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Then she scratched the bridge of her nose and left a se of paint there, and another just beneath her left eye Uncharacteristically silent, she turned back to her wall

They painted in silence for five full minutes

"You think he’d like the way I turned out?" she asked her wall casually Too casually "You know,hi nature and spirit, how you live your life Everything"

She glanced at hih?"

"Proud," he repeated fired him with her hip when they both bent for the paint tray at the same time "And I bet your dad’s proud of you too"

It was Sawyer’s turn to snort

"Deep down," Chloe said, sounding sure

Maybe deep, deep, deep down, but Sawyer kind of doubted it

"At least he’s around," Chloe said softly "And he visits with you" She shrugged "So he’s a grumpy old fart Life’s short, Sawyer Soet and make it okay"

With this deeply profound statement, Chloe bent over to load more paint onto her roller, pulled back herhim

At some point, she put down her roller and went for that second bottle of wine He doubted the alcohol was good for her asthma, but he’d be damned if he’d point that out He’d drink the whole bottle hi it out "Before you open that, there’s beer in the fridge I’ to have one of those instead"

She eyed hi at herwith her But she put down the bottle, leaving it unopened "I’ht anyway Maybe I’ll share a beer with you"

"Sure" He got one out of the fridge and offered her the first sip She passed it back, and he took a big gulp, watching her as she checked out his eht drinker She suddenly wasn’t seelasses of wine But then again, he wasn’t all that steady hiot here, then the lion’s share of the wine

Theyroom to eye their handiwork

"Huh," she said, and rubbed at the streak of paint on her jaw

"What?" He watched her shake her head as if having a private conversation with herself She laughed

So did he Because talls looked neat, smooth, and orderly

His

The other talls, Chloe’s, had been painted in haphazard, uneven strokes utterly without pattern "Your wall looks…off," he said diplomatically

"It’s your house Your house’s crooked," she said, gesturing to it as she blew a strand of hair from her face She was paint-spattered and sweaty, and sexy as hell

He smiled at her "You’re crooked," he said, and she burst out laughing, sliding to the floor in a puddle ofin your condition," she finallyher eyes

"Your condition is worse than s And I know so now"

"Yeah?" He heard her breath catch, and when she ran her gaze down his body, she wasn’t the only one

"You have so else inmoment, then reached for his beer He pulled it out of reach, brought it to his lips, and tilted his head back to finish it off in two long ss

"Are you drunk?" she whispered

"More tipsy than I’d like," he whispered back "You?"

"I don’t know" Very carefully, she spread her arrinned "Hottie?"

"Yes, but shh, don’t tell yourself that I think so It’ll go to your head What do I have to do to pass?"

"Walk a straight line"

Affecting a ht toward him and tripped over her own feet "Whoops," she said when he caught her up against hilassy, and her lips were parted Damp with exertion and warm to the touch, she was both heaven and hell

Her hands went immediately to his ass, and daave him a squeeze "I think I failed the test You should handcuff me now"

Saould like that He’d like to handcuff her to his bed and bury himself deep "Chloe--"

"Uh-oh Did I scare you off, Sheriff Hottie? Because I can stop talking now Actually, I--"

He set a finger on her lips, and she smiled "I talk a lot when I’ainst the pad of his finger as she spoke

"Only when you’re wasted?"

"Hey, I’ure?" he asked

"Well, so bad wolf"

"Yeah But then you go to Home Depot to save an old lady from her ss, and catch a convenience store robber single-handedly"

"I also paint houses"

"See? You’re multitalented" It took her three tihed and set her back on her own feet "Okay, it’s tiet you some coffee I have a coffee present fro to stop by the inn for his coffee instead He’d never really exa for that too closely and didn’t stop to do so now either

"No, not yet," Chloe said, resisting "I like being just a little buzzed I don’t have bad dreaathered the empty wine and beer bottles

"What do you have bad drea the bottles fro bin Then he took her hands in his "The drea at the walls they’d painted "They’re silly, really Not night like that They’re " She pulled free and squatted before a bucket of paint and stared into the remains

He crouched at her side "Tell ed, and her sweater slipped off her shoulder again "So really tired Or I’as Or I’m on a plane that can’t take off…stuff like that And I know I need to be soets in the way The stupid thing is, in the dreams, I never really knohere exactly I need to be, just that I’ or…" She shook her head "I can’t explain it, but I wake up frustrated and angry And feeling helpless" She fell quiet and ran a finger through the paint "Silly," she whispered again

"Doesn’t seem silly to me" He pulled her back up to her feet, surprised when they both wobbled She leaned against hih, and he wasn’t sure if that was because he’d rip she once again had on his ass "Coffee," he repeated, and they let go of each other