Normally, I’d be out in it. But I’m too damn tired right now. There’s still a week or two left in my penance, depending on Stone’s whims, and even though some prospects, like Goldie, are getting it in to their heads that they can look down their noses at me because of the work Stone’s got me doing, I don’t regret a thing. Hell, I’m proud. It’s a small price to pay for supporting the woman I love. And even though I’m not out celebrating, I’m still feeling damn good. For the first time in a long while, I can sit quietly, think about my life, and not have the darkness and pain in my past try to claw its way to the surface and make me itchy and restless in my own skin.
I attribute that progress to the woman who should be here by my side.
It’s been two weeks that we’ve been together. And for two weeks, I’ve had next to me a woman who makes me content down to my very bones. Who knows me inside and out; knows the look I get on my face when my anguished past is trying to surface and knows just what to do to calm me down.
I get another sip into my beer before the clubhouse doors open and she steps through, wearing jeans, a t-shirt, leather jacket, and with her camera bag dangling from around her neck. Flushed, with her hair wild, I can tell she’s been riding hard.
Damn, does she ever look good.
The second she lays eyes on me, that smile on her face grows impossibly bright, and she strides across the room toward me.
It's a smile that has me leaping out of my seat. Proud, loving, this woman is a whirlwind of positivity and she sucks me right in to her beautiful orbit.
I meet her halfway.
Hooting breaks out all around us as I pick her up off her feet and kiss her deep. Let myself enjoy the touch of her body, sliding my hands down the small of her back to cup her nice round ass.
When I set her down, she’s breathing heavily, and grinning even more.
“You’re late,” I say.
“Nice to see you, too, Snake,” she says. “There was so much traffic. I rode the shoulder through most of Los Angeles, otherwise I’d still be stuck back there. But it was worth it. Really worth it.”
“Oh yeah? How many pieces did you sell this time?”
“Just three,” she says.
“I’m sure that’s nice money, Addie. But there’s got to be something more. You sold eight at that exhibit last week and you weren’t smiling like this.”
She hops up on her tiptoes, plants another kiss on my lips, and settles back down with an even wider smile on her face. Slowly, she reaches back and brushes a wild strand of hair away from her brilliant brown eyes.
“Guess why I’m smiling, Snake.”
“You want me to question why I’m seeing a smile on your pretty face, instead of just enjoying it?”
She rolls her eyes a little. “Just a little contemplation, please.”
I take a breath and indulge her. Look at her, long and hard — which isn’t that difficult, since I enjoy looking at her — and notice she’s standing a little straighter. There’s pride in her eyes. The same look I remember seeing in her a few years back when she saved her own money and bought her first motorcycle; pride and accomplishment.
“Job offer?” I say.
Her mouth drops open. “How did you guess?”
“I know you.”
Practically bouncing with energy, she reaches in to her camera bag and pulls out a business card. “There was a scout for National Geographic Travel at the exhibit today. He liked my stuff, we met up for drinks afterward, and he said they might have a job for me. They’re doing a piece on hidden tourist gems in Southern California and they want to send me out to find the secret charm of the desert towns.”
“You met him for drinks? And he slipped you his business card? You sure this was a job offer?”
I can’t help it — a little jealousy stabs me inside. I trust Addie, but she’s the hottest woman I’ve ever laid eyes on and I definitely don’t trust other guys to keep their hands off her.
But she laughs.
“I was most definitely not his type,” she says. “He spent half the time talking about his husband. And he slipped in more than a few compliments about the portraits I took of you, in particular. So, maybe sometime later on down the line when I want a permanent gig with them, I’ll have you two meet up and you can flirt with him and get me a raise.”
“So he’s got good taste, huh? That’s probably why he wanted to hire you.”
She kisses me again.
“Must be. But that’s not the only reason I’m late. I’ve been working on something special, just for you. Why don’t you go wash some of that grease off? There’s something I need to show you.”
It sucks to leave her when she’s glowing like this, full of pride in everything she’s building for herself; her smile could outshine the sun; but she gives me a stern look and I know better than to argue with her. And I’m too tired to try.
After a couple minutes of scrubbing, I come out of
