“You calling me irresponsible, Killer?” Milo’s eyes fall to thefew strands of freed hair that have found their way onto my shoulder, and I nearly shiver under his stare, as if he’s touching them somehow.
“It only takes a moment to…” I shudder when he licks his lips. “Lose something like that.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Please do.” He’s going to kiss me. He’s going to and I want him to, which means it’s probably a terrible idea. “And you should have used one of your own cards…for that kind of mess.”
“Understood.” He steps closer, caging me in. There’s no escape, without using my words now. And those seem difficult to find. Except the rambling ones. “Thank you for the correction, Miss Welch.”
“You’re welcome.” My pulse jumps as I lift my face to look up at him. He smells heavenly. Actually, scratch that, he smells like everythingbutthe holiest of places. The opposite, really. His scent is closer to damnation. Like carnal desire and animalistic urges.
What bodywash does he use?It’s overwhelming.
His crooked smile opens, and I notice he’s got a poppy seed lodged between two of his teeth. Finally, a minor flaw I can focus on. Something to tether me to reality.
“I used my brother’s soap last night. I could call and ask him the name of it, if you’d like. Or, I can steal the bottle for you, if you’d prefer.”
Fuck, did Iseriouslyask that question out loud?
Milo reaches above me for a paint can, picks it up, and moves it to the left side. He keeps his hand on the edge of the shelf above my head as he seemingly reads something behind me.
Should I offer to move out of his way?
“I was just curious…” I shrug, then turn to look at one of the tattoos along his biceps, the one only a few inches from my face.What is enough?The tattoo reads in small, simple black lettering.
Milo clears his throat, and I instantly turn back toward him. His nose is so close that I could brush it against mine, if I wanted to. Which I don’t, right?I shouldn’t.
“Do you have any more questions for me?” His eyes dip down as he takes in a slow breath. “Or can I kiss you now?”
“Oh, um.” I pull back the few inches I’d somehow floated toward him until the back of my head hits one of the shelves. “We can’t do that.”
Think of how mortifying it would be,I tell the lizard part of my brain that’s fighting to give in.Thisman seeing you fumble. Seeing you fail. Seeing exactly how little experience you have.
Milo removes the hand from his pocket and places it on his chest, bunching the fabric of his white tank under his fingertips. He has the worddarewritten across his knuckles and what looks to be a dragonfly on the back of his hand.
“We can’t?” His smile is a sleepy, effortless thing. “That’s a shame, I was starting to think you liked me…”
“I find you attractive, sure. But that doesn’t mean we should kiss.”
He chuckles, and the sound goes right to the tightening coil of my belly. “Finally, she admits it.”
“Please,” I scoff. “As if you need someone else feeding your ego.”
“You don’t know what I need,” he says, his brows lowering a touch.
“Do you always act like this? Go after you want just because you want to?” I ask.
His eyes weigh his answer, sliding left to right. “Pretty much, yeah. Don’t you?”
I cannot help but laugh. He smiles in return, less suave and more genuine—his lips pulling back to reveal that poppy seed again. It has the opposite effect from what I’d expected, or hopedfor, leaving me a lot more vulnerable to his charm. “No…I don’t,” I answer, shaking my head.
“You should try it sometime,” he says, his tongue briefly darting out before his smile subsides. His smile never goes flat, I’ve noticed. It simply quiets. “Life is more fun that way.”
“Maybe…. But not today,” I say on an exhale.
“Okay, Killer.” He straightens abruptly, breaking the final remnants of the spell he’d cast over me as he retreats back a few steps, his hands raised like an innocent man. “Back to work then. Forrealthis time.”
I look to the garbage bag on the floor next to me, and back to him as he coolly opens a paint can, peeks inside, and walks it over to the sink. How is he so unbothered? I feel like I need about twenty cold showers. Still, one thought remains, it could bejusta kiss, right? It’s been so long since I had one of those.
