Jerking awake, her eyes met mine and widened in alarm. Her expression had my body shaking in silent laughter.
“Yes?” she called out to her dad.
“Just making sure you were okay. I’m heading out in twenty minutes. Do you want me to make you breakfast?”
She rolled off her side of the bed, pointing to the bathroom door. Holding up my hands, I got up and sauntered in there. Keeping the door cracked open, I watched as she rushed to her bedroom door and took a deep breath before opening it.
“Yeah, can we have French toast?”
I couldn’t see her dad’s face with the way the bedroom door opened. “Sure, princess.”
“Be right down,” she said before shutting the door and relocking it.
I rushed out of the bathroom and picked her up to toss her on the bed. “Bad girl, sneaking boys into your room.”
“It’s your fault. You broke into my house! I was innocent until I met you.”
Lying halfway on top of her, I brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Your innocence wasn’t too hard to break into either.”
“Jerk!” she hissed, trying to push me off her.
I grunted, pretending her efforts were making headway. “Stop with your bullying, princess.”
She giggled, which was my intention. “You’re crazy, Caleb.” The grin left her face an instant later. “I saw something on your back when you went into the bathroom.”
I’d forgotten she didn’t know about the tattoo. “It’s just something I got done before entering juvie.”
Her expression turned shy, prompting me to kiss her. “Is it me?”
“Maybe,” I teased, sweeping a thumb over her cheek.
“Can I see it?” she asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Acting harassed, I pushed myself off the bed and turned around so she could get a look at the tattoo Donna had inked onto my back nine months ago. Her fingers traced over the artwork, trailing down to the waistband of my boxer briefs. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered. “What if we break up for good?”
I spun, snatching her hips and pulling her against me. “You planning on breaking up with me again?”
“No,” she said quietly. “I like it, by the way.”
“It’s a good thing I won’t ever let you go.” Brushing her smiling lips with mine, I said, “Tell me you love me.”
“No,” she said again. Grabbing a short fuzzy robe, she wrapped it around the body that drove me insane with desire. “I’m going down before my dad comes looking for me.” She closed the door only to peek back inside and whisper, “I’ll bring you breakfast.”
Smiling to myself, I went into the backroom and glanced over my shoulder with my back to the mirror. The artwork was of the picture I’d drawn of Gianna last year. It portrayed her as an angel, her head tilted slightly down. Ian had teased the crap out of me when he’d first seen it in juvie, but he’d given up when he realized it didn’t bother me.
As a wedding present someday, I planned on adding her name to it.
I moved to her bedroom window to watch for when her dad left. The moment his SUV pulled out of the driveway, I returned to the bathroom to start the shower. Smirking, I left the door to the bathroom open and while taking my shower. Through the wet glass, I saw when Gianna came into her room, coming to a halt as she saw me.
If I was going to help her overcome her fears, arousal was a good place to begin. She moved away from my sight, likely placing the plate and glass she carried onto her desk.
I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. She sat at her desk gazing at her laptop screen. Drying off, I dressed, figuring she’d had enough for now. As I went for my breakfast, I kissed the top of her head. “Thanks, princess.”
She shifted in her chair to watch me eat. “What do you have going on today?”
“Spending time with you. I’m surprised your dad left you alone.”
She blushed, biting her lip. “I told him you were on your way to pick me up and we were hanging out with Cece and Dante today.”
“Liar,” I whispered scandalously, stabbing a piece of French toast. “Get ready. We’ll stop by my place so I can change clothes.”
She stood, going into her closet. “Where are we going?”
“To drop off a painting.”
Her face careful, her words hesitant, she asked, “At the gallery?”
After yesterday, it wouldn’t be somewhere she’d want to go. “At the warehouse where they store art. Their preparator, Tyler, runs it and handles their inventory.”
She disappeared back into the closet. “Okay.”