His voice made her heart palpitate. She swallowed despite the heat creeping up her spine. “No, I’m good.”
“Why don’t I believe you?”
“You’re entitled to your opinion.”
He chuckled, only to rest his forehead on her shoulder. Heather turned her head, brushing her cheek against him. It would be so easy to kiss him now. He was so close, her fingers ached with the need to touch his face. She closed her eyes for a moment but blinked remembering they were in public. Allen then moved to settle back into his seat. Heather cleared her throat and pulled at the neckline at her turtleneck.
“Okay so you have three brushes inside your cup. We’ll be switching between them all. Let’s start with the largest brush.”
Heather picked up her brush following the instructor as she guided them step by step. She bit her bottom lip as she painted, keeping her strokes light when needed. When they changed colors, her brush clinked inside the cup as she washed off the previous color. Tilting her head to the side, Heather focused. It wasn’t a question of it being perfect but allowing the painting to flow from her. How did she see it?
Her arm moved back and forth, hearing the swipe of her brush. Then her eyes diverted to Allen’s painting. His wine glass looked exactly like the example. With a slight shake of h
er head, she listened to Paris’ instructions.
“Now to give what we have so far some time to dry, we will take a quick break,” Paris said. Then she walked by a few canvases, giving a few pointers to the other students.
“Want anything from the snack area?” Allen asked.
Heather rubbed at her arms. “No, thanks.” She looked around, noticing the various paintings on the walls. One showed roses in a mason jar, a moonlight at the lake, and Heather loved the painting of a sunset. Or was it a sunrise?
“Having fun?” Allen asked.
“It’s not bad.” She looked over at his painting. “Let me guess, you do this all the time.”
“First time.”
Heather rolled her eyes and stifled her laugh. Then she paused staring at her canvas. She had trouble with the shadow. She looked over at her instructor’s replica. The wineglass was sitting on a wooden table. Its shadow was precise, adding depth, but Heather went still holding her brush after retrieving it from her cup. Could she fix it?
Allen leaned in closer. “Looks good so far.”
“If I can get the shadow part.” She tapped her free hand on her lips.
“Want some help?”
She looked over at him again, dropping her gaze to his full lips. “Sure.”
He placed his hand over hers and together they added the shadow to her painting. Heather closed her eyes, losing herself in the moment. While she reminded herself not to let her imagination run wild, she wondered if Allen could be the one. Then again, was that concept even logical? He was so close it brought a hyper-awareness to her body.
“How’s that?” he asked.
She opened her eyes and looked at her painting. It wasn’t like the instructor’s example, but Heather could live with it.
She tucked a curl behind her ear. “It’s great. Thank you.”
He didn’t move. One arm was around the back of her chair. Heather’s gaze dropped to his lips again, and Allen leaned in closer. Would he kiss her in front of everyone? She wouldn’t care if he did. She wanted him to.
His thumb stroked her chin. “Good job.”
He captivated her with the intensity in his eyes. Heather inched closer herself to—
“We are done,” the instructor said. She gave the class a round of applause.
“Ready for dinner?” he asked.
Heather couldn’t speak. She only nodded.
***