Page 19 of Artfully Wild
“Char, you here?” Turning on the lights, she looks around before ducking her head into Charlotte’s room.
“She out tonight?”
“I didn’t think so,” she says, pulling out her phone from her back pocket. I walk over to her with the intention of looking over her shoulder, something I’ve done multiple times in the past, but it feels weird now. The line between friendship and tension is so close to breaking, I need to make sure she’s the one to break it. Not me.
“Oh,” she says quietly, like she’s… disappointed? Hopeful? I can’t tell.
“What?”
“She texted saying she’s babysitting Ethan tonight, so I guess it’s just me and you, friend.”
Friend.I have a feeling she’s deflecting, but I’m not sure anymore. All I know is my brain feels like a jumbled mess and I’m not sure what to do. Not that I have a chance to do anything, because she makes her way back to the studio room and starts unbagging the small cans of paint.
She gathers a few shades and starts setting them out on her work bench along with the small cans of paint. The lids are sealed and she fights with them for a few minutes before prying them open and mixing the paint of two shades before deciding on which one she wants to use. Even though we were in the aisle at Hector’s for what seemed like hours, I still can’t tell the difference between the two shades she has open now. Ithinkone is slightly darker, I can’t tell, but I’m sure it’s something she can see from a mile away.
Pulling out her phone again, she keeps one hand on the stirring stick, absentmindedly moving her hand counterclockwise as she swipes up to unlock her phone.
“Music?” she asks.
“Sure.”
“Preference?”
“Anything is fine.” Really, I’m not picky when it comes to music. I start to turn when I hear two loud thumps behind me, followed by a very un-Skylar-like gasp.
I pivot back to see her overalls covered in two slightly different shades of blue paint, with specks of paint all the way down to her knees. The overalls are ones she reserves specifically for painting, so the blue she dropped only added to her own canvas. She’s holding her phone, and the hand she was using to stir the paint cans now covers her mouth.
Rushing over to her, I stop a few inches away as I see a mix of emotions cross her face. Happy and excited, tearful and…shocked?
“Skylar?” I ask softly, not wanting to pull her from whatever she is feeling.
“I got an offer,” is all she says.
“From the resort?”
She nods her head as a tear escapes, trailing down her cheek, mixing with a tiny droplet of blue that landed there. I smile and grab her arms and pull her in for a tight hug.
“That’s amazing!” I laugh, tilting back a little to look at her again. Before second-guessing, I frame her face with my hands and wipe away the blue stained tear. “I’m so damn proud of you.” Because I am. Letting go of the store is the hardest decision for her, and I know a part of her doesn’t want to sell it at all.
Her expression changes as she looks down at my hands still cupping her face. An indiscernible look flashes across her face.She closes her eyes and turns her cheek into my palm like she’s savoring my touch.
Mytouch.Mine.The word echoes through my thoughts as I stare in awe at the woman I have had feelings for longer than I can remember. Her hair brushes my fingertips as I stretch them to the back of her neck, resisting the urge to pull her in. Not until I know that’s what she wants. And suddenly, her eyes are on me, a look mirroring the one she gave me before, but this time there is heat behind them. Heat and a look of longing she’s never shown me. Without breaking eye contact, she reaches for my glasses. She slowly pulls them from my face before carefully folding them and placing them on the table beside us with a soft clack. Who knew the act of taking off glasses could be even remotely sexy? Somehow she just made it the sexiest thing I have ever seen.
Before I have a chance to question her actions, she jumps into my arms, closes the distance between us, and does what I imagined she’d do in the middle of the paint aisle. Her legs are firmly wrapped around me and her lips are actually on mine this time. I’m not daydreaming.
Hands are in my hair grabbing and tugging as I hug her tightly to me, arms around her waist. Dreams and fantasies could have never compared to the feeling of her here in my arms. Of her wanting me. I’ve always known I wanted her, but I never thought she would return my feelings. Then again, maybe she doesn’t and this is just a one time thing born from her mixed emotions on selling the store and I’m the one here for her. But there’s no other place I’d rather be.
I start to back us up toward the nearest wall, anticipation of pressing her against me flooding my veins. But that idea is quickly interrupted by my foot kicking an open paint can that proceeds to tip over and roll across the floor and into the wall I planned on using. I hear a splatter before I fully lose my balance, sending us straight to the ground. There’s a flash of blue out ofthe corner of my eye, and I manage to turn myself enough that Skylar falls on top of me. We land with a thump, small grunts escaping both of us and she lets out a full, beautiful laugh.
If you’ve never considered yourself lucky, get into a room with Skylar Waters when she allows herself to truly laugh and you’ll feel like the luckiest person in the universe.
“That sound,” I say, ignoring the spreading wetness against my back—positive this white shirt is now completely ruined by the paint I kicked over. I find myself not caring as long as she stays exactly where she is, her legs straddling my hips, chest to chest as she swipes at her cheeks.
She looks at me, and I realize unshed tears make her eyes look ethereal. “Ah, yes, the grunting was very graceful. And you with your footing. The picture of absolute grace,” she teases.
Her laugh echoes through the space again and the dam in my chest feels ready to burst at the surge of emotion I feel when she laughs. She sits up unexpectedly putting more pressure on me, and I can’t help but release a low groan.
“We made a huge mess,” she gestures to the two spilled paint cans around us, shades of blue mixing together.
