Chapter 33

ABBY

I watch Jack climb a ladder and paint. My eyes feel like there are anvils attached to the lashes. I can't keep them open, but I love watching Jack paint. The way he works is hypnotic. The last thing I remember is watching him toss his shirt on the floor and climb up the ladder. He defines the light and dark parts of my billowing curls. They fade into wind, trailing softly behind me. I was so happy when he showed me the painting. I had no idea what he was doing. It combines his idealism with reality. It was me on that canvas, but it wasn't. It was hopeful, but it wasn't. There was pain, but there was purpose. It was the most alluring, evocative thing I've ever seen. It literally left me breathless. I'd want to keep the painting for us, but depriving the world of Jack's talent would be a sin. That painting is everything to Jack. It's his heart and mind on canvas.

I fall into a dreamless sleep of exhaustion. When I wake up, the early morning sunlight is streaming into the room through the slats in the blinds. It shines on the floor where Jack was sleeping. Rubbing my eyes, I sit up and look for him. He's on the ladder, shirtless, with paintbrushes in the back pockets of his jeans. There's one behind his ear. He has a streak of paint over his temple. I smile and pull the blankets around me as I sit and watch him.

Eventually, Jack turns and notices I'm awake. "Good morning, lover."

I smile and try not to blush. "Did you sleep?" I look down at his blankets, which appear way too neat and wrinkle-free.

"A little. Besides, painting makes me feel better. It's cathartic." He turns back to the painting and adds shadows to the violets that swirl up my body. The little punches of color flow behind me like a long gown. He did so much last night. It's even more stunning today.

"Jack, that is so beautiful. So perfect."

"I'm glad you like it. It'll be ours. We can put it in the cottage after it dries." He's so sweet. He assumed that I wouldn't want anyone to see it.

"It's not going in the cottage."

Jack turns and looks down at me. "Where do you want it, my love?" The expression on his face tells me that he has no idea.

"In your gallery, to sell. I can't keep something like this to myself. It would be horrible. You have to show this to people."

Jack climbs off the ladder as I speak. His lips twist into a surprised smile. "You are so sweet, but you don't have to do that for me. I know how you feel about - "

"It's too spectacular to hide just because I feel shy. Besides, you conveniently hid one of my nipples behind a flower." I smirk at him. "If anyone is staring at my boobs in this painting, they have issues. It's about life."

"Breasts are a part of life." He grins, teasing.

"One of your favorite parts, am I right?" I joke. Jack gives me a wicked look. Then he glances at his hands, which are covered in paint. "Don't even think about it." I try to untangle myself from the blankets, but Jack grabs me just as I stand up. He wraps his paint-covered arms around me and squeezes tight. I yelp and try to wriggle free, but Jack tosses me to the floor. I fall onto his bedding and he straddles me, pinning me in place. He takes his hand and slowly strokes both sides of my face. I scream and kick, laughing the whole time.

"There, now you match your painting."

"You suck!" I giggle. "I'm going to beat you up as soon as you get off of me."

Jack laughs and suddenly stands. He puts his hands out at his sides and taunts me. "Come on, Abby. Bring it. Attack!"

I laugh like a lunatic and run straight past him. Jack chases after me. I manage to dunk my hands in purple paint just as I feel his hands close around my waist. He pulls me back and I whirl around and slap my hands onto his shoulders. Jack sucks in a breath. The paint is cold. My hands trail down his bare chest, stopping when my fingers meet his jeans.

Jack looks up at me with his jaw hanging open. "You are going to pay for that, Mrs. Gray."

Laughing, I dance away and say, "No, I'm not!" I run as fast as I can and plow through the studio doors. I hear Jack laughing, chasing behind me. I run into the kitchen and intend to turn on the water and grab the sprayer from the sink, but Jack grabs my arm.

He yanks me back to him. His hands are covered in fresh paint. He slips his hands under my cami and smears the paint on my skin. I keep trying to twist away, but he holds on to me. Somehow Jack loses his balance and we both end up on the floor. He swipes his finger down the bridge of my nose and leaves a trail of blue.

"You have a very cute nose, Mrs. Gray. And those lips!" Jack grins, moving his finger slowly toward my mouth.

While the paint is organic, it doesn't taste fantastic. I try to wriggle away, but can't. Jack smears the blue across my screaming mouth and manages to paint my teeth, too. At that moment, Cara walks in. She comes to an abrupt stop when she sees me foaming blue at the mouth, dressed in painted pajamas, with Jack straddling me, wearing nothing but jeans.

Cara flinches and looks away, as though she walked in on us. "I'm sorry, Jack, I was going to turn on the coffee." She rushes away in her high heels with her hands covering her eyes like blinders.

Jack and I burst out laughing when the door closes. "You look completely insane," he says, pulling me to my feet. "You look like you ate rabid Smurfs."

"Yeah, well, you look like the Braveheart guy, all screaming like a lunatic." I start laughing again. This time I can't stop. I double over when I see a reflection of my face. My entire is mouth is blue. Jack looks like he was attacked by a blueberry. By the time we straighten up, Kate is standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips. Gus is behind her, smirking.

"You know that you're doing it wrong? I assumed that at least one of you knew how to have sex." Kate tells Gus over her shoulder, "You might want to get him a book or something."

Gus laughs. "They look like they're fine to me."

Kate turns to him. "You would think that." She lets out a huff of air and walks over to the coffee pot. "I think you guys scared the new chick out of her mind. She's practically hiding under her desk. When we walked in, she told us not to come back here."

"So we did." Gus grins.

Jack and I start laughing again and lean into each other. He grabs a towel from the sink and wets it for me. I try to wipe the paint off my mouth, but I make it worse. Jack starts laughing again, until I pull him down by his neck and kiss him. When he pulls away, he looks crazy, too.

Gus and Kate smile, muttering things to each other. "So, newlyweds, we saw the news."

Jack and I glance at each other. Then I ask, "We?"

Kate shifts in her seat, looking a little uncomfortable. Gus looks anywhere but at Kate.

Jack says, "You know we have eyes, right? You guys left together last night and show up together this morning. Believe it or not, we aren't as silly as we look."

I giggle like a maniac and say, "We're sillier!" I rush Kate and hug her at the same time that Jack does it to Gus. They both squeal and pry us off. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I ruined your clothes. Don't worry. It'll wash out." I look into her purse - it's the kind that's always open at the top - and grab her keys. I run out to her car, saying, "We'll just have to swap the shirt out for something else."

"Abby!" she yells at me, but Kate and Gus don't say anything else until I have the trunk open. There's an overnight bag. I pull out a shirt, and then a piece of lingerie. "So? I'm a slut. You know that. I have to be ready to look good whenever a guy wants me."

"Kate. When I told you to come in the other night, you got here in like ten minutes. You were at Gus's  -  just admit it." Kate and Gus still play dumb.

Jack puts his arm on Gus's shoulder. "Still have nothing to say?"

"Not a word, man. She'll take my balls off." He says it totally deadpan and doesn't show any emotion until Kate rounds on him.

"What the fuck! You said you wouldn't tell them!" Kate's tense and stomps her heel into the ground.

Gus is laughing. He pulls prickly Kate to him and she seems to melt. "They already know. Jack figured it out already, and we can't have Abby thinking that you're the real Hampton Whore."

Kate presses her lips together like she's going to say something nasty, but she just pecks him on the lips and then turns to us. "Fine, I'm fucking your best friend."

"Use nice words, Katie," Gus chides her. Holding onto Kate's waist, Gus prompts her like she's a child. "Now, what do we call it when both people like each other and want to have regular sex with each other?"

Kate rolls her eyes. "A relationship. Fine. Whatever." Kate looks at Jack and corrects herself. "I hope you don't mind that I'm having a relationship with your best friend." Gus laughs and kisses her cheek. Kate smiles like a schoolgirl. It's an instant transformation that doesn't fade all the way. It softens some of her sharp corners.

I smile at her. "Congratulations, bestie." She holds out her arms and I give her a hug. Jack and Gus do that manly back slap thing and I give Gus a hug, too.

Jack looks at Kate and says, "Last time I tried to hug her, she tried to bite me. I'll just wave, if that's okay."

Kate walks over to Jack and bears her teeth and snaps. Then she pulls him into a hug and laughs. Jack's eyes go wide. He gives Gus a look that says, I hope you can handle her.

"You know how much I like crazy chicks," Gus says. For some reason, Kate doesn't slap him. She just smiles like he told her that she's the prettiest girl ever.

I laugh and say, "Well, we should get back inside and change. Although, if we ran down the driveway right now, I bet we could scare the hell out of the picketers."

Kate and Gus glance at us, like we should realize it. "They're not there. Didn't you hear what happened?"

My stomach sinks. Jack wraps his arms around me, bracing me for whatever's next.