My eyebrows pulled down. In all my life, I don’t think I’d ever been around anyone who ever just had fun. I’d never had fun…

An unfamiliar feeling of warmth spread in my chest as I stared at Aliyana. I watched her belting out the lyrics, her brush strokes keeping time to the beat.

For the first time in my life, I wanted to feel that happy, if only for a minute, I wanted to know what that level of freedom felt like. It looked… nice… Aliyana, standing there swaying her hips, not a damn care in the world, was like feeling a ray of light shining on your face when you’d been stuck in a dark pit your whole life.

After a few minutes just watching, mesmerized, I straightened up, dropped my smirk, folded my arms across my chest, and cleared my throat.

Aliyana froze mid-brushstroke and slowly turned her head. Her beautiful face was spattered with white paint, and her brown eyes were almost Disney-level huge as they landed on me. Her olive skin shaded to a bright red. She carefully lowered the brush to the tray on a cart beside her, whispering something to herself under her breath.

My cheeks twitched, and I had to stop myself from laughing at her reaction to finding me here.

Fuck. She looked mortified.

“Elpidio, I didn’t think you were coming,” she said, all flustered, her hand over her chest.

Fuck me, she was gorgeous. I’d thought so last night, but now, like this...?

I held her stare, watching as her chest began to rise and fall under my attention, it went faster and faster the longer we held gazes. Long dark lashes fluttered in nerves and my fists involuntary clenched together against my chest at the action.

“Elpi,” I reminded her icily.

Aliyana’s eyes flared with embarrassment and her face flushed even more than before. She reached up to play with her hair. At the sudden movement, her partly unbuttoned shirt gaped at the neck, allowing me to glimpse her tan skin and the top of her firm tits under her white lace bra. I almost groaned at the sight, but I was rooted to the spot, just fucking dumbstruck by this chick.

“I’m sorry, Elpi,” she rushed out. “You did remind me about your name last night. I wasn’t thinking.”

I immediately felt like a dick on hearing the apology in her soft voice, but I stayed silent as Aliyana hurried to switch the music off.

I remained frozen to the spot as she took a long deep breath, her back to me, shoulders tensed as a deafening silence hit us both. But she pulled herself together and turned to me with that beautiful smiling face of hers.

“I’m so happy you made it,” she said, moving toward me. Her dark eyes ran down my body, from my messy long hair to my clay-covered black shirt and black ripped jeans. Aliyana’s full pink lips twitched, two deep-set dimples on either cheek popping out. Hesitantly, she reached up her hand toward the ends of my hair. Every part of me froze and my breath clogged my throat as I watched her swallow nervously.

It’d been years since a woman had touched me. And never one that looked like her.

As her slim finger drifted past my cheek, I caught her scent… jasmine. Mamma used to burn jasmine incense in the trailer. I didn’t know if that was the reason, but for the first time in a long time, I felt myself relax around someone. Strangely, it felt like home.

Aliyana took a piece of my hair between her index finger and thumb. Her pink lips parted slightly and her warm breath spread all over my face.

I… liked her this close… touching me.

A second later, Aliyana pulled away her hand and she held it up in front of my eyes for me to see.

“Marble,” she whispered, her dimples deepening as her lips gently pouted, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You must have been real busy today. You’re covered.”

Something in my face must have caused her back off, because she dropped my hair and stepped back.

I gritted my teeth. I had no idea how to do all this shit. Women, this exhibition… be fucking normal.

“So have you?”

“What?”

“Been working all day.”

I could see the excitement in her eyes. I nodded my head before glancing away, putting my hands in my pockets.

I moved toward the dagger piece we’d discussed last night. It was now in the corner I’d suggested, high up on a plinth. There was a huge spotlight shining down on it. I frowned.

“If you don’t want it elevated, we can change it,” Aliyana suddenly said from beside me. Her scent of jasmine drifted past me again, my lips tightening at having her so close. She ran her hand over the white plinth, really studying the piece. “I asked it to be put higher to really maximize the effect of the rivulets. And I put the spotlight here tonight so you could see how it would look in the daylight. See?”

I bent down and immediately saw she was right. As I stood up again, Aliyana was biting her finger between her teeth.

“Well?” she asked.

“It’s perfect,” I rasped. It genuinely was. In the glare of the spotlight, rivulets ran down the sculpted man, off the plinth, and shadowed about two feet along the floor. The skin on my back pricked as I felt Aliyana watching me.

“So you approve?”

“Fuck… yeah… it’s…” I trailed off, not knowing how to express what it made me feel. I was never good with words. Not unless I was threatening you to pay up for your crack or I’d crowbar your fucking knees.

Aliyana’s hands clasped together and a proud expression settled on her face. That look made me step back. Get some distance.