Page 75 of When Annika Met Thom

“No, you can’t just walk on by! Art is about messages and revelations. When you understand it, you see so much more.”

“Maybe you don’t need to see more.”

“Youarea man of myth and mystery,” she said, her tone dismissive. “What’s wrong with exploring the artist’s intentions and trying to understand his or her message?”

“You’d have to talk to Chynna for that.”

“Bull. You designed your body art. You chose the images and the way they flowed together. She might have drawn out the design, but you told her how it had to be. It’s your art. She just executed it.”

“She might disagree.”

“But you don’t because you know I’m right.”

He finished his soda and tossed the can into the recycling box.

“You missed a career in basketball,” she said.

“Not hardly.” Thom folded his arms across his chest. Annika watched the tattoos flex and flow with his movement. “Okay. My family is Irish. We had a reproduction of the Book of Kells when I was growing up, kind of a nod to heritage, I guess. And it fascinated me. I was always asking to look at it. I wanted to figure it out. I would trace the animals, how their tails and legs tangled together like a big puzzle. And the first things I drew myself were different animals, knotted up the same way.”

“Why did you like it so much?”

“Because there were smaller images hidden in the larger ones, like secrets, but in full view. Most people didn’t notice them and that intrigued me.”

“That something could be in full view but be overlooked.”

“Yes.”

“That makes sense,” Annika said, thinking how Thom himself was tough to miss but had hidden layers that most people didn’t see. “And so your tattoos have layers and layers of detail. No matter how long or how often I looked at them, I might see something new, maybe even something most people didn’t notice.” She spotted a small raven just as she said that, a silhouette tucked into one of the knots.

“Yes,” he said with satisfaction.

“Kind of like people, right?”

Thom looked up.

Annika continued. “The longer you know a person, the more you learn about him or her. Sometimes people have entirely hidden sides to their nature that you never guessed were there.”

“And then when that detail becomes obvious, you wonder how you missed it.” He was very intense again, holding her gaze as if willing her to connect the dots.

Then Annika did. She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, like Leo. I forgot about him already.”

“Bull.”

Annika ignored that. “And you’re right. I should have seen his infidelity sooner.”

“But you didn’t want to, because you were busy thinking about forever.”

“It’s true. And I should have realized sooner that behind his charm was a man whose only interest was in getting what he wanted himself.” Annika nodded, then gave him a smile. “Good thing I learned my lesson, isn’t it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That I’m a convert to the school of living in the moment.” She closed the distance between them and tapped a finger on his chest. “I’ll bet it can’t be better the next time.”

“Get ready to lose,” Thom growled and by the time Annika had laughed, he’d tossed her over his shoulder and headed for the bedroom.

One more time, the man was right.

Annika usually found that trait annoying but as she fell asleep, snuggled against the heat of Thom, she couldn’t find a single reason to complain. Against all probabilities, each time they were together it just got better. How long could that continue? Annika wanted to know.

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