Page 3 of Claiming His Muse

“Don’t mention it,” I say, glancing at my canvas and tutting. “I’ll need you to look at me while I’m mapping this out.”

“Sorry,” she replies, lifting that gorgeous face up toward me once again.

“It’s okay,” I assure her. “You’re probably not used to being able to talk while you’re modeling, right?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I’ve never sat for a painting before, either.”

“Really?” I ask as I block out where her hair falls on her shoulders.

“Really,” she says. “I’ve sat for a lot of anatomy classes, but nothing like this.”

“I find that hard to believe. Not capturing you in color is doing you a great disservice.”

Jenny giggles but doesn’t respond. I can tell by the way she holds herself that she’s fairly reserved. If I want us to converse, I’m going to have to do some prompting. That’s fine by me, though. There’s so much I want to learn about her.

“So, I think it’s pretty obvious that I’m a fine arts major,” I mutter as I move onto sketching the shape of her dress – I’ll add the details with paint a little bit later. “But what are you majoring in? I’ve never seen you around campus before last week.”

“Creative writing,” she says.

“So you write stories?”

“Poems, actually,” she corrects.

“So you’re a poet,” I say softly. “Fitting. You’ve got this Romantic look about you. What’re you working on right now?”

“School stuff, mostly,” she says, leaning forward to watch as I start mixing paint together for the base layer. “But, uh... I actually started a poem about this guy I met.”

“What?” I ask, looking away from my pallet as a streak of jealousy runs through me. “Is he your boyfriend or something?”

“No,” she says. Then, before my shoulders can relax, she adds, “Not yet, anyway.”

I grunt in response, mixing the peachy color I intend to use for her skin with a little more force than necessary. I can’t stop myself from asking, “This guy, does he treat you right?”

“So far,” she replies, seemingly unbothered by the tone in my voice. Maybe she doesn’t realize why I’m asking. “We haven’t spent much time together yet, though. I guess time will tell.”

“I guess so,” I mutter as I pick up my paint brush. I take a glob and swipe the bristles on the canvas. “You two have any classes together?”

“No, our majors are different,” she says. “Complementary, though.”

“Sounds like a lucky guy,” I say, my mind racing as I try to come up with a way to get whoever he is out of the picture.

“Or maybe I’m the one that’s lucky,” she muses.

I don’t respond, but I don’t think she minds. The painting gives me a good excuse for silence.

I know that I shouldn’t be reacting in this way, but I can’t help it. Jenny is perfect in every way, and I’ve already decided that she’s going to be mine. However this guy makes her feel, I’m going to make her feel better. I’ll give her the entire world if I have to.

Jenny seems unbothered by my silence, amused even. It must be because of how often she sits for others to draw her, though. There’s no way she’s enjoying my jealousy.

Or maybe she is. Maybe she’s making me jealous on purpose. That feels like I’m reading too far into this, though. Someone as beautiful as her surely has other suitors.

My initial read on her being shy might have been wrong. Jenny might be used to men getting jealous. That could very well be why she’s watching me with an amused smile on her lips. Situations like this might be routine for her.

Whatever the case, it doesn’t matter. I’m going to do everything I can to impress her and win her over. This mystery man is nothing more than a bump in the road. It’ll take a few more sessions to get this painting finished. I’ll do my best to woo her and win her over.

“Okay,” I murmur when I have the base layers on the canvas. “I don’t think I can do any more today. I need to let this dry or it’ll get muddy.”

“Can I see?” she asks, staying put and letting me turn the easel around.

---