Page 39 of Falling for the Bad Boy
I shrugged. “We’ll still be neighbors tomorrow.”
“I suppose you’re right.” He gestured toward one of the stools. “After you.”
As I sat down, I grabbed two beers from the cardboard carrier. “Did you get your work done today?”
“For the most part.” He took the bottles and popped the tops before handing one back to me. “What have you been up to? Smells like paint.”
“I’m working on a mural to hang over the counter.” I picked up an egg roll and set it down on my plate. “I can show you what I’ve done so far after dinner if you want.”
With his mouth full of food, all he could do was nod. I grinned back at him. Spending time with Oliver was comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. He made me want to let down my guard and consider letting someone in. The only person I’d ever gotten very close to was Macy. I had friends all over the world and enough acquaintances I could spend the rest of my life couch surfing and never stay with the same person twice. But the number of people who really knew me, who I let into my inner circle, was close to zero.
Maybe things would be different if I hadn’t spent my life in the shadows of my siblings. As the baby of the family ,they coddled me, spoke for me, and didn’t expect too much of me. Until I got older. Then they couldn’t understand why I didn’t want the same type of success all of them chased after.
“You okay?” Oliver’s voice drew my attention back to him.
“Yeah, why?” I lifted a spoonful of miso soup to my lips.
“You looked like you were a million miles away.” He studied me, his gaze focused on mine.
I flushed under the intensity of his stare. “Just thinking.”
“About what?” He leaned against the back of his stool.
“Nothing important.”
“I’m a really good listener if you ever want to talk.”
Dabbing my lips with a napkin, I tried to hide my smile. “Oh yeah? Says who?”
He spread his arms out. “Everyone. It’s my hidden talent.”
“So you’ve just got the one?” I set the napkin back in my lap, giving up on trying to hide my amusement.
“Well, no. I mean, I’ve got plenty more hidden talents but that’s the thing, they’re hidden.” He lifted one shoulder in a half shrug.
I cleared my throat. “So, ahem, how does one go about exposing these other hidden talents?”
His brown eyes darkened, going from caramel to a deep, dark chocolate. “You’ll have to uncover them one by one.”
“That’s good.” A laugh bubbled up and escaped.
“You like that, huh?” He winked.
I couldn’t remember the last time a guy actually winked at me. “Did you just wink at me? Because that’s a lame ass move.”
“No, I just got something in my eye.” He wiped at the inner corner of his winking eye. “Probably some dust floating in the air.”
“Right.” I finished the fried rice on my plate as he continued to rub at his eye, trying to remove whatever he claimed might have fallen in. “So you want to see the canvas I’m working on?”
“Sure.” He helped put away the rest of the food, stacking the takeout containers into a pyramid.
I gestured toward the stairs. “It’s up on the second floor. I didn’t want to risk getting paint all over down here.”
“Lead the way.” Oliver motioned for me to go ahead.
We cleared the last step, and I led him over to the area where I’d been working. A huge piece of canvas stretched across the space. I’d roughed in the name but still had to paint around the edges and add some texture and dimension to the letters.
“No limits. You went with my idea.” Oliver set his hands on his hips as he walked around the canvas.
