Page 32 of Illicit Illustration

Reid: Stop overthinking things. Just needed to clear my head earlier, so I didn’t follow you back into the bar and do something we’d both regret. Let me know when you need my services again.

I didn’t hesitate to type out a reply.

Hazel: If you regret helping me, then maybe we should just stop while we’re ahead.

Reid: I don’t regret helping you. Not for a moment, kitten. I would regret taking things farther than you’re ready for, even if you think you are.

Hazel: Things that are freely given shouldn’t cause regrets.

Reid: But sometimes they do. And I never want you to regret being my friendagain.

My heart sunk at his choice of words. Being Reid’s friend wasn’t all I wanted to be, but sometimes you needed to focus on the things that were possible, not things that would never happen.

Opening my text messages, I composed one to a man whowasa possibility for me.

Fourteen: Anything fun happen today while you were marking things for people?

Seven: Not anything as fun as thinking about you all day. I missed you today.

Fourteen: So much same. How many days left?

Seven: Twelve, not that anyone is counting.

But I was. And despite the disappointment at how the afternoon turned out, I was going to focus on getting through twelve more days until I could meet the man who wasn’t conflicted about wanting me.

Reid

Hazel was icing meout. I hadn’t heard from her in two days. I knew she was probably working, but it hurt that she was ignoringme, yet still actively seeking out Seven. Which was the truly fucked-up part. I was jealous of myself. He’d talked to her in the last two days.Ihadn’t.

I wasn’t even sure what had happened the other day. She’d been so nervous but playful once we left the bar, and then something had come over me when that audiobook had started playing out a dirty fantasy in my ear. My hands just automatically followed the movements of my counterpart, and I couldn’t have stopped if I tried. It was like my body was on autopilot, and any worry about crossing boundaries went out the window when I stripped her down to that fucking pink lingerie.

But I came to when she was driving me crazy by thumbing my nipple piercing, all glowy and looking freshly fucked after she’d come against my thumb with very little input from me. Don’t get me wrong, I knew how to please women, that was why my reputation was what it was. But it usually involved a little more work than a strategically placed thumb for her to wiggle against.

After, when she’d told me she didn't belong to anyone, it’d been like a punch to the gut. This entire situation wasn’t fair to her. And the deeper I got into playing Seven and fighting my genuine attraction to her as myself, the more I knew that it’d crush her once there wasn’t a screen between us any longer.

But I was finding it hard to stop when another text from her finally came on my real phone number.

Hazel: You done hiding from me yet? I need help.

Reid: Wasn’t hiding. Just swamped with clients this week.

Hazel: You haven’t been over here after hours in two days. Your regulars were asking where you were.

Fuck. The last thing I needed was her dealing with other women asking about me at the bar. She’d probably had to deal with it more than just the past few days when I thought about it. And it made me feel like a total dick for how I’d behaved until now.

Reid: Just tell me where you want me and I’m yours.

Hazel: Is your place tomorrow morning okay?

Reid: I’ll leave the back door unlocked, let yourself in when you get here.

Shutting off my phone, I tossed it on my nightstand, deciding to take a night off from pretending and trying to get some sleep before I had to face her in the morning.

This was getting way more complicated than I ever expected it to be.

Hazel had been differentever since she let herself into the shop. Not that she was distant, per se. She was just detached. Friendly, but not overly so. And I had no fucking clue how to behave around her. So, of course, I’d been a jackass.

“Why are you here if you don’t have a new pose to work on?” I asked, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye.

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