She turns to me, her face softening. “Yeah, it’s just… I never trust anyone to stay over. I hardly let people into my apartment, let alone sleep over.”
I sigh. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, but I swear, you can trust me, Alex.”
“No. I know. It’s just, I fell asleep, with you here… that’s… just… weird.” It’s like she’s trying to comprehend something she doesn’t quite understand. “That’s never happened since…” She screws up her face. “Like if anyone were here, I’d never be relaxed enough to fall asleep.”
I squeeze her hand and look into her eyes. “Thanks. It’s good to know you’re comfortable around me. Well, enough to let your guard down anyway. That means a lot, Alex.”
“Don’t worry, I’m just as surprised as you are. But you’re right, I am comfortable around you. It’s nice to finally be at ease around someone.”
Alex looks back at me as I stare at her, her dark eyes glistening like she wants to say something more, but is holding back. She swallows hard as my chest tightens, and she takes a deep breath and looks away. “Breakfast burrito?” she asks, breaking the tension, and I chuckle.
“Yeah, for sure. I’ll help.”
“Cool, but we gotta be quick. I have to be at the gallery in about forty minutes.”
“Right, so you get the eggs, I’ll get the bacon, and I’ll show you how rock starscancook.”
She laughs and rushes off to the kitchen. She fusses about in the refrigerator for a beat, then pulls out bacon, eggs, cheese, tortillas, avocado, and some barbecue sauce. I smile, knowing she likes the same things as me.
As we make our breakfast, I’m constantly teasing her with the tongs. She laughs as she chops the avocados and scrambles the eggs while I cook the bacon. Once it’s all done, I wrap the burritos while Alex dresses for work.
“Don’t look, okay?”
I smirk and look down at the table, keeping my eyes on the burritos. “I promise. I won’t look up. Eyes… firmly on the burritos.”
She chuckles, and I hear her messing about, getting changed. Apparently, me being a man is all I can think about, and the thought of a woman changing merely a few feet away from me is really fucking intoxicating. Everything in me is telling me to be the friend I’m supposed to be and keep my eyes averted, but the man in me is making it extremely hard to keep that promise.
Unable to resist, I chance a quick glance to see her back to me.
Alex is wearing a skirt, but her back is completely bare as she pulls her bra over her shoulders. The mere sight of her bare back, which is covered with a vibrant watercolor peacock sitting under a Japanese cherry blossom tree, is exhilarating. The colorsare bright and alive, but the peacock is looking down next to its tail, where three single feathers sit on the ground on their own. It’s beautiful and a complete work of art, taking up the entire right side of her back. It takes my breath away as I study it, thinking it can only be a representation of her, and the three feathers are her parents and her gran. It’s such a colorful, happy piece, yet it holds so much sadness. Suddenly, her hands come up across her back to clip her bra, and that movement shocks me back to reality.
It surprises me that I’m staring at her when I said I most definitely would not, so I spin around and grab a hand towel to wipe my hands.
This woman is utterly beautiful.
I always thought tattoos on women were off-putting and ugly. It’s why it is one of my ten rules—no tattoos—but I can see now that if it’s done right, they can be meaningful and beautiful. A true work of art.
I hope one day I can talk to Alex about hers and see if she has any others. But thinking about the rest of Alex’s body and being sex deprived at the moment is awakening more of the man in me, so I subtly rearrange my crotch and clear my throat in an attempt to calm down my breathing from seeing her so raw.
“These are ready when you are, Alex,” I call out, purposely not looking at her. I don’t want to be caught looking or with a damn boner that isn’t going down fast enough.
She steps up beside me and giggles. “It’s okay, you can look now. I’m all dressed, and I am starving. So burrito me, baby,” she says, slapping my ass.
I chuckle, trying not to look overly guilty, and hand her the plate. “Yes, ma’am.” She sits down at the table while I take the seat next to her, and we quickly eat our breakfast.
We’re finishing up, our last bites slowing, and I can see, even though neither of us wants to go, that she has a job to get to where my brother is her boss, and I need to leave as well.
“Okay, well, I better be off,” I say, standing up, grabbing both our plates, and taking them to the sink.
She stands, grabs her keys and bag, then walks with me to the door.
“Thanks so much for a great night,” I say.
“It was great, wasn’t it? Thanks for an equally wonderful morning.”
I nod and lean in, giving her a kiss on the cheek as she drags her bottom lip in by her teeth. My chest constricts at the sight, and my breath is knocked from me momentarily while we walk out her door. She follows, closing it behind us, and we step down the three flights of stairs.
“Can you keep an eye on Nate today, seeing as I wasn’t home with him last night? Just make sure he’s doing okay?” I ask as we walk out of the building toward the cars.
