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“I didn’t come here to tell you your house is messy, Cas, but it’s not. You’re fine.” His smile eased my nerves, and I felt like I could relax a little.
“Can I get you a drink? I don’t have much, I’ve got hot tea, raspberry iced tea, and water.”
“I’ll take a raspberry tea.”
Soon as I entered the kitchen, I rushed to the sink, splashing water over my face to wash the charcoal markings away.Oh my god.I couldn’t believe he’d seen me like this. I looked down at my clothes, I was covered in charcoal. My heart hammered against my ribs, wondering if I should go upstairs and change.You’re fine, you’re fine,but God I wasn’t… Damien was here, he was in my house. And I was a nervous train-wreck.
As I opened the cabinets for cups, the glasses nearly slipped from my grasp as I fumbled them to the countertop. I was a nervous wreck. God, I needed to calm down. The last thing I needed to do was shatter a glass and risk my parents finding a guy in my house in the middle of the night. That would be awkwardandhumiliating.
When I returned with our drinks, Damien was standing in front of the drawing of Kat I’d been working on. I froze. What was he thinking? It wasn’t finished, and there were still so many things to fix and add.
“Did you draw this?” He glanced back at me over his shoulder.
My lips pressed into a thin line as I handed him his drink, almost wishing he hadn’t seen the drawing in its rough state. “It’s not finished yet. I’m not quite happy with her hair, and the light isn’t hitting her skin quite right—”
“It’s beautiful…” he said, his tone gentle. “It’s Kat, right?”
I nodded, a smile fighting to spread across my face at his compliment.
“It’s so realistic. You’ve got a gift, Cas.”
“It’s just something that helps pass the time.”Helps distract me.
He turned, walking over to the desk to set his glass down. He paused a moment, eyes locking on the stack of drawings. “What are these?”
When his hand reached for the stack of papers, I caught a glimpse of the rough sketch of him I’d jotted down after we first met. God no, anything but that. It had only been from memory, and I wasn’t happy with how it came out, not to mention the fact that it would be mortifying if he knew I was drawing him.
Before he could really look at it, I snatched it from the table, hiding it behind my back. “It’s horrible. I was gonna throw it away.” My words fell out of my mouth like a waterfall.God, Cas, what are you doing?Could I be any more obvious?
He eased down onto my stool, resting his elbow on the desk as he tilted his head against his knuckles. A devilish grin formed on his face as those intense eyes lifted to mine. “Is that a sketch of me?”
My lips pressed into a thin line, my back straightening. Sighing, I slouched as I pulled it from behind me. “I drew it after we met at the mall. It was from memory, and I didn’t like how it came out. I’d planned on redoing it.”
He took the paper from my hand. “Is this really how you see me? Damn, I look hot.”
My hand cupped my mouth as a laugh nearly exploded from my chest.You have no idea…
He set the drawing down and leaned back against the desk, his dark curls sweeping across his broad chest. “Are you going to draw me like that guy did in Titanic?”
I snickered, resisting the urge to let my imagination wander. “You’re terrible.”
His smile warmed my heart as he gazed up at me. In that moment, I realized exactly what he was doing. I’d needed a distraction, and he was seeing to that.
He was succeeding.
“Seriously though, if you ever want to draw me, all you gotta do is ask.”
“That’s tempting.”Hell yeah, it was tempting.
“So, I see that you read a lot.” He gestured to the bookshelves that filled my living room.
“Yeah, that’s another pastime of mine. I collect books and play-scripts. I haven’t been able to see a play in a while, but I love theatre.” My eyes drifted to the spines that housed countless means of escape for me.
He stood and walked over to look at my stockpile of books. I didn’t even know how many I had at this point. My collection had grown over the years, and some of the books I owned were nearly as old as I was. It was never enough though. Every time I finished one story, I needed more. The worlds within those pages were always vastly better than my own, and I so desperately needed the escape they offered me.
He reached out, pulling a book from the shelf, smiling to himself as he inspected the cover. “I can see you like vampires.”
“Paranormal fantasy is definitely one of my favorites. Vampires, werewolves, dragons, fae, all that stuff.” I walked over next to him. “Do you ever read?”
