Okay, I wasn’t cold now. The opposite. Burning fucking hot. I pulled at my tie. Was I getting sick?
“These are stunning,” Kate said. “A lark. A rowan tree. And is that the logo for Caffeine Daydreams?”
I went still as I realised the connection between those pieces. No. He hadn’t. My sketchbooks were safely at Mum’s. There weren’t any missing.
Were there?
I thought back to the day after Dom and Max left. When I’d shoved all of my sketchbooks into a drawer, never to open it again. I’d been too upset to look through them, to check if they were all there.
But surely Dom hadn’t…
“It is indeed.” Dom chuckled. “I have a special connection with that band. Best night of my life happened after seeing them live for the first time.”
I sucked in a breath as the room seemed to tilt.
“Aww, I love that,” Kate said. “What made you choose all of these? Is there something that links them together?”
“Just the artist,” Dom said lightly. Oh fuck. He was going there. I tugged at my tie once again. It was practically undone at this point.
Kate smiled, unaware that I was ten seconds away from having a full-scale meltdown. “The tattoo artist?”
“No, although he did a great job capturing the original artist’s work.” Dom smiled fondly at the tattoos. “That’s what was most important to me. I decided long ago that the only actual art on my body would be his. The patterns don’t count.”
“Is that why you have gaps?” Kate tapped one such patch of skin mischievously. My pulse ticked higher at howmuch she was touching him. “Waiting for his next masterpiece?”
“Always,” Dom said. His eyes met mine and the amusement there made me wary. “You know, Ryan used to be quite the artist, back in the day.”
“Really?” Kate’s lips parted as she looked at me. “I had no idea. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Dominic exaggerates,” I said blandly. “I used to dabble, but I was never serious. Didn’t think it was worth mentioning given I haven’t touched a pencil in years.”
“That’s a shame,” Kate said softly. “I’d love to see your work.”
But she had seen it. She’d seen and admired it just a minute ago.Given the examples were permanently inked on my ex, I wasn’t about to enlighten her.
“Maybe your muse left you,” Dominic said, his gaze lingering on my face.
“Maybe it did. If it came back now, I wouldn’t be interested. I’ve moved on.” From art. From Dominic. From anything and everything that reminded me of him.
Pain flicked over Dom’s face as his jaw tightened.
Kate, thankfully, was still oblivious to the building tension.“Do you have any tattoos anywhere else?”
“A few.” Dom cleared his throat. “All of them designed by the original artist. Though there are two written tattoos that weren’t designed by him. I think he’ll forgive me though.”
“How intriguing,” Kate said. “Can you share those?”
If Dom stripped his shirt off in front of Kate, I was going to lose my fucking mind.
Thankfully, he just held out his other arm for her to see. “Just this one. The other’s private.”
My gaze took in the word there, written up the inside of his forearm, and my heart stopped in my chest.
There, in beautiful cursive, was his name for me. The one no one else was allowed to use.
Shadow.
6
