Page 34 of Finding New Dreams

I was going to need more paint.

I re-wet my fingers while she took off around the table.

Laughing, I chased after her and caught up with her easily. She shrieked as I wrapped one arm around her waist, spinning and sweeping her up against me. She struggled for a moment, then stopped. Her breathing came in tight bursts as her eyes dipped from my gaze to my mouth.

It would be so easy to drop my lips to hers. Easy, yet impossible. Unless she said the words.

Slowly lifting my wet fingers, I gently stroked her cheeks with them. “Maybe all I needed…” I whispered, brushing over her forehead. Her eyes fluttered closed. “…was a better canvas.” My thumb caressed her chin, parting her lips just a bit. “Because seeing you like this…” My heart pounded wildly in my chest, like it had that first night. “It does something to me, Rose.”

Her eyes blinked open, the same struggle I felt reflected in them. “Flynn—”

A door banged open. “Flynn!”

I whipped around, Rose still half-tucked in my arms, dread curdling in my stomach. I knew that voice.

“Oh, hey, Chloe.”

10

ROSE

My heart dropped to my toes.

Flynn and I sprang apart, but Chloe continued to glare at Flynn.

I opened my mouth to explain, but Flynn spoke first. “What are you doing here, Chloe?”

“I was walking to the lodge and decided to drop in on you to see how you were settling in.” Her gaze jumped between us. “Now what’s going on?”

I stepped forward, the words pouring out of me before anyone else could stop me. “Flynn and I met Friday night in the city at a club. Neither of us knew who the other was, and we got to talking and—”

Chloe gasped and poked her brother. “You slept with her!”

“No, we kissed,” I snapped. “That’s all.”

Immediately, Chloe’s scowl dropped as she looked at me in surprise. As did Flynn.

I rarely got very angry and almost never snapped. But, damn it, she was acting like we were in one of my bodice-rippers and he was some rake who’d befouled my honor. It wasn’t fair of her to be mad at Flynn and not me. In fact, there was hardly anything to be mad about, except our little lie of omission.

In a calmer tone, I continued, “We were caught off guard yesterday morning and didn’t want to reveal how we’d met right away. That’s why I made plans with you for today, so we could clear the air.”

I almost reached out to grab one of her hands in a reassuring squeeze when I realized my hands were covered in paint. I tucked them behind my back.

“I’m sorry, Chloe,” I finished. “But you have nothing to worry about. We’ve agreed to be just friends. To keep things uncomplicated.”

Flynn shifted away from me with an almost indiscernible grunt, as if he disagreed.

“Okay…okay…” Chloe said, nodding slowly. “I’m just processing. But, wow, so you two met. And kissed. Then met again for real.” She nodded a final time, heaving a sigh, then smiled. “It’s fine. Nothing to be sorry for. I was just surprised is all.”

Relief swept through me, and I smiled back. “Yeah, pretty wild.”

Flynn turned abruptly and started washing off his painted skin in the mud sink.

Chloe’s lips twitched back into a frown as she glanced at her brother and then the half-painted canvas. “Are you letting him use your studio?”

“Yes, in return for his assistance while he’s here.”

The sound of water splashing in the sink filled the silence as I tried to interpret the uncomfortable energy in the room.

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