Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

looks nothing like the outside," he said, knowing he was stating the obvious, but the difference was startling enough to mention.
    Steve nodded. "I know. I had to refurbish when I moved in here. It was a dump. There were holes in the walls, the wood was rotting, the plumbing leaked, and the electrics didn't work."
    "So why did you move here then?" With the money Steve had evidently spent doing the place up, wouldn't he have been better off living somewhere else?
    "I didn't really have any choice. It was move in here, or off site, and I'd rather live onsite until the work is done." Steve held up a bottle of spices. "Do you like a little extra flavor?" he asked.
    Mike absently agreed. "What do you mean when the work is done? Are you talking about the work you're doing in the city?"
    "No, the work here, on this site. The whole place is going to be demolished and I'm putting up new dwellings and a shopping center." Holding out his hand, Steve smiled. "I'll show you."
    Bemused, Mike let Steve haul him to his feet and drag him to another room, one Mike assumed was a bedroom. He got a quick glimpse of an open door further down the hall before Steve ushered him inside. On a table in the middle of the room stood a three dimensional model. It had four large buildings sitting side by side, surrounded by trees and shrubbery, there were even little model cars to show where they could park.
    "This is where I'm living now," Steve said, pointing to a building furthest away from the corner of the plot. "And this is the first one to be torn down," he added, pointing to the one on the corner. "I'll be rebuilding one, two and three bedroom apartments, and when that's finished, I'll be able to move the people who live in my building to that one, then I'll tear this one down and start on the commercial section. When that's finished I'll be starting on the two buildings in the middle until I've got three buildings for dwellings and one for shops." Grinning from ear to ear and obviously proud, Steve seemed to be waiting for Mike to say something, but Mike didn't know what to say. He was stunned.
    It was clear Steve wasn't just talking about overseeing the project; he was talking as if he owned the land and would be the owner of the buildings once they were done. "That's going to take a long time," Mike said, opting for something safe and not jumping to conclusion.
    'Yeah, about two to three years, but it'll be worth it. Low cost housing is hard to find, and these people need it. Most of their rent will be subsidized by the government, but without somewhere to live they would be out on the street."
    Steve's enthusiasm for the project was amazing, seriously capturing Mike's interest, but it was Steve's intentions to solve some of the city's housing problems that blew Mike away. There was no way Steve could know Mike's job was to help disadvantaged families, and what Steve was doing was so close to his heart that he just stood there, even more stunned than he'd been moments ago.
    "You don't like it?" The wounded look in Steve's eyes and the injured tone to his voice had Mike instantly babbling to reassure him.
    "God, no, it's fantastic. I just didn't think… I never believed… I mean I didn't realize…. Shit!" Mike shook his head. He was going about his apology the wrong way, and an apology was what he owed Steve. "I took you for some rough, insensitive guy who thought going to the pub was the highlight of his day, and who didn't know how to treat a date properly, and I sincerely regret that, because that's not who you are; you're smart and sexy and you've got this confidence about you which I find overwhelming, and now you're doing something worthwhile for the community and I was being a snob wondering why you lived in a place like this, and now I know, and…." Mike stopped, feeling like a complete dickhead. "I think I should go," he said, knowing he'd ruined any chance of anything with Steve, but Steve's soft smile, and the hand he put on Mike's arm, stopped him.
    "You think I'm smart and sexy?"
    Nervous now about Steve's reaction, Mike nodded. "I've always thought you sexy. When I first saw you, I was utterly fascinated. The way you handled that jackhammer…." Looking up at Steve, into those soft brown eyes, Mike suddenly wanted Steve to jackhammer his ass the same way he did the pavement: hard and without remorse.
    The grin that stretched Steve's wide lips said he'd guessed what Mike was thinking. "You're right about me not knowing