Leo (Vigilance 3)

He wasn’t looking at me. There was something he wasn’t saying. Could he possibly be embarrassed? “And?”

“What do you mean?”

“I know there’s something you’re not telling me.”

He scowled at me, but I knew he wasn’t really angry. The only time I’d ever seen him truly mad was when he’d been talking with the other Vigilance team members and when he’d spotted the man watching the shop earlier.

“I can listen to audiobooks while I draw.”

I frowned. “Why would you hesitate to tell me that? You’re a tattoo artist. I assumed you drew your designs.”

“I don’t just draw tattoos. I do other art. I’ve been experimenting more with watercolor lately.”

“I think that’s awesome. Did you expect me not to?”

He shrugged. “I just don’t talk about it much. I’m private about my art.”

“Except for the art you ink onto people’s bodies.”

“What I do there… it’s different somehow. The stuff I do on my own is just for me. It’s just something I like to explore.”

Did he think I would make fun of him for that? Had he been bullied for his art in the past because it didn’t fit with his badass image?

“I know you said it’s personal, but if you ever wanted to show me any of it, I’d love to see it.”

“I’ll think about it.” I hadn’t thought I’d ever see him look vulnerable like he did then. He cleared his throat. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What do you do when you’re not at my shop or the café?”

“I read a lot.”

“I should have guessed that since you always have a book at work. Do you only read mysteries?”

“Mostly, but sometimes I read other things.”

He raised his brows. “Like?”

“Romance.” I whispered the word, but his smile told me he’d heard. I waited for him to laugh and was thrilled when he didn’t.

“No wonder you don’t want casual,” he said. “You want the full fairy tale.”

“Kind of, but I don’t have to marry a prince.” A former CIA operative would do just fine. “What I really want is the house with the white picket fence, a rose garden, and a dog.”

“One like Frank’s?”

“I love pit bulls, but any kind of dog would make me happy. My mom would never let me get one. She said they were too messy.”

Leo wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Life is messy. You deserve all that and more.”

“You really think that?”

“Yes. You genuinely want to help people.”

“Even if I’m clumsy as fuck and—”

“You came running into a dark alley to help me with no weapon and no plan.”

“That was stupid.”

He shook his head. “It was brave and caring. Now tell me what else you like to do.”

“I’m not very exciting.”

“Ezra.”

“I like to bake. I’ve been practicing, and I’m getting better at it.”

“You are more than welcome to try out your skills on me.”

I smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind. I read more than I watch TV, but I have a few shows I like.” As soon as I said that, I’d wished I hadn’t because he’d want to know what shows.

Stop making assumptions. He keeps proving you wrong.

Leo didn’t say anything. He just waited as I reached for another piece of pizza.

“I like HGTV, okay? And Law and Order. The older the season, the better.”

“Agreed.”

I smiled. “Maybe we do have some things in common.”

“I think we proved that already.”

Heat rushed to my face again. I’d been such a slut for him. I’d let him…

“Stop.”

“What?” Had I missed something?

“There’s no reason for you to be embarrassed about enjoying what we did.”

“Oh, I… Okay, maybe I am a little embarrassed.”

Leo watched me as he took a swallow of beer. Then, thankfully, he changed the subject. “So we have Law and Order in common. Hmm. Christmas will be here in twenty-seven days. What about holiday traditions? Are you one of Santa’s elves or a grinch?”

Just when I’d finally stopped feeling like my face was on fire, I had a sudden image of me in an elf costume and Leo dressed as Santa about to play a very inappropriate game. I tried to banish all thoughts even vaguely connected to that scenario. “Um… I’m sort of in the middle. Like, I like Christmas, but my mom always paid someone to do the decorating and baking, and we didn’t have many family traditions. It was all for show.”

“I’m sorry.” Leo looked horrified. “We didn’t have a lot of money growing up, but my mom always tried to make the holidays fun for me and my sister. We decorated our tree together, and a lot of our ornaments were homemade, and we had a list a mile long of cookies we would bake, and…”

Leo’s eyes lit up as he talked. When he was all excited about the holidays, he no longer looked scary at all. I realized I was seeing the man behind the badass CIA/vigilante facade. I liked him. A lot. Not that I minded his dangerous side, but seeing him relaxed and happy made him that much more real. And if he were real, I might have a better chance with him than I would with superhero Leo.