Page 22 of Her Painter Bear Mate

Satisfied that she had her attention, Millie ran back inside.

"No Bork?" Dee asked as she stepped aside, her gaze flitting up to the sky again. It didn't escape her notice that it was a crescent night and that lots of people would be gathering around Crescent Lake to find their fated mates tonight. Not that it was relevant to her, she had no intention of participating herself so she didn't know why she was even thinking about it.

"No, I left him at home." Clarissa raised a recyclable bag. "But I brought alcohol."

Dee let out a chuckle. She hadn't really known what to expect from them hanging out but this wasn't it. That being said, she wasn't upset by the development.

"This way to my studio," she said, letting the other woman into the house. She expected Clarissa to follow right away but she was lingering, taking her time to look around.

"You know this is the first time I've been to your house? Well, your parents' house. Isn't that weird?" she remarked, her fingers brushing over the walnut dresser. "This place is fancy."

Dee pursed her lips. "I've never been to your house and you live above the craft store."

"Fair. Where's your studio?"

"Take a guess. If you can't smell the turpentine and paint, you can't call yourself a painter," Dee challenged. She didn't know why she couldn't just give a straight answer. For some reason, when Clarissa was involved, Dee always had to make things more convoluted.

With a little smirk, Clarissa pointed at the right door. "That one?"

"You didn't sniff any of the doors."

"Bear sense, don't need to."

Dee heard some stumbling upstairs and suddenly imagined her mother coming down and making small talk in the hall. That was the last thing she wanted so she stopped stalling and opened her studio. Nerves flitted through her at the thought of someone seeing all her miserable unfinished paintings but it was too late to worry about that now.

Without saying anything, Clarissa looked around the room. Her gaze lingered on the shelf with paint tubes, the sink where some of her brushes were drying, the eternal cup of paint thinner that was caked in old paint.

"And?" Dee asked when she couldn't take it anymore.

"It's nice," Clarissa commented with a grin. "I'm teasing. It's actually really nice. Lots of windows for natural light, plenty of thinking space."

As expected, she had a keen eye.

Dee leaned against her workbench. "My studio in my penthouse is even bigger."

"Of course, it is." Clarissa finally noticed the rows of half finished paintings at the back but to her credit, didn't just go rummaging through them. Instead, she pulled a bottle of red wine from her bag. "Want some?"

"If you don't mind drinking from these," Dee said, grabbing two clean glasses from by the sink. "Full disclosure, they've had paint in them but I washed them properly."

"I'm used to worse. Just yesterday, I accidentally drank from my dirty water." The grimace on Clarissa's face was a sight but she quickly shook the memory away.

Dee let out a wistful sigh. "I miss those days."

"Of drinking paint water?"

"Of being so in the zone that I can't remember which cup is which." She handed the glasses across and Clarissa's fingers brushed against hers. A little zap jolted across and time slowed considerably. The kiss flashed through Dee's mind and her gaze was drawn to the red lips that were responsible for that. They looked inviting somehow.

The shriek of the metal cap coming off the bottle of wine pulled her from her thoughts and she was careful not to let their hands touch when she accepted the full glass.

"You brought red," she noted.

"It would be pretty shitty to rock up with white," she said, holding her glass up. "Cheers."

Dee clinked and took a big swig from her wine, hopeful that it would take the edge of her anxiety. The whole situation was unexpected and definitely not what she pictured when she came back to her hometown.

It took her a full glass of wine and a bit before she gestured to her unfinished paintings. "Go on then. I know you're dying to see the disaster."

"Not dying," Clarissa said with a bit of a smile. "But I am totally curious, yes."

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