Page 32 of Restless Ink

The woman staring at him like she hadn’t seen anything like him before, however…shewas someone he wanted more of in his life. The fact that she stood between her sisters, all of them looking comically surprised at what they’d just witnessed, made it even better.

He made his way around the crowd as the next person got ready on stage. He liked Tamsin, the singer who came on after him, and she had a bigger following than he’d ever had—or would. That meant the crowd would be focused on her, and Dimitri could focus on a certain Montgomery.

“Hey there,” Adrienne said with a rough laugh. “You pulled a Giles there, didn’t you, Dimitri?”

Roxie started giggling at the reference, but Dimitri only had eyes for Thea. “Giles?”

“FromBuffy,” Thea explained, her voice hoarse.

“That show with the vampires?”

“Yeah,” Adrienne answered. “Some of the crew goes looking for Giles, and they find him playing music like you were just now, and he’s all hot and growly and totally surprises all of them.”

Dimitri finally looked at Adrienne, shaking his head. “Hot and growly?”

“Well, yeah,” Roxie put in. “I mean, it was the first time I noticed him as the hot guy with the broad shoulders and that deep British accent. Before then, he was the staid librarian that aided Buffy during all the apocalypses. He was never a hot guy. You know?”

Thea rubbed her hand over her face, and he noticed the flecks of dry paint on her skin. The three of them must have been at their Brushes With Lushes night and had evidently just finished. Now that he thought about it, Kaylee’s studio was nearby, so them coming in tonight made sense.

Still, though, he couldn’t keep his eyes off Thea, and from the way the other women were giving each other looks, he knew he wasn’t being anywhere close to subtle about it.

“So…Giles?” he asked softly.

“Giles.” Thea licked her lips, and Dimitri did his best not to think about that tongue and where he wanted it.

“You know what? I’m going to head home and see how Mace is doing,” Adrienne said quickly.

“Oh, yeah, Carter probably misses me.” Roxie bounced away, waving over her shoulder, and Adrienne practically skipped behind her, leaving Dimitri alone with Thea.

The fact that Thea hadn’t said much, but the two of them were still standing in the middle of the walkway staring at each other spoke volumes. He needed his coat, needed to get the rest of his things before he headed out of this place, but he could only think about the woman in front of him and how much he wanted her…how much he needed her.

And not just for sex.

It was never just about sex when it came to Thea Montgomery.

He realized he wanted to know what she thought about him up there, how she felt about his little hobby that he hid and kept to himself. She might have said the wordGiles, but what exactly did she mean by that? Did she like it? And why the hell was he just standing there thinking stupid things and not pulling her close for a sweet way to say hello?

“You…you play guitar?” she asked, blinking quickly. “How did I not know you play guitar?”

He reached out and ran his knuckle down her jaw, unable to stop from touching her any longer.

“I guess there are a lot of things we don’t know about each other.” He paused. “But I’d like to figure them out. What do you say?”

She shook her head, and his heart deflated until she took a step closer, put her hand on his chest, went on her toes, and brushed her lips against his.

“I think my teenage self is rememberingexactlyhow I felt when I saw Giles all hot and growly, and I think you should come to my place because Ireallywant to kiss you again. What doyousay?”

He let out a breath and forced himself not to adjust his rigid cock straining the zipper of his jeans. He might end up with teeth marks there—and not from Thea—but it would be worth it for this moment alone.

“Giles does it for you, then?”

“The Giles effect is an enigma and a fantasy for many.” She smiled as she said it, and he kissed her hard before tugging on her hand.

“I need my coat, and then I can follow you to your place. You okay to drive? I know there was probably wine at your paint thing.”

“I’ll be okay,” she squeezed his hand as they walked. “I didn’t even finish my first and only glass since we were all talking and painting and everything that comes with a night with the Montgomery girls and Abby.”

“Abby came?” Dimitri asked as he pulled on his coat from the back room. “I’m glad. I don’t know her all that well, but she’s really nice when I stop by her tea shop.”