Art of Love, page 9
“Are you going to insist on washing it off for me?”
“Those were literally my next words. You just made it easier,” he smirked.
“I’ll take a bath when I get home, but thanks for the offer.” I shook my head at him.
“Will that be a bubble bath?” He leaned down to my ear and tugged on the zipper. “I can imagine you in a bubble bath.”
His warm breath tickled my ear, and I twisted around to face him.
“Why are you imagining me in a bubble bath?”
“You’re always in my head, can’t get you out. It’s not difficult to conjure up the image of your perfect body in a bubble bath.”
“You know you can stop with the games now, right?” That was me trying to resist the lure that pulled me to him. That lure that I knew I should most definitely ignore. He’d stopped being playful and teasing that day at the park, and it was just putting our heads together to make tonight happen. At times, I caught him looking at me, and I didn’t know what he was thinking, but just now was the first since that day that he’d been playful Hunter trying to freak me out.
“I’m not playing any game.” He shook his head and smiled. “I’m being real with you. I can’t get you out of my head.”
“You need to.”
“Why?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I couldn’t think of an answer. There was one obvious answer looming right over us, but I didn’t want to say it.
“Cat got your tongue?” He smirked.
“No.”
“Don’t you feel it?”
“What?”
“The insane chemistry between us that sparks when we’re in the same room.”
“No,” I lied. It was a bald-faced lie, and he knew it. And he knew that I knew it.
“No?”
When he leaned in, I pressed the dress closer to my chest and tried to move again. Hunter caught me once again, but this time, he pulled me right up to his chest and smoothed his hand under my chin to guide my lips to his.
I knew he was going to kiss me from the second he lowered his face, and I could have moved out of the kiss, but I didn’t. It was a kiss I wanted. Wanted badly.
But it was brief. He’d barely pressed his lips to mine before he pulled back. It was like a taste. A delicious taste of him and all that was him.
“No?” he asked again, raising his brows.
“Yes,” I replied breathlessly.
He smiled and lowered again to my lips.
This time when we kissed, I smoothed my hands up the firm walls of his chest and up to circle my arms around his neck. I tried to stand on my toes to reach him, but he cupped my face and smoothed his hand to the back of my head to kiss me harder. The kiss was so intense that my knees buckled and my head felt light.
It was like we’d both been holding back all these weeks.
He backed me against the wall, heating up the kiss as his tongue tangled with mine. It felt amazing, so amazing, and I thought I would die when he sucked on my tongue.
He pulled back and released a sharp breath.
His lips parted like he was going to say something, but the buzzing of my phone cut him off.
I looked over to the little bench where I had my things. I didn’t want to answer it. I didn’t want anything to throw the mood. What I wanted was to hear what he had to say.
“You should get that. It could be important.”
I moved away from him to answer the phone. It was Stephan.
“Hi.” My voice sounded breathy.
“Babe, where are you?”
“Stephan, can I call you later?”
“Hey, why don’t you just join me for a late dinner? Then we can go back to my place for drinks. Everyone’s going crazy over you. It’s cause to celebrate.”
“Dinner sounds good. I’m a little—”
“Nope, don’t even say it. I’ll find you when the show finishes.” He hung up. I turned back to speak to Hunter, but he was nowhere to be found.
He’d left.
Chapter 12
Hunter
***
I downed the last trace of coffee in my mug and closed my eyes.
The coffee was my last attempt to wake myself up. It was Sunday. We had a day off from the show, and I was brainstorming.
Brainstorming in the coffee shop on Main Street and trying to focus. At least it was quiet and there weren’t many people around. Just a handful inside and outside sitting by the river.
That crazy kiss on Thursday was on my mind. It signaled a lot of things, but most importantly, it signaled the need to change things up and get serious. To take stock of the situation and not allow my damn brain to turn to mushed-up peas over a pretty girl, as Grandfather would say.
Mushed-up peas, mushy peas, whatever, it was all the same to me because it was all affecting me.
I’d braved the task on Friday night of acting the way I should, and I didn’t even wait for Jia’s display to start like I usually did. As the doors opened, I made my way to the display of water goblins Juliana had sculpted, and I walked around that area for the whole hour. Then, when I saw Jia on the floor, I went to the display of dark water fairies played by the actors. That was the living piece. I stayed there until the end of the show, completely ignoring and avoiding Jia.
Last night was worse because I didn’t see her at all. I went to the furthest exhibit and stayed there for the whole night. It was ridiculous. Me, a grown man of thirty-two years, hiding from a woman because...
I didn’t know what I should say about it.
Whichever way I took it, I thought it was best to make my stance known from here.
We both wanted the same job, and there was only one job, so that was the primary focus. That had to be clear in my mind, and I had to get my shit together.
The problem was, I really liked working with her, and I liked her.
There was also something I noted too as we planned the display. It was that my creativity sparked off the charts when we worked together. Probably in such an intense way that without her, the stuff I was coming up with was just mediocre.
That had to mean something, right?
We’d known each other for close to a month, and I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone who’d done that to me before.
Working with her to make that project come alive had been unreal. I didn’t realize how unreal it was until I saw her walk out that first night. Then something resonated within me as I’d kissed her, and she kissed me back like she needed me. Like she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
The last thing I needed was a woman I thought I might be developing feelings for. It was so much worse because she might be the first who I could say I was taken with.
Devon was right when he said I needed to pick better women.
I sighed and opened my eyes and once again had the feeling of my brain screwing with me because there Jia was, walking into the coffee shop.
But she wasn’t alone. That pompous ass Stephan was with her, with his arm around her, and she looked happy. She laughed at something he said, and I watched in pure undiluted jealousy as the bastard’s eyes roamed over her body and lingered on her breasts when they got to the counter.
I liked what she wore too, and I could have been guilty of the same thing if I’d been standing next to her. Didn’t mean I accepted the idiot’s gaze of appreciation on her. All over her.
Today she wore shorts, short denim shorts that not even Daisy Dukes could rival. Jia’s long golden legs looked longer and tapered even though she was technically short. A soft pink camisole top graced her body, caressing her skin the way I wanted to and made a show of her fully rounded breasts.
Her hair was up in a loose bun that enunciated her high cheekbones because it was away from her face. Hair up or down, with clothes or without, I thought the woman looked like a goddess, and here I was in the coffee shop, looking at her and wanting her. Getting a hard-on, and she hadn’t even acknowledged me and was here with that prick.
They had history. It was clear. I knew she knew everyone, but she seemed close to him, like they’d been together before. And every time he looked at her, he looked like he wanted to sleep with her. I knew the look all too well because it was the same look I sported. Except that I didn’t just want to sleep with her. I wanted more of her inside and out.
How could I feel that way about someone I’d just met?
I was looking too much, and maybe there was an intensity in my stare that shouldn’t have been there. Plus, the envy.
She looked around and saw me, and I swore I could see a twinkle in her eyes from here.
Maybe.
I looked away and focused on the swans swimming around in the river.
I smelled the strong scent of vanilla first before I saw her legs come into view. It was the same smell that had robbed me of my senses the other night when I’d kissed her.
“Hello.” Her voice was soft and searching. Soothing.
I met her tentative gaze and offered a small smile. “Hi.”
We stared at each other for what could have been forever, then the asshole came over too, holding two cups of coffee to go.
“Hunter, sitting all by your lonesome?” he asked me as if I showed any indication that I wanted to speak to him.
I simply cocked my head and zeroed in on him with a pointed stare. “I am indeed,” I said and raised my brows, inviting him to continue if he dared, but he simply chuckled.
“You coming, babe?” he asked Jia.
“No.” Jia gave him a sweet smile and did that sassy one-shoulder shrug I liked. “I’m going to hang here for a while. I’ll see you at the show tomorrow though.”
“So, you don’t want Japanese for dinner?”
“I ate too much. Breakfast was like eating for a week. You need to not cook so great.”
Although he smiled, it was clear he wanted her to go with him.
Bastard. Lucky bastard though.
And breakfast? That kind of signaled that maybe she’d stayed the night at his place. The thought pricked at my nerves and made me antsy, uneasy... angry.
“Eager to please, babe. Don’t stay out too late. You know how I worry about you.” Stephan made a show of leaning in to kiss her on her cheek.
The fucking show seemed to be just for me.
I did wonder in that moment that if she stayed at his place and was with him, wouldn’t that kiss be on her lips instead of her cheek?
I didn’t know. Maybe that was me hanging on to hope of sorts.
I kept my gaze trained on him the whole time and never took my eyes away as he sauntered out of the coffee shop like he owned the damn place.
I squinted as I watched him walk down the road.
Jia cleared her throat. I returned my gaze to her to see the questioning look in her gaze.
“What?”
“You don’t like him very much, do you?” She bit the inside of her lip.
I tucked my hair behind my ear and sighed. I didn’t like lying, so I decided not to. “No.”
“Why? He’s a great guy.” She nodded.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be glad you think so.”
She pouted and rested her hand on her hip, drawing my attention to the sharp definition between the curve where her tiny waist tapered into her hips. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” I sounded like I was mad at her, but I wasn’t.
“Didn’t sound like nothing.”
“Look, love, don’t expect me to like that bloody wanker, especially if your boyfriend is dumb enough to take the piss out of me. It’s only cos you’re here why I didn’t let him have it.”
To my surprise, she started to laugh.
“Why are you laughing?” I didn’t know what was funny, but she was laughing, and the damn sound reached inside me just like it did the other day, except today felt more lighthearted. She seemed more at ease, and it scared me to think it was because of that fool.
“You.”
“Me? What me? I didn’t say anything funny. And I was being serious. Do I look like the kind of bloke you’d want to mess with?”
She started laughing again. Laughing so much her cheeks tickled pink.
“God, why are you laughing? If you think me beating your poor Stephan to a bloody pulp is funny, then I don’t think you like him that much either.”
“First, Stephan is not my boyfriend. Second, I didn’t understand half of what you just said, but I gather you’re annoyed. You’re all Queen’s English when you’re in a business setting, and you sound like Anthony Hopkins, but then you go all Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins when you’re mad or pissed off.”
“I don’t sound like Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins. His accent was atrocious.” I started to laugh now.
“Michael Caine then,” she offered, still giggling.
“No.” I shook my head. “Fantastic actor, but I don’t sound like him.”
“Ewan McGregor.”
“Bloody hell, woman, he’s Scottish.”
“I’m trying to think of an English actor with a cockney accent.”
“So, you thought of a Scottish person? The accent’s very different, love.”
“The Weasleys?” She beamed like she hit the nail with the hammer.
“Who?” I inclined my head to the side. “I don’t know them.”
“From Harry Potter.”
“No, I don’t watch things like that.” I shook my head, but the look she gave me was like I’d insulted her.
“What do you mean? Haven’t you seen the films or read the books?”
“No, I only read when it’s relevant. I like post romantic poetry and romanticism because it ties in with art. But that’s all.”
“I can’t believe you haven’t seen Harry Potter.”
“Believe it. So, anyway, aside from establishing that I’m not going to like Stephan anytime this century, what are you planning to do around here? Not a lot to do specifically.” I glanced outside at the river. Maybe she was going for a walk.
“I thought you might have guessed that I meant I was going to hang with you for a while.”
Oh.
So, she turned down the asshole to hang with me? I looked her over and saw that twinkle in her eyes. Then came the chemistry that was so tangible I could have touched it.
Then my worries came flooding back in about the job. For the point when things would get weird between us. It should have come already because we’d reached that point where the task of finding the answers to the questions John set was upon us.
Our team work should only be confined to the presentation we did together. That was it.
“I’m not doing anything. I may bore you.”
“I was thinking we could go to my place and hang out.” She gave me a warm smile.
My pulse quickened at the idea. Me at her place. Us alone together. Maybe that wasn’t the best idea. But my body screamed yes.
“Hang out? At your place?”
“Well, I haven’t seen you in days. It’s a little weird considering we work at the same place, on the same project, and last time...” She tensed and pushed her shoulders back.
“Last time what?” I knew what happened last time, obviously. I just wanted to hear what was on her mind.
“Last time, you kissed me and fled like I had the plague, and you’ve been avoiding me ever since.”
“I didn’t flee, and I wasn’t avoiding you.” Both were lies.
She smirked. “For the last two nights, you got one of the assistants to paint me.”
Because when I touched her, I thought I’d lose my damn mind. “I was busy trying to see the start of the show.”
“I have two of the answers we need,” she blurted, grabbing my attention.
“Really?”
“Mmmm hmmm.”
“Which two?”
“I’m not telling you here. If you want to know, you have to come with me to my place.”
I had to laugh, but on a serious note, I could have done with hearing her out because I didn’t have a clue as to what I was going to do for my collection. “Okay, love, but tell me, why are you so keen to have me round? You planning on us working together?”
“Do you want to?”
“Should we be doing that?”
“Why don’t we think about it? Today though all I need your help on is my recipe for scones. I made some last night, but they tasted like rocks.”
“Did Stephan help you?” She said last night, so that was me trying to find a covert way of checking if she’d stayed with him last night.
“I didn’t spend the night with him. I can see through your bullshit.” She smirked.
“But it sounded like he made you breakfast.”
“He picked me up this morning and took me to his place for breakfast.”
“Sounds like he’s trying very hard to get in your pants.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “Hunter, are we going to stand here all day talking about Stephan?”
“I bloody well hope not.”
“Good, because my legs are tired.”
I felt an ounce of myself coming back. “You could have sat in my lap.”
“You didn’t offer.” She turned on her heel and gave me a good view of her ass, then looked over her shoulder with a saucy smile. She caught me checking her out. “Are you coming?”
I stood up and joined her.
I guess I was going with her, despite any reasons that told me I shouldn’t.
Chapter 13
Jia
***
The minute I’d watched Hunter brush the tops of the scones with a fluffy beaten egg before placing the tray in the oven, I knew they would taste amazing.
They did. They tasted like heaven, and I could imagine myself sitting on the bank of the river in the English countryside getting lost in the lush green landscape.
As to how I came to be making scones last night and finding myself thinking about the English countryside, I couldn’t remember, but it started with me thinking about him.
I’d grabbed a magazine I saw in the supermarket that was doing a feature on British foods. Scones took my interest because they reminded me of the little buns Grams used to make. I then went online and checked out some images. I made up a batch, which absolutely tasted like rocks. My first thought was to ask the only English person I knew how to make them properly, even if I was going to use it as a clever ruse to talk to him.
