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“I like your hands,” Lia said, and she pressed hers against mine. “I like all hands even though they're the hardest damn thing in the world to draw and paint. But yours are uniquely interesting, sexy but able.” She sounded dreamy. “I'd love to draw them some time, Ty. You, too. You’d make a great subject.”
“Oh,” I said and my rage vanished so quickly I felt embarrassed – like a kid throwing a tantrum or some shit. People usually looked at my hands as though expecting them to be dripping with blood. And they weren’t beautiful, they were rough and scarred in so many ways. “You’re an artist? I should’ve known.”
“Mhm? Why’s that?”
“You’re observant, curious, passionate,” I rattled off, the most unsmooth list in the universe. God, what was this woman doing to me? I was so fucking off my game. “I don’t know. You stand out. And you’re brave. Gotta be brave to be an artist.”
Lia’s breath hitched as though she was about to say something but then she didn’t. Several moments passed in silence, and that impatient, restless feeling filled me again.
“Lia,” I said without knowing where I was going until I heard myself say, “I know what you want to talk about.”
This time, I sensed Lia holding her breath and she went still against me; her body suddenly filled with tension.
“And I don’t think you want to hear what I have to say,” I added in a softer tone. “Not after what happened yesterday. But…”
“But?” Lia asked, and I realized I’d fallen silent. I’d wanted to find a way to keep both of us happy but that was impossible. We were on two different ends of the spectrum of need, no matter how much I’d made Lia scream in pleasure today. This wasn’t all she wanted, and I couldn’t give thatallto her.
Except, I was also a selfish bastard, and I wasn’t going to let her go.
She wasmine.
“Maybe,” I said in a measured, careful tone, trying to walk that impossible line. “You could fall in love with me.”
Lia went rigid and then twisted in my arms, looking up at me as I rose over her. “What?” she asked, her eyes darting across every inch of my face.
“Could you fall in love with me?” I asked softly.
Lia stared at me, her lips parted and an unreadable look in her eyes.
“You know I want you,” I said. “I want you in every fucking way, Lia — in my bed, on my arm, under my protection. I don't want to think about whether I should kiss you. I want to kiss you.” A rough laugh escaped me. “And I want to do a hell of a lot more to your beautiful body—” I broke off because, for once, I'd managed to say something halfway decent to Lia without being too crude, and I didn’t want to fuck it up.
Though I couldn’t resist adding, “And I’m pretty sure you won’t find anyone else who can talk dirty to you the way I can.”
Lia tried to smile but her gaze was still distant. I had the sense that she was thinking deeply. Then, in a gentle tone, she said, “But that doesn't solve anything, does it? I mean, I'm still contracted to Ryan White—”
“I’m handling that,” I cut in. “Even if you were working for my worst enemy, I wouldn’t give a shit. I’d figure it out. That’s what I do.” I frowned. “Is there something else that you’re worried about? I mean, I told you Weiss is alive.”
“Yes. I mean no,” Lia said. “It’s not that. I told you everything.”
“So, it’s all set,” I said, a little harsher than I meant to but there was a small, faint whine of panic and desperation in the back of my head. Lia wasn’t reacting in the way I thought she would. She wasn’t really reacting at all.
But I’d at least met her halfway with what she wanted. Didn’t that fucking count?
“I, um,” she began, and then she pressed a hand to her mouth as a massive yawn interrupted her. Blinking at me, Lia gave me a weary look, and I cursed myself, forgetting that she must have been fucking exhausted. I was sure she hadn’t been sleeping over the past couple of days.
“Never mind. Go to sleep,” I said and laid down next to her, loosening my grip a little, not enough that she could get away from me, but giving her a little more room.
Lia snuggled back down and pressed her body against me, her hands finding mine where they had knotted into the sheets. With a gentleness that didn’t even seem real, she got my fingers to unclench and slipped her hands into mine.
A breath exuded out of me as I not only let her hold my hands but let our fingers link too. I wasn't sure what it meant, or if it meant a damn thing, but I knew one thing.
I didn’t want to let go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Ty
“You need to eat,” I said and tried to glare across the island at Lia.
