I exhaled a breath and waited for her to enter the hallway.This is it, man. Don’t fuck up.
“Karma?”
I exited the room. “Hi, sweetness.”
Eve jumped back in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“This is my parlor if you forgot.” I moved in front of her to block her escape.
She backed into the wall. “Stop. Someone—”
“Nobody is here. It’s just you and me.”
“Oh shit.” She tried to squeeze past me.
I grabbed her wrist and tugged her into my room, then kicked the door shut. “We’re going to talk, Eve.”
“No.”
“I’m covering for Karma. Nova is sick.”
“I’ll reschedule.” She took a step toward the door, and I blocked her. “Dang it, Art. Move.”
“Don’t you think I’m talented enough to work on you?”
“I don’t trust you to be professional.”
“Wow, sweetness, that’s harsh.”
“Don’t call me that. We aren’t happening. Not now, not ever.” Her voice broke, a sure sign she wanted me. “Can’t you see how you’re hurting me? Please, you need to give up on the idea of us.” Her eyes shined with emotion.
“The idea of us? Now you’re hurting me.” I moved toward her slowly, so I didn’t spook her. “We’re more than an idea, Eve. You aren’t a conquest to me or fling.”
A tear rolled down her beautiful face. “Please, Art.”
I took her hand and reeled her into my arms. “Don’t you want to be happy, Eve?” I cradled her face in my hand and caressed her soft skin with my thumb.
The longing in her eyes told me all I needed to know, but I wanted to hear it straight from her lips. “Answer me, baby. Don’t you want to be happy and be loved again?”
She inhaled a shuddered breath. “What I want doesn’t matter.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, sweetness.” I held her tightly against my body. “What you want means everything to me.” I backed her up toward the tattoo bed. “All I want is to love you, Eve.”
“My sons would never approve.” The sadness in her voice gutted me.
“How do you know? Have you asked them?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you don’t know what they’d say.”
She bumped into the bed. “What are you doing?”
“Sit down. I’m going to take care of you.” I collected the hem of her skirt. What luck that she’d worn something with lightning-fast access to her sweet pussy.
She swallowed and fisted my T-shirt. “Art, if we keep giving in, we’ll never stop.”
I lifted the fabric and dragged my fingers against her thighs. “That’s the plan. Sit.”