Soaring with Fallon (Big Sky 4)

I don’t want to know.

“The mattress will happen later,” he says confidently. “I’m sorry about your pants.”

“No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not,” he says with a smile when he turns back to me and cups my cheek.

“It’s a good thing I have a spare pair in my bag.”

“I guess I should have asked before I tore them.”

I laugh and kiss his palm. “It was a fun adventure. Thanks for coming to class.”

“I enjoyed it,” he says, and I can see from the look in his eyes that he enjoyed both the class and the after-class activities.

“Me, too.” I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. “Now I have to get through three more classes today.”

“I guess I should get back to work,” he replies. “Do you need anything?”

I smile. This is Noah, always willing to help me in any way, anytime. It’s something I’ve come to love about him, not because he does things for me, but because of his giving spirit.

He is a kind soul.

“I think I’m okay,” I reply and lean in to place a kiss over his tender heart. “I hope you have a great day.”

“If the way it started is anything to go by, it’s going to be fucking fantastic.”

He grins and lays a quick, hard kiss on me, then turns to leave.

I take a deep breath before pulling my spare yoga pants out of my bag. I guess I’ll need to keep an extra pair handy, just in case.

I’m not complaining.

* * * *

“Is it a good idea to mix alcohol and painting?” Jillian wonders aloud as she takes another sip of her red wine and stares at the blue canvas in front of her. “I mean, I’m not good at this on a good day with no alcohol.”

“If I couldn’t drink wine,” Cara says thoughtfully, “I wouldn’t be here because I’d be too afraid to try.”

“Exactly,” the instructor, Jael, says with a smile. “A little wine helps to lower your inhibitions.”

“I can’t drink,” Lo reminds us, laughing. “And yet, here I am. The things I do for you.”

“Let’s focus,” Jael says with a laugh of her own. She’s a pretty woman in her early forties, with red hair highlighted with blond. She’s thin with kind, blue eyes. “Now that we have our base, we’re going to add the silhouette of a mountain with trees.”

“Oh, Lord, we’re getting fancy,” Autumn says. “I need more wine.”

She hops up and fills her glass with more white.

I’ve barely had a chance to sip mine, I’m too focused on the painting. I don’t want it to suck.

I’m just not super artistically inclined.

“Wow, look at Fallon’s,” Lo says, looking over my shoulder. “Have you done this before?”

“No,” I reply with a shrug. “And I don’t know if I’ll do it again. I’m totally stressed out.”

“No need to be stressed,” Jael says with a wink. “Any mistakes can be covered up, and none of these are going to look exactly the same. That’s the beauty of art.”

“How long have you been doing this?” I ask, trying to follow her direction for painting a tree. “And why does this look like a penis?”

Cara chokes on her wine and then busts up laughing. “Oh, Lord. We have penis trees.”

Jael patiently shows me how to fix my phallic trees.

“I’ve been teaching these classes for about five years,” she says with a smile. “Since I got divorced, and my daughter went away to college. I wanted something to fill my evenings.”

“You’re an excellent artist,” Jillian says, looking at the other paintings on the walls. “Do you paint for a living?”

“Aside from the sip and paint? No.” She shakes her head. “I’m a nurse.”

“Smart and artistic,” I say with a wink. “You’re a double threat.”

“Not to mention, pretty as can be,” Autumn agrees, making Jael blush.

“If giving you all wine inspires you to compliment me, I’ll take it, but that’s not the goal tonight. Now, we’re going to paint in a full moon.”

My phone pings in my pocket. I take it out and turn the sound off, expecting to see a text from Noah. Instead, it’s a notification from Instagram.

Lacey McCarthy, my mother, started following my yoga page and went through to like every single one of my photos.

“Everything okay?” Autumn asks quietly.

“Yeah,” I sigh. “Hey, let’s take a selfie.”

“Okay.” Autumn leans her cheek against mine, and I snap the picture. It inspires a whole group shot, as well—all five of us.

“We’ll take another photo of the group when your paintings are done,” Jael says.

“I think that’s code for stop goofing off and get to work,” Jillian says. “Sorry. We don’t get out often.”

“You’re a fun group,” Jael replies.

I send the photos to Noah and tuck my phone back into my pocket and get to work.

An hour later, we’re all sipping wine and looking at our handiwork.