Page 45 of Art of Love
Chapter 12
Hunter
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Idowned the last traceof coffee in my mug and closed my eyes.
The coffee was my last attempt to wake myself up. It was Sunday. We had a day off from the show, and I was brainstorming.
Brainstorming in the coffee shop on Main Street and trying to focus. At least it was quiet and there weren’t many people around. Just a handful inside and outside sitting by the river.
That crazy kiss on Thursday was on my mind. It signaled a lot of things, but most importantly, it signaled the need to change things up and get serious. To take stock of the situation and not allow my damn brain to turn to mushed-up peas over a pretty girl, as Grandfather would say.
Mushed-up peas, mushy peas, whatever, it was all the same to me because it was all affecting me.
I’d braved the task on Friday night of acting the way I should, and I didn’t even wait for Jia’s display to start like I usually did. As the doors opened, I made my way to the display of water goblins Juliana had sculpted, and I walked around that area for the whole hour. Then, when I saw Jia on the floor, I went to the display of dark water fairies played by the actors. That was the living piece. I stayed there until the end of the show, completely ignoring and avoiding Jia.
Last night was worse because I didn’t see her at all. I went to the furthest exhibit and stayed there for the whole night. It was ridiculous. Me, a grown man of thirty-two years, hiding from a woman because...
I didn’t know what I should say about it.
Whichever way I took it, I thought it was best to make my stance known from here.
We both wanted the same job, and there was only one job, so that was the primary focus. That had to be clear in my mind, and I had to get my shit together.
The problem was, I really liked working with her, and I liked her.
There was also something I noted too as we planned the display. It was that my creativity sparked off the charts when we worked together. Probably in such an intense way that without her, the stuff I was coming up with was just mediocre.
That had to mean something, right?
We’d known each other for close to a month, and I didn’t think I’d ever met anyone who’d done that to me before.
Working with her to make that project come alive had been unreal. I didn’t realize how unreal it was until I saw her walk out that first night. Then something resonated within me as I’d kissed her, and she kissed me back like she needed me. Like she wanted me as much as I wanted her.
The last thing I needed was a woman I thought I might be developing feelings for. It was so much worse because she might be the first who I could say I was taken with.
Devon was right when he said I needed to pick better women.
I sighed and opened my eyes and once again had the feeling of my brain screwing with me because there Jia was, walking into the coffee shop.
But she wasn’t alone. That pompous ass Stephan was with her, with his arm around her, and she looked happy. She laughed at something he said, and I watched in pure undiluted jealousy as the bastard’s eyes roamed over her body and lingered on her breasts when they got to the counter.
I liked what she wore too, and I could have been guilty of the same thing if I’d been standing next to her. Didn’t mean I accepted the idiot’s gaze of appreciation on her.All over her.
Today she wore shorts, short denim shorts that not even Daisy Dukes could rival. Jia’s long golden legs looked longer and tapered even though she was technically short. A soft pink camisole top graced her body, caressing her skin the way I wanted to and made a show of her fully rounded breasts.
