“Because.” Her voice was more forceful this time and she pushed her hands against his chest. “Because I need to get up and go to work.”
Baxter sprang up from his comatose state on the floor next to the bed and barked.
Billie laughed. “And the pup needs to be let out for a pit stop. If he pees on the floor, I’ll make you clean it up.”
That was almost worth the risk to have Billie writhing beneath or on top of him again, but as he weighed his options she took the chance to make her escape. He groaned as she all but skipped across the room, tugged on some underwear and then covered up with a long, floaty floral skirt and a black fitted top. She threw some bright, chunky beads around her neck.
“What time does the gallery close?” he asked, already fantasizing about that night. Already imagining ridding her of that sweet little outfit and losing himself inside her.
She smiled knowingly as she brushed her fingers through her hair. “I close up early on Mondays, actually.”
“Best news I’ve heard all day.” He stretched out and then linked his hands behind his head.
“But,” she said as she started out of the room, “I told my boss at the tour company I’d fill in for someone who’s sick, so I’ve got a ghost tour on tonight.”
“Dammit. You’re going to stand me up for ghosts?”
She shrugged in the doorway. “Sorry. I can’t afford to turn down paid work at the moment, not with the uncertainty of the gallery and all, but I’m sure you’ll find something to keep yourself occupied.”
As Billie headed down the hallway, Baxter following closely at her heels, Travis rolled over and put the pillow over his head. Yes, he had plenty to keep him occupied, but he’d much rather stay in bed and gather his energies for later.
A few moments later the aroma of coffee lured him out. He headed down the corridor and into the kitchen to find Billie cracking eggs into a bowl. She glanced over and smiled at him. “Want some breakfast?”
He paused a moment, trying to recall a time in his past when he’d ever hung around long enough to have bacon and eggs with a conquest, and came up blank. Breakfast seemed a little cozy; then again, he had worked up quite an appetite overnight. “Sure.”
Billie turned back to focus on whatever she was doing with the eggs and Travis crossed to the whiz-bang coffee machine, trying to ignore the fact that this scenario was alien to him. Just because he was about to share a meal didn’t mean it was serious. And she knew that. He’d been clear. Hadn’t he? The moment he’d finished helping Ajax and Blue he was out of here. No looking back.
“Are you thinking about Priest?”
At Billie’s question, he looked up to find her staring at him. “What?”
Her lips twisted at the edges. “You looked like you had the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
He sighed and focused on the coffee machine. “Yeah,” he lied. “I’ve also got some of my own business to attend to.”
“It’s lucky you work for yourself, or I guess it’d be harder to stick around here,” she said as she poured the eggs into a pan. It sizzled, and she began stirring the eggs with a wooden spoon.
“I guess so. Although Ajax and Blue don’t really care about shit like that. They’d expect me here anyway.”
She frowned, and little creases appeared on her forehead. He guessed she was about to make a comment on that, but instead she asked, “When do you want me to start drawing your bike?”
He shrugged as he laid two mugs of steaming coffee down on the table and pulled out a chair to sit. “As soon as possible, I guess.” Unspoken again was the fact that his days here were numbered.
“Today? You can bring it into the courtyard and I can draw while I work. People will love it.”
“I don’t want anyone touching my machine,” he growled, and then took a slug of coffee.
She smirked. “Don’t worry, baby, I won’t let anyone touch your toys.”
“Are you mocking me?” He raised an eyebrow, amused. And if he were honest, turned on. Again. Usually girls fawned in his presence; rarely did they poke fun at him, but Billie doing so only made him hot and hard.
She grinned back and then lifted one shoulder. Her shirt slipped down in the process, giving him a glimpse of the bare, tanned skin of her shoulder, and he forgot all about being teased. Thought about tasting her instead.
“Are you sure you have to open the gallery today?” He unashamedly looked his fill down her body.
“Travis!” she scolded. “Do you think about anything else?”
“Not much,” he admitted. Although the truth was until he’d met her, he’d been in a bit of a dry spell, more focused on his work than women or sex. But now that he’d broken the drought, he couldn’t get enough.
Shaking her head, she put a plate down on the table in front of him and his nostrils flared at the aromas coming from the simple dish. She’d thrown some chopped tomatoes, cheese and something green into the scrambled eggs and it looked far healthier than anything he usually digested. Still, it smelled amazing, and when he forked a bit up into his mouth, he almost moaned as the flavors melted on his tongue.
Billie sat down across from him, a smaller plate of eggs in front of her. “You like?”
He nodded, too busy eating to speak. He liked the eggs, he liked her and he liked the normalcy of sitting down to eat with someone more than he cared to admit. Was this what being in a relationship would be like? He could imagine what his brothers would think if they were flies on the wall right now. They’d think he’d gone soft in the head, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. Billie was good company—in and out of bed. He should stop acting like a woman, stop thinking so much and just damn well enjoy what was on offer.
They ate in comfortable silence until Baxter came back inside and starting nosing around Billie’s feet. “No walk today, sorry,” she said, glancing down at the sad-looking pup.
“How often do you walk him?” Travis asked.
“I try to take him out most mornings, but it’s more because he doesn’t have a garden to run around in and to give me some exercise. He likes the outing, sure, but he’s not the kind of dog that needs too much exercise.”
As if to prove the point, Baxter slumped down onto the floor next to the table, rested his head on his front paws and then promptly fell asleep. Travis found himself reaching down and ruffling the dog’s head.
Billie smiled, then stood and reached out to grab his empty plate.
“I’ll get this,” he said, gesturing to the table. “You go open the gallery. I’ll clean up here, check my email and then bring the bike around.”
“You sure?”
He nodded and then stood to join her, unable to resist pulling her in for a quick smooch. She tasted delicious, even better than her cooking, and if her eggs were anything to go by, that was saying something. Her mouth opened for him and she sighed as he slipped a hand around her back and cupped her perfect ass. If he tried hard enough he reckoned he’d be able to convince her not to open the gallery today, but common sense landed at the last moment. Quite aside from the whole Priest issue, this wasn’t a holiday and he still had his own business to keep afloat, so he reluctantly let her go. But he couldn’t help slapping her on the ass as she turned toward the door.
Her laugh wafted over him in her wake and he grinned down at the slumbering mutt. Baxter roused as Travis cleared the table, looking up at him with those big, sad eyes as if he were the reason Billie hadn’t taken him out walking. Realizing that was likely the case, Travis felt sorry for him and found him some bacon in the fridge. He tossed it down on the floor and while Baxter ate, he went to fetch his laptop and then set up office on Billie’s kitchen table.
For a couple of hours he dealt with emails from clients and focused on his real job, but by lunchtime he was ready for a break. He found Billie in the gallery busy with a couple of potential buyers, so he snuck past and out onto Bourbon Street. His stomach rumbled and he grabbed a couple of burgers from his favorite fast-food joint, before heading back to The Priory to collect his bike.