Page 16 of London Inked Boys: The Complete Trilogy
My head snaps back around at the male voice, and I realise I’m a matter of inches away from Art. I almost walked right into him, focusing on the studio door instead of where I was going. I hadn’t considered that he might be coming from the other direction.
“O-oh,” I stutter. “Sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
He frowns. “You’ve got a habit of doing that.”
“Sorry.” I look down to see a full black bag in his hand.
He follows my line of sight. “I was just taking the rubbish out,” he says, moving past me to dump the bag into a large black trashcan. He turns back to me. “I haven’t seen you around for a few days. Is everything all right? I’m sorry if things ended up awkward between us because of...” He gestures back toward the staircase and I wish the ground would open up and swallow me.
I wave a hand dismissively. “Oh, no, not at all. I’ve just been really busy with... stuff.”
He pushes his hands into his pockets, his head down, foot scuffing the ground. Damn, why does he have to have such amazing forearms? Is it crazy to be attracted to someone because of their arms? He does have incredible arms. My gaze tracks up to his biceps and then over his chest. That part is pretty damned nice too.
“Tess?”
I realise he’s been speaking and I’ve been daydreaming about his arms. That’s another thing I really need to stop doing.
“Sorry, what?” My blush deepens.
“I just said that I didn’t want you to think I’d been avoiding the conversation we’d started about the rent. I’ve put some points together that I want you to take a look at. With your auntbeing elderly, she hasn’t exactly looked after this place either. There’s old wiring, mould out the back, some of the slates are missing off the roof. I’d complained about things to the agent, but they didn’t do anything. I get where you’re coming from when you’re talking about bringing the rent up so it aligns with similar properties in the area, but I think it needs to be a two way thing. I’ve let a lot of stuff slide because I knew I was getting a good deal with the rent, but if that’s not going to be the case anymore, there needs to be a little extra from your side as well.”
I stare at him, thinking this is the most I’ve heard him say since I met him, and he hasn’t even mentioned the sex on the stairs thing.
“Umm, yes, that sounds fair. You’ve obviously given it a lot more thought than me.”
“I’ve put some paperwork together, if you’ve got a minute. I can run you through it.”
He nods back toward the shop.
“Of course.”
“Oh, but you look like you’re heading out somewhere.”
I shrug. “Nowhere in particular. It just occurred to me that I’ve been in London for almost a week now, and I haven’t actually seen any of it.”
His blue eyes light up. “You want to see London?”
“I’d like to.”
“I’m free. I can show you around.”
“Seriously?” I can’t help the incredulity in my voice.
It clearly isn’t the reaction he’d been expecting and his expression darkens. “Forget I said anything”
I reach out and catch his arm. Where our skin meets, my fingertips against the strong muscles in his forearm, make my heart flutter. He has such an effect on me.
“Art, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just surprised. You’ve been avoiding me. We haven’t even spoken.”
“You’ve been avoiding me, you mean.”
I give a little shrug. “I was embarrassed. You acted as though you’d made a huge mistake.”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t feel that way at all.” His expression twists, and my heart sinks. “I mean, I guess I felt bad about the way it happened. We were fighting and then we were...”
“Fucking?”
His mouth tweaks in a smile. “Yeah, exactly. I wasn’t sure how we’d left things, and then I didn’t see you.”
