He actually meant it.
‘Oh, well, er,merci,’ I replied.
‘I knew you would be great. Now you have done me. It is my turn to do you.’
Sweet Jesus.
Hearing him say that in his sexy French accent had more of an effect on me than it should.
Then I remembered that just as I had been studying his face, now he would be studying mine.
He’d see every flaw, every blemish… ugh.
But then I also realised that this was a good thing.
Gabriel claimed that he found me attractive, but I was sure that after studying me closely, he’d change his mind and that would pour cold water over any misguided thoughts he might still have of this going anywhere.
Yep. This was perfect.
‘Go ahead,’ I said, jumping off my seat and positioning myself on the stool. ‘Do your worst.’
17
GABRIEL
I thought that I was attracted to Laila before.
But as I sat here studying her beautiful face and sketched her, that attraction intensified.
How could one woman be so breathtaking? She looked even better than she did all those years ago. Her warm brown eyes sparkled, her gorgeous skin glowed and when she laughed at a bad joke I made (what do you call a drawing dog? The answer in case you were wondering wasPaw-casso…), I was convinced that my heart doubled in size.
When I started drawing her braids, the artist announced that he had finished, but I told him that I had not.
I had already offered to pay him double to allow us to sketch each other so I was confident that he would wait.
Once I had finished, I handed the drawing to Laila.
‘This is… incredible!’ she gasped. ‘How the hell are you so good? Now I’m even more embarrassed about my childish sketch.’
‘I love your portrait. You made me look very handsome. And my personal trainer would be very impressed with the size of the muscles you have given me.’ I grinned.
‘Hey! I’m very proud of those Michelin-man-esque arms,’ she laughed. ‘And if you ask me, they’re an accurate reflection of how they look in real life.’ Her gaze moved to my biceps and she bit her lip.
So Laila liked my arms. Interesting…
‘You are finished?’ the artist asked, which was clearly his way of asking us to pay and leave so that he could move on to drawing the couple that were hovering.
‘Oui.’ I pulled out my wallet.
‘No!’ Laila jumped up. ‘Letmepay!’
‘It was my idea, so I will pay,’ I said as I firmly pressed several notes in the artist’s palms. ‘Come, we must go.Merci.’ I nodded to the artist, took Laila’s hand and led her away.
Mon Dieu.
Her palms were so soft. I had noticed it before when we shook hands.
I expected her to pull away instantly but when she did not, I decided that I would not either. They were so warm and comforting.
