A hippy nearby held out his pack.
“Thanks, man.” I took a cigarette but shook my head at his offer of a light. Raking a hand through my hair, I leaned against the wall and popped the smoke between my lips.
The bar door opened a few minutes later, more people flowed out in a babble of voices and drunken laughter.
“All right, then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” At the sound of Logan’s voice, I glanced over.
“Looking forward to it.” The scrawny wick gave her a brilliant smile, flagged a cab, and left.
Logan saw me and walked over. Her gaze stilled on my cigarette, distaste flying off her, but she didn’t say anything.
I straightened, trying to rein in whatever this feeling was that garroted me, and removed the cigarette from my mouth. “Did you get what you wanted done?”
“Yes.”
When she added nothing more, I flipped the smoke back into my mouth, frustration choking me.
“Why do you do that?” she asked. “It’s a dirty habit.”
“Yeah?” I drawled around the unlit cigarette. Maybe it was her expression, maybe it was her being with the dickweed, but it set me off. I took the hippy’s offer of a light and lit up. Then blew out the smoke. Her mouth tightened. “Here’s the thing; Ilikedirty. I like getting down and dirty, using my mouth in dirty ways—”
“Stop it.” A flush darkened her cheeks.
“What’s wrong, Logan?” I moved closer. “Scared?”
“I’m leaving.”
Instead of pushing her for an answer, which would probably blow up in my face, I grasped her hand before she stormed off. “Wait. What did poster-boy tell you inside?”
“What?”
“You looked uneasy for a second there before your usual mask fell into place. What did he say?” I killed the smoke and tossed it aside.
“Oh.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “It’s nothing. He wants a…er, a full painting done on a large canvas.”
“Shouldn’t be too difficult, so why the caution? If you don’t want to do it, just say no.”
She bit her lip, cutting a fleeting glance at the noisy street. “He, uh, wants me to start tomorrow.”
I studied her beautiful face for a moment. Her wariness tightened around me like a noose. “But you can’t with the other guy needing his soon, right?”
She nodded. Then she squared her shoulders as if ready to face a firing squad. “No matter, I’ll start with the prelim sketches tomorrow. Titus is leaving for some photo shoot for a few days after. I’ll call Gus and reschedule him.”
Despite Logan’s explanation and her calm demeanor, something felt off; it abraded me like damn sandpaper. Hell, maybe I was overthinking this, because when it came to this girl, my mind was totally fucked.
Chapter Six
Ila
Cars streamed past on the street below my apartment, and each time one slowed, my stomach twisted further. Taking a deep breath, I reached to my back and pulled a lock of hair. The little pain yanked me back to sanity.
Sheesh, I had to stop watching the street. I straightened the books on the coffee table. Ray was at class, but she’d be home soon, and Max had been out most of the afternoon, something about checking on his friend, War. Grateful neither he nor Ray was around to see how rattled I was. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t done this before, but I’d been in university then. The doorbell pealed. I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Shit. I rubbed my damp palms down my jeans, hurried to the front and opened the door. “Titus.”
He looked up from his cell and smiled. It seemed to light him up from the inside. No wonder he was such a huge hit with both sexes. He held up a finger. “I’m at an appointment now,” he said into his cell. “Fine. I’ll call you later.” He rang off and walked into the apartment, looking around. “We’re all set?”
I barely stopped myself from saying “no.”
