Page 15 of Love Me Reckless

“Just saying you’ve got options.” We’re building quite the list here. Does douche date know about these secret ambitions? “What else?”

Her lips twitch, and she eyes me with a wicked gleam in her eye. “It’s cliché, I know, but… I want to get a tattoo.”

I shrug. “Nobody can stop you. It’s your body.”

“I almost did it last summer,” she says with a wistful sigh. “I was with my best friends in San Francisco. Ava wanted to get one, so we went with her. I almost got one too but… I chickened out.”

“Do you have a design picked out?”

I picture a butterfly or a rose or something sweet, like her.

“Not exactly,” she replies, her tone thoughtful. “Maybe that’s why I couldn’t do it.”

“The right idea will come to you.”

“How did you decide?” She gives me a shy glance, like she’s not sure she’s supposed to have noticed the dagger on my forearm.

The sword and I have a complicated relationship, and it can get a little dark. “I had an inspiration, so I started sketching.”

Her eyes widen. “You drew that?”

“I drew the idea. The artist took it a step further.”

“You trusted him to freelance like that?”

“Hell yeah. It’s part of the experience.”

She gazes down at the water, frowning. “You’re braver than me.”

I get the feeling she could be brave if she wanted to be. She just needs someone to believe in her. “You ditched your date to spend the evening here. I’d say that counts as brave.”

She gazes up and sighs. “I have one more thing… but it’s never going to happen.”

“Well, it definitely won’t if you keep it to yourself,” I tease because I don’t like how her eyes have turned so serious.

After a hard sigh, she swirls her shins for a long moment before looking up again. “To be kissed by someone who wants me.”

The air leaves my lungs. Fuck, this got delicate all of a sudden.

“Are you saying you’ve never been kissed like that before? Not by anyone?” This crushes my soul.

She shakes her head. “And once I’m married, I won’t get the chance.”

It hits me that if she’s never been kissed like that, she’s never been fucked like that, either, andthatis completely unacceptable. Because sweet, beautifully curious Kirilee St. Claire should get everything she wants from her partner. She should be worshipped head to toe, all night, every night.

“Does Larch know you want to be kissed like that?”

She gives me a look. “It won’t count if I have to say it.”

“If you don’t ask for what you need, how can he know? Men aren’t mind readers.”

Her shoulders slump. “Birch says I read too many romance novels.”

If I was lukewarm about this guy before, I’m downright arctic now. “Maybe he needs to read a few of them.”

She sends me a playful grin.

“What’s your plan to tackle this list of yours?”

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