“What the hell are you so serious about this early?” Keston asked, his voice a husky, delicious rasp.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“Nope. Just lying here, getting ready to face the day. Again, why are you looking so grim?” He frowned. “Oh. Still thinking about your sister? That’s rough. Do you want to talk about it?”
I flipped the sheets and hopped out of bed. “I need to take a shower.” I left him and stood under the water, getting my wits together. I dried off and returned to the bedroom, but Keston was gone. I found him in the kitchen, drinking coffee. Seeing me, he poured a cup.
“Here.” He pushed it toward me. “You didn’t answer me. Do you want to talk about your sister?”
I put up a hand. “I have a miserable week ahead of me, filled with divorce settlements and custody battles, so I’m not in the right headspace to talk about anything.”
Keston set his cup on the countertop. “That’s fine. Can I take a shower?”
I’d been prepared for his poking and prodding, but I should’ve known Keston, as private as he was about his life, wasn’t about to insert himself into mine. We went through life shouldering our demons alone.
“Yeah, of course.”
He rinsed his mug and left me to drink the rest of my coffee. I heard the shower running, then shut off, and I took my second mug into the bedroom, where I watched him rummage through his bag and pull out some clothes. I hated seeing that beautiful body covered, but I had to admit, he looked as good dressed as he did naked.
He zipped up his bag, and I walked him to the door. I undid the locks, and he surprised me by tangling his fingers in my hair and settling his mouth over my willing lips. I sank into that kiss, sucking his tongue, inhaling his scent, his breath, until he broke away, wild-eyed and panting.
“Tonight?” He waited, and stunned by his question, I couldn’t find my voice and nodded. “I’ll come here.”
And he was gone.
“Jesus,” I muttered, still on fire from the raw lust and passion of that single kiss. I’d been with plenty of guys, had lots of enjoyable sex, but there was something about Keston that made me nervous and unsure. Like a virgin.
“Get it under control. Your dick doesn’t pay the bills.”
I laughed to myself and went to finish getting dressed, already anticipating the evening ahead.
Chapter Seventeen
Keston
I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
While prepping my clients, sketching out stencils, even listening to one of my longtime customers, bass player Noel Valentine, go on and on about the threesome he’d had the night before, all I could see was Bailey’s frightened face illuminated by the dashboard light as we drove to the city.
I’d been so fucking wrong about him. From the bits and pieces I’d picked up, he’d been raised by a single father and had a sister he’d bailed out of trouble numerous times. Not a trust-fund baby like his friend Weston.Shit. His story sounded almost as complicated as mine.
“Dude, what’ya say? You interested?”
“In what?” Refocusing on Noel, I stopped filling in his latest ink—a large bass guitar weeping tears and hearts—and set my instrument on the tray. “Sorry, I was concentrating.”
“I got this gig tonight, and then a bunch of us are goin’ to this club uptown.” Noel’s green eyes glinted. “Maybe we could hook up. Could be a blast.”
My brows shot sky high. It was the first time Noel had put the moves on me, but that life of hard partying wasn’t my scene. Listening to his stories made me wonder how long he could keepit up. When he’d been playing with Remi Angel, they’d partied together, but last I’d heard, Remi had settled down, gotten married, and retired from the performing life.
“Sorry. I can’t tonight.” I continued working on his tattoo. Another forty-five minutes, and it was done. “All right, that’s it. You know the drill.”
Noel watched me prep and wrap his arm. After I’d finished, he leaped off the chair to follow me to pay. “Yeah. Looks good, bro. And if you change your mind, we’ll be at Haven, on West Ninety-eighth.”
I smiled and shook my head. “That’ll be nine hundred.” He tapped his card and tossed me a two-hundred-dollar tip.
“Awesome as usual. Thanks, and see ya later.” He winked and strode out, blond hair catching the sun. The man looked like an angel but, from everything he’d told me and what I’d heard, he had the soul of a devil.
“Dude, are you fucking nuts? He’s hot and a rocker. Why’d you say no?” Ambrose, whose client had already left, came over to me. Jodi was still working on her customer, a young mother having her baby’s name and birthdate inked on her ankle, along with a tiny footprint.
