have to have a mirror to know what he was seeing, the thin line of ivy that connected a collection of seemingly random images. Pointing to her right shoulder, she said, “See that one? The whiskey bottle? That was the first one I got. I was thirteen.” She glanced over her shoulder with a wry smile. “I thought I was so cool when I discovered that older guys would buy liquor for me if I smiled real pretty. The one next to it, the compass. Spencer has the same one. It means we’ll always be there to help each other find our way.”
“Andie—”
She didn’t know what he was going to say but she didn’t like his tone. It sounded wary. Weary, almost. She licked her lips and hurried on. “This cheesy little heart is for my first love. I was fifteen and he was older. Too old for me, but try telling teenage me that. I didn’t want to hear it.”
She was starting to babble but she couldn’t seem to stop. “They’re not all in chronological order. I got this book for the nice lady who took me in when I was eight. I’d managed to get that far without learning to read. Like, at all. I didn’t even know my ABC’s so Ms. Sheryl took it upon herself to teach me. I wanted to make sure I never forgot her kindness. My life would have turned out a whole lot different if I’d never learned. And then there’s the snake—”
The feel of his hands on her shoulders finally put an end to the verbal barrage that had come crashing out of her mouth. The silence seemed to stretch and bend, wrapping them in a cocoon she was loathe to break. But she hadn’t even reached the point. And if he spoke first… Well, she was terrified of what he would say.
He dropped his hands and the spell was broken. Spinning around, she forced herself to face him to say this next part, trying not to notice the way his expression was set. He didn’t want to hear her. Well too bad.
“I was thinking about getting a knife as well as the red rose tattoo.”
She could feel him stiffen even though they weren’t touching.
“A dagger, really,” she clarified, as if perhaps he’d missed what she was getting at.
“Andie.” Her name came out as a low growl. A warning.
“I know,” she said. “I know what you’re going to say. That it’s too quick, that I don’t know you well enough….” His eyes met hers and she hated the sadness she saw there. Even as she spoke she could sense him pulling away in every possible way.
“But the thing is, you’re wrong. What you’re thinking is wrong. I don’t have to know you for years to know that you’ve made a difference in my life. And I don’t just mean that since meeting you I’m suddenly in the middle of some Scooby-Doo mystery.”
She thought she saw a flicker of a smile and hope reared up in response.
“For the first time in my life I feel like I’ve genuinely clicked with someone.” His gaze grew hooded again and she swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. “For the first time I’ve met someone who really sees me…even when I can’t always see myself.”
His eyes darkened and his gaze moved to her lips. That had to be a good sign, right? He might not be declaring his feelings back to her but she hadn’t expected that. Hoped for it, maybe, but she would have been surprised if he opened up just like that.
No, she’d just needed to tell him what he meant to her before it was too late. Before he let fear and logic convince him that this was a bad idea. That he should stay away. Because she knew that was what he must be thinking, just as she was sure he was tempted by her.
Summoning up the remainder of her courage, she squared her shoulders. “I’ve spent so much of my life trying to figure out where I belong. When I’m with you, I feel like I fit. Like I’ve found a piece of a jigsaw puzzle that totally clicks in place on the first try. I don’t have to force it.”
His sigh had the butterflies in her belly begging for release and somehow that triggered her babble button. “You know how sometimes you just try to mush puzzle pieces together because you really want it to work but no