Page 39 of Catch You

“Is it what you imagined?”

“No.” My heart drops that it’s not what she wanted. “It’s better.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Thank you so much. And it wasn’t as scary as I thought it might be.”

“I’ve got magic fingers. That’s why.” She chuckles but soon stops when I move them across her belly.

“Corey,” she half-warns, half-moans.

“Do you have any idea how sexy you are?”

“On the verge of tears with a raw back? I’m sure I’m anything but sexy.”

“That’s where you’re very, very wrong.” My fingers drop to the edge of her lace knickers, and her eyes narrow. “Last night wasn’t enough,” I whisper in her ear, edging my fingers lower.

“Corey,” Her voice is barely a whisper, so the last thing I expect is for her hand to wrap around my forearm to stop me.

“H-how much do I owe you?”

The question damn near gives me whiplash.

“Uh … n-nothing.”

“You’re not doing it for free.”

“You can buy dinner.”

Taking a step back and turning into the room, I put some space between us. By the time I look back at her, she’s holding her dress against her front, seemingly shy all of a sudden.

“Let me wrap that and you can get dressed.”

“Your artwork is stunning,” she muses as I work. “I’m assuming you’ve drawn all this?”

“Yep, all mine.”

“Have you always been an artist?”

“No, actually. I was in the army. I only got into this because of a friend. He used to spend all his time drawing when we were on tour together. I loved art in school but never really thought about it as a career. He gave me one of his sketchbooks and I’ve never looked back.”

I focus on wrapping her up and not thinking back to those times. They only make my chest ache with loss.

“Okay, you’re good. Let me tidy up and we can head out.”

“You’ve got no more clients today?”

“Nope, just one earlier before you showed up.”

“Brooke gave me this address,” she admits. “I’m assuming she knew you’d be here.”

“For someone who apparently wanted me, she’s doing a good job of pushing us together.”

“She’s a good friend.”

“So, you’re admitting that she’s doing the right thing?”

She blows out a breath. “I have no idea. She wants me to …”

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