Oh my God, it was him.
Minh had dreamt of him last night, of his body moving over hers, the designs on his arms swirling into her senses and causing an intense, incredible melody to sound in her subconscious. When she had finally awoken at her usual time, close to five o’clock in the morning, she couldn’t rush to her desk fast enough to write down the song that had seemingly formed out of a dream. She hadn’t composed like that in—well, years. Ever since Richard, every time she’d been inspired to break out a bit and create something wild, she’d stopped herself with the reminder of what had happened the last time she’d tried to be different.
But she hadn’t been able to stop herself from doing it today.
She’d been so lost in her work that time had gotten away from her. By the time she had emerged from her bedroom, close to seven o’clock that morning, she’d missed her regular yoga class and was fifteen minutes late in starting the weekly laundry.
Gali had been so shocked at Minh’s departure from the routine that she’d forgotten her bag as she left for one of her therapy sessions, and had had to run back from the bus stop to get it.
That had shaken Minh out of her distracted state, fast. She’d called her yoga teacher to let him know she was okay, got the laundry going…
But she still hadn’t forgotten the way Chris’s dream self had felt between her legs, the hard length of him—
“Wow, this place is really nice!” Daria was nodding excitedly as she spoke, and Minh felt her cheeks heat, as though she’d been caught doing what she’d just been thinking about. She didn’t dare look over at Chris. But she could feel his gaze on her, practically burning her up.
She felt flushed and needy, just from remembering a dream, for goodness’ sake! It wasn’t that she was a prude. She’d had plenty of sex before. But she’d never had a dream like that about anyone, even a boyfriend. Hell. Even the real sex she’d had was never like that.
But she was getting hot just from looking at Chris. He’d been attractive last night, but in the daylight, she could see the small lines around his eyes, the stubble around his jaw. It made him more human, somehow. More tangible.
And damn, how she wanted to touch.
Off limits! Why was she so attracted to him? She’d never wanted a guy like him before. Not to mention that he was hardly List material. He was a guy she’d met at a bar. Who was tattooed from neck to…well—she didn’t need to know that. In fact, she needed to stop thinking about him.
She struggled for something to say. “Gali—the one you talked to about the apartment—is the queen of interior design. She’s the one who found most of this stuff at sidewalk sales and stuff.” Minh gestured to the mirrored curtains. “She’s a really good seamstress, too. She made those curtains.”
“Pretty.” Daria smiled enthusiastically. “Did she decorate rest of the place too?”
It was hard not to like Daria. She was friendly and complimentary, but not overly eager. It made it a bit easier for Minh to pull her focus away from the too-sexy man in her living room.
“Almost all of it. There’s a really cool red sparkly 1950s Formica table in the kitchen. Gali found it at a vintage shop that was closing down and got it for a song.” Minh laughed at the memory.
“Wow, really? Usually even when a shop is closing, they don’t discount their stuff past a certain point.”
Minh laughed. “Well, in this case, I meant she got it for literally a song. The owner was getting married and wanted a special song written just for her wedding, so they bartered. A one-of-a-kind song in exchange for a table and chairs.”
Understanding dawned in Daria’s eyes. “Wow, she must be really talented.”
Minh didn’t bother to correct Daria, to tell her that, actually, Minh was the one who composed the work. For some reason, the fact that she wanted so badly to say it was enough of a deterrent. She never felt the need to call attention to herself. Not anymore, at least. But ten minutes with Chris, and she was desperate to somehow stand out. He aroused feelings in her that made her need. Need to be wild, need to feel his body against hers…
Oh, God. There went her overactive imagination again.
“Is Gali around?” Daria asked.
Minh smiled, grateful for the distraction from more thoughts of Chris. “Yeah, she’s just finishing up making her bed. Which she never does, so don’t let her fool you into thinking we’re like this all the time.”
“I heard that.” Gali walked into the room just then, laughing. “And I can’t deny it.”
But Gali’s laughter died immediately when she saw Chris, and her reaction said it all. “Holy shit!” Her shout echoed in the small living room, and she immediately clapped a hand over her mouth.