Page 28 of Love Walked In

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Mari

In the end, it took four days to find somewhere for us to be alone and naked. Ninety-six whole hours before Leo texted me:

Sorted. Meet me tonight. Followed by an address, strings of unfamiliar letters and numbers.

Of course we saw each other in the store, but we kept our professional faces on.

Day by day the shop was getting a little busier, and we had a big festival to prepare for, and of course there was no way we could make out in front of customers.

But I couldn’t help but notice that he was avoiding being alone with me, period.

It only made sense once we ran into each other in a deserted corner of Natural Sciences and he stole a kiss.

Though “kiss” was the understatement of the year.

He pinned me to one of the shelves and feasted on me, shoved his fingers into my hair, pressed into me like he was trying to leave an imprint, and I melted everywhere from his heat, clinging to his shoulders so I wouldn’t slide down to the floor.

But when I moaned into his mouth, he pulled away and groaned, “I knew snogging you would just make it worse, fuck’s sake.

” He stormed off, leaving me with my mouth swollen, my bun askew, and little chirping birds floating around my head like a dazed cartoon character.

Now I punched the address into my maps app to navigate London’s transportation system.

One Tube ride, one train ride, and a short walk across a park later, a new four-story apartment building in beige brick stood in front of me, its tall windows warm yellow in the dark.

When I looked around me, I felt my shoulders drop from around my ears.

I mostly liked the bustle of Central London, the way a million stories flowed around me like the Thames flowed through the city.

But it was nice, to have a little vacation from feeling like my personal space was public property.

I looked around the park I’d just crossed.

People chatted with each other under the glowing streetlights, carrying bags of groceries, and others walked dogs along the paths scattered with brown leaves.

This was a place where people lived, not just where they worked.

It almost felt like a small town in the city.

I turned back to the apartment building and saw a skinny, dark silhouette hovering in one of the windows. I waved eagerly, and Leo raised a hand back. It was almost like we’d done this hundreds of times before.

I blinked that image of long-term domesticity away, pressed the buzzer for him to let me in.

When I came out of the elevator on the third floor, he already had the apartment door open.

A little part of me rubbed its hands gleefully when I saw the top button of his shirt was unbuttoned.

He closed the door behind me and raked his fingers through his salt-and-pepper hair.

“Is this all right? It’s basic, but it’s nice enough and I’ve always liked the neighborhood.

It’s not too bad to get to from the shop, either,” he babbled.

The apartment looked like it had been furnished with IKEA’s cheapest line, all white plastic and plywood. I doubted the cream sofa was comfortable to sit on for longer than ten minutes, and the art on the walls looked printed straight from a stock image website.

But this sweet, awkward man standing beside me was beautiful, lanky and dark-eyed, and I wanted to burn up his shyness with multiple orgasms. “Is there a bed?” I asked bluntly.

He rolled his eyes. “No, I thought we’d use our clothing to make a nest on the floor. Yes, smartarse, there’s a bed. Frame, mattress, even a duvet.”

I stepped into him. “Then what are you waiting for?”

I wanted to take his slow smile and save it for my wildest fantasies, of him holding my wrists and whispering sexy nothings in my ear. “For you to take your hair down, darling.”

“What is it about you and my hair?” I asked, half laughing as I pulled out the first pins and put them in my pockets. “It’s just wavy and brown.”

“You see brown.” He pulled the rubber band off the end of the braid when it fell and started to unravel it. “I see chocolate and nutmeg and cinnamon…”

I raised my eyebrows. “I think you might need some nonedible adjectives. It’s like you want to eat me.”

He raised his eyebrows back. “Don’t I?”

A giggle bubbled up. “Touché.”

“No food words. Bronze, then. Mahogany. Amber, when you’re in the right light.” He trailed his fingers through it, and I closed my eyes with how good it felt. “It makes me think of luxurious things. Precious things.”

I blushed hard. I wasn’t anyone’s idea of a luxury, no jewel or fur coat.

Being wanted this way, it was like surfing a tidal wave, when I’d spent the last seven years floating in the shallow end.

I tried to joke, “I don’t know why I haven’t slept with an artist before. You’re amazing at compliments.”

But Leo wasn’t going to let me dodge. “I mean it, Mari. All of it.” He brushed a gentle fingertip along my cheekbone, down my nose, along the swoop of my Cupid’s bow. “I don’t know anyone else like you. You’re special.”

I couldn’t handle those kinds of feelings.

The seriousness, the sincerity. As far as I knew, they all ended in heartbreak, in grief.

I knew we’d have to negotiate this before we could sleep together again, but for now I wanted him too badly to care.

“Thank you,” I said lightly. “But you wrote a check when you kissed me in the store the other day, and as long as we’re standing here, I can’t cash it. ”

Something hesitant flickered in his eyes, but bravado quickly overcame it. “Cheeky,” he said with a smile, then pressed his mouth to mine.