Hometown Girl Read Online Free Page B

there.” He pointed to a large metal door. “And my apartment is upstairs.”
    He heard her breath catch and tried to see his showroom through her eyes. Tall white walls and a light pine floor were covered with his work. Mixed-media paintings, sketches, and sculptures—creations using a myriad of found objects—filled the space.
    She turned in a slow circle, her eyes caressing each piece with the same intensity her body had caressed his moments before.
    He’d never been one to pick up a girl at the bar. He’d lived and worked there for almost six years, and Fitz was the first woman he’d brought home. Sure, he’d slept with women he’d met and gotten to know at the bar, but he’d never once had the urge to share his bed, his studio, his home. He’d always made sure he went to his girlfriends’ places.
    Fitz was different.
    “Some of these pieces are huge. I don’t remember your work being so . . . big.”
    “I never had the room until I moved here. Big studio, large art.”
    “Beautiful.” She pirouetted, and the back of her shirt caught the air and flew around her. “Your work is amazing.” She shot him another dimpled smile and then blushed and looked away. “I saw your exhibit at the Corcoran in D.C.”
    “You did?”
    Her nervous laugh escaped. “Sure. It was a big deal.”
    It was to him, but as far as he knew, his parents had never bothered to see it. He’d even invited them to the opening. “Why didn’t you tell me you were going?”
    “Why would I? We’d lost touch years ago. In fact, I’m surprised you even remember me.” She looked over her shoulder at him and waited a beat.
    At that moment he almost told her the truth, but didn’t want to hurt her feelings and somehow he knew he
would
hurt her. He did remember her, he just didn’t know from where or when. It was like a word that was on the tip of his tongue. He’d figure it out. He just hoped he’d figure it out soon.
    “Can I see your studio?”
    “Sure, but it’s probably a mess.” He tried to remember how he’d left it earlier when he’d noticed the time and dropped everything to grab a shower and run, making it to the Crow’s Nest just in time for his shift.
    Fitz turned and walked toward the door. He really liked the way she moved. “You always were a bit of a slob if I’m remembering correctly.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “You are, but I’ve cleaned up my act in recent years, my studio notwithstanding.” He opened the big metal door and reached for the lights.
    She smiled, and her dimples winked as she stopped beside him in the doorway.
    She was so close and smelled so good, he stuffed his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her.
    “That’s good. I wondered if that’s why you asked me twice if I wanted to come in.”
    “No. I was trying to be a gentleman. I don’t want to rush things. I don’t want to rush you.”
    She stepped forward until she was flush against him. His hands grabbed onto her small waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m a grown woman. I make my own decisions, and no one rushes me.” She rose up on her tiptoes and brought her mouth to his ear. “Am I rushing you?”
    “No.” His voice sounded hoarse. “Do you really want to see my studio?”
    “Right now, I’d rather see your bedroom.”
    She didn’t need to ask him twice. He picked her up and took the steps to his loft two at a time.
    * * *
    “What are you doing?” Elyse never expected to be picked up and carried to Simon’s apartment like some kind of romance heroine.
    “Taking you to bed.” He wasn’t even breathing hard.
    She did her best not to melt. “You don’t have to carry me. I didn’t come here for romance.” That’s not what she was after. She was after sex.
    “You have something against romance?”
    “No. I just don’t expect it.”
    Simon set her down in the middle of the living room. “You should. What do you think this is?”
    She didn’t know what to say, since she