“Or I can just go home, but…” she sniffed and reached up to wipe the corner of her eye.

Deciding I couldn’t just stand here and watch her try to hold back her emotions, I stepped forward and grabbed her hand, guiding her down the hallway to the break room and ushering her inside. After flicking on the light, I locked the door behind me just in case we were interrupted, but since Gray and Priscilla were the only ones in the building, and I knew they both had appointments, it shouldn’t be a problem.

“What’s going on, Haz?” I asked, pulling her into my chest and wrapping my arms around her. The top of her head fit neatly underneath my chin, and I turned my face, resting my cheek on the top of her head. But my heart sank when she didn’t hug me back, her body tensing after a few moments in my embrace.

When I reluctantly released her, she took a step away, casting a nervous glance at the futon and then back at me, before she took a purposeful step toward the small table at the side of the room.

“We need to talk.”

Famous last words. Hearing a woman say that to you was never a good thing. It either meant she was about to break things off, or she thought she might be pregnant. And unless someone could magically get pregnant while not having sex, Hazel was about to tell me something I didn’t want to hear.

Joining her across the table, I tried to gauge her mood, but the vulnerability she’d been displaying before we came in here was gone. It was replaced with determination. And I hated that my girl had decided to use her newfound confidence on something I would not like.

“The floor is yours. What’s up?”

Her jaw clenched, and I fought the urge to reach out and rub the tension out of her hands that were balled in her lap so tightly her knuckles were white.

“I don’t think I can keep doing this,” she whispered, looking away from me. “If things go how I’d like them to, then I might be dating someone for real after the party. The lines between us have gotten so blurred that it feelslike I’m cheating on him.”

Oh, sweet girl.It made my guilt flare, feeling like I’d let things get too far with Seven and my feelings getting mixed up and confusing both of us. I opened my mouth to confess what I’d done when I saw how conflicted she was, but that wasn’t what came out.

“Then I guess we’ve got the next few days to set up pictures for every commission you have on your waiting list.”

She shook her head, still not looking at me. “Reid, seriously. That’s too much. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. And I’m not taking no for an answer. You’d better figure out a schedule and a shot list, because we don’t have a lot of time. I can move around clients if you need me to. Just tell me when you need me, and I’ll make it happen.”

“Okay, I haven’t wanted to bring it up before now,” she stuttered nervously, flexing her fingers under the table. I hated I knew all her tells; she was really freaking herself out about this situation I’d put her in. “Because I don’t want to make things weird, but I feel like I should pay you for all the help you’ve given me.”

I was the one who’d made things weird between us by not being honest, but this was enough.

“Haz, no. You don’t need to pay me, I volunteered. And considering some things that have happened, I am not taking a dime from you.”

“But I’ve been able to get the illustrations done so much faster since I’m not wasting time looking for source images—”

“Porn. Just say you’re looking at porn, Haz,” I tried to joke, and I got a smile out of it, but she still wasn’t cracking.

“It’s notallporn.”

“I didn’t say looking at porn was bad. I’m kind of curious what other things you’ve watched forresearch.” And I wanted to watch them with her, preferably with no clothing on and in my bed.

“Focus, Reid. Please don’t change the subject to distract me. How does ten percent of what I’ve made so far sound?”

“Sounds pretty terrible,” I replied, crossing my arms over my chest. There was no way I was taking anything from her. She’d earned that money with her own talents; I was just her live actiondoll to move how she wanted. Only she’d discovered I wasn’t smooth down there like a Ken doll.

“Okay…I can do more. But ten percent of the one with your bike was $80, so…” she trailed off and I was a bit flabbergasted once I did the mental math on that equation.

“You got paid $800 to draw an illustration of people fucking?”

This girl—this woman I was quickly becoming obsessed with—still continued to surprise me. I was fucking proud of her for charging what she was worth. That was a hard lesson to learn for most people who worked in creative fields. I know it’d taken me a long time to charge clients what I knew my time and talents were worth.

“Well, they weren’t technically fucking yet in that one, but…” she trailed off, trying to fight off a smile as her eyes met mine, but then her expression suddenly hardened again.

“Haz,” I tried to interject, but she held up her hand.

“They’re custom, fully rendered illustrations, not coloring pages you break out the Crayolas for. And people pay you hundreds of dollars to draw on their skin with a needle. Why wouldn’t I get paid that much? Do you think I’m charging too much? Because I—”

But it was just the opposite. I didn’t think she was charging too much; I was impressed she knew how to leverage her talents to make exactly what she deserved.