Page 75 of Love Puck

I lifted my eyes to see her still working on a few fingers. “Do you need help?” I asked, wondering what kind of problem she was having.

“Umm,” she said, but didn’t say anything else.

Several more frustrating minutes went by.

The scent of nail polish remover was starting to make me a little lightheaded. I stood and moved my chair closer to hers. Then I took matters into my own hands. “Here, let me do it.”

I grabbed one of the white round things and doused it with the stinky, noxious liquid. My hand picked up hers—and I did my best to ignore how it felt to have her hand in mine.

Which meant I failed terribly at it.

“Why isn’t it coming off?” I asked after a minute of rubbing her deep red painted nail. It still looked the same as before I started.

Jillian sighed and shook her head. “I have no idea. This stuff is the strongest remover on the market.”

I nodded and tried again.

Nothing.

“Christ, woman. I think this is on here for good.” I peered down into her eyes, expecting to see anger. Or at the very least, unhappiness.

Instead, she had a soft look on her face. Her shoulders shrugged. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it,” she said in a barely-there voice. Her hand slipped out of mine, and I couldn’t believe it—but I felt that loss. A large part of me wanted to keep her warm, soft hand in mine.

“Well, what are you going to do?” I asked, as my mind raced around with puzzlement. Jillian gave up way too fast. And there was no way she could film any more videos unless her nails were sorted.

She gave me a small smile. And with a gentle voice, she said, “I’ll just paint them all red.”

That made me laugh. It was such a simple solution that hadn’t occurred to me. As I laughed, I noticed her gaze fall to my lips. And down to my chest. “I miss hearing your laugh,” she said in a small, matter-of-fact voice.

Christ.

It felt like she’d just delivered a slapshot directly to my heart.

Without my gear on.

“Jillian,” I said, unable to think of anything else to add.

I wasn’t even sure how long we stared at each other for. But finally, Jillian cleared her throat. “Let me do the rest of my nails and then I’ll set up for a mascara shoot next.” She talked about the different kinds of samples a few companies had sent her. And I pretended to listen. Because my mind—and my heart—were busy thinking about the way Jillian had looked at me.

And spoken to me.

Yeah.

It was going to be a long fucking night.

16

Cash

The next few weeks had been a lot like that night. Jillian and I were back in each other’s spaces. I helped her out on a regular basis.

And she was also back to sharing doggie care as well.

I even gave her back the doggie bed she’d bought for Wyatt.

In other words—Jillian was constantly around.

In my face.

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