Smooth Operator

Five

"I have to stop thinking about it! Distract me," she whined with a smile.

It was Sunday night and in the upcoming week Brielle had a huge entry for the case she and her team had been working on for months. She was completely overwhelmed and nervous, which she willingly admitted to Harry. She couldn't say much about the details of the case but she could complain about how worried she was. She had been complaining for a while now and was starting to get annoyed with herself, only imagining how Harry must have felt. He never showed it though, always listening intently and offering comfort when he could. He was sweet but she couldn't torture him anymore with it.

He laughed at the way she pouted her lips as a beg. "Okay then let's talk about something else."

"Okay!" She tapped her first finger on her chin as she thought about a new topic. "How many tattoos do you have?"

Brielle crawled into bed after she spoke, laying on her side with her hand tucked under her cheek and her phone propped up against a pillow. She watched Harry as he did the same, smiling when he let out a deep sigh once he was comfortable. He looked unbelievably soft in yet another over worn band tee shirt. It was actually annoying how good he looked just relaxing. His hair was pulled back into a bun and his cheek was pushed up on his pillow making the most endearing crease at the corner of his eye.

"Uhh, a lot. I've lost count," he chuckled.

"If you had to guess," she smiled.

She watched his eyes lift up as if he was counting in his head, a warm smile spreading across his face as he started to laugh. "At least fifty," he confirmed matter of factly.

"Wow, that's a lot," she teased in an exaggerated, overly impressed tone.

"I know, super tough love," he smiled, making the creases around his eye more prominent as they competed for her attention with his ever present dimple.

It had been two weeks since they started talking again and things were going well. It was a little awkward in the beginning, needing time to warm up to each other at the start of their call. But now they talked easily with less and less uncertainty each time.

"Right," she laughed. "Okay, which one's your favorite?"

"There's no way I could answer that!"

"Come on, just pick one," she rolled her eyes, trying to keep a straight face but it was impossible. Not with the way Harry was looking at her with soft eyes and an even softer smile. "Fine, top three?"

He groaned as he rolled onto his back, his head tilting back into his pillow as he looked up to the ceiling, pondering the countless tattoos he had scattered across his body. She watched his jaw flex after he licked his lips. His profile was... annoyingly perfect. Everything from the straight line of his nose to the sharp cut of his jaw to his absurdly beautiful skin made her attracted to him. And that was just his looks, not the way he spoke to her or his character, his overall warmth and kindness that mindlessly poured out of him.

"Alright, I'm just gonna say the first ones that came to my mind," he only turned his face towards his phone as he spoke, his eyebrows lifted higher on his forehead with his warning. "I have a butterfly on my chest, the anchor on my wrist," he lifted his hand to the phone to show the tattoo, "and my newest one is a tiger on my leg."

"I've noticed that one, I like it," she smiled. "Are there reasons? You know, for why you thought of them first or, why you like them even?"

"The anchor was a cover up actually. I don't know, it used to say 'I can't change' and I just... didn't believe that anymore. Anyone can change, if they really want to." He spoke softly, his lips caressing every word. Brielle was mesmerized both by what he was saying and just watching him say it. She thought if she could keep him talking like this forever, she would.