I wanted this.
It was okay to want it. It was not okay to do it. So, I needed to put a stop to this, yet my body wasn’t moving.
“Physical? Is that a threat or a promise?”
I blew a breath out of my nose, heat pooling between my thighs. I had no idea how to answer that. My brain was at war with my heart and my hormones. I was having a hard time convincing myself to do the smart thing. “I—”
My phone vibrated in my pocket, and we both jumped at the buzzing sound.
I took an exaggerated step back while I pulled my phone from my pocket. Violetta’s name was on the screen. Luke seemed to come back to himself and stepped away, too. Despite my distraction, I still caught him adjusting the front of his jeans.
“Hey, Asher said you needed to talk to him about donating funds from the tattoo day to the after-school club?”
“Oh, right, yes.”
We hammered out a few details, then hung up with a promise to do another girls’ night soon. I was glad to get one thing off my to-do list. I was even happier that the call had done the one thing I hadn’t been strong enough to: get me to step away from that tempting man.
I glanced towards the temptation himself, to see him drawing diligently on his tablet. We may not see eye to eye on everything but at least he was willing to throw me a bone.
Dammit, Meredith, bad choice of phrase.
“There. One done.”
I stood and walked over to see the image on his tablet. It was a circle of stars with a stem of something in the middle.
“It’s pretty,” I said vaguely.
He rolled his eyes. “The flower is lavender. It’ll appeal to the Swifties.Stars around my Scars, Lavender Haze. You know?”
“Oh, smart! Love that idea. Very marketable.”
“Thought you might. I’ll get you a few more quick ones so you can do your thing.”
“I knew you’d see things my way.”
He snorted. “Don’t get used to it.”
Why did we get along the best right after we had argued? I could only imagine the productivity if we fucked instead of fought.
Within a half an hour, I had beautifully drawn images of a maple leaf, this was Canada after all, a hockey stick (see previous point), a palm tree, a skull and an adorable cartoon ghost. “Aiming to appeal to the masses and to be on trend for fall. Does this get me out of the dog house?” Luke asked.
I smirked at him. “For now.”
He bared his teeth and barked at me, and I collapsed into giggles. It felt good to laugh.
As Luke settled back in with his tablet, I studied the designs in front of me. Given that I had worked for the Huxleys most of my adult life, image had been everything. Tattoos were not part of the equation. In the eyes of the Huxleys, they would have been reserved for bikers and criminals.
But these designs were cute. Luke knew who walked through the doors to get tattoos better than I did, so I trusted that these would sell. Most importantly, it got me to a place where I could finish designing the advertising graphics.
Besides, it gave me something to focus on besides Luke. He looked so sexy when he concentrated on his work, tapping his tempting lips with his stylus while he worked to create something beautiful.
I jerked my eyes away from him and back to the design program in front of me. He wasn’t the only one who had work to do tonight. If I focused on what needed to be done and not who I wish I was doing, I might just survive this night.
Chapter Nine
Luke
Trying to find a place where I was happy with the designs and so was Meredith was tricky, but I seemed to be on the right track.
