She didn’t’ speak for so long I thought maybe she wouldn’t. “I get that a lot. My best friend can never get a word in.”
I laughed. I actually laughed at her deadpan delivery, and damn it felt so damn good to laugh. “Thank you.”
“For what?” She seemed baffled.
“I can’t remember the last time I laughed.” I don’t know why I shared that with her, but it was true.
“No kidding,” she added with a healthy dose of commiseration before her hand began to move again. She flicked her wrist in quick, sure strokes, her face a study in concentration so I turned back to my own easel and focused on the damn cheeseboard. What the hell was a cheeseboard, anyway? They couldn’t have used plates like everyone else?
But after a while it actually started to look like what it was. Mostly.
“Okay ladies and gentleman, thank you for a great night of painting.” She walked around the room but the bachelorettes were quickly wobbling towards the exit. “Not bad, Mr…?”
“Call me, Max. I’ve never done anything but landscapes. Seascapes and a few of the sky. This is…different.”
She smiled and laid a kind hand on my shoulder. “You did well, I love the grain you brought to life. I can almost smell the cheese.” She looked so genuine I had to believe her, but to me it looked like shit.
“Well thanks, I’m not sure what else I could have painted.”
She nodded and stepped over to the mysterious blond. “Oh Jana, it’s wonderful. It’s somber somehow, like this is set out for a sad event.”
“Thanks,” she replied on a sigh that didn’t sound at all like she liked what she heard. “I’ll see you next week, Moon.”
Moon? I didn’t even want to think about that, so I separated the brushes and stuck the palette in the bucket of warm water and followed Jana out. “Thanks for your help in there. And the laugh.”
“No worries,” she said, glancing over so once again I only got a view of her left side. “Have a good night, Max.”
“You too, Jana.” I stood on the sidewalk for way longer than I probably should’ve, watching the graceful move of her hips, her legs. The swell of her ass. She was beautiful from what I could see, and guarded as hell.
And I would see her again. Next week.
***
“So, it helped?” Dr. Singh sat back in his chair, legs crossed at the knee with a smug smile on his face.
I shrugged. “I still didn’t sleep for shit, but it was more of a restless sleep. The dream was still there but it was fuzzy. Mostly sounds.” Two shots of Maker’s Mark would have cleared that shit right up, but for some reason I decided to abstain.
“But that’s still good after one class. I suspect there is more.”
I hadn’t planned to talk about Jana at all. I just wanted to keep it to myself for just a little while, which was crazy as fuck because there was jack shit to keep to myself. But who the hell else would I talk about it to? “Her name is Jana. She’s curvy as hell, like a woman should be. Pretty from what I could see and shy. But she’s also hiding something.”
“Aren’t we all,” he asked, leaning back now that the story was over.
“Like a black eye or something, Doc, not a deep dark secret or a man locked in the basement. You sure you didn’t serve?”
He grinned. “No but I have spent my career studying and helping servicemembers and law enforcement deal with the effects and demands of their jobs.” He looked at me with an amused look and I just rolled my eyes. “You like her.”
“I don’t know her, but I am intrigued.” And that was the kicker because as a rule, women didn’t intrigue me. They always had their motivations and the only thing I ever appreciated was the chase. And the first fuck, nothing is as good as that first fuck.
“Intrigued is good. Pursue it.”
I laughed. “You matchmaking now, Doc?”
He fought the grin but the battle was lost. “If you need me to, but it doesn’t have to be romantic. You could start as friends, or maybe an art buddy.”
An art buddy? I laughed. “That’s the second time I laughed this week.” It still felt weird, but a good weird.
“Good. Keep it up. Are you going to class again?”