Page 29 of Why Not Us?

She nods, a wry smile on her face.

I indicate my glass. “Did you want a sip? It’s one of my stouts. My favourite one.”

She does that nose wrinkle again and shakes her head, her curls bouncing. “I’m not going to like it.”

“How will you know if you don’t try it?”

She rolls her eyes and takes the glass, sipping, her lips pressed to the same place mine had been.

She hands it back, fluffing her hair. “It’s not horrible. But I still don’t like stouts.”

I can’t help but smile, taking another drink, my eyes locked with hers as my mouth covers the spot where hers has just been. Her hands drop to her lap and clench into fists. I’ve never met anyone with such expressive hands.

“I had another idea as well, but you may not want to do this one,” I say.

“What is it?” she asks curiously.

“Do you want to get a tattoo?”

Her mouth drops open and her eyes rake down my arms, covered in ink. She takes a long time to answer the question and when she speaks, I’m surprised by what she says.

“Your sleeves were done by two different people, weren’t they?”

“You can tell?”

She nods, lifting a hand, trailing light fingers over my right arm. “The line work is bolder on this one.” She switches to my left arm. “It’s more delicate here. The colours are brighter, too.”

I hold perfectly still, the light touch sending sparks through me that go straight to my dick.

“Who did this one?” she asks, still touching me, lingering on the clock on my forearm.

It’s hard to think with those soft fingers on my skin, reminding me of the softness of her lips when we’d kissed, making me wonder what it would feel like for her fingers, or lips, to be wrapped around my cock. I clear my throat. “Her name is Sam.”

“If she likes Sam’s work,” Taylor cuts in, reminding me he’s there, “you should take your shirt off. Show her your back.”

I shoot my brother a glare while Adalie removes her hand from my arm.

“That’s okay,” she says, grabbing her phone. “I would like to get a tattoo, I think.” She slides the phone over to me, a picture from Pinterest pulled up. “I’ve been considering this one or something like it for a while now. This is exactly the push I need to get it.”

It’s an image of delicate flowers curving around a woman’s shoulder.

“This would suit you,” I say. “And Sam would do a good job.”

Taylor holds out his hand so he can see. I give him the phone.

“Oh, yeah. This is right up her alley. She’s got an Instagram if you want to check out more of her work.”

They chat for a minute, finding the account and Adalie follows it to look at later.

“I’ll get the consult appointment scheduled,” I say. “It might be a bit. She’s pretty popular.”

Adalie lets out a breath. “That’s okay. It’ll give me time to work myself up to that as well.”

Dani bounds down the stairs, my phone in her hand.

“Mom wanted me to say hi to everyone,” she says. Then she turns to Adalie. “You’re still here.”

“I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye,” Adalie says with a smile. “But I do need to head out. It’s getting late and I have a long day tomorrow.”

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