Page 68 of Objection to Love

When she finally surfaced for air, she kinda wished she’d thought of that. That would have perfectly suited the requirement of a “fun activity.”

“Ready now?” she asked. Instead of “screw my plans.” She regretted the words the second they were out of her mouth.

He groaned, stepping back. “If I have to be.”

She pressed another kiss to his lips. Then another. “You do.”

His response was half groan and half laugh.

She opened the door for the second time and stepped outside, Garrett close behind her, his hand on the small of her back in that way that was somehow possessive but not at all controlling.

When she walked to her car, though, he stopped. “I thought I’d be driving?”

She sent him a smile. “Not tonight.”

“You sure you’re up for it? Your ankle is okay?”

“Hardly even hurts anymore.” She opened her door.

“But it still hurts?”

She rolled her eyes. “Get in the car, Garrett.”

“It’s been a while since you rolled your eyes at me. I think I missed it,” he teased but opened his door.

“Did you? I can go back to that if you want?”

“No thanks, I prefer being on the receiving end of your kisses instead of your irritation.”

A little over twenty minutes later, they pulled up in front of a warehouse. Em looked sideways at Garrett, awaiting his reaction. She watched as his eyes found the sign hung on the building.

A laugh escaped him. “An art exhibit? That’s what we are doing tonight?” He turned incredulous eyes on her, which immediately turned to some sort of fake pleasure. “I mean… what a fun idea…”

Em laughed. “I know it’s not your usual idea of fun, but I thought it sounded interesting. One of my coworkers mentioned it.”

“And you think it sounds fun?” Garrett asked, his voice carefully masked.

She shrugged. “I’ve never gone to an art exhibit. But we don’t need to put our lives in danger to have a little fun. Come on, Garrett, what are you so worried about?”

He still looked unconvinced, but he grabbed the door handle and opened his door. “Nothing,” he said, “let’s go for it.”

Em watched him climb out before she followed him onto the sidewalk. No one would say the place was crowded, but there were a fair amount of people mingling outside the entrance. Em handed their tickets over at the door, and they went in.

The exhibit seemed to have a chain of rooms, each with a different theme of art pieces. This first one was “rebirth,” if the large sign on the far wall meant anything.

“That one is… weird,” Garrett offered, pointing toward the painting to their left.

Em walked toward it, glancing at the pamphlet she was given when they walked in. “I think it’s supposed to be a caterpillar turning into a butterfly,” she said, then looked back at the picture, tilting her head.

“Looks more like some sort of exorcism,” Garrett murmured.

Em tried not to laugh. “This one isn’t bad,” she said, moving in front of the next painting.

“That’s because you can’t tell what it is.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“I have no clue. Probably an eagle on fire. Turning into a flower. About to be exorcized.” He said this all so seriously, Em actually searched the picture for any hint of his thoughts. Then she heard him chuckling.

---