Page 17 of Tattoo My Heart
“I’ll walk you back to your shop,” I inform her just as I place a hand on her waist and touch her back. She jumps, startled by my bold move, but she doesn’t try to get away from me either.
“W-why?”
“Because I’m here, and I want to.”
I’m trying to get some alone time with her, something that we haven’t had in years. To say that she’s been avoiding me at any family dinners does not even begin to cover it. I tried to convince myself that it was for the better, but now that we are in close proximity, I can’t let go of the idea of her. I want to see if the reality is even better.
The walk to her flower shop is quick. Evie stops in front of the door before turning around to face me.
“Thank you for walking me here, Cal. Have a good day.”
Without giving me an opportunity to respond, she turns back around, and with a shaky hand, she manages to unlock the door. As soon as it opens, she steps inside, with me on her heels.
“I’ll hang out with you until Nancy gets back.”
Her shoulders tense in distress at realizing that I am still here. She really thought she could get rid of me that easily.
“How do you know when Nancy is getting back?”
I close the door behind us and make sure to lock it. I know she does it when the shop is closed. Nancy told me that.
“I ran into her at the coffee shop. She was having lunch there with her son and grandkid.”
Seeing as I own the building, the manager of the coffee shop called me the other day to check on some plumbing issue in the kitchen. Since I was going to come into town anyway to look at the place across the street from it, I figured I’d get it all done in one day. Running into Evie is just the cherry on top of my very good day so far.
“I enjoy my alone time when Nancy takes her break,” Evie interrupts my inner musings. “So you can go now.”
“Evie.”
I sigh and walk around her shop to distract myself from the very tight top she has on. Her small breasts are sitting high, enticing me with the light bounce that comes with every move she makes.
“We don’t spend enough time together,” I continue, but I am completely fascinated by a floral arrangement showing through the clear glass of the large refrigerator she has in her showroom.
“Why would we be spending any time together at all, Cal?” I smile at the way she says my name. Almost as if she is about to stomp her foot on the ground.
I turn away from the flower arrangement and walk toward her. She is close to the counter where she rings customers up, and with every step I take forward, she takes one back, until her back is against the counter.
We are almost toe to toe when I stop, leaving just enough space between us where she can still breathe without me being right on top of her. Although, now that the thought popped into my head…
“I love spending time with you, Evie,” I confess in a quiet voice.
Her eyes grow large in her face, the shock of my statement understandable.
“Y-you do?” Her stutter is quite adorable. The urge I have to kiss it off her full lips is getting stronger.
“I know we started on the wrong foot all those years ago.”
I lift a hand and touch the soft tips of her hair, loving the contrast of dark against the colorful tattoos I have from my wrist and up my arm.
“We didn’t start on the wrong foot, Cal,” she snaps at me, her eyes glowing with anger right now. She looks like a very upset little kitten. One I’d very much love if she caught me in her claws. “We started with you being an asshole to me.”
“True,” I grin, my hand inching closer to the back of her head. I can tell that she is fighting with herself right now. On one hand she wants me to continue touching her. On the other, she wants to tell me off and shove me away from her.
On instinct, my head lowers until our lips are an inch apart. I can feel her breath on my skin, and it is turning me on like no one ever has. Being here with Evie is the biggest turn on of my life. Why did I not see this sooner?
“Cal,” she whispers, her breathing coming out a lot faster all of a sudden. “What in the world are you doing?”
It’s an excellent question. I’m not sure why I am doing this now. All I know is that if I don’t kiss her in the next five seconds or so, I may regret it for the rest of my life. And living with regret… That’s not my thing.
