Grounded (Up in the Air #3)(22)

"I pawned some meetings off on my VP. Meetings that were above his pay grade, so I may need to give him a raise. I want to watch you paint. I needed to see those dreams in your eyes firsthand."

He fingered one of my earrings, his eyes as tender as I'd ever seen them. "Thank you for that," he whispered, a catch in his voice.

I melted.

We went straight to the apartment. We found Stephan and Javier in one of the larger entertainment areas, playing video games and eating sandwiches. They were still wearing pajamas.

I laughed when I saw them.

Stephan grinned back at me.

Javier didn't even look up. He was too busy trying to hunt down and kill Stephan's character in the game. He wasn't successful.

Stephan shot Javier's character in the head within seconds, barely even glancing at the screen. He was the worst to play against. He never lost.

Javier cursed. "I almost had you!"

"Headshot," Stephan pointed out.

James tugged at my hand, drawing my gaze to him. He grinned at me, a twinkle in his eye. "Well, we have to play a match or two. I'm playing hooky from work. Gaming is practically a requirement."

"I'm on Stephan's team," I said quickly. If I was going to play, it may as well be to win.

James pointed at me. "You're going to pay for that."

And I did. We ended up playing for hours, and I got camped. James killed me, again and again, with no remorse. He apparently took it personal when I picked someone else's team. Good to know.

Marion brought us food while we played, since we were at it for so long.

We won some matches, and lost some, but it was more of a contest between James and Stephan. Javier and I were hopelessly outmatched.

I elbowed James as he shot my army guy in the head yet again.

"This game is so sexist," I complained. "I can't believe that there isn't even an option for me to play as a girl."

"Do you think that if you were playing as a busty blonde it would distract me?" James asked, amused.

"It couldn't hurt."

He tossed his controller on the ground. I gave a little embarrassing shriek as he tossed me over his shoulder. "We're done, guys. Buttercup wants to distract me. Consider me distracted."

The guys called out goodnights as James carried me away, even though it couldn't have been even six p.m. It seemed that they understood that if we went to our bedroom, we wouldn't be coming back out.

I was surprised when James didn't take me to our bedroom, instead heading to the studio.

"Will you pose for the nude?" I asked breathlessly, as he jostled me on his shoulder.

"Yes. With a condition."

"What condition?"

"I want you naked, as well, while you paint."

It didn't seem fair to argue with that stipulation, but I still sort of wanted to.

My breath whooshed from my lungs in a rush as James suddenly dumped me onto the cushy divan that took up a corner of the studio near the window. He didn't pounce on me, as I'd half assumed, and wished, that he would. Instead, he began to strip.

"Take off your clothes and paint me, Love," he said with a heart-stopping smile.



       
         
       
        

I set up my supplies first, setting everything up just so. The sun was slowly setting, and the best of the day's light had passed, so I turned on the bright overhead lights to illuminate the most beautiful man in the world lounging on a divan, naked and at my service.

I started to paint, forgetting that I was supposed to be nude, as well.

James had no qualms about reminding me. "Take the clothes off. All of them. Now."

I stripped slowly and a little awkwardly. It was no strip tease. I didn't think I had that in me. I didn't doubt that I had something wild inside of me, but it just wasn't that.

I wore nothing but my collar and my earrings as I began to paint. Surprisingly, I was able to jump right into the project, not nearly as distracted by my own nudity as I'd thought I would be. That was probably because I was utterly captivated by the man that had inspired the painting.

James watched me paint, as he'd said he needed to. It was hard to feel self-conscious, even nude, when someone was looking at you as though you were the most beautiful and fascinating creature on the planet.

I had painted most of his face and torso before I got distracted by the subject at hand. When I'd painted his chest, I'd wanted to touch his chest, to kiss it, and bury my face there. I'd felt a similar urge when I'd been working on the curve of his neck, and his abdomen, hell, even his hair. But when I started to work on that sexy little V shaped pelvic muscle, I got sidetracked in a hurry.

I felt myself licking my lips a lot, as I studied that area of his body. Felt it, but couldn't seem to stop it.