“A little,” I said, because I was. It was harder than it looked to balance on one foot even if I had a chair to use.
We took a break, and he brought me some water and a blanket. I used the blanket to shield my nakedness. Then he had me back up, only this time, he had me throw my head over and ruffle my hair then bring it back up. I did this a couple times until he felt it was just so. I thought it was just messy and ratty, but he seemed to want the ratty, wild hair.
“Your colors are perfection, ma jolie.” He walked over to a table, and brought over a paint brush and a small can of paint. The paint was cherry red. “This is going to feel strange but I’m going to apply this paint to your lips. It is not toxic.”
“Sure, whatever you gotta do. It’s your dime.”
He shook his head and chuckled. I smiled but then made a poufy-lipped face while he delicately painted my lips. It glistened brightly and seemed to have a plastic-like quality to it. When he was done, he fluffed my hair a few more times and walked back to his camera.”
“Now, Mia, think of something sad. Something that hurts your heart…very bad. Maybe even think of something you are missing, oui?”
I didn’t want to mess up my lips so I just looked off into the distance and thought of Wes. What was he doing right now? Who was he with? Did he miss me? What if he was standing half naked in front of someone else? Those thoughts were too tortured, and I tried to change gears. Only God knows why, but I thought of my dad. I hadn’t seen him in a month. He was still in a coma without his daughter sitting by his side. That thought hit me straight in the heart.
“Mia!” Alec said sharply and I turned my head so fast I blinked. A lone tear slipped down my cheek. The camera clicked. “Got it,” he said softly. I whisked away the remaining tears that were on the cusp of falling.
“We done?” My voice cracked when he handed me a wet cloth.
“For this part of the project, yes, we are done. You may wash off the paint and have a rest. I’ll get your shirt.”
“Thank you,” I whispered, feeling a little flustered and a lot emotional.
Once we finished and I was dressed, we sat side by side and looked out one of the rickety windows down to the Seattle street below. A light rain was pelting against the asphalt, and people rushed around to avoid getting soaked.
“What is this picture we’re working on now?”
“You mean, what is the name of the piece?”
I nodded but stayed silent looking out over the wet street.
“No Love For Me.”
Of course. It should be my fucking theme song. “I’m ready to get back to work.”
Alec led me over to the canvas once more. No words were spoken when I removed my shirt, fluffed my hair and got into position.
Finally, I broke the silence.
“What’s next?” I asked with a renewed focus.
“We find you love of course.”
Chapter 3
Day three of being with Alec brought me back into the loft. Last night, we returned from a long day of shooting stills in what felt like a million subtly different poses. We’d even skipped lunch; apparently, when the muse strikes, one takes advantage. Objectively, when a woman removes the top half of her clothes and you’re a hetero male, it’s not too far a leap to think the muse is going to go haywire. All men are pigs in one way or another. This one just happened to be masquerading as a hot artist guy Frenchman.
Gotta admit though, it was totally working for me. I was dying to get my hands on him. Anywhere. His hair, especially his hair. Long waves of russet and gold that fell perfectly to his shoulders. Tall, muscled frame with a narrow waist had me salivating for the second day in a row. Unfortunately for me, Alec was a workaholic to the extreme. After we finished in the loft and came back to his loft, we ate pizza for dinner, and he was off to the loft to work on the image he’d done that day. Didn’t even come home before I went to bed alone…again. It irked me that he hadn’t so much as tried anything other than that single kiss. I was primed and ready to take the next step. I needed to rip off the Band-Aid so to speak. To stop thinking about Wes and the surfboard keychain that held the key to his front door and his heart.
Today, Alec wasn’t waiting for me in the kitchen. Once I’d butt-scooched down the stairs, I’d expected to find him up and making me breakfast like yesterday. Not so. What I did find was a note in his slanted male penmanship sitting by the coffee pot. It said:
Ma jolie,
Meet me at downstairs when you’re ready. There is much to do.