Jamie grunted and kept his teeth tight on the pencil as he moved carefully across the scaffolding, measuring the width of the window. This definitely had to be the biggest job he'd ever gotten, and certainly the most lucrative. Eric DeSalvo was one of the most well-known—and the richest—private collector of art and 'treasures' in New Brunswick, and he'd paid Jamie a substantial figure to work for him.

Five feet wide. Damn. Jamie shook his head and leaned down carefully, fumbling blindly for the small pad where he kept his notes. Soon as he had it, and he jotted down the dimensions for one of the stained glass windows he had to make: five feet wide by six feet tall. Good Lord Almighty. There were nine more windows Eric wanted as well.

Setting his Stetson back a bit, a lock of black hair fell forward, almost covering his right eye as he watched the few people milling about—five feet below.

As a man entered the house, he looked around. The butler approached him and bowed his head to him.

"Is Eric anywhere nearby, Smith?"

"Mr. DeSalvo is in conference right now, but he wants you to wait for him, Mr. Williams."

"No problem, I guess." Shrugging, the man turned away from the butler and moved to the one of the chairs against the wall. Jamie turned and watched as the new arrival sat down. Damn fine. Jamie wondered what such a young man would be doing at Eric DeSalvo's private estate. Turning slowly so as not to shake the scaffolding too much, Jamie finally managed to climb down, almost jumping to his feet right in front of…Oh. Very pretty.

"Sorry if I startled you," he said. Tucking the tape measure into his shirt pocket, he tipped his hat at the man.

The young man jumped slightly, surprised to see Jamie.

"Nah, it's okay." After eyeing the scaffolding, his gaze turned back to the cowboy. "Out of curiosity, what's going on? Or is it a top secret project?"

Looking up, Jamie chuckled. "Name's Jamie Holland. Mr. DeSalvo commissioned me to do several windows—stained glass." He took in the young man's features, trying not to look like he was doing it. Lord, the man was sweet lookin'. Eyes the color of the finest sherry, sweet lips just beggin' for a kiss. Oh yeah, he looks fine. Mighty fine.

"Seems like we're both here on business. I'm Adrian Williams." As he stood up, he held out his hand, offering it to Jamie. "Pleasure to meet you."

Jamie resisted the temptation to lick his lips. Or, better yet, lick Adrian's lips. Lord, what he could imagine. He shook his head quickly as he took Adrian's hand. "Pleasure's mine," he said, tipping his hat again.

"So what're you here for? Or is that secret?" He gave Adrian a quick wink, his voice a smooth Texas drawl.

"I find things Eric wants and get them for him." A casual shrug accompanied the words, and after a moment he let go of Jamie's hand.

A loud voice reverberated from one of the halls. "Damn pink elephants. Get the hell out of my house."

Rolling his eyes, Adrian lowered his voice, "I'm guessing Uncle Albert had a bit too much brandy again."

Jamie blinked. "Uncle—Albert? Lord, Lord. What have I left Texas for?"

Before Adrian could say another, a workman suddenly careened around the corner, seeming to flee from something. The sound of shouted curses added to the confusion before an old man rounded the corner, madly waving a cane as he chased the workman.

Adrian grabbed Jamie's arm and pulled him back closer to the wall. "You'll want to get out of the way. That damn cane hurts."

Jamie tried to focus on the bizarre fiasco playing out in front of them, and not on the hand on his arm. He certainly wasn't paying attention to the way Adrian moved—sleek like a cat, graceful and easy. He ignored the way every stitch of clothing seemed to slide across that slender, muscular frame.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Licking his lips, he forced himself to absolutely not look at Adrian's mouth. "Dare I even ask what's going on?"

Pointing in the general direction of the wildly raving Albert, Adrian said as low as could, "That's Eric's Uncle Albert. Rather senile and even more so when he sneaks into Eric's brandy. For some reason, he thinks the poor guy is a pink elephant. Pink elephants are the bane of Uncle Albert's brandy habits."

The room became quiet again when the workman fled outside and the old man followed him.

"Uh-huh." Jamie just nodded, a bit too stunned to move. "Well, that was certainly worth a beer or ten." He flipped through his notepad briefly, color prints of previous jobs taped to some of the pages. Adrian didn't seem at all phased by what had just happened.

Glancing down at the pad, he looked over what he could see. Before Jamie could turn it, he held out his hand to the page. "Damn, that's some nice work."

"Huh? Oh!" Jamie laughed. "Thanks. These are nothin' compared to my portfolio." He gave a long, low whistle. "You should see some of those."

"Probably cost an arm and leg, too." Withdrawing the hand, it fell back to Adrian's side.

Jamie shrugged. "Depends, really. I've done a variety of pieces, for a variety of prices. Just depends on what the customer wants." He looked over his notes, then slipped the notepad into the front pocket of his shirt. He opened his mouth to say something more, but DeSalvo's butler appeared at the top of the stairs.

"Mr. Williams, Mr. DeSalvo will see you now."

"Damn," Jamie muttered under breath.

When Adrian stepped forward, a loud crash came from upstairs near the second floor landing. A second later, a large red parrot flew down the stairs, chased by a small red-headed boy.

"I believe Alto and Jeremy have escaped their cages yet again, Smith."

With a harried look, the poor butler chased down the stairs after the two as he yelled, "Nanny Jenkins!"

Turning to look at Jamie, he murmured, "You get used to it around here."

With a bit of a smile and a wink, Adrian turned on his heel to head towards Eric's office.

* * * *

A cool breeze blowing in through the open door of the studio, a cold beer, and Brooks and Dunn on the little radio. Yeah. Jamie was doing fine, mighty fine. Three orders in the last week, plus DeSalvo's work— good pieces, good work, good pay. He couldn't quite ask for more, except maybe a quick dip in the pool at the apartments. Damn, it was hot. Not quite as hot as Texas, but still damned hot. Then there was the thought of that sweet piece of work—Adrian Williams. Oh, yeah. Now that's a hot Jamie would gladly take.

It had taken him a few days to work out the details for the first window DeSalvo wanted. The design would be an intricate portrait in glass of Michael and Lucifer. He'd drawn a couple of preliminary sketches, and had just begun working the dimensions for the glass.

Hearing the jingle of the bells on the front door, Jamie emerged from the back, wiping hands on his faded jeans. "Can I help…? Oh. Hi there." A slow smile spread across his lips as he neared Adrian and the woman beside him. "Fancy meeting you again."

"Damn, Lucy, must you tell complete strangers what idiots they are?" Giving her a harassed look, Adrian eyed her severely.

"But, Adrian, he was a total jerk. And his girlfriend did try to come onto me." Rolling her eyes, she ignored Adrian as she looked around at the store. Her gaze riveted on the sparkling glass in a bowl on one of the tables. "Oh—those are so pretty."

It took Adrian a moment to notice Jamie was in the room. Blinking rapidly, it was another second before Adrian held out his hand to Jamie. "Oh, hey. Now this is a surprise."

A rather bemused grin accompanied the gesture. "Hi there, yourself." He tipped his hat at the young woman named Lucy. "Howdy, ma'am. Can I help you two? Lookin' for anything in particular? Custom work?"

When Lucy noticed Jamie, she walked right up to him. "A pretty cowboy. I like him. Baxter likes him too, don't you, Baxter?"

When she finished speaking, she reached for Jamie and gave him a hug. "My rabbit thinks you're pretty, too. I'm Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Who are you?"

Adrian just stepped back, trying to signal Jamie silently with his eyes to tolerate the young woman and humor her.

Jamie's eyes went wide, but he returned the hug. "Nice namesake," he laughed. "It's a pleasure. I'm Jamie Holland, owner of Texas Glass and the artist of the all the pieces you see here."

With a slight tilt of her head, she studied Jamie with a very serious look. Reaching up with her hand, she lightly patted him on the cheek. "You'll do. You'll do very nicely. And you're a very sweet man, too, Jamie."

Pulling away from him, Lucy moved towards a tray filled with glass nuggets and began to play with them. "I'll…do?" Jamie shot Adrian a quizzical look, one dark eyebrow lifting.

Adrian gave him a rueful look as he moved closer to Jamie. Lowering his voice, he said, "Sorry, we ducked in here to avoid some people Lucy pissed off. She's…" Adrian paused, trying to come up with a word but failed. "She's Lucy. It's hard telling what she's talking about. It's probably Baxter talking to her again."

"Baxter?" Jamie asked, looking again at Lucy, watching her play with the glass pieces in the bowl. "She's…unique. I'll give you that. So, you two…? Together?"

"Baxter is the rabbit on her shirt." Blinking owlishly at Jamie for the suggestion of him and Lucy together, he said, "Nah, she's my cousin. I keep an eye out for her."

"Oh." Jamie glanced over at Adrian, wondering if he should just ask the kid outright how old he was and if he was game. But he simply couldn't get his mouth to form the damned words. Instead, he just laughed and moved over to the counter, bending over it to turn off the radio.

Lucy seemed quite content playing with the pretty pieces of rounded glass. Occasionally she'd hold one up and peer through it intently before carefully laying it back down.

Adrian watched Jamie's movement as he bent over. "Nice ass there." Jamie just froze where he was. "Well. That certainly answers one of my questions," he said with a chuckle. He switched off the radio and turned, jumping up onto the counter. Leaning back, he braced himself on his hands. "Now for the other. How old are you anyway?"

Adrian answered him quickly and asked his own question as well. "Twenty-four. Why? Does it matter?"

"It could," Jamie murmured with a nod, his tongue slowly wetting his lips. "You play?"

"With you?" Never one to mince words, Adrian smiled. "It's a damn good chance, though it depends on what you mean by play."

Jamie's smile was slow and easy, his thighs parting just as smooth. The faded denim of his jeans revealed a not-so-small bulge. "Depends on what you like," he said, voice going low, the Texas drawl smooth and deep.

Stepping closer to Jamie, he kept his voice at a level to remain unheard by his cousin. "Oh, I like the feel of fucking tight asses." His gaze dropped to the crotch of Jamie's pants. "And I'm seeing you like the idea."

"All cowboys like to ride," Jamie said, the words almost a purr. "Especially this one. A hard, long ride…"

Stopping just short of Jamie, Adrian asked, "And how soon does this cowboy want to be ridden?"

From his expression, it'd be easy to tell Adrian thought his day had just gotten a hell of a lot better.

Jamie licked his lips, his gaze sliding slowly over Adrian's body. "I close shop in about an hour." He slid off the counter, the move bringing him within inches of Adrian. Focusing on Adrian's mouth, Jamie smiled. "Wanna ride you. Think you can do that? Let an old cowboy ride?"

Staring back at him, Adrian leaned slightly towards Jamie as he brought up his hand. The tip of one finger trailed lightly beneath the line of the cowboy's jaw. "That's just long enough to get my cousin home. Then come back and give you the ride you want."

Shooting a quick glance at Lucy proved the young girl was thoroughly entranced by the array of small pieces she'd laid out. Jamie caught Adrian's hand and pulled that finger into his mouth, rolling his tongue around it, a soft purr slipping free as he held Adrian's gaze. "One hour," he whispered.

Adrian's eyes widened slightly as he watched him, the tightening in his jeans an obvious reaction. "Oh, yeah, I'll be back, Jamie. I'll be back." His fingers traced slowly over Jamie's lower lip before he dropped his hand. Turning away, he headed towards his cousin and took her arm. "Come on, Lucy, it's time to get home."

He led her, even as she protested, towards the door.

Jamie watched them leave, licking his lips. "I'll definitely be here, pretty boy."