Page 44 of Dirty Money
Total Loss - Dirty Money Part 5
Vibrant reds filled her pallet, combined with a few yellows and one orange. Aulora was heady with enthusiasm as she mixed the colors to bring her great mood into them. Weston and she had seen each other every day, at one time or another, for the last week. Things were going better than she had ever dreamt they would.
He knew just the right amount of time she needed for herself and gave it to her without any argument, what so ever. A thing she was happily surprised about. Monday meant she had been to classes and had the night off. He promised to give her until ten o’clock to paint then he’d come over and spend the night with her.
And their nights, and sometimes afternoons, had been amazing. Each day found them growing closer. Sweet words were exchanged often throughout the days. Even when she worked at the bar, they managed to let each other know they were thinking about them and bid one another a good night.
Britt had made fun of how Aullie was saying some words the same way that Weston did. She claimed his British accent was rubbing off on her. A thing that Aullie denied vehemently.
Aulora had gotten through with school at two in the afternoon and had been painting the day away and before she realized it, a knock came to her door. She looked at the old clock that ticked away on the wall above her bed. The day had turned into night without her realizing it.
Her hair was a mess. Tied back with, of all things, a shoestring. Paint was absolutely everywhere and her old, ratty T-shirt was on backward. She was the epitome of an absent-minded artist. With a shrug, she sat her brush down and went to open the door.
She was met with a curious smile. “My, my. Would you look at you?” Weston said then gave a wolf whistle. “Sexyyyy!” He grabbed the bottom of his pristine, white shirt and pulled it over his head. “Let me lose this before I give you a hug.”
“Afraid of a little paint?” she teased him as she turned to walk inside. He followed her, taking his shirt off and deciding to take the dark slacks off too.
Kicking off his shoes, he was down to his skivvies when she turned around and saw him. Her jaw hung as he pulled her into his arms. “I’ve missed you, peach.”
She sighed and wrapped her arms around him when their lips met. Sweet, endearing, and a bit on the wet side, he left her mouth all too soon. “I missed you too.”
Swaying her back and forth with him, he looked around the small room to find no evidence of any dinner, lying around. “You haven’t eaten.”
“I ate breakfast and lunch,” she said as she caught his frown.
“I’ll order in. Anything you want,” he said as he let her go to get his cell out of the pocket of his slacks which were lying in a heap on the floor and he saw that was a bad idea as her cat, Bruce, was making a B-line for them, undoubtedly to lend some of his ever-escaping fur to them.
Weston gathered his clothes off the floor and found a better place to put them, in the small closet, hanging them up, properly. While Aulora went to tidy up her paints. “I’d love some Chinese. You pick, I’ll eat anything.”
“I’ve already eaten. I had a meeting with my…” he paused and seemed to be at a loss for words.
“With who?” Aullie asked as she too paused what she was doing to see what had stopped him.
“Cousin,” he said then walked out of the closet, closing the door. “Hayley. I had some information to give her about her husband.”
“What did you find out?” she asked, curiously.
“Oh, I can’t talk about it. Believe me, it is best if you don’t know a thing about any of that. Not a thing,” he said as he sat on the small sofa and made the call to order her something to eat.
She pulled off her backward T-shirt that she saw was also inside out. “My head was on this painting before I even walked through the door today.” She hadn’t put on any jeans or shorts when she got home. She pulled off her clothes, leaving her bra and panties on and pulled on the T-shirt and got straight to work.
“And what inspired you for this one, might I ask?” He ran his arm around her as she took the place next to him.
“You. The way you are. The way you make me feel.” She kissed his cheek then hopped back up. “I’m going to wash my face and hands then I’ll be right back.”
“Yeah, but leave that sexy shoestring in your hair. I can use that later to tie your wrists together,” he joked and she stuck her tongue out at him before she left the room.
When she looked in the mirror, she saw the shambles she was in. Paint was in various places all over her face and even on her neck. Her hair was looking kind of ratty as she’d merely pulled it back and tied the shoestring around the major portion of it, leaving loose strands all around in an unruly fashion.
Quickly, she washed up and brushed her hair out. Leaving the shoestring out of it. When she emerged, freshly washed, she found him smiling at her.
“I liked the war paint, Aulora.”
“I did look a bit like a savage, didn’t I?” She sat down next to him again and he pulled her to sit on his lap.
The gaze they shared spoke more than words could. When he could stand it no more, he kissed her. The kiss was meant to be sweet but their chemistry was too much and soon she was straddling him as their breathing grew hard.
Until a knock at the door interrupted them. “The food,” he said as he wrenched his mouth from hers.
