Page 112 of Almost Love

Auburn gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I think you made the most impact this week, thank you.”

“It was fun, thankyou.”

He walked back to his workstation, sorting through the art—brightly colored cupcakes, donuts and donut holes, and the last one had baking tools. Setting everything on his table, he grabbed his things to wind up for the day when Carin appeared.

“Heard if there was an award for best mentor, you’d win.”

He popped his collar. “Jealousy looks good on you.”

“Fuck off.” They laughed and pointed at the art on his table. “Your kids did this?”

“Incredible, right?”

“Dude, these arebeautiful.”

“When do you have some free time?”

“Why?” Carin asked, one eyebrow raised.

“I designed something that I want done.”

“You’re getting ink for your girl? I thought we don’t do that.”

He sighed, shoving the papers into his bag. “I need something of her on my skin.”

“A tattoo is apermanentthing.”

“I want topermanentlyremember her, Carin.”

One of the first things he, Carin and Fox had talked about was how they would never get tattoos for people they loved that weren’t family. Both his friends had ink dedicated to friends and family they loved and lost. Just like he did. But romantic partners? That was a big no-no. In fact, when clients came in with requests of that nature, Oakley was always trying to push them in the other direction—get something symbolic that could mean something else if the relationship fell apart. It didn’t always work, like this conversation with Carin wasn’t going the way they hoped.

“I don’t want her name or initials or anything, just stuff that represents her.”

Carin stared at him a long time and when they realized he wasn’t going to change his mind, they nodded. “Fine.”

“Thank you.”

“You should tell her, you know. That you’re fucking serious about her. Otherwise the only person getting hurt will be you.”

He nodded and Carin punched his arm gently and then walked out. Closing his eyes, Oakley inhaled deeply, mentally telling himself that everything would work out.

She loves you, but she’s scared and rightfully so. She loves you, be patient. She loves you, trust in that.

It took another few hours before he could actually leave the shop. There were some schedule changes and they needed to clean up since the kids were all gone. It took them a little over an hour before everyone left. In his Jeep, Oakley considered his plans for the evening. They’d woken up in her bed that morning, so there was a good chance they would fall asleep there. But he was also so tired from the day that he just wanted to collapse into bed. Besides, a good night’s sleep before seeing Clementine was never a bad idea.

The whole drive to his apartment, he had a conversation with himself about how he was expecting too much from someone who wanted to be friends with benefits. Sure, the relationship had evolved from their first conversation and even from the first kiss at the tattoo shop. It was still something he was unclear about and he didn’t know if talking about it would solve this confusion.

Except when he let himself inside his apartment, all the noise in his head faded away. Clementine was sitting on his couchin one of his T-shirts, gorgeous legs stretched out while one hand played with Gracie’s ears and the other scribbled in her notebook. His heart did a funny dance at the sight of her, a smile stretching across his mouth instantly. She lifted her head and her face lit up, making his stomach tumble.How can I not love this woman?

“Hey you.”

“Melor,” he whispered, closing the door and dropping everything to the floor. He moved to the couch and lay down. It was the most awkward position, but he managed to set his head in her lap as she moved her notebook away. Gracie was alert, one paw on his face, like she was attempting to soothe him. He smiled and scratched his dog, silently assuring her that he was okay. He might not have been earlier, but he was now.

“Hi,” Clementine said softly, amusement clear in her voice, fingers brushing through his hair, her short nails scraped against his scalp. “You okay, sweetheart?”

She’d been calling him that for a few days now. When she was drunk on sex and coming down from her orgasm high, she’d call himbabyand he would get hard again instantly. Butsweetheart? It held power that he hadn’t expected.

“A long week.” He snuggled into her lap and kissed her bare thigh. “Coming home to you in my clothes might be my favorite thing ever. Are you naked under there?”

---