At least I had that right.
He stood, putting his sweatshirt back on, and my eyes flicked to his thigh tattoo again.
I had two weaknesses—thigh tattoos and mustaches—and the world was out to get me, because Leo had both. What had I done to be tortured and teased like this?! My teeth sank into my bottom lip. What other tattoos did he have that I couldn’t see?
“My eyes are up here, Trouble,” Leo rasped, catching me red-handed.
My eyes widened as I met his gaze. I didn’t get embarrassed or caught off guard easily, but heat coursed up my neck to my cheeks. “I was just, um, trying to figure out the city skyline on your tattoo.”
Okay, not bad. I wasn’t denying that I was looking at it, but I also wasn’t admitting to gawking…except Leo’s expression told me he wasn’t buying my response for a second.
“It’s Chicago.” He reached for his shorts and did the most diabolical thing—he lifted the hem slightly to show the full tattoo instead of just the bottom half that was visible. “I got it before I left.”
“Right, Chicago,” I said, as if I hadn’t suspected that. “Do most of your tattoos represent the places you’ve lived?” I asked curiously, thinking about the mountain scape he said he’d gotten while in Portland.
“Some of them, yeah. I have a few random ones, too. Some related to cooking, but I want that aspect of my life to speak for itself.”
“You’ll have to get one for Golden Falls before you leave.” My mind immediately went to a couple of my favorite spots around here that took my breath away no matter how many times I visited.
“Huh, yeah, I guess I will,” Leo realized. He tilted his head to the side, watching me carefully. “Any ideas?”
“I might have a few, but they’re not spots I show just anyone,” I teased.
One spot in particular came to mind: one of the more secluded trails that led to a beautiful clearing and view of Lake Golden. It happened to be one of my parents’ favorite spots, too.
“Looks like I’ll have to earn it, then.” He spoke like he was a man on a mission, and I liked his determination more than I should have.
“Looks like it.”
Against my better judgment, my gaze dipped again. This time, it wasn’t to his thigh but to his mouth, and I wasn’t sure which one was worse. He’d only been in town for about two weeks, and I was already losing my resolve to stay away from him. More often than not, I questioned why we couldn’t cross the lineonce. Just once.
Maybe that would fix my problems.
I’d break my curse. I’d stop thinking about Leo. And I wouldn’t have to replay our near-kiss, wondering what it would feel like to have his mouth on mine.
What I couldn’t figure out was if Leo was losinghis mind as much as I was. From what I’d seen in the kitchen, he stayed cool under pressure.
I guessed he hadn’t thought about my text and his lack of response once.
If I was going to put myself out there, see if maybe once would get him out of my system, I wanted to know he’d say yes and not reject me…again. The first time I could handle, since he was on the other side of the country. Him rejecting me and staying in town? Not the best outcome.
I’d been so busy staring at his mouth that I didn’t realize he’d been staring at mine, too. His hand flexed at his side, and he cleared his throat, stepping toward the door.
That snapped me out of whatever fantasy I was living in, and I took a step back from him, toward the studio.
“I should—” we said at the same time.
Wereallyneeded to stop doing that.
“I should get going,” Leo finished.
I nodded in response. “And I should get ready for my next class.”
“I’ll, uh, see you at Lake Ridge.” He reached for the door but stopped. “And, Trouble?”
He really needed to stop calling me that—Iwasn’t the one who was trouble. He was. “Yeah?”
“You’re really good at what you do. You should be fucking proud of yourself for opening this studio and creating a community. This town is beyond lucky to have you.”
