Bringing Home the Bad Boy (Second Chance #1)(79)
“We can save you a plate.”
We. She liked that, too.
“I’ll grab a bite at the event.” In a nervous gesture, she pushed her hair behind her ear. “Really. It’s not a big deal.” It wasn’t, she didn’t think, but his face suggested he didn’t agree with that assessment.
“What event?” he asked.
“Policeman’s Ball.”
“Seriously?”
She nodded. “Mm-hmm. Every year. First time I was asked to do this gig. Could be good. If they like me, they might ask me back next year.”
“ ’Course they’ll like you,” he said gently, and that made her tip her head the slightest bit closer.
She’d promised Sofie to fill in for a last-minute photographer need, and her desperate-for-a-photographer friend had been over the moon, promising to double her pay (Charlie refused) and take her out for dessert after (Charlie had accepted).
“Stop by when you get in.” He dropped a kiss on her lips.
“I might be late.”
“I’ll wait.”
Oh boy, she liked that too, too much. How was she supposed to get things back to normal when he kept insisting on moving the “normal” boundaries closer and closer to himself?
She chewed her lip and shot a glance to the door. “I’d better go get ready.”
“Taking Lyon school shopping tomorrow. Interested?”
She shook her head. “Tomorrow’s not good for me. I’m sorry.”
“Not a big deal.” He shrugged and she could tell he meant it.
“Are you going to go… alone?” When her father took them school shopping, he used to hand Charlie and Dani each a wad of money and tell them, “When it’s gone, it’s gone,” then drop them at the mall and tell them to take the bus home.
Not surprisingly, Evan was way more present than her father had been, but men and clothes shopping? In her mind, never the twain shall meet.
He lifted a very sexy dark eyebrow. “Yeah. Why?”
She swept aside the notion that shopping was a woman’s job and realized that in Evan and Lyon’s world, there had been only them for a while. They were self-sufficient, these Downey boys. Which apparently included laundry, cooking, and school clothes shopping.
“Nothing. Have fun.”
“See you tonight,” he said.
“It’ll be late,” she said to his back.
Without turning he confirmed. “Tonight, Ace.”
*
The ball was a success. There were lots of well-dressed policemen in attendance. Sofie had gone on a blind date with one of them—Officer Brady Hutchins. He was a good-looking guy. Head full of blond hair, full lips, broad shoulders. According to Sofie, their date was “nice,” but neither of them had felt the spark.
And didn’t Charlie know just what her friend meant by that? Now that Evan had set her panties on fire more than once, she could see the lack of spark in every relationship she’d had in the past.
After the ball, Sofie and Charlie retreated to a nearby, all-night diner to feast on hot fudge sundaes and French fries.
It didn’t take long for Charlie to spill about Lyon’s stitches, the trip to Rae’s parents’ house, and the way she’d spent last night curled into Evan.
“You have the blessing from Rae’s mom!” Sofie’s face had turned to sweet, soft perfection. “Embrace this, Charlie. Embrace the gift of the people who love you most saying it’s okay for you to be in love with Evan.”
“I’m trying,” had been her parting comment.
Full of trans-fats and exhausted, Charlie returned home, kicked off her heels, and flexed her tired feet on the floor.
She filled a glass with water and drank it. Her eyes automatically slid out her kitchen window, past the neighbors’ house, and to Evan’s studio. The lights were on and she could imagine him perched in front of a large canvas.
“Embrace it,” she mumbled to herself.
Those words, and wanting to see him in his element in the calm of two a.m., had her reaching for her camera bag, spinning on her favorite lens, and heading straight to him. If she was lucky, he’d left the door open and she might be able to get a few shots in before he noticed she was there.
Luck was on her side.
The side door was unlocked, so she slipped into the laundry room. And, having left her shoes off, tiptoed barefoot across the hall and to the studio’s doorway. He had earbuds in, head bobbing as he mixed paint on a tray in one hand.
Charlie lifted the camera to her eye and peered through it, sweeping the room and adjusting the focus on the canvas she’d requested he burn. The one smeared with paint from their bodies; the one they’d rolled around on while kissing and laughing.
True to his word, he’d kept it, adding more brushstrokes to hide what it actually was. To be fair, it did look more like a work of art and less like impressions of their nude bodies. But she knew what to look for—and could easily see a butt cheek here, a nipple there… oh yeah. The sex was still there.
With a shake of her head, she returned to her viewfinder and zeroed in on the sexiest painter she’d ever seen.
One of his legs was straight out, heel to the floor, the other foot balanced on the wheels of the stool. The canvas in front of him featured Swine Flew, goggles on, cape flapping behind him, wearing a stars and stripes outfit reminiscent of Evel Knievel.