Walking along beside Gary, Preston soaked up the praise, although to be fair almost nothing of the work progress here had to do with him and everything to do with the good construction crews that Gary hired.  Nodding along at the job being ahead of schedule, Gary probably didn’t know that jobs moved faster in direct proportion to his visits, or maybe he did, but Preston knew his presence was a good spur to get people moving. Himself included.<br/><br/>At Gary;s question, Preston had to laugh, although the sound had a definite nervous edge to it.  If he only knew!  “The idea of bribing her did cross my mind.”  Preston laughed, leaving it there so Gary wouldn’t wonder how he did it after all.  “And I sure don’t plan on stopping now, sir.”  He continued, with feeling, surprising even himself.  Whether this had started as a fling or not, Preston realized he was telling the absolute truth.  He did not plan on stopping what he had started with Addison at all.<br/><br/>After Gary made his offer of free steaks and whiskey for life and walked away, Addison was soon to appear.  As she approached and asked how the conversation went, Preston gave her his biggest, naughtiest grin.  “Very well.  I told him how much you are enjoying yourself, and he told me to keep doing whatever it is I have been doing.”  He chuckled. “And plan to do exactly that, over and over.  Apparently he thinks I found the secret to making you more interested in being around here.”