“Because instead of working on your ink and staying professional, I’d do something else with all of that skin showing.”

He bit down on his bottom lip as a low groan escaped.

“Exactly,” I said, pointing my finger at him. “So stop looking at me that way.”

“How am I looking at you, Cory?” he whispered in such a seductive voice, my dick sprang to attention of its own volition.

I lowered my head to his. “Like you want to eat me with a spoon.”

His lip quirked at the corner. “Maybe I do.”

“But no kissing allowed, right?” I couldn’t help saying it. Me and my big mouth. Still, we could’ve used some sobering up. At this rate, I’d never get his tattoo finished.

He clamped his mouth shut and I figured it was for the best because I needed to get to work. I fired up the machine and started on the area between his shoulder blades. A certain number of the branches were going to be tricky to fill in properly.

He squirmed at the first touch of my fingers, but then became reacquainted with the contact. He was familiar with having to show restraint because it could prove disastrous to fidget through a tattoo.

“You should avoid any bodies of water in the near future until you’re completely healed,” I said, in my own way chastising him for not using precautions with his newest tattoo. “Though I understand the appeal.”

The groove of his dimple showed and then he closed his eyes, maybe to center himself or tamp down his thoughts about the other night. I stared at his gorgeous eyelashes and cheekbones before returning to the task at hand.

Most surprising to me was that I was getting used to this forced silence with Jude. I even found that I didn’t readily seek out conversations to fill the void with my other clients as much anymore. I realized that it didn’t hurt so badly, after all, to be alone with my thoughts. But if Jude noticed that change in me—and I’d bet Mr. Damned Perceptive did—he didn’t mention it.

After a few minutes more Jude’s low voice startled me. “Why is kissing so important to you?”

“I . . . I don’t know,” I said. His eyes remained closed, which was a relief because I didn’t need his scrutiny right then. “I guess I never gave it much thought until there was this one person who refused.”

His eyes shot open. “That’s never happened before?”

“Not that I can remember.” I shrugged. Then I rubbed my fingers along my jaw. “Besides, most guys like how my scruff feels.”

“I fancy your beard,” he said, examining my jawline. “I think I fancy your everything.”

My heart clanked strangely in my chest. This man was slowly killing me. “Yeah? Well, I fancy your everything, too.”

My gaze shot to his mouth as a wash of color crawled across his cheeks.

“Your lips felt soft against my skin,” I said, remembering them along my back and my ear. “And feeling your tongue in my mouth would be . . . fuck.”

Heat rose like a firestorm in my stomach.

“Besides making me horny as hell . . .” I said, trying to tamp down my multiplying breaths. “Kissing would make me feel more connected to you.”

He shut his eyes tight as a breath caught in his throat. “You can’t . . . that kind of connection can’t happen.”

“We already have it,” I said. “It’s there whether you like it or not. Fuck, Jude, just be honest—were you only hoping for a one-night thing?”

“Dunno . . . it’s so hard to think straight around you.” He averted his gaze to the far wall and then mumbled, “I’ve never been in one place for very long.”

“Is that why you don’t kiss?”

“Kissing has always meant something else,” he huffed out. “People who wanted things from me.”

He said nothing more and I couldn’t begin to imagine what he’d meant by that. It made a slithery feeling crawl across my shoulders.

“Well, the only thing I want from you is . . .”

And then I stopped because I wasn’t even sure how to finish that sentence.

“What?” he asked, now meeting my eyes with an unyielding gaze. “What do you want, Cory?”

“I’m . . . not sure,” I said. “I guess I just want to be closer to you. Any way I can. I’ve never felt this attracted to somebody before.”

“Never?” he asked, his eyes wide and glassy. “Not even your boyfriend . . . David?”

My face fell. Hearing his name out loud nearly gutted me.

“Never mind,” he said after he saw the raw emotion on my face. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “We had our ups and downs like any other couple. But to answer your question, I never felt this intense buzzing in my stomach every single time he was near.”

I also wouldn’t confess that the thought of Jude leaving town made me feel sick and confused and hollow.

He cleared his throat. “Were you . . . together long?”

“Almost a year.”

“Did you . . . love him?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation. He rolled his lips as if to bite back a response.

And now it was time to flip the tables. “Have you ever been in love?”

There was a sharp flash of pain in his face, but his mouth never moved to respond.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” I whispered.