A Little Bit Dirty - Jenika Snow Page 0,31
to say disappointedly, and came over to sit beside him. “You’re acting weird all of the sudden.” She shifted on the bed so one leg was bent and she was facing him fully. “Everything okay? You’re not regretting…” The fact that she was the one that now looked worried about him regretting what they had done instead of it being him last night, warmed his heart and broke it at the same time.
“No, Tanner. I’m really fucking glad things played out the way they did, and I’d like them to continue to play out.” He watched the confusion on her face thicken.
“I guess I’m not following what you’re saying.”
He ran his thumb along her cheek and exhaled. “I talked to the band first since I wanted to make sure it would be cool with them, but—” Damn, why was this hard? “I want you to come on tour with Twisted Feather and help us re-create our website and the graphics.” The silence that stretched between them was heavy.
“Seriously?” She leaned back, almost as if he had slapped her, and her eyes slowly widened. “You seriously want me to come on tour with Twisted Feather as your graphic designer?”
“Yeah.” He didn’t know what else to say, because clearly this was as shocking to her as it had first been when he broached it with the guys. “Obviously there would be legal forms and shit like that to be taken care of before anything could move forward, but you’d be exclusive to the band, help create logo designs with the rest of the team, and, well…”
When he didn’t finish she lifted a brow.
“What?” She said that one word softly, almost coaxingly. Jacks swore she already knew what he was going to say by the look on her face alone.
“I want you on tour with me, too, Tanner. I don’t just want you there as an employee to the band, but as my girl.” He heard her swallow, and then she looked away from him. He didn’t press her, because he could see from her profile that she was trying to work out what he had just said in her mind.
“This might be the most surreal thing I’ve ever experienced.” She turned her head and faced him again. “I mean, aside from sleeping with Jackson ‘Jacks’ Lorde.”
He could tell she was teasing him, but there was still this unsure tone in her voice. “I know I kind of sprang this on you. We just saw each other again after five years of not speaking, but this feels really fucking right, Tanner.” He reached for her hand again. “But just because we haven’t seen each other doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking of you, and I would hope you have been thinking of me, too,” he said.
She nodded. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you. But, Jacks, you don’t even know my work. For all we both know, as well as the rest of the guys, my work could be vastly different from what you are going for.”
He was shaking his head before she finished. Okay, she might have a point, but he knew that her work—regardless if he hadn’t actually seen it yet—didn’t make a difference. This was Tanner, she was wickedly talented, and he wanted her on the tour, and in his life. “I may not have seen the stuff you actually got your degree for, but I grew up with you, remember?” He smiled and was thankful when she did the same. “I’ve seen your designs, know how talented you are, and think you’ll make a great addition to Twisted Feather.”
She stood and started pacing, and once again he could see all the things she must be thinking flashing across her face. She had always been an easy person to read. And then she stopped, turned and stared at him, and for several seconds did nothing but that. “And you’re serious?”
Jacks couldn’t help it. He started laughing.
She knitted her brows and folded her arms under her breasts, well, as well as she could given the fact that she was only dressed in a sheet. “You’re laughing at me.” She said it deadpan and didn’t phrase it like a question.
Jacks stood and walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close. “I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing at the situation, and in reality it is actually one of those nervous laughs.” He looked into her face, then let his gaze go down to her lips and felt