Page 109 of The Image of You

I followed her gaze to my bare arms. Lately I’d been wearing long sleeves, but today, I was only wearing a T-shirt, and for the first time, she saw all my ink.

“You have tattoos.”

“Yes.”

Just like the first day, she reached out with her fingers and traced the designs. Around and again, her fingers swirled on my skin, igniting my need for her. I wanted to feel her hands all over me. I wanted to feel her lips tracing the images of ink the way they used to. I swallowed the thick lump in my throat.

“You always liked my ink,” I murmured.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, moving her hand. “Your bracelet—it’s like the one I wear around my ankle.”

“Band, Ally. I explained that to you. It’s a wristband.”

She laughed, almost as if she remembered. As if somewhere in her mind, the words were familiar.

This was it. My gaze strayed to Elena’s grave as I silently cast out a prayer to her for help one last time. I was about to do something that would either push Ally into my arms or send her away forever. With Bradley’s imminent arrival, my time was running out.

I stood, taking her with me. “I have something else to show you.”

* * *

She turned around, her gaze flying everywhere. Standing in the middle of the loft, she looked shell-shocked.

“You live here.”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been here before.”

“Yes, you have.”

“With you.”

“Usually. Sometimes you stayed here when I went away.”

Her hand flew to her head at those words. We hadn’t talked much about my career; she knew I was a photographer, but I didn’t expound on it very much.

“I stayed here without you?”

“Yes. You liked it here.”

“You went away a lot?”

“Far too much.”

“But not now?”

I inched toward her. “No. I don’t want to travel like that anymore. I made that mistake once, and I’ll never make it again. I found my home, and it’s right here.”

“This loft?”

“No. Not the loft.”

“I don’t understand.”

We were so close I could feel the heat of her body. Hear the air escaping her lungs in small gasps. Small tremors shook her frame.

“The person standing in the loft with me.”