She nibbles on her lip. “So, you’re back for good?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Just for six weeks. The previous guy had a heart attack, and they needed someone short-term until they fill the role permanently.” I wave a hand around me. “This place came with the tenure.”
“And then what? You’re out of here … again?”
Her subtle emphasis on the final word doesn’t go unnoticed, and my jaw tightens. “Yes.”
A flash of pain echoes in her eyes. Our past rears up between us like the silken threads of a forgotten spiderweb, tethering us together. She’s the reason I stayed in Garland as long as I did. She’s also the reason I left.
“So … Gigi, huh?” My mouth twitches with suppressed humor.
Gem buries her burning face in her hands with a groan. “I know, I know! But I had to come up with a fake name so no one knew it was me.”
“There’s no shame in wanting a life drawing of yourself, Gem. I’ve drawn plenty of models. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before,” I say bluntly. It’s a lie because every fucking thing about her is a revelation to me.
She looks a little wounded at my casual tone. “Yeah, I guess a boob is a boob is a boob to you, right? Seen one, seen ‘em all.”
It’s true I’ve drawn plenty of models, male and female, old and young, large and small, but none have ever affected me like Gem. One glimpse of her silky skin does more for my dormant libido than any of the scantily clad women I’ve sketched before because … none of them were her. None of them were my Gem.
I rake a hand through my hair with a frustrated sigh. I’m fucking this up. “That’s not what I meant—”
Gem waves a hand in the air, cutting me off. “It doesn’t matter. It was a silly idea. Besides”—her cheeks flush, and she drops her eyes—“there’s no way I can strip naked in front of you.”
I’m assaulted by visions of her lying naked on a soft mattress, her hair tumbling around her flushed face, and her arms reaching for me.
I clear my throat and cross my arms over my chest. “So what was all that about not letting others define you and wanting to see yourself through the eyes of an artist?”
She presses her plump lips together and shakes her head. “You know, just bluster. Pumping myself up so I’d feel as calm and confident about all this as I do about my artistry with metalwork and gemstones. Same reason I brought a packet of chocolate bonbons with me. Some people need liquid courage, but I need sugar courage. That’s how I wound up booking this session in the first place … aaaand you aren’t even paying attention.”
I lift my head from the sketchpad where I’m frantically drawing and fix her with an intense gaze. “Oh, I’m paying attention, Gem. You’re the one person I’ll always pay attention to.”
Her eyes flare, and she bites her plump bottom lip. Lust slams into me, almost causing my knees to buckle. So much for wondering if the connection is still there. Not only is it still there, but it burns brighter and hotter than before.
It’s official. I’m fucked.
Chapter 3
Gemma
Bentley’sdark gaze burns me from the outside in, causing muscles I didn’t know I had in my nether regions to clench and throb. A vibrantly hot shiver runs through me at the sound of his gruff voice.
Laying eyes on him after so long is an almost spiritual experience. Time has beengoodto him. He seems taller, darker, and oh-so-delicious, dressed in a casual button-down shirt that stretches across his wide chest and jeans that fit snugly over his muscular thighs.
And it seems I’m not the only one who’s added some ink to my body as tattoos peek from beneath his shirt sleeves and on the tempting V of flesh revealed by his open collar.
He exudes an animal magnetism that weaves around me from across the room. If he were a steak, he’d be sizzling. And then there are those dark caramel eyes framed by a tangle of black lashes. They’re potent. Mesmerizing.
I’m not sure whether to run away screaming or strip naked and climb him like a horny monkey.
His shoulders are broader than I remember, his rugged face even more handsome, and dear God, the size of those hands. They look big enough to swallow my breasts while his thumbs lazily stroke my nipples and—
Nope. No. Nuh-uh. I won’t go down that path again; that way lies danger.
Yup, the danger of sprawling naked on the conveniently placed chaise and shouting,“Take me! Take me now!”
Not that Bentley would be interested in “taking me.” He won’t be the one venturing where no man has gone before. He’s never seen me as anything but Callum’s kid sister. He made that abundantly clear when he left Garland for the big city and the big university and never once returned in all these years. It still stings that he’s kept such a long, large distance between us when I believed he was my friend too.
I give myself a mental shake. Those are thoughts I’ll have to examine later.