This title is in transition.
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©2007 Jet Mykles, all rights reserved
“Ki?”
“Hmmm?”
“I found your files.”
Ki stayed where he was, nose still buried in the catalog. “You did? That’s great.”
“They were deleted an hour ago.
That did make the man look up. “You can tell that?”
Aaron frowned at him. “You deleted all your files?”
Ki laughed. “I didn’t expect you to figure it out so soon.”
“What?”
Ki sat up, waving his hand. “Go ahead, put them all back. When you’re done, I need to talk to you.”
Aaron’s hands froze over the keyboard. “You need to talk to me?”
“Mmmm. I’ve a favor to ask.”
“Of me?”
“Of you, yes. Go ahead, finish.”
Confused, Aaron highlighted all the files and clicked for them to restore. He looked up to see Ki grinning at him.
“Don’t scowl! It’s not that bad. I hope you’ll think it’s fun.”
“What?”
“Are you always this suspicious?”
“Yes.”
That made Ki laugh again. Aaron tried not to squirm when that laugh tickled his skin.
“Here it is.” Ki rose and came to lay the catalog in front of Aaron. It was an electronics catalog. Aaron glanced at it, then back up at Ki. “I just bought a new house, and I need help setting up the tech stuff.”
“‘Tech stuff’?”
“You know. TV, hi-fi, stereo surround sound. All that stuff. I’m horrible with it, but I want it. You, I bet, are good with it.”
Cautiously, Aaron reached out to draw the catalog closer. The hi-def televisions did call to him. He couldn’t afford one himself, but he desperately wanted to get his hands on one. He glanced at Ki. Here was the chance, all wrapped up in a tall, slim, gorgeous package.
Stop thinking like that! “I’ve never set one up before,” Aaron hedged.
Ki scoffed. “Yeah, but for a guy like you, it’s a piece of cake.”
“Usually the places where you buy this stuff will come and set it up for you.”
“Yeah, but I want more than that. I’ll bet if you and I work together, we can come up with an amazing system. We could wire the whole house. Remote control. The works!”
From what Aaron had read, Ki could afford to hire a whole crew. “How big’s the house?”
“Three bedrooms, two and a half baths. Oh, yeah, I want sound by the pool and Jacuzzi out back, too.”
Aaron eyed the catalog. Despite his reservations, it did sound like fun. When else would he get a chance to play with that type of equipment? And spend time with Yoshiki? Aaron suppressed a shiver.
Ki leaned on the opposite side of the desk. “C’mon, Aaron, what do you say? What can I do to make it worth your while?”
Aaron tried really hard not to come up with an answer for that. That part of him that was scared to death of other people was curiously quiet. This wasn’t fear of Ki. Not really. This was something else that he didn’t want to think about. He shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“I’ll buy you something. What do you want? New computer? Monitor? Printer? A new car?”
“A car?”
Ki laughed. “Okay, maybe not a car. Although you might be able to talk me into it.” What was that warm grin? “I’ll certainly buy you dinner when we go out shopping.”
“Out shopping?”
“Don’t look so horrified. Don’t you want to see it up-close and personal?”
Aaron fingered the catalog’s glossy pictures.
“C’mon, Aaron. You need to get out. I’m not that bad of company. I’ll keep you entertained.”
That got a smile out of Aaron. He had no doubts Ki could entertain him. In more ways than one. “When do you want to do this?”
“Ha! You’ll do it?”
Aaron’s smile grew, despite himself. “Sure. If you’re sure you want me to.”
“I’m sure. Let’s go tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“You have plans?”
“Well, no …”
“Excellent. You go clock out, and we’ll go. Then I’ll take you out to a late dinner.”
Except for the shopping, this sounded suspiciously like a date. Aaron did his best to erase that thought from his mind.
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