Page 96 of Make Me Dream of You

“Hey, Noah?” Bex blinks up at me with her sweet blue eyes. “Will you not tell anyone about this?”

Right.

What’s another secret?

CHAPTER 17

LIVVY

“Okay, open your eyes.”

Noah removes his hands from over my face, and I am standing in front of one of the black walls in the tattoo shop.

We’re over by Noah’s station in the back, his elaborate white chalk drawing covers several feet of wall behind his tattoo chair.

“What am I looking at?” I ask.

“This!” He’s so excited I don’t know how to tell him I still don’t know what this is about. “This is your spot.”

“My spot?”

“Yeah. You can put up whatever you want. It’s your spot.”

And then I see it. Black wall. Chalk free. He cleared a space for me.

“I can draw whatever I want?”

He smiles, biting his lip as he nudges me with his arm, letting the touch linger there for a moment. “I know whatever you do will be amazing. I can’t wait to see it.”

I beam back at him. I love it.

“I know it’s not like a real art gallery, but?—”

I cut him off, reaching up to touch his face. “I love it.”

I want to pull him down and kiss him, but I stop just short, remembering we’re at work. His gaze is on my mouth, too.

Licking his lips, he leans in bit. “Fuck,” he says under his breath. He brushes his thumb along my chin for the briefest second before making a fist and stuffing his hands in his pockets. “I have some paperwork to do in my office. Will you let me know when my next appointment comes in?”

I nod. He hesitates, the tip of his tongue on the edge of his teeth. But then he turns and goes to his office, looking over his shoulder with the cutest little grin before disappearing.

I turn back to the wall.

Now all I have to do is come up with something amazing to draw. No pressure.

Taryn walks up behind me, assessing the blank space on the wall with her arms crossed. “He’s giving you a spot on the wall. Right next to his. And you’ve barely started apprenticing. Wow.”

I nod and smile. “Yep. He has a lot of faith in me. It’s nice. Don’t you think?”

She steps into my space, her silver piercings catching the light as she arches a brow. “I know you’re enjoying being his favorite right now, but don’t get used to it.”

I step back, crossing my arms.

“I’ve been working for him for three years, and I knew him before that. He doesn’t date. At least, he doesn’t do the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing. He goes out with someone three, four dates, tops, before he loses interest and moves on.”

“I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”

She huffs out a laugh, looking me up and down. “I just thought you should know what you’re getting into, and that fucking the boss doesn’t make you special. You’re not the only one, sis.”

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