Page 41 of Midnight Wishes

She’d thought it was good, too. Sarah was proud of using her passion to pay the bills, but it was difficult to be enthused about a reptile. But the interplay of light on his scales and the colours woven into his shadows from the flowers crowding around him had been equal parts fun and challenging. So after delivering what she’d thought was the perfect product, the contradictory feedback ofthe flowers are a little overwhelming—could you dial them back a bit?andMaurice is particularly enthused by the coral colour!—it was peach—perhaps you could emphasize that a bit more?had been hard to take.

‘If only they’d thought so,’ Sarah sighed.

‘Give me names, Princess.’ Alex’s head dropped to her neck, teeth grazing at her nape, and suddenly she was significantly less concerned with being caught. ‘Anyone rich enough to commission a portrait of a bearded dragon is probably a client of the firm—I’ll make sure their financial advisor gives them terrible advice.’

God, she hated that he’d learnt how to make her laugh.

‘Are you working on anything else?’ Alex asked. ‘Anything for you?’

After months of artist’s block, somethingwasfinally working. While waiting for the precise layers of Maurice’s portrait to dry, she’d been rapidly painting her way through a personal piece that felt akin to smearing her bruised soul on canvas. It was healing and cathartic and—she thought—some of the best work she’d done in years. There was also that other idea. The one she kept trying to ignore, even as composition thumbnails forced themselves onto the pages of her sketchbook.

‘I’m busy with something. I think I love it.’

‘Will you show me?’ His chin was still on her shoulder, a delicious weight keeping her grounded.

‘When it’s done.’ The promise came without thinking, drawn out of her at every place they were connected.

Alex’s hand pressed into her back again. ‘How difficult would it be to convince them to go to bed early? I want to fuck you on your couch too.’

She couldn’t pretend she didn’t want it. Not when his nose was pressed to her pulse point, where he could feel her heart rate kick up at his words.

‘Erik won’t let her go to bed until those centrepieces are finished.’

Alex hummed his agreement into her hair. ‘We probably still have a few minutes though. I could just’—his hand dipped back into her leggings, grazing at the elastic of her underwear—‘make you come right here.’

But right as Alex’s finger brushed a spot that was already embarrassingly wet from his proximity, a snuffle sounded from their feet.

Sarah whispered his name, a sharp warning and an admonishment to herself for getting carried away. Forgetting their company.

‘Right,’ he murmured, whipping his hand back. ‘Let’s not scar the dog.’

He typically took care to lock them in his bedroom so Celine wouldn’t stumble in once clothes had been discarded. But having her in a new location had apparently thrown them both enough that they’d forgotten themselves.

‘See you in a bit.’ His whisper had barely brushed her skin before Alex was grabbing a lead and ushering Celine out of the flat. But not before Sarah took note of the slight bulge in his trousers.

An hour later,their floor was littered with centrepieces. Alex—newly returned from his walk with Celine, calmer than he had been when he’d left—Abby, and Erik working on the final three. Which meant it was finally safe to put her paintbrush down.

But before Sarah could excuse herself to shower, Abby said, ‘By the way, neither of you have actually RSVPed for the wedding. Which is fine, like, I assume you’re both attending, but I’m confirming catering tomorrow, so I need the meal choices for your plus ones. Names would be good at some point too.’

Huh.

Finding a date for the wedding had caused fleeting panic after they’d done invites—which she had ultimately delivered to herself after stuffing the envelope—but with Alex occupying most of her free time since, she hadn’t given it much thought. Even if it wasn’t the deadline of their little arrangement, it wasn’t as if they could attendtogether, but regardless of her stance on post-wedding hook-ups, taking someone else after she’d spent weeks having her insides rearranged by a member of the wedding party felt disingenuous. Going solo while Alex spent the night with a leggy blonde—probably looking like the world’s most attractive instalment ofsiblings or dating?—all over him promised its own form of torture though.

‘I’m not bringing anyone.’ Alex interrupted her clamouring thoughts.

He wasn’t?Sarah thought, as Abby asked out loud the question that had rung through her head.

Alex shrugged and went back to folding. He could pull off that nonchalance. Sarah, however…

‘Me neither.’ Okay. That had been suitably relaxed.

‘Can’t find anyone up to your standards, Princess?’

Sarah hadn’t realised how loud the sound of nails smoothing over paper could be until it stopped abruptly.

‘Princess?’ Abby’s voice was shrill enough that Celine’s ears twitched. Next to her, Erik was frowning.

Alex recovered first, leaving Sarah to hope his cool detachment would sell it. ‘Were you two too busy mooning over each other to pay attention in Sunday school? It’s literally the meaning of her name.’

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