Page 26 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

He nods over at Zach. “Zach’s in charge of this project. You two will have to hash it out,” he grins from the bar.

I lift my eyes to meet Zach’s. “I’m not discussing this with your wolf,” I tell him.

“Good, then you can go back to the restaurant and get out of this bad air.”

I shake my head stubbornly. “No, you can shift back and we can get this knocked out right now, so I can avoid this room until it is cleaned. I’m going to have to price and calculate the amount of wood, the tool rentals, and all that other stuff. An estimate just doesn’t pop out of thin air without research first.”

He crosses his arms across his chest like he did back in my room and studies me for a moment. I stare back, unwavering. Just when I think I’m going to have to walk away, he turns.

“Where are you going?”

“If you want me to shift back, I have to change.”

I bite my lip to keep from smiling. “Thank you.”

He grunts, but I still feel victorious.

Chapter Eleven

In Which Our Protagonist Stands Up Against the Patriarchy

The Zach that comes back does not look pleased, but follows my directions without grumbling as I have him hold the end of the tape measure in various places around the stage area. After I’ve got measurements of the available space, I sit at the bar with a few napkins and a pen I borrow from Randy, sketching out possibilities I feel like I can confidently build.

Zach pointedly takes the seat between me and the rest of the men, but I keep my mouth shut and pretend to ignore him as I sketch the possibilities for the new stage.

“Alright, here are three ideas I think would work well,” I tell him, turning the napkin to face him. He meets my eyes across the sketches and my mouth goes dry. I suck in a breath–his pupils are blown. He licks his lips and suddenly he looks like he could eat me alive and I’d thoroughly enjoy every minute of it.

My what big eyes you have…echoes in my brain.

As much as I hate to admit it, my scent must at least be doing something–it certainly isn’t my frizzy hair from the heat in Soojin’s kitchen, or the puffy winter jacket I’ve still got on. At this moment, I’m the complete opposite of sexy.

I close my eyes and clear my throat, hoping to force my brain back to reality.

“We could rebuild exactly what you have. It’s not exciting, but it gets the job done. However, I’d like to suggest something a little more interesting if you’re up for my ideas.”

He nods, “Sure.”

“This one,” I say, pointing to a stage with a single long peninsula, “Has a lot of benefits. You could offer up seating alongside the peninsula as a VIP section, and it would give those specialty shows more room to work with. We can also build the supports for additional poles within the flooring that you can take down when you don’t need them.”

“But if we put holes all over the stage–” he counters.

I shake my head. “They’d be fitted with covers to keep them from becoming a tripping hazard. My second idea, and the one I think would work the best, is this configuration.”

The shape on the paper is a little bit more complex. Just in front of the main stage, I’ve created a set of wide walkways that lead to three different poles–one center and two on either end. Multiple walkways connect all three, making a diamond shape that juts from the stage. “This one is my favorite. It gives the dancers more room to move, and we could insert the supports for the poles into the flooring in multiple places so they can be taken down or put back up based on your needs.”

He frowns. “Won’t this one take up a lot more floor space?”

I shake my head, “No, I’ve made the stage a lot more narrow to compensate, so it’s basically the same size, with just a bit more room for VIP guests or whoever.”

“Hmmm…what would the cost difference be?”

“I don’t honestly know, though since everything is being built in the same square footage, I can almost guarantee you that these two other configurations would probably cost similar to, or slightly less than just rebuilding what you got. I’ll look into it tomorrow. It will take some research. I don’t know what the local lumber prices are these days.”

“I’ve got a friend who owns a lumber yard. Zach can take you by there tomorrow,” Randy cuts in. It takes everything in me not to roll my eyes.

“Sounds good,” I say, plastering a fake smile on my face. Soojin meets my eyes and nods towards the door.

“Well, it’s time we get back,” Soojin announces.

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