Page 18 of The Art of Deception
I can’t even fathom it.
I have to face the fact that Hope & Faith Ink is closing down, and I need to find a way to support us. In the interim, I’ll have to find work as a checkout chick or something until I can find another shop that is more in my price range and open a new store. But everything has to be right—the location, the rent price, the vibe. It all has to fit and, more importantly, be right for Levi to feel safe there like he does at Hope & Faith Ink. I can’t just walk into any old place with low rent and start up again. It’s not that simple. It has to work for Levi—he’s my only consideration.
Everything I do is forhim.
Sighing, my mind shifts to Xander. He’s coming over tonight, and now I’m in a crappy mood. I want to feel good for him. Iwant to look good for him. So, I figure I’ll do something to cheer me up and to pretty myself for a change. Xander’s never seen me in anything other than jeans and flannel, so I’m gonna wear a dress. Make an effort.
I check on Levi, and he’s fine. He’s playing his games as I pass him and stroll to my room to get changed. I want Xander to notice me. I want to feel good for the rest of the night and not worry about the shitty way Alex-asshole-Scott has made me feel.
He has the power to destroy me.
And he’s doing a damn fine job of it so far.
Let’s hope Xander can restore my mood.
Chapter Six
ALEX
Finishing work is today’s highlight. The fact that I’m leaving to spend the evening with Tomi and Levi makes the shitty day worth it. I don’t know what it is about Tomi, how she can captivate me so easily, but she has me in a fucking spin.
After her sassy email, it’s only confirmed how headstrong she is. It also confirmed how utterly deep in shit I am. She fucking hates me, and now I see just how deep it runs, which is only making it harder for me to tell her who I am. I know I have to because the time will come when I need to expose what’s going on.
Just not tonight.
I had Henry take me home so I could pick up my car. Riding a Harley with tubs of ice cream and donuts won’t work tonight.
As I pull up my candy apple red 57 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, the engine rumbles, echoing through Tomi’s street. I twist my keys with my lucky dice hanging off them, sending the noise to silence as I see Tomi peeking out her giant front window.
Guilt surges through me over her eviction email, but I have to keep my shit together, or she’ll know something’s up.
I lean across the front seat and grab the grocery bags, then step out of my baby.
Tomi rushes out the front door, her hair is up in her usual high ponytail, her red bandana around her head, but tonight the jeans and flannel are gone and are replaced with a black pin-up dress with red cherries all over it. It’s figure-hugging on top but fans out at her waist. It’s retro, cute as fuck, and suits her to a tee. She’s stunning. I’ve never seen her in a dress. Oddly enough,she matches the theme of my car.
She rushes toward me and I behold her beauty. Her eyes are wide as she takes in my car with her mouth open wide. “Xander… holy shit! This is your car?”
“Yeah, had her restored. I drive her around when I’m not on my bike.”
Tomi rushes straight past me to the car, spreading out face-first on the hood, her hands smothering over the paintwork. I howl, watching her basically make out with my car.
“She’s beeeautiful,” she drawls out, lusting over my beast.
I can’t help it as I stare at Tomi’s ass up in the air, her chest pressed over the hood as she fans out, she is so fucking gorgeous in a position like that. My cock throbs just seeing her so vulnerable in this moment, and I can’t help the direction my mind takes.
But holy hell, if it doesn’t make me want to fuck her right here, right now, on the hood of my car.
I am a man, after all.
“Yeah, she is,” I murmur back at her.
She slowly turns to me from the car, spotting the grocery bags in my hands.
Her eyes light up. “Oh, ice cream? I need it.” She jumps from my car like she wasn’t just stretched out over the top of it like something from my freaking dreams.
“And peanut butter-filled donuts.”
Her eyes widen as she gasps. “Bullshit!”
