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“I just…” His voice was quiet, and when I looked up, he was gesturing to the few dishes sitting on the kitchen counter with the big, empty bowl in his hand. Also on the counter was the popcorn air popper and various popcorn toppings.

“Yeah, sure.”

He started tidying silently, doing his thing for a couple of minutes while I continued to scowl at my phone and scroll mindlessly.

After a bit, though, he put things down and turned to me. “Did I do something wrong?”

I looked up at him and frowned. “Wrong?”

“I thought we were, I don’t know, becoming more friendly with each other, but since the library thing yesterday, we’ve been… I don’t know, back to square one.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat, which had formed once I realized he was right. “Sorry.”

“It’s… you don’t need to apologize. I’m just saying, if I did something to piss you off, let me know so I can fix it. I know it’s not easy having me take over your living space and I want to be as unobtrusive as possible. If that means taking responsibility for doing something thoughtless, so be it.”

Slowly, I nodded. “Yeah. Fair.” I took a deep breath. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m just in a shitty mood. I don’t know. Ignore me.” It was the most I’d said to him in days.

He reached a hand toward me and placed it on my wrist. “It’s fine.” Heat raced up my arm, tightening my chest. Something in me wanted to reach for him, but I resisted.

I pulled my arm from his touch and rubbed the spot with my other hand. Without thinking about it too hard, I let myself speak again. “I… there’s a storefront open.”

His eyebrows shot up. “There is?”

I nodded. “Space to open a private tattoo studio. For myself.”

“That would be amazing. Is that what you want?”

With a shrug, I sort of waved it away half-heartedly. “Not really.”

“Not really, or no?” I glanced up at him and he was watching me with his hazel eyes. The eye contact made my heart race.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, glancing away.

“We should go look at it.” He said it like it was a foregone conclusion.

I shook my head. “I don’t know,” I repeated.

“Seriously. We should just go look. What’s the worst that could happen?”

This was an excellent question. The worst-case scenario? I could fall in love with the space and not be able to afford it, which wouldn’t be the end of the world.

He beamed as if he knew my answer already. “You call the agent tomorrow and just let me know when the appointment is. I’ll make it work.”

“I…”

“We’re going,” he said firmly.

With a sigh, I nodded. “Okay. I’ll make the call,” I agreed, wondering just what I was getting myself into.

Chapter Thirteen

Kieran

Two days passed, Ellis barely saying five words to me. On the third day after Ellis brought up the empty space to me, which happened to be Lena’s first day back in office, I woke to the soft sounds of Ellis working in the kitchen, the music he liked to listen to while he was cooking, and the scent of coffee drifting into the living room.

I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, stretching and yawning before I headed to the bathroom to freshen up and start the day. Once I’d taken care of the basic necessities and gotten dressed, I made my way into the kitchen, stopping in the doorway when I spotted Ellis. His back was to me and music was playing quietly. A softness came over me as I watched, the urge to—weirdly—go over and touch him nearly unbearable. Instead, I cleared my throat and knocked on the wood of the threshold.

Ellis spun around and gave me the smallest of smiles. “Good morning.”