A Better Man (The Men of Halfway House) (6 page)

Matt didn't know exactly what to say at the unexpected gesture. There was no snarky comeback, no teasing, nothing. Just an unanticipated act of consideration. Something he hadn't been used to for a few years. "Thanks," he said softly.

Julian glanced at him over his shoulder. "You're welcome." He turned and started to dig in the wall with both hands while he held the flashlight in his mouth.

Matt took a sip of his still warm drink, walked over to Julian's work area and sat next to him. "So, what's the verdict? How are we looking for the essentials?"

Julian pulled out a handful of ripped and exposed wires from the wall. He took the flashlight out of his mouth and looked up at Matt with a half smile. "I think we might get power pretty damn soon." He reached over to his tool kit and grabbed a few items then started to cut and join wires.

"Do you think the wiring and plumbing are decent?" Matt asked and sat on the floor next to him.

Julian kept working. "Well, the electrical seems to generally be okay except for this one section and another one on the upper level. I'll know more once the walls are exposed, that'll also give me a chance to check structural issues. I can do a preliminary check with the equipment in my truck but I can't do a full test until we've actually got power. I already checked the stairs and they seemed solid enough, except for some of the railing. The water is okay, there was only one spot with a leak in the pipe but I already took care of that and—"

"Wait a minute. How long have you been working?"

"For a couple of hours. I'm almost finished with this, then I can—"

"Julian, did you sleep at all?" Matt couldn't help but be concerned, even though Julian looked like he was ready to work, he was, after all, tinkering with electrical wiring.

"Enough. New place, adjusting. Typical stuff," Julian said with a wave in the air. "Besides, you've got a Starbucks at the end of the street," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "A quad shot keeps me running for a while."

Matt laughed. He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was simply to see that there was still a little humor between them after the clusterfuck the night before. He grinned when he saw Julian's full smile. It seemed to soften his features and brighten his entire face.

"Listen, Matt. I'm sorry about last night," Julian said as he stood. "I know I can be an ass sometimes but I…" He paused as if searching for the right word. Even though he was lost in thought, he extended his hand to Matt who was still sitting.

Matt reached for the large, warm hand Julian offered and got up. He took another sip of his drink and watched Julian pace as he tried to get his thoughts together. Seemed the tables were turned and now Julian was the one fumbling for words.

"I didn't mean to piss you off or offend you. I can keep things straight-up business, no problem," Julian finally finished his thought. He stuffed his hands in his jeans and looked down.

"I'm sorry too. It was a bad day. No excuse but the heat, or the…I don't know. Everything. Truce?" Matt said, extending his hand.

"Truce," Julian said with a soft tone in his voice and a firm handshake. "Thanks."

They looked at each other for a little longer than was needed to cement the peace offering.

Julian finally broke the silence. "How about we take a look at those plans of yours? I'm in the mood to rip up a few walls."

It was the moment of truth. Matt hoped Julian didn't have a bullshit detector in his tool kit. Otherwise, his entire plan could just go to shit and he'd have to start at square one again.

Game on.

* * * *

Julian followed Matt to a folding table in the large open area. He wasn't exactly sure what the man planned to do with the house, but it was obvious to him it wasn't a traditional business like those found along the same street. Matt had a look of deep concentration on his face as he laid out the plans, trapping the ends of the blueprints under some tools. Julian inched closer to get a better look. He leaned over a little more, unable to resist brushing his arm against his new boss. Matt stiffened and Julian immediately regretted the gesture.
Keep it business
, he reminded himself. He took a deep breath and a slight step away then focused on the plans.

He studied the lines and numbers of the technical drawing, and within a space of seconds, was mentally transported into the center of each room with a full three-sixty view of each area. He could easily see the slope of the roof, the natural sunlight entering the rooms, the built-ins that would work on the walls for the open space. His fingers traced the white outline drawings of each room as his mind wandered in the virtual tour.

"Offices," Matt blurted out, interrupting his mental build of the space.

Julian had worked with many contractors in the last few years and he'd never seen a series of offices together like this, all with their own bathrooms. That just didn't make sense for an office setting, certainly not offices of this size.

"Each with their own bathrooms?" Julian asked. It was obvious the guy was not being completely transparent with his plans. Julian's only consolation was that Matt had purchased a building in the middle of downtown, had a discussion with Building and Zoning regarding his business, and had discussed his plans with an architect. All items which could not have taken place if the business wasn't legit. If Matt was going to bullshit him, he should have come up with something a little more believable.

Matt nodded in response and looked away. Damn, he looked good when his cheeks flushed red like that.

Julian continued to look at the blueprints, his finger grazing the lines of each room, cataloging each measurement and angle. "Built-in closets too?"

Matt nodded again. "Yes. I want a nice room…office…setup for each," he responded hurriedly.

"Closets are what define a bedroom. So if you are planning for
offices
," he said, emphasizing the word, "then you shouldn't include closets because they'll bump up your property taxes. Offices normally have file cabinets for storage."

Matt ran his fingers through his hair, a gesture Julian had quickly learned Matt did when he was nervous. "I don't care. I want a nice room with closets and a full bathroom for each."

Matt was obviously not budging and Julian wasn't willing to push and risk pissing off his new boss, again. "So it looks like we've got six full spaces upstairs with closets and full bathrooms. Downstairs I see what looks like two traditional offices, a large kitchen, and a half bath aside from the open space."

"Yes."

"So you're sticking with the office story?" Julian asked with a raised eyebrow.

Matt looked at him and ran his hands through his hair again. Julian hoped the man never played poker because his tells were a dead giveaway. Matt nodded as he began to pull on his lower lip with his thumb and index finger. "Um, yeah."

"Offices don't have full kitchens like this. They have a space for a microwave, table, small countertop area, and a fridge. Not full appliances and definitely not one this size if you plan on having six executives upstairs."

Matt sighed as his shoulders slouched. Julian liked to give Matt a hard time, but that was mainly to get a rise out of him, to wind him up, not tear him down. He certainly didn't like this defeated look in the man. If he was supposed to believe these were offices for one reason or another, fine, he could play along.

"Okay, so offices," Julian said to fill the silence.

Matt looked up and his eyes rounded with complete surprise.

"Out of curiosity, why didn't you set up the kitchen next to the open area to give it that open concept feel?" Considering the rest of the building was laid out like a house, it just made sense.

"I want the kitchen and eating area to be isolated. So only cooking and eating happens there, quiet time with no television or interruptions."

Julian nodded then reached over to the folder Matt had placed on the side table and scanned the permits in the file. "I see you've already got the first set of basic permits."

Matt quickly nodded in response.

"Based on the plans, I need to tear down most of the walls in the building. I'm going to need a supplier for the wood beams, wiring, pipes, insulations, flooring, and roof, plus a few other things. Do you have a preferred supplier you want to work with?"

Matt shook his head. "I'll leave that up to you. I'm assuming you have contacts for this type of work."

"Yup," Julian responded and began making notes in his notebook. He noticed Matt craned his neck to look at what he was writing. Julian couldn't help the tease and turned away his notebook, pressing it to his chest, trying to hide what he had written.

"What are you writing?" Matt asked.

"Notes."

"Can I see?"

What the hell did Matt think he was writing in his notebook aside from, well, freaking notes? He wasn't the type of guy to keep a journal or write down anything private he didn't want someone to know about.

"Why? It's private," he teased with a smirk.

Matt shrugged and pursed his lips. Julian thought the gesture was even more appealing than the flush of the man's cheeks. He was going to have a hell of a time trying to keep this all business.

"I'm a song writer in my spare time," he deadpanned as he turned the notebook over to show him.

Matt quickly looked up with surprise and was immediately drawn to the notebook.

"Beams, pipes, wires," Julian began in a tone deaf singsong voice.

Matt chuckled and playfully shoved Julian. "I'm going to have to get better with picking up on your jokes if we're going to live under the same roof for a year."

Julian chuckled. "I've noticed you're a little slow on the uptake sometimes. We'll have to work on that," he responded with a quirk of his lips. When a smile slowly spread across Matt's face, Julian knew he was going to be in trouble.

"Okay."

Julian cleared his throat and tried to focus on what he needed to do. "So as far as supplies, how do you want to do this? Do you have an account set up or do you want to work with receipts?"

"I can go with you and pay if you want or reimburse you for receipts, either works fine. I do want to help where I can with any of the manual stuff. I know this isn't my area, but I'm a quick study and can help with any lifting you need."

Julian nodded. "Then we need to make sure we get you some safety glasses and gloves on our first trip for supplies. I'm going to do another round of the place and write up a few lyrics in my notes," he said, slapping the notebook against his other hand.

Matt immediately shook his head and huffed a laugh. "You're not going to let me live this down, are you?"

"Absolutely not," he said with a smile. "Once I've got a list, then we'll head out to the store for some supplies and get started." He grabbed the plans, rolled them up, and headed upstairs to do another walkthrough of the space now knowing what was required. Midway up the steps, he stopped and turned. "Hey, Matt?"

"Yeah?"

Julian exhaled and spun the rolled plans in his hands, not exactly sure how to say what he wanted to say. "Bed and breakfast."

Matt looked at him, perplexed.

"The next time you talk about the place, if you don't want to tell someone what you're actually building, say
bed and breakfast
rather than offices. It's more believable."

Matt stilled and, to his credit, didn't look away this time. "Okay," he responded weakly to Julian's firm, scrutinizing gaze.

Julian curtly nodded and turned to continue his trek upstairs. He knew he wasn't building offices but had enough sense to know that what he was building was something Matt felt the need to guard closely. Thinking back to the blueprints, Julian couldn't imagine a more welcoming place, and he was happy the house was going to have the chance to show how beautiful she could be. Regardless of his curiosity, it wasn't his business what Matt ultimately wanted to do with the space. But deep down, a part of him had hoped Matt would have trusted him enough to have told him the truth.

Chapter 6

"So you're just going to sit out here?" Sam asked as he leaned against the porch and finished off his bottled water.

Matt looked up at him from his spot on the porch steps. "I'll go in after a while," he mumbled. "I'm not ready yet."

Sam looked and him with a smirk and shook his head.

Matt had to look away. In his mind, he knew he needed to separate work from personal. He needed to have some control over the project and the new direction in his life. When Julian arrived a few days ago, everything just went to shit. The lines were blurred and whenever he was close, Matt just couldn't seem to focus at all.

He was all gung-ho on trying to help with the demolition. He had his new goggles and gloves ready to go and was inspired to help Julian demo the walls. Julian broke through some of the drywall first to check for load bearing walls, then handed Matt a sledgehammer and gave him a little direction.

The first hit to the wall resulted in nothing. To say it was embarrassing would have been the understatement of the century.