Page 102 of Angel Eyes

“So, what do you think?” I propped the canvas against the wall, squinting at it from where I knelt on the studio floor.

Still needs something.

When no response came, I glanced over to where Juliet sat on the couch, her legs tucked beneath her, her skirt riding up just enough to reveal a hint of thigh. My hand twitched, but I forced my eyes up, taking in her frown.

“Everything all right?” I grabbed a rag to wipe a smear of paint from my fingertips, a trickle of concern sliding into my chest. Was her boss bothering her again? Ever since she’d sent him that email, she told me he’d laid off a bit, sending only the occasional “reminder” about something he wanted her to do when she was back in the office.

After she goes back to New York.

“Yeah, it’s just my friend Cristian. He’s been radio silent for the past week. I know it’s probably nothing, but I’m starting to worry a little.”

“Friend from school?” I said, gathering the palettes I’d left scattered across the floor.

“Mmm, not exactly, but I did meet him on campus. He’s applying for the business program, and we just sort of became friends after that.”

“Business program, huh? Sounds like a smart guy.” My eyes dragged to hers. “Should I be jealous, Ms. Chandler?”

She tossed her phone down, leaping up to throw her arms around me. “Definitely not. He really is just a friend.” Her lips curled in a slow smile. “You’re the only man I want in my bed.”

I dropped the supplies I had just collected, pulling her to me. “Well, good. For a minute there, I thought I might have to challenge him to a duel to stake my claim.”

“Ah, pistols at dawn?”

“Nah, I’m more of a slug-it-out kind of guy.” She watched me beneath heavy lids, and I smirked. “Do you like that I’m not above throwing hands to protect what’s mine?” I leaned in until we were trading breaths. “Does my prim-and-proper good girl like boys who do bad things?”

She sucked in a breath, her pupils dilating. “No, that would be a total cliché.” Uh-huh. She could deny it all she wanted, but her body was singing a different tune. “What did you want to show me?”

“I forget,” I said, nibbling on her lower lip. She giggled, giving me a brief kiss before slipping out of my arms and crossing over to kneel in front of the painting.

“You finished it.” She beamed at me over her shoulder. “Your statement piece, right?”

“Yeah.” I pushed a hand up the back of my head, looking down at the golden wings arching across the white textural background. “I just feel like it needs something, but I can’t figure out what.” Capturing the essence of an angel embodied had seemed easy enough when the idea had first come to me. But months later, it still wasn’t glowing the way I wanted it to.

Juliet tilted her head to one side, wrinkling her nose in the way she always did whenever she was thinking. By this point, I had learned every one of my girlfriend’s quirks and, half of the time, I could tell what she was thinking from her expression alone.

My girlfriend.

God, I loved calling her that.

“What if you made the background darker?” She traced an invisible outline around one gold feather. “These wings make me think of an angel illuminating a place shrouded in deep shadow. Beautiful as they are, if they were surrounded in darkness rather than light, it would better show off their true radiance.”

“And what should we call it?” I said, kneeling behind her and threading my arms around her waist, the gears in my mind already turning. “Should we call it Angel Wings?”

She hummed, letting her head fall back against my chest. “Let’s call it Angel Eyes, because it’s the angel’s light that helps us see.”

My heart accelerated, the vision of what the painting should be forming before my eyes. The colors, the brushstrokes—it was all there in my mind, just waiting on the other side of a door that only the woman in my arms held the key to.

“How did I get so lucky?” I whispered against the skin of her throat, breathing her in.

“I could ask you the same question.” She brushed her lips over my brow, her warm breaths pelting my forehead. And then we were falling, my back hitting the floor as I pulled her down with me, my hands sliding up the back of her thighs.

She smiled against my lips. “Uh-uh. You promised me you would work if I came over.”

“I’m taking a lunch break.” I grazed my teeth over the sensitive flesh beneath her ear. “You wouldn’t want me to starve, would you?”

She laughed, but her laughter turned into moans as my fingers slipped into her panties, my cock already thickening as I stroked her damp flesh. I captured her mouth in a hard kiss, the heat of her lips rushing through my chest and filling my body with warmth.

This. I want this forever.

---