Page 28 of Archer

With that, he dashed out the door. I chuckled, hoping that he meant it and really would be back.

Chapter 12

Archer

I had session after session today with people wanting to get their family pictures made for the holidays. It seemed like every year, once the fall season hit, people would panic and realize they needed new photos for their family Christmas cards or holiday letters, and it was all I could do to fit everyone in.

I’d always rather be out somewhere taking the pictures I wanted instead of being cooped up in the studio taking portrait shots, but even that couldn’t ruin my good mood today.

I’d pretty much given up on finding the right boy for me, choosing to focus on my work instead, and yet there he was right here in the Windsor. Because after our date last night, Iwas more convinced than ever that Crispin was exactly that… the right boy for me.

The only thing I hadn’t considered was how hard it was going to be to resist popping into his studio to say hello or to check on him throughout the day. The fact that I didn’t want to ruin the Zen or whatever you called that calm, peaceful feeling he created for his students was the only reason I managed it. Otherwise, I’d have already gone there, probably more than once. He was so focused on his business and taking care of the people who came to his classes that he didn’t do anywhere near a good enough job of taking care of himself.

I remembered Crispin saying his late class tonight started at seven, so I was hoping to catch him between classes on my way by to the bar to meet up with the guys before I went upstairs and crashed hard. I finished up my last photo shoot with about twenty minutes to spare, so I took my time cleaning up and organizing my studio so I’d be ready for the next day. Once that was done, and I thought I’d killed enough time, I locked up and headed across the lobby to his studio.

When I walked up, the door was open, and people were on their way out. During the time we were setting up his webpage, he’d mentioned that the weekends were the busiest time for him, so I wasn’t surprised to see so many people on their way out.

I poked my head in to see what he was doing, just in time to watch him bend over and pick up a stray foam block that was sitting on the floor. Damn, the boy had a great ass, and those yoga pants did nothing to hide it. But I wasn’t here to ogle the man. I was here to check on him.

“Hey, Crispin,” I said, walking closer.

He stood up and turned around. “Archer,” he said with a big smile before stepping toward me.

I brushed a quick kiss across his lips and took a step back before I created a scene in front of the people who were still around. “How’s your day going?”

“It’s been great. I had two new students this morning who signed up for more yoga classes, and I had a person who showed up for the sound healing class that had never been before. “They have a couple singing bowls of their own and wanted to see what it was like just sitting in that space with someone else playing. I’m pretty sure they’ll be back.”

“That’s fantastic,” I said. “Have you taken a break or had anything to eat?”

“I had a snack. Don’t worry, I’m not about to fall out or anything.”

He had a snack. What exactly did that mean? A mid-afternoon snack? Or all he’d had all day was a snack? I was afraid to ask, but this was something we’d be talking about later.

“How long is this last class?”

“About an hour.”

I checked my watch to see what time that would be. “I’ll stop back by when you’re done.”

“You could stay for yoga, you know. It’s great for stress, and it would probably help get rid of that grumpy face you make when you’re thinking about being bossy.”

Apparently, I hadn’t hidden my displeasure with his answer about taking a break very well.

“Sweet boy, you haven’t seen me bossy yet. But I don’t think I’m up for yoga. Like I said, I’ll see you when your class is over.”

I headed on over to the bar. Hitch and Bram were there, and so was Cort. I took a seat next to him and motioned for Quincy to bring me a drink. “Hey, guys.” I nodded at them and turned to Cort. “I’m glad you’re here. I have an idea I want to run past you.”

“Sure, what’s that?”

“I take a lot of pictures in the area, especially in the park. Most of them I never use, but I don’t delete anything. I wondered if you wanted to stop by my studio and go through them. It would be really time-consuming, but you might see something that would help you in your search.”

“What do you mean by a lot?” Hitch asked. “I know you always have your camera with you, but I wouldn’t think there was that much around here of interest.”

“Seriously?” I glanced around the room until I found something that was possibly photo-worthy. “Look at the ceiling over there in that corner.” I pointed to a spot where the light from the old stained-glass shade that hung from the ceiling over the pool table shown on the ceiling, causing there to be tiny little colorful circles to dance there as it swayed. “That would make a great photo, but to get just the right shot, I’d need to take a bunch in a row and then go through them and pick out the best one.”

“Of little circles of light?” Hitch looked at me doubtfully.

“Sure, and that’s what I do everywhere, so who knows what I might have captured.”