Secret Designs(33)

"It wasn't that," he chuckled. "I wanted to come down so I can properly say hello to you."

"In the car park of your building?" she teased.

"Better than having Trey and Adam watch us kiss," he said as he pulled her to him and captured her lips.

They were still kissing sweetly when a voice intruded. "Hey, we were wondering what was keeping you two."

Dylan sighed and released Ari. "What do you mean, Adam? I came down here less than five minutes ago."

"Actually, I wanted to borrow the picnic blanket you have in the back of your car," Adam said. "Since you were down here already …"

"I don't have my car key with me," Dylan said.

"Oh. Later then," Adam said then turned to Ari. "Hi, beautiful. Great to see you again."

"Hi, Adam. Great to see you, too."

"Isn't it handy being able to park in Dylan's extra car spot?" Adam asked conversationally as they walked to the elevators. "It's ridiculously hard to find parking around here on Saturday nights—at any time, in fact."

"Yes. I was just thinking that," Ari responded. "The last time I was here was when Jasmine took me to Dylan's birthday. We had to park at that public car park a few blocks away because we couldn't find any street parking nearby."

"That would have been a fair walk for you," Dylan said with a frown.

"It was," Ari said with a short laugh. "It was tough on the feet when you're wearing party high heels."

He put an arm around her shoulders. "Well, you don't need to worry about that anymore. My friends do bay for my extra spot whenever they drive to this part of town. But all you need to do is tell me when you'll be around and no one else can take it."

She smiled at him, then turned to Adam.

"Where did you park, Adam?" she asked.

"At the public car park you were talking about," Adam responded.

"Oh. Do you usually park in here when you visit Dylan?"

"Yes."

"So I took your usual spot?" Ari's face was pink.

"Yes. I wrestled with Dylan for it earlier, and I lost. So you get the spot."

"Sorry," she said in a small voice. "Maybe next time it should be first come, first served."

Adam laughed. "Don't worry about it. I don't wear high heels."

"What about Trey? Where does he park?"

"He only lives a couple of blocks away."

Dylan hid a smile as he listened to Ari and Adam's conversation. He knew Adam came down to begin the ISAG and that extra parking spot was a good place to start. Women he'd allowed to park there always ended up acting princessy and got all miffed when he turned them down subsequently. Like he said, Ari was different. Adam seemed to accept that. He wasn't probing anymore.

But Adam had always been a softie. Trey was another story.





*******



"So Ari, do you like living in Burwood?" Trey asked as they ate Dylan's passable attempt at homemade pizzas.

"Yes. Where I am is convenient. It's a couple of minutes walk away from the shopping mall."

"Dylan and I love living around here. What do you think of Potts Point?"

"I love this area. It's convenient, vibrant, a short walk to the CBD."

"Which would you prefer, Burwood or Potts Point?" Trey prodded.

Ari gave him a "you're kidding, right?" look. "If I could afford to live here, I would prefer it here. But having said that, I don't mind living in Burwood at all."

"You plan to stay there for a while, Ari?" Adam asked.

Ari took a deep breath. "Well, I hope I can stay where I am. I really like it there."

"You hope?" Dylan asked.

"Well, I'm thinking of moving," Ari said cautiously.

"Why?"

"I don't really need two bedrooms so I thought I'd find a one-bedroom place."

"But your other bedroom is your work room. It has your sewing machine in it," Dylan said, confused.

Ari shrugged. "The machine's not big. It can fit anywhere."

"Is it because you haven't found another job yet?" Dylan asked with concern. Was she having financial problems?

"There's not a lot of opening for what I do, so times are a little tough for me," she said with a nervous laugh.

Dylan caught how Trey glanced at Adam before his buddy gave him a warning look. He could almost hear what Trey wanted to say out loud. "Don't bite. Don't offer her anything at this point. You don't know her well enough."

"We can talk about it later," he said to Ari.

Trey narrowed his eyes at him.

"Hey, I've been considering renting out my spare room. It could be cheaper than you paying for your two-bedder in Burwood," Trey said to Ari.