Page 94 of Up All Night

She had told me the first thing she wanted to do was paint, but I hadn’t thought that she would do it on her own.

Me:By yourself?

Halle:Yeah. I put some music on and got to work.

I didn’t like the thought of her alone in the studio at night. It was after eight, and the glass doors made it easy for a passerby to see she was alone. I knew where her studio was because she’d shown it to me on Saturday when we were driving around the city.

I hurried to pack up my things and jogged to the elevator.

I’d grab some Chinese food and join her at the studio.

I knew starting something wasn’t smart, but neither was letting her work alone at night. What kind of guy would I be if I didn’t make sure she was safe?

Plus, maybe seeing her would ease the ache I’d had in my chest ever since our dinner plans had been ruined.

I didn’t tell Halle I was coming because I wanted to surprise her. But I also didn’t want to give her a heart attack if I knocked on the door, so I sent her a quick text telling her to come to the door.

I watched her as she read my text, surprise filling her expression before she smiled and looked toward the door.

She walked over to let me in, and before I could walk all the way through the door, she threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly. I couldn’t fully hug her back with my hands full of bags of Chinese food, but I did as best as I could.

She pulled back slightly, keeping her arms around me. “What are you doing here?” The excitement in her voice made the trip here totally worth it.

“I wanted to see you.” The truth seemed to pour out of me when I was around her. “And I feel bad I had to cancel our plans earlier, so I brought dinner to you.”

She stepped back, noticing the bags for the first time. “Thank you,” she beamed. “I never stopped to get something to eat, so I’m starving.” Her stomach rumbled as if to prove her point.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a lot of different things.” I held up the bags, full of cartons.

She chuckled. “That’s a lot of food for two people.”

“You can take the leftovers home,” I shrugged. I wanted to make sure there were at least a few things she liked, so I’d practically ordered the whole menu.

She bit her lip, and a worried expression filled her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. Did she not like leftovers? I could take them home if she wanted me to. Or had I picked a bad Chinese restaurant? I should have texted her to see what her favorite place was.

“Um,” she said tentatively. “I got some paint on your shirt.”

I looked down, and sure enough there were two splotches of paint on my blue button-down, one on my left pec and the other on my abdomen. I’d already taken off my suit coat and tie, so they were safe from the soft gray paint color Halle had chosen for the walls.

Before I could say anything, she hurriedly said, “I’m so sorry. I was just excited to see you. I didn’t even think about how I’m probably covered in paint. Let me go get a wet towel from the bathroom.” She spun on her heel and speed walked to where I assumed the bathroom was, not giving me a chance to tell her it was fine. She’d been talking so fast that I hadn’t been able to tell her this shirt was one of many blue button-downs I owned.

I walked over to where she had been painting. A drop cloth covered the floor, and a bucket of paint sat nearby, a roller brush resting in the paint pan. I sat on the cloth and took out the small white boxes, waiting for her to return.

She came back out and was quickly by my side, kneeling as she started frantically wiping at the paint on my shirt, avoiding eye contact. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt. I can buy you another one. I shouldn’t have hugged you when I had paint on me. That was so dumb of me.”

I placed my hand over hers, hoping to calm her down. “Halle.” She finally stopped and stared at me, that same look of worry and fear in her eyes. “I don’t care about the shirt,” I said gently, wanting her to know I truly didn’t care.

She searched my face. “You’re not mad or upset or anything?” she asked like she was confused.

My brows creased in confusion. “No. It’s just a shirt.” I looked down at it again, two wet spots joining in with the paint ones. “You probably did me a favor. I have way too many blue shirts that all look the same. I need to branch out.”

She let out an amused huff of air. “Why am I not surprised?”

I took the cloth from her hands and set it down. “What just happened here?” I asked softly. She hadn’t seemed like the carefree, happy Halle that I knew. She’d seemed scared. I hated the thought of her ever not feeling safe with me.

She sighed and sat back, not looking at me. “Uh, well, my, uh…” she said, struggling to find the words. “My last boyfriend, he uh, he would get mad sometimes.”

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