Page 64 of Fight

“Nope,” she confirmed with a smile as she looked over at him admiringly, heat snaking up her neck at the sight of his long limbs and relaxed eyes.

His long body was sprawled on top of the purple and teal duvet that covered her small, full-sized bed. Lena had made him take a shower before she’d allowed him to do that—he’d taken some resort guests on a fifteen mile bike ride today and had returned to her sweaty and filthy, which she’d…kind of liked? It made her feel delicate and fancy when he’d held her against a wall covering her with his giant, filthy body. And she’d been more than happy to join him in the shower to help him get clean enough for her bed.

Memories of the hot shower flashed through her body as she continued to admire the length and overall size of him. Really, if they were going to sleep together every night she was going to need a bigger bed—how did she manage to fit in there with him?

“Even after he and Sasha offered you the job?” he continued to press while Lena started opening the drawers of her newly refinished dresser, which looked beautiful and bright as a new penny against the wall across from her bed.

She was in the midst of packing for the trip to Colorado that she and Jake were embarking on the next morning. They’d decided it would be easier for him to spend the night so they’d be ready to go as soon as daylight cracked through the blinds. His packed bags were sitting next to Lena’s bedroom door.

Lena threw shirts, shorts, and underwear in a pile on her floor for final consideration. She liked to make a big pile of “considerations” before she took the final step and packed the winners from the pile into her suitcase.

“No, he wouldn’t give it back to me,” Lena confirmed with smiling indignation as she tossed a pair of linen shorts in the pile. “It was framed on the wall of the Civic Association waiting room! How did he manage to get it professionally framed and perfectly hung in less than twenty-four hours?”

“I can’t believe it,” Jake laughed.“That guy…” He trailed off as his bruised face dissolved into a hearty laugh.

“I couldn’t really be mad at him though,” Lena continued with a sigh.“It was so exciting seeing my artwork hanging in a public place—even if it’s just a civic association waiting room.”

Jake chuckled appreciatively. “I bet. Kyle’s an intense guy, but he does a ton for the community. His family traces back to the time before Ian’s family arrived and took everything over. All of the Bears are very involved in community happenings. So I guess if there is someone you let get away with something like that, it’s him?”

“I think Ilikehis brand of intensity. At least you always know where you stand with him. I guess I always knew where I stood with Cindy, too,” Lena said contritely as she held up a silky camisole for consideration. “But that felt different…grosser somehow.”

Jake’s eyes shaded. “Are you sure you’re okay with me working there still?” He trailed off awkwardly.

Lena dismissed him with a wave of her hand as she tossed the camisole into the pile. “Yes, of course I’m sure. You do very well there and Cynthia doesn’t hate you, so you might as well milk it.”

“Alright,” Jake agreed. “Let’s not talk about her, though. Tell me more about how this interview went.”

“So, I get there and see my painting framed in the waiting room. When Kyle and hisverynormal sister, Sasha, came out, I gently and politely asked him why the hell my painting was hanging in the waiting room. And he said that he considered it a gift from me since he was gracing me with a job interview.” Lena laughed as she rolled her eyes.

Jake made a sound of disbelief as Lena continued. “Sasha was mortified and had no idea. They had a full on sibling argument right in front of me—she was trying to get him to at least pay me. I assured them it was fine and they took me back to Kyle’s office for the interview. Sasha led the interview, and again, she is very normal and very easy to talk to, so we had a great chat and they hired me!”

“That’s…insane,” Jake responded, shaking his head. “I was going to try to get you into a position at the Golden Carafe, but this is a great opportunity. For all that Kyle Bear is a hard ass, getting in with his family and their various organizations is a great move.”

“I’m so happy,” she admitted with a huge smile as she plopped down on the bed next to him. “This is such a cool position. A teaching artist is such a new concept, I’m impressed that he was so innovative. It will also be fun to work with the theater and get this whole thing off the ground.”

Lena had never heard of a teaching artist before. From both her pre-interview Googling and her conversation with Sasha, it sounded like it was an opportunity to teach art techniques to others and encourage an appreciation and experience with art in general. She’d be working with groups of both children and adults, which was not something she had much experience with—so, that part would be new to her. Sasha seemed to have a lot of faith in her though, and Annie had been so excited to pass on some teaching methods and ideas.

She had brought samples of her pencil drawings, oil paintings, watercolor paintings, charcoal drawings, and pastel pieces with her. Both Sasha and Kyle—in his own way—had expressed respect and admiration for her art. External feedback and connection with her art was Lena’s emotional bread and butter, so she’d basked in their positive comments.

Really, it was her dream job that she’d never known existed. And while it didn’t sound like the duties associated with this position fell strictly into the definition of a teaching artist—she would be doing a lot of work with the Civic Association at large to start art programs, begin planning some theater activities, and finding other similarly displaced artsy people like herself to become a part of the organization—it sounded like a challenge and it sounded likefun, which is something she could honestly say she’d ever felt about a job before.

Lena had called Cori earlier in the afternoon to give her the good news, and she’d been very impressed with the opportunity; although she was not an early fan of Kyle if her shock and disgust over the whole rigged mural contest situation was indicative of anything. And add the fact that he’d essentially stolen her painting, Cori, ever the lawyer in training, had wanted Lena to put up more of a fight about everything. But Lena couldn’t get that upset about it seeing as everything had happened so perfectly and seemingly randomly. She had everything she could want right now—the job meant more to her than the mural opportunity—so why fight it?

“Well, I’m proud of you,” Jake said as he rubbed her bare leg and looked up at her with smiling eyes. “I told you that you could figure out a way to make drawing and painting a career.”

His eyes were lighter tonight, contrasting with the darkening bruises on his face—the blues, greens, and gray specks glowed as she came down to kiss him gently on the lips.

“Thank you,” she said softly after she pulled away and jumped off the bed again. “It was very serendipitous how it all happened, but I guess that’s just how life goes sometimes.”

Returning to her dresser, she pulled out a couple more t-shirts, throwing them in the pile. Ranches were rustic, right? She would probably need t-shirts and jeans, but she’d also need some dresses. She walked over to her closet and pulled out a purple gingham dress.This would look so cute with cowboy boots.Thoughts of the western wear store with the dinging door drifted through her mind.I should have gone there after my interview.

“I think I might need to track down some cowboy boots before we leave tomorrow,” she informed Jake as she gently folded the dress and placed it in her suitcase—completely bypassing the consideration pile with that one—before returning to the closet and sliding through her hangers.

“Uh, we aren’t going to have time to get cowboy boots tomorrow,” Jake informed her as he lifted himself up to a sitting position on her bed. “You’ll most assuredly find cowboy boots in Colorado anyway.”

“We’d have plenty of time if we left at a morehumanehour,” Lena argued with a smile.

They were leaving for Colorado at zero dark thirty—as Jake had put it—the next morning, which had alarmed Lena as she was most definitelynota morning person. She would much rather get a later start and travel longer into the night, which Jake had dismissed as a waste of valuable daylight.

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