Page 23 of Illicit Illustration

Guilt flared through me when I thought about how close I’d come to… I couldn’t even say it in my brain, the thought was too startling. There was no way in hell he was about to kiss me. That was just crazy.

“Haz,” Reid’s voice was low, almost imploring, as I threw my things back into my bag while avoiding the enormous elephant in the room.

“Reid?” The voice was closer, almost to the break room, and my skin crawled as I thought about the repercussions of getting caught in here with Reid only wearing a pair of boxer briefs and me half dressed.

Most of the guys in the shop were tight with Hudson, and my brother would have lost his shit if a rumor got back to him I was messing around with Reid. Nothing had happened, but we lived in a small town and the rumor mill was alive and well. Half the town would know I was in here with Reid doing…I don’t even want to think about the things they'd make up that Reid and I were doing.

“Gimme a sec, Grayson,” Reid shouted through the door, pulling my attention in his direction. He’d somehow managed to dress himself in athletic shorts and a loose T-shirt and was currently leaning over to tie a pair of sneakers I hadn’t even realized were in here.

God, he had a nice ass.

No, bad Hazel. You need to get out of here.

“Dude, why is the door locked?” the voice asked, and my face flamed as the handle jiggled.

Reid looked in my direction, motioning toward the back of the room where the coat cabinet was. One door was open, but I could tell that if I stepped into the corner by the window, you’d never see me hiding back there.

Grabbing my coat and bag, I scanned the area quickly to make sure I hadn’t left anything incriminating out. When the doorhandle jiggled again, I hurried into the corner, flattening myself against the wall with my heart hammering.

“Hey, man. What’s up?” Reid’s voice was strong, completely nonchalant, and I wished I could be that unaffected by stressful situations.

“What are you doing in here?” Grayson asked, the tattoo artist’s gruff voice laced with amusement. “You start an Only Fans, or something?”

“No, you wish,” Reid joked, and I stared at the window, debating on whether I could throw myself out the back and make a run for it before Gray and Reid noticed. I didn’t even want to think about Reid doing something like that. But he’d probably make a killing if it he did. Still, an irrational flare of jealousy flowed through me at the thought of other women seeing him naked. I mean, I knew some had—probably more than I wanted to acknowledge—but it made my temper flare with jealousy.

Reid wasn’t mine, and I couldn’t tell him what to do with his life, but it didn’t stop me from wanting him.

“I was testing out this new lens on my camera, making sure it’d catch the details in client photos I needed it to.”

“You have a girl in here modeling for you?” Gray chuckled and my eyes widened at the idea of Gray seeing any of the pictures on that memory card.

“Nah, that’s what the remote is for. I was taking pics of my chest piece.”

“You ever going to let me finish it?” For a tattoo artist, Reid really didn’t have a lot of them. Only a spiraling mandala piece covering part of one firm pec and a partial sleeve of interlocking geometric shapes that covered his shoulder and extended down his bicep.

“Someday. Don’t have time to let it heal properly right now. I’m backed up for months at this rate.”

The longer they stayed in this room, the more amped up I became at the thought of being caught. And it didn’t help I had a nervous bladder that was making itself known from the adrenaline rush.

“You mind taking this to my office?” Reid asked, and I breathed a sigh of relief. “I’ve got some paperwork I need to go through before people get here for appointments. Then I need to go get changed.”

“Yeah, just wanted to touch base about the new equipment that…” Gray’s voice drifted off as they left the room, and I peeked out of my hiding spot, sighing in relief when I saw they were gone.

Rushing to the camera, I popped open the compartment that should’ve housed the memory card, but it was empty.

Fuck, he’d taken the pictures with him.

The sound of Reid laughing from down the hallway spurred me into action, and I pulled my bag tighter against my shoulder as I moved toward the doorway. Once I’d verified the coast was clear, I rushed to the back exit of the building, gently pushing the door open and closing it quietly so I didn’t draw attention to my sneaky escape.

Scanning the parking lot for cars as I rushed across the gravel, I was thankful it was too early for any of the staff to show up to prep for tonight’s shifts. I’d never been so grateful that Charley had managed to get Hudson to stop spending every waking moment at the bar.

When I got inside my apartment, flicking the lock on the door and resting against the hard wood as I tried to regulate my breathing, my phone buzzed from my pocket.

Pulling it out, my heart raced at the text message on the screen. I desperately wished it’d been another flirty text from Seven, but it was not.

Reid: When is our next session? That was fun.

We clearly had very different definitions of the word fun.

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