Heartsville 02 - Unscripted (Nico Jaye) (4 page)

Teddy’s mind shot straight to how Carter sounded when he came. He felt his cheeks burn again.

Aaron chuckled and clapped him on the back. “Good luck, and keep me posted.”

“Thanks, Aaron.” Teddy watched Aaron move behind the counter and say something to Simon, who laughed and nodded. Teddy smiled to himself, thinking about how Heartsville’s community was more a family than simply neighbors.

Deciding to take the rest of his muffin to go, Teddy grabbed it and set his plate on the sideboard. He had a lot of work to do, and now was as good a time as any to start.

Chapter Three

Within a few days, Teddy was back in the swing of things. After some soul-searching, he’d chalked up his encounter with Carter as a horny one-afternoon stand, and like it or not, he recognized he was likely just one in a long line of notches in Carter’s bedpost. Rather than dwell on it, Teddy had concentrated on keeping things running at the Oasis and figuring out what he needed to do as its new owner. They managed to get the whole place decorated for Halloween only a week later than the usual schedule, and yesterday he’d received the copy of the deed from the estate lawyer. He felt on top of things because he’d already had it signed and notarized. It’d been a poignant moment, but he’d reminded himself that this was what Richard wanted.

The Oasis was in good hands.

“Of course. Yes, next week Thursday at noon would be great,” Teddy said, trying to maintain a professional air when all he wanted to do was dance in his chair. “I look forward to meeting you too.”

He hung up with a grin and pulled up his calendar to enter it into his schedule. The director of community outreach for the Chicago Metropolitan Theater would be visiting with an eye toward sponsorship and future donations, both in-kind and monetary. While the Oasis ran quite well on its own between the small grants it received from Heartsville’s community board and ticket sales, as well as smaller, local sponsors, receiving the attention of a big-time player like the CMT was completely unexpected—and would hopefully help the theater in the long term.

Teddy did a quick scroll of the next couple weeks of his schedule: 2015’s
Heartsville’s Got Talent
competition, the weekend showing of a local theater company’s modern adaptation of
Twelfth Night
, the one-woman show from local-entertainer-gone-national Lorraine Prinz, and, to cap off the month, the annual Halloween special of a live performance of
The
Rocky Horror Picture Show
.

Scrolling back up, Teddy’s gaze caught the new entry for the meeting next Thursday with Paul Aston, and he grinned again. Paul would be there during the dress rehearsals for
Twelfth Night
, which should show the Oasis in the best light possible.

Teddy gave in to the impulse and wiggled in his chair, throwing in a fist pump for good measure. “Yes, yes, yessss!”

A cleared throat sounded from the doorway.

Freezing mid–fist pump, Teddy slowly swiveled around and looked up.

Carter Monroe.

All six-foot-something, thousand-dollar suit, and tastefully-trimmed dark stubble of him.

Abruptly, Teddy lowered his arms and stood.

“Carter, hi….” Teddy approached him, extending his hand. It felt a little odd offering a handshake to someone who’d sucked his cock, but what else could he do?

The glint in Carter’s eyes suggested he knew the train of Teddy’s thoughts, but mercifully Carter didn’t voice them. “Teddy,” Carter said, shaking his hand and looking down at him with a hint of a smile.

At five foot nine, Teddy was pretty content with his height, especially considering it was average for his family. With Carter looming over him, however, he found himself wishing for a few extra inches.

Clearing his throat, Teddy gestured toward the seat by his desk near the entrance to the office space. An ancient yet extremely cozy green corduroy loveseat held up the near wall, and Richard’s desk—which had been unoccupied for almost three months already—sat in the far corner. With its sole window on the far wall and a pair of mostly ornamental wall sconces for lighting, the office was dim in the way of most structures nearing their hundredth birthday.

“I came by to talk about the Oasis,” Carter said as he took a seat and casually crossed his legs at the ankles.

Teddy nodded and moved to sit behind his desk. “And…?”

“And I thought about what you said. I should at least see what it’s about, do a little further investigation.” Carter’s shapely lips quirked up, and Teddy tried not to get distracted. “In my line of business, we perform due diligence, and oftentimes there’s a short window of opportunity to get it all done. With the Oasis, there isn’t a time pressure other than an overall uptick in the real estate market, so I’ve decided to take a… hands-on approach to the analysis.”

Teddy’s gaze automatically dropped to Carter’s hands, which he’d clasped in his lap. Teddy blinked a few times, his brain catching up to the unexpected words, and felt his mouth drop open in surprise. Looking back up, he caught a look on Carter’s face that had him snapping his mouth shut and, inexplicably, blushing.

“So you’re nixing the sale?” A hopeful smile spread across Teddy’s lips.

Carter arched a brow. “For now,” he clarified. “I’ll admit the decision to sell was hasty, so I’m here to come up with a schedule for me to take a closer look at the place.”

Nodding eagerly, Teddy began shuffling papers around on his desk because he needed something to do with his hands or else he’d begin fist pumping for the second time that afternoon. “Okay, well, why don’t you come by—”

“I’ve cleared my calendar on Thursday and Friday afternoons through the end of the month,” Carter supplied smoothly.

Teddy stopped his nervous movements and glanced up. Carter offered him a look that revealed nothing of his thoughts.

“Oh, well, yeah… yeah, that would be fine too,” Teddy stammered out. It was Friday afternoon today, so did that mean…? “Do you want a tour right now?”

Carter smiled at him and straightened in his seat. “Yes, if you have the time,” he said in a way suggesting he was used to having others fit him into their schedules, regardless of the time.

Cocky bastard.

Teddy narrowed his gaze at him but refrained from saying anything. He’d pick his battles, and already he’d won one today. Swallowing back his retort, Teddy mustered up an answering smile. “Sure, let’s do it right now.”

Carter’s brow ticked upward, and Teddy tried to smother the flames crawling up his cheeks at what he’d just said. Given their history, that phrase could definitely be construed another way. Manfully ignoring that train of thought, Teddy cleared his throat and stood. Carter followed his lead after a moment.

“Ahem. Well, this is the manager’s office where I take care of a lot of the administrative things,” Teddy said, his gesture encompassing the small space. “A fair number of the shows are smaller productions, so they appreciate the help with marketing and reaching people in the community.”

“How do you pick which ones to produce?” Carter had turned away and was looking over the handful of posters Teddy had hung above the ugly green couch. Teddy rotated them out every so often when there was a production he particularly enjoyed.

“Well, we’re not a producing theater, so we don’t have a dedicated theater company. The Oasis is a presenting theater, which in our case means our performances come from a combination of renting it out to small shows and events and seeking out theater companies with productions we find interesting. And all in all, we try to keep things in line with the Oasis’s artistic vision.”

Carter chewed on that explanation for a moment before glancing over at Teddy. “Okay, so not anybody can just come by, pick a date, then throw some money at you.”

“Exactly,” Teddy said. He wrinkled his nose at the idea and couldn’t help noticing Carter’s lip quirk up. “We’re focused on bettering the community and broadening its horizons. We have to be smart about our selections because we want to keep our loyal patrons coming back for more. Ultimately, we aim to push the boundaries but not trample over them.”

“Right. And who makes those decisions?”

Teddy pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Malik is our artistic director, and he scouts out productions before presenting them. Then, the three of us would decide which ones we’d invite, but with Richard gone, I guess… it’d be between you, me, and Malik.”

Carter hummed, in effect acknowledging the statement, but giving no opinion on it. Teddy tried not to fidget as Carter moved around the office. He paused in front of Richard’s desk, eyeing the array of photos tacked to the wall, and when Carter leaned closer to inspect one in particular, Teddy burned with curiosity.

“Uncle Richard,” Carter said, turning back around.

“Yeah,” Teddy said softly. “He was a good man.”

Carter nodded. His striking eyes suggested much more story than the quiet “Yeah, he was” that Carter finally offered.

Teddy cleared his throat. It was none of his business, even if he was curious.

“I can show you around the place now,” Teddy said, tilting his head in the direction of the hallway.

Nodding again, Carter offered him a half smile and began walking toward the door.

Teddy followed, trying to ignore the warmth in his belly that blossomed at the look.

Showtime
, Teddy thought with a blush at the memories of their encounter the word conveyed.

Ready or not, it was showtime for the Oasis.

***

Teddy was surprised by how smoothly the tour went, but as Aaron had predicted, Carter was the epitome of calm professionalism. If Teddy thought he’d caught Carter’s gaze straying in the direction of his ass on occasion, it was so subtle that it was possible Teddy could’ve imagined it entirely.

After checking out the dressing rooms and green room, they’d walked through the backstage area, and Teddy explained to Carter the ways the curtains operated and the different lighting schematics available. Teddy knew the basic information, but the Oasis offered a couple of part-time workers for the production companies who didn’t employ their own specialists.

As they walked through the front of the house, Teddy commented on the general schedule. “We usually have around four performances a week. Last night, we had the fall concert for Heartsville’s community orchestra, so today we’ll be cleaning up from that and preparing for Sunday’s talent competition. Then the following weekend there’s a community play, plus dress rehearsals on the days beforehand. We keep ourselves busy, don’t we, Dawn?” Teddy added, smiling at the curly-haired blonde who was changing out posters in the lobby.

Dawn shut the display case and turned around with a smile that displayed silvery braces. “Sure do, Teddy. The talent show graphics turned out awesome, by the way,” she said, gesturing behind her.

Teddy glanced up and nodded. “Yeah, they did,” he said, smiling back at her. “Dawn, this is Carter Monroe. Carter….” Teddy hesitated, debating whether to tell her Carter was a co-owner of the Oasis. With everything potentially in limbo, Teddy didn’t know if that was a good idea.

“I have a business interest in the Oasis,” Carter finished. He offered his hand, which Dawn shook promptly. “Hi, Dawn.”

“Hi, Mr. Monroe.”

“You can call me Carter, okay?” Carter said, smiling when Dawn nodded. Carter tilted his head inquisitively. “You’re a little young to be working here, aren’t you?” He glanced at Teddy with a raised brow.

“Oh, I’m actually a volunteer,” she said with a quick laugh that caused her fluffy ponytail to bounce. “At Lincoln, we have community service hours each year, so I help at the theater.”

“Dawn began volunteering here last year with her girlfriend, Stephanie,” Teddy mentioned. “How’s she doing, by the way?”

“Oh, she’s doing a lot better, thanks. She should be back on her feet next week.” Dawn looked at Carter and grimaced. “Steph broke her leg during a field hockey game.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Carter said.

“Thanks,” Dawn said with a flash of her braces. “I’m going to visit her after finishing up here.”

“Why’d you choose to volunteer at the theater?” Carter asked, a curious note in his voice.

“Well, a lot of my friends do soup kitchens or river cleanups and stuff, but Steph and I thought it’d be cool to see how to run a business. It’s interesting to learn what goes into the plays and stuff, and since I want to have my own company one day, it’s really important for me to see how everything works together.”

Carter raised his brows. “Your own company?”

Dawn nodded earnestly. “Yes, I want to create my own baking business. It’ll start as a standalone bakery but hopefully will spread into a number of bakeries. We’ll focus on kids’ themes and specialize in children’s gatherings where we can do hands-on baking with the kids at their parties. Parents won’t have to worry about ingredients, decorations, or cleanup because we’ll handle all of that.”