Page 45 of Follow Me Down

After waking up this morning to find him gone, I wasn’t sure where we stood. Was I just a one-night thing? Him scratching an itch? Would he still want me here?

All of that doubt went right out the window when he came in while I was getting ready and laid the mother of all kisses on me. I may not know what all of this means, but one thing that I do know is for the first time in a very long time, I actually feel good about something.

Titus waits until I reach him before pushing the door open wider to allow me room to squeeze past him. I don’t miss the way his hand grazes my ass as I do, or the smile that spreads across my face when it happens.

I throw him a playful glare over my shoulder as I step onto the front porch. He gives me a knowing grin. Stepping up behind me, I jump when his hands slide over my eyes.

“What are you doing?” I question, wondering what in the world he could be up to.

“You’ll see.” His breath tickles my ear as he speaks.

Nudging me forward, I take a few hesitant steps before Titus guides me to the left, presumably to where the porch wraps around to the back of the cabin.

“Titus.” I laugh, my impatience starting to show through.

“Okay.” He stops, pulling me to a halt with his hands still wrapped around my face. “You ready?”

“Uh, yeah.” I sigh dramatically.

Without a word, Titus’ hands disappear. As suspected, I’m standing on the back section of the porch which overlooks the back of the property.

My eyes sweep from one side to the other, and it doesn’t take me long to realize what he’s done.

Sitting in the corner of the porch is a small table. Various sized canvases are stacked atop along with at least twenty different colors of paint. A variety of paintbrushes and other materials are spread out as well.

“Titus.” My hand goes to my mouth when my gaze lands on what looks to be a handmade wooden easel, angled toward the most spectacular view of the woods.

“Do you like it?” I jump at his nearness.

“When did you have time to do all this?” I turn toward him, having to resist the urge to throw myself into his arms. I’m not sure we’re there yet, though I want us to be.

“I got up early. Ran into Harrisburg. They have a craft store there. I wasn’t sure what you needed, so I got you a little bit of everything.”

“I can’t believe you did this.” I shake my head, not able to hide the smile splitting my face in two.

“You said you loved to paint landscapes. Not sure about you, but I think you’ve got a pretty good backdrop here.” He gestures out toward the thick brush and lush trees.

“I... I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal. But to me, it’s a very big deal. “Paint me something good and we’ll call it even.”

“Deal.”

“Well, I should probably get to work. You good here?” He looks at the table behind me before his eyes come back to mine.

“Better than good.”

A smile pulls up the side of his mouth seconds before he spins on his heel and quickly walks away.

I turn back to the array of supplies, taken aback by Titus’ sweet gesture. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that man really is a walking contradiction. He seems so hard and despondent but then he goes and does something so thoughtful.

I’m looking through all the paints, trying to decide what color palette I should start with when I hear Link say my name. Looking up, I spot him off to the right, coming out of the shop.

“Hi.” I wave at him as I set the largest canvas on the easel.

“What the hell do you have here?” He hops up on the railing and leans over to get a look at what I’m doing.

“Art supplies.” I bounce up on the balls of my feet in excitement. “Titus got them for me.”

---