She blinks a few times, then crosses her arms and tucks her legs in, retreating from me. “I-I think we’ve gotten enough accomplished for the day. It’s getting stuffy up here. Besides, I don’t want to keep you from enjoying the rest of your day off. We both know you need to take more time for yourself.”
Shit.
My head drops between my shoulders before I lift my chin again, forcing myself to meet her gaze. “I don’t mind staying.”
She averts her eyes. “No, I’m good.”
Thisis why I don’t skip steps. I should have kept my fucking mouth shut.
“Okay.” I sigh.
“Here, um, don’t forget these.” She hands me the three framed pieces: two for Camden and the panther that’s going in the shop. “I’ll bring the rest next week.”
“Your birthday’s on Tuesday, have any plans?”
“Yeah.”
She doesn’t offer more than that. Ouch.
Rising to my feet, I shuffle toward the center of the attic where there’s more headroom. “You sure you’re all right here?”
“Mm-hmm.” She stands, brushing dust off the Hendrix shirt. “Yup. All set.”
“Hey . . . are we good?” I ask. That’s the more important question.
She pastes on a fake smile. “Of course.”
“Make sure you eat something soon, yeah?”
“’Kay.”
’Kay.
I maneuver the paintings at an angle while climbing back down the ladder and she doesn’t follow me.Fuck.
On the way home, I make a stop at the hardware store to get the piece I need for the dishwasher. While standing in line at the checkout, I spot a three-pack of pink velvet hair scrunchies in various shades next to the candy, lighters, and other random shit, then toss them on the conveyor belt with my item.
By Tuesday, it’s been crickets from Kelly. It’s not uncommon for us to text over the weekend, especially if we haven’t seen each other, but even when I checked in on her, it was met with silence. It puts me on edge. My more basic instincts are dying to corner her. I want to crawl into her head and read her thoughts. I’d like to know how much work I have ahead of me.
Casper is wrapping up a big session with one of his repeat clients. It’s a massive back piece. I pause by his station and check out the work. A lifelike python is curled up, waiting to strike, spanning from the guy’s neck down to his waist. He’s putting the final touches on it with white ink to brighten up where light reflects off the serpent’s scales.
“Damn. Well done,” I comment, appreciating his work.
Casper straightens his back and inspects the piece. “Yeah, it turned out great.” He returns to his hunched-over position to finish working. “You wanna grab lunch later?”
“I gotta wrap up some stuff in the office. My next appointment is in thirty minutes.” With my fist, I thump the top of the partition wall dividing his space from mine. “Have you seen Kelly?”
He sits up and nods toward the piercing bay. I should have figured. I resist looking in the doorway as I walk past, but I eavesdrop on the conversation she’s having with her client.
“Any plans for your birthday?” the woman asks.
“Yeah, I’m actually getting off work a few hours early because my boyfriend is taking me out to dinner.”
“Aww,” the woman squeals. “That’s so sweet!”
Is it?Sounds like bare-minimum behavior to me.
“Where’s he taking you?”
