“Then he could die a happy man. Jude, thanks for not noticing how crappy I live.”
He kissed the top of my head. “It just makes you that much more amazing.”
While there couldn’t have been a more comfortable, cozy, and prestigious make-out place than the back of the limo, I felt uncomfortable with a driver sitting just a few feet away. Jude worked hard to hide his disappointment. He tried desperately to convince me that the tinted window between the driver and the passengers was opaque and sound proof. I pointed out that once he raised the partition, the driver would know exactly what we were doing and that would be even worse. I won the round, and Jude accepted defeat like a gentleman, a completely crestfallen gentleman.
The combination of getting out of bed extra early and the monotonous stop and go freeway traffic had made me drowsy enough to fall asleep with my head on Jude’s lap. “Hey, Valley, we’re at my bike. I told Ben to bring you a helmet.” He brushed the hair off my forehead, and I sat up a bit stunned that I’d fallen so deeply asleep. “Unless you’d rather stay in the car and let him take you home.”
I dropped my feet to the floor and stretched. “Where’s the helmet?”
He smiled at my enthusiasm and reached behind the seat for it. The limo had attracted the attention of every person on the street, and I heard a few people mumbling behind their hands trying to decide who we were. They looked equally curious as we climbed onto the back of the motorcycle.
The cool air snapped the grogginess from my head, and I held tightly to Jude as we drove through town to the estate. We passed the house and came to a second driveway a good block away from the security gates. He parked the bike under a tree.
I glanced back up the way we came. “Uh, I think you missed a turn back there.”
“Nope.” He removed his helmet and helped me with mine and then tossed both of them over the tall brick wall surrounding the yard. He crouched down and lowered his hands to give me a boost. “Just grab the top of the wall and hoist yourself up. I’ll help you get down the other side.”
“And exactly why are we breaking in to your house?” I put my foot in his hand, and he lifted me high enough to get a good hold on the top of the wall. I hoisted myself up and nearly fell over the other side.
He climbed up beside me. “Because, I’m not ready to share you with my dysfunctional family yet.” We sat on the top of the wall with a complete view of the yard and tennis courts. There was no one, not even a giant dog, in sight.
Jude stared at me with that lingering gaze that always sent a swirl of heat through me. “I’m going to paint you, Eden. Even if I don’t paint another damn thing, I’ve got to put you on canvas.” He jumped down and raised his arms to me. I fell forward into his strong hands, and he lowered me to the ground, making sure to drag my body slowly against his on my descent. He picked up the helmets and then grabbed my hand and pulled me in the direction of the pool house.
I looked fleetingly back at the wall we’d just climbed. “So just how often have you climbed that wall? You seem quite skilled at it.”
“Probably a few more times than through the security gates. That wall is my invisibility cloak. It allows me to enter the grounds unseen.”
“But what if your dad is using the pool house?” I stumbled along to keep pace with his speed.
“He never steps outside in the daylight.”
“Really?”
“Rock stars and vampires have a lot in common.”
“If no one’s around, why are we running?”
My question didn’t slow his pace. “I don’t want Butch and Sundance to get wind of me. Then everyone will know I’m back.”
The speedy jaunt across the immense yard increased my heart rate as if we were running a track. “Yes, I was going to mention what terrific guard dogs they were, what with us climbing the wall and all.”
“The place is just too big. We’d need a whole pack of dogs to keep this place secure.”
I was nearly breathless by the time we reached the pool house. Jude wasted no time getting us inside and out of view. He locked the door behind us.
I put my hand on my chest to slow down my heart. “If you had a real invisibility cloak, we wouldn’t have had to run. We could have just casually strolled across the lawn unnoticed.”
“I guess that’s what we needed in the back of the limo.”
“You’re not going to forgive me for that, are you?”
“Nope. I don’t forgive easily when a perfectly good make-out opportunity is squandered.” He walked over and started arranging his pencils on the tray.
The day I’d raced out of the pool house, insulted and hurt, I’d never actually looked at the drawing he’d started. Now I looked over his shoulder at the canvas..
My light brown eyes looked back at me. “Oh my god, that’s me,” my words floated out on an awed whisper. “It’s like looking in a mirror.” My neck and shoulders had been sketched in lightly, but even in the faint strokes of pencil, I could see the outline of my body. “Are my boobs really that big?”
“Yes, my tastily curved angel, they are.” He got up from the stool. “I’ll get the shirt, and you can change.”
I followed him to the hallway lined with clothing racks. “Are you sure I shouldn’t put on one of these nice, lacy dresses?” I ran my finger tips across the line of clothes.
“I’m sure.” I was just closing the door behind me when he issued another command. “And, Valley, this time, lose the jeans too.”
I froze and then turned and stuck my head back out. “What?”
The expression he shot me left no room for debate. “I’m the artist, remember?”
It was still more fabric than the bathing suit, and yet, I felt extremely exposed as I stepped out into the hallway. I yanked down on the men’s undershirt to cover my panties, but that only served to expose my breasts.
Jude glanced up from the wet bar, and for a second, it looked as if the breath had been knocked from him. He threw back a shot and then held up the glass. “A little fortification.” He slammed the glass down on the counter and seemed to avoid looking directly at me as he brushed past and took my hand. He led me to the stool and patted the top of it.
His calloused fingers pushed gently on my shoulders until he got me into the same position as before. He pushed my chin up so my face was lifted properly. Like a true artist, he stayed focused on my positioning. I was his object, his model, and nothing else, but it seemed to take all his strength to concentrate. It seemed one wrong move and the heated tension that was coming off of him in waves would splinter in every direction.
His rough fingers took hold of my bare knees, and now it was my turn to stay focused. Holding my upper torso and head steady as his hands drifted over my bare thighs, spreading them slightly apart, was nearly impossible. I sucked in a breath. It could not be helped. His hands slid down to my ankles, and he placed my feet in the same position on the rungs of the stool. His long lashes guarded his eyes, and he did not look at my face once. His fingers tugged on the hem of the shirt, and still without looking up at me, he took my hand and placed it on the fabric to hold down.
Then he leaned forward and whispered in to my ear. “Breathe, Eden.”
I nearly slipped out of position as I released the breath I’d been holding. Through the back of his t-shirt, the muscles in his shoulders and back looked solid and tight as he walked over to the music controls. He turned it on but lowered the volume. Then he walked back to his stool and sat down. He hadn’t lifted his face to look at me yet. As he stared down at his tray of pencils, he seemed to be steadying himself to look up, and when he finally did, I heard the same release of breath as I’d had moments before. He picked up the pencil and a serious, hard as steel gaze crossed his face as he dragged the lead across the canvas.
Cool air brushed the bare skin of my thighs and shoulders, but every time Jude looked at me, searing heat unfurled inside of me as if his gaze stroked me physically. I could feel him looking at me, memorizing every curve of my body before transferring it through his fingers onto canvas.