Page 16 of Illicit Illustration

Three sharp raps against the apartment door had me scrambling out of the bed and racing to the bathroom. I tried fruitlessly to unfurl my crazy hair, but the ponytail holder got stuck and was now trapped in the center of my wild, tangled mane.

“Fuck me,” I hissed, throwing it back up into a messy bun. Hopefully, he wouldn’t notice I was an epic disaster this morning or at least would be nice enough not to point it out in the time it took me to tell him this was a terrible idea, and he needed to go back home.

“Haz?” Reid’s deep, masculine voice echoed through the wooden door, and I knew he’d stand there all day if I tried pretending I wasn’t home. He knew I was. Hell, I practically never left the building now that all my classes were online.

“Just… Hold on! I’m…”a fucking mess.Swiping at the crumbs on my baggy hooded sweatshirt, a litany of curse words rolledthrough my brain, but they didn’t budge. The curse words or the crumbs. Wow, I was just the epitome of a sex goddess this morning.

“If it makes you feel any better, I have donuts and coffee,” he chuckled, and I tried not to picture how attractive he looked when he laughed. It really wasn’t fair how good I was sure he looked on the other side of the door and hownotattractive I looked in contrast right now.

“Depends on what kind,” I replied as I gripped the latch on the deadbolt and turned it, the door swinging inward before I could even touch the handle below.

“Well,” Reid mused, stepping forward and pressing a cup into my hand before he skirted around me. My skin burned where he touched my arm through my sweatshirt and my eyes widened as he leaned in to dust a chaste kiss on my jawline. “I know what you like.”

That wasnew.

Had I woken up in some alternate universe where my brother’s best friend now kissed me on the cheek? And brought me warm beverages and donuts without prompting? Was there a full moon I didn’t know about?

Pulling the cup to my lips, I sniffed, the scent of cinnamon and chai immediately calming my frazzled nerves. Hedidknow what I liked. And he’d clearly been paying enough attention that he knew real coffee made me a hyped-up, jittery mess. But I would never turn down a Chai tea latte.

“I’m not sure this is such a good idea,” I mumbled, still huffing my mildly caffeinated drink. “While I appreciate the offer, I think I can manage to do this on my own.”

Reid laid the paper bag from my favorite bakery,Ice My Cake,down on the kitchen counter, turning and bracing his hands against the edge of the countertop. “I think it’s already too late for that, Haz.”

“I’m really not in the mood this morning.” Taking a sip of my hot drink, I tried not to squirm under his gaze, but he looked like a man on a mission. He wouldn’t leave, and part of me was glad hewas here. That part also would have liked to not look like woodland creatures were taking up residence in her hair.

“Then go take a shower and I’ll eat my fritter while I wait.”

Shaking my head, I almost groaned as I took another greedy gulp of my tea. His methods for gaining entry to my apartment were really on point this morning. “I think I’m just going to keep things low key before I have to work tonight.”

“Is there a reason you’re so resistant to help this morning?”

You mean other than that he looked like a fucking male model—which I guess was technically what he was here to do—this morning and I looked like a person who should shop in Walmart at 2 am?

“I’m just not in the right headspace for explaining to you why this is a bad idea.”

He pushed off the counter, stepping forward until my head tilted back to maintain eye contact. Then his much larger hands closed around where mine had a death grip on my cup to get my attention.

“Haz, go put on something comfortable, brush your hair—and maybe your teeth—and I will wait for you. We both know you’ll let this derail your whole day and I don’t want to see something that could easily be fixed keeping you from making progress on your commissions. I’ve seen how much you’ve been glued to that tablet, and I know how fast you work, so don’t even try to convince me you don’t have authors lining up with requests.”

Well, fuck. Maybe Reid paid much more attention to me than I thought he did. Because he was right, after a few authors told their writing groups about me, my DMs had been nuts with requests. I’d not only had to create a calendar and spreadsheet to track them all, but I also had several authors tell me I wasn’t charging them enough and was now making twice what I thought I would be doing this.

What had been an idea to generate a bit of extra income while I was taking more advanced digital illustration courses online had turned into a legitimate business overnight. One that had takena turn I never expected. Which was why I was now stuck in said existential crisis.

How workable was it for a virgin to run a successful illustration business that specialized in artwork that was firmly in thenot suitable for workcategory?

And how long was I going to keep that virginity status from the man I’d had a crush on for over a decade?

“You know I’m right.” He was. But I wouldn’t tell him that. His ego was big enough.

Why couldn’t I be the confident friend? Charley would know what to do in this situation, while I was still standing here huffing chai tea and looking like I’d not only rolled out of bed, but into the woods behind the building to become one with the woodland creatures.

“I am not at liberty to confirm or deny that statement.”

“Seriously, Haz. What harm will it cause to let me help you?”

It would murder my panties for one.

If he wanted to go full on reenactment for the scene I was supposed to be focusing on, I’d have to straddle his face and then take a picture. Surely my unexciting plain white cotton full coverage underwear would expire if that were to happen.

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