I wasn’t going to touch that with a ten-foot pole.
“It was kinda hot, actually,” Presley said.
My gaze darted to her. Was she serious?
“So, kinda like Adrian, huh?” Gil said absently.
That was obviously not the right thing to say, because Presley’s smile disappeared instantly, and Gil was too busy to even notice.
“Let me know when you’re done here,” Presley told him, twisting around as though she was going to get down from the stool. “I’m gonna make us some lunch when you are. But first, I want to show Jake some more of my work.”
I looked at Presley, something inside me loosening somewhat. I don’t know why it made me feel good that she wanted to show me what she was proud of, but it did. The idea that she would share part of herself with me, it was unexpected.
And there was that word again.
Chapter Forty
Presley
I’m not quite sure what I was thinking when I invited Jake back to my condo, but I’d had the urge to show him some more of my work. Something other than a bunch of scribbles and half-ass drawings in my sketchbook. I guess I really wanted him to know that at some point I had been inspired enough to create something worthwhile. Since he’d seemed so impressed with my piece at the gallery, I wanted to show him it hadn’t been a one-time thing.
Now that we were seated in front of Gil, I was beginning to relax. Or I had been, right up until Gil had mentioned Adrian.
“Hey, hold up,” Gil said.
I glanced over at him, unable to keep the frown off my face.
“I didn’t mean that and you know it,” he said, his eyes locked with mine. “I’m sorry. I’m an ass.”
“Yes, you are,” I told him bluntly.
Which only made Gil smile.
That was the way things were between us. He would say something crass and uncalled for, but I knew he didn’t mean it. Still, when he brought up Adrian, it never ceased to piss me off.
“I’ve been telling her,” Gil said to Jake, “that she needs to put some of her work in here. It really is fantastic.”
“It is,” Jake agreed. “That piece at the gallery’s amazing.”
I wasn’t sure how I felt about the two of them gushing about me. It was a little weird.
“She’s good,” Gil said now, his attention on Jake. “Her work is one of a kind. Not that she’d ever admit as much.”
“If only I could draw now,” I told him.
“You will. Give it some time.”
Time. Something I really didn’t have much of. At least not if I wanted to enter that contest, which I did. For the money alone. Not to mention the notoriety that would come along with winning. It was what I needed, or at least thought I did, to give me that added boost.
“I think you need a vacation,” Gil said, meeting my eyes.
“A vacation?” That was random. “And where do you suppose I should go?”
“You could always go to your dad’s cabin,” he said, snagging a piece of bacon from the skillet and shoving it into his mouth. “Anywhere but here. You spend too much time here as it is.”
It was true. These days I did.
Not that I was looking to take a vacation. I had to work. One of these days, Charlie was going to get frustrated with me. It was inevitable. She couldn’t carry my weight forever.
I glanced over at the hallway that led to Gavin’s room. “Gav here?”
Gil nodded. “Sleepin’.”
“Was he out late?”
“Don’t think so.” Gil scooped up the food in the skillet, then dumped it onto a plate. “Okay, boys and girls. If you’re not gonna eat, I’m not gonna let you watch me.” Gil grabbed his food—something that obviously included bacon and was yet again wrapped in a tortilla—and gave a quick salute. “I’ll check you later.”
“Make sure she’s dressed when she comes out of that room,” I told him with a fake smile.
“No promises. They look best naked.”
“Not to me they don’t. They look better gone.”
Jake laughed, his eyes intently focused on me, and I remembered why I’d brought him here. Only now, with the way he was looking at me, I wasn’t sure taking him to my bedroom was the best idea I’d had in a while. Clearly, there was the potential for something to happen between us in that room. And I can’t lie, if things went that route, I certainly wouldn’t be disappointed. I still relived the memories from the other night,