If anything, I feel a little safer thinking I have my own knight in shining armor.
“I’m glad I heard your voice when I did. I’d been heading toward the specialty vinyl area.”
A snort escapes me. I’m also not buying it. “You own a Cricut machine?”
“No.” He grins at me, those amber eyes crinkling a bit at the corner, and it only serves to make him more handsome. It’s then that I take in his change of clothing, and my body gives a small shiver he mistakes for unease over what’s happened. Jesus, this man is dangerous, and I let my eyes subtly give him a once over. And if I thought Theodore Astor in an all-black suit was handsome, this simple pair of lightly faded black jeans and plain grey T-shirt just might kill me. He’s bulging muscles and raw masculinity with a scent that invades my pores and dominates each and every one of my senses. “...but Tero’s wife does, and it’s her birthday tomorrow.”
“That’s very sweet of you,” I mumble, still appreciating his perfect male form. However, the moment his answer clicks, I’m left blushing in embarrassment. For assuming.
“I can be, depending on the person or moment.” The last word hasn’t passed through his lips when his brows furrow and lips thin into a line. Even that is sexy. “Did he touch you?”
“What?” I’m flustered, and this seems to aggravate him for some reason.
“Did Tim touch you?” he asks again, and this time, it’s on a low hiss.
“No.” Taking in a deep breath, I let it out slowly. My face pinches tight, though, and for a second the memory of his hand coming toward my face flashes through my mind. “You stopped him before he could.”
Theodore nods, but he doesn’t say anything else and turns his attention to my cart. “Did you find everything you needed? Or are you still—”
“Black.” Christ, I blurted that out like an idiot, which he only raises a brow to. “I mean, I need black paint and was in the middle of picking a shade, when he interrupted.”
“Shade?”
“Yes, shade.” Giving him my back, I turn toward the shelf I’d been picking apart my options on. “They each have a slight variation and would work to serve a different purpose depending on the subject of each painting and main colors used. Like this one. It has a slight hint of purple to it.”
“I see.” Nothing more, but I hear the hint of amusement there. There’s also his body heat that penetrates my clothing and sears my flesh, a caress that makes me flush from the tip of my hair to my hard little nipples pressing against the cotton of my sweatshirt.
“See this one?” There’s a low yes from him, his hand now on my lower back as he looks from over my shoulder. God, he affects me like no one else ever has. I’ve seen this man a handful of times in my life, and yet, this attraction seems to grow. It also makes me question how relaxed I am around him, what just happened with Tim no longer a concern. Why? “This is the one I’d been debating on prior to being interrupted. I like the metallic hint, but need to find the right place to use it.”
“And have you found it?” Theodore moves slightly closer now, but with him I welcome the move—I’m smiling. His hand on my back traces my spine and then fingers the edge of my hood, giving it one small tug. “Have you found what you’ve been searching for all this time?”
“Yes.” I don’t move, but I do allow him to take the bottles from my hand and place them inside the semi-full cart. I already have the canvases back in my studio, my brushes come from a specialty online store, but the acrylic paint and gold leaf packets I was dangerously low on—this shop is a godsend, excluding today’s obnoxious employee. “I’m ready to check out.”
He exhales roughly, breath fanning across the crown of my head. “Good.”
“Good?” It leaves me on a shaky whisper right before his warmth disappears.
“Look at me,” Theodore commands, and my body complies before I’m given the opportunity to deny him. Instead, I turn and fully face the handsome man and meet those eyes that always seem to draw me in and hold me captive. “Why do you look so exhausted? Are you sleeping okay, Gabriella?”
“Just had a few rough nights. No biggie.”
Theodore brings his hand to my face and runs the pad of his thumbs under each eye. “You need a few days off. No work, and please try to get some sleep.”
“Believe it or not, this is relaxing for me.”
“So is lounging on your couch while munching on chocolates and binge-watching Netflix documentaries.”
I take a step back and mock glare, crossing my arms over my chest while meeting his hard stare. “Someone’s been snitching, or have you been asking?”
“I will neither confirm nor deny this, but I will counter the question with one of my own.”
“That’s not how any of this works.”
“Yet it will happen nonetheless.” He takes my silence as a win and tilts his head toward the end of the aisle where the center of the store is located en route to the registers. We make it to the line to pay when he looks over again, chuckling at my annoyance for being left in wait. “Have you had dinner yet?”
“No, but here’s one of my own...”
“Go on.”
“Are you going to buy what you came for?”
“I’ll order it online.” Then, his amber eyes scrutinize me. “Have you eaten at all?”
“Again, no.”
“What are you in the mood for? I’ll—”
“I’ve already placed an order for pickup at seven and I’ll swing by the place after I pay for this.”
“Where?”
“Why?” I ask, studying his profile and memorizing each detail. The more I’m around him, the bigger the compulsion to draw him becomes. To recreate each line—his angular jaw and pouty lips—and add him to my line for the Astor Gallery. Would he get mad? “What’s it to you?”
He snorts, and the sound seems so out of character. Makes him cute to me. “You’re not paying for anything on your birthday.”
“Buddy, that day came and went like a hurricane. It’s been a little over a week now.”
“Well, I’m making up for it.” The girl at the register smiles at him, never once saying anything in greeting or asking the customary did you find everything okay because she’s too busy doing what I am. Listening. Watching. Having an inner swoon moment that while making me want to glare at her, I understand. “Now, tell me where, and I’ll have Tero pick it up.”
