel the doorman said. “I have a Cooper Jones here. Says he’s working with you today.”
    I stared at the intercom. “Pardon?”
    I heard a muffled voice, then Lionel spoke again. “Cooper Jones, sir. He says he brought the Lewington files…”
    Shit. Shit. Shit. I cleared my throat. “Um…”
    Lionel’s voice came through the intercom. “He said to say he brought the Lewington files and coffee.” Lionel didn’t exactly sound impressed. “Apparently the coffee is important.”
    I smiled. “Let him up.”
    I opened the door and went back to the kitchen, tidying up the mess, and wrote coffee on the shopping list.
    There was a brief knock at the door. “Hello? Mr Elkin?” Cooper called out.
    “Yes, come in, Cooper,” I replied.
    He walked in, holding a briefcase in one hand, a satchel over his shoulder and a tray of take-out coffee in his other hand. He was wearing suit pants, but no tie or jacket and his shirtsleeves were rolled to his elbows. He was looking every part the