by Jenny Rabe
She gave him a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Well you’ve worked out everything for me. I guess I’m good. Thank you.”
“It’s been the kick in the pants I’ve needed. Lately, I’ve been feeling I haven’t been giving enough. I just feel like I need to move on, start over, do something that makes me feel good.” It was a decent answer, but it had nothing to do with Cambria. “Anyway, I’ll see you around still—at the park, maybe.”
“And our graffiti project?”
Brian looked toward the front yard and frowned. He had forgotten all about their commitment. It was almost done anyway. “Oh, I forgot about that.”
Cambria lifted her eyebrows. “Seems like you want to be done with this, so let’s finish.”
Brian met her eyes, and the hard lines on her face softened. “Yeah, that will work.” He turned to leave and then turned back. “I’m sorry I’m being so flighty. I got caught up in how exciting it was to have a project again, but now I need to focus on . . . my work. Your paintings are amazing, and it was fun being a small part of getting your website going. I have to thank you, really.”
“So see you tomorrow then?”
“Yeah, I guess we better. I have paint for the big walls. I’ll meet you at seven tomorrow night, and we’ll get the last two done.” He headed for his car, but turned back. “Do you want me to mail off any boxes? I saw you sold a painting today.”
Cambria crossed her arms across her middle. “No, I can handle it. I think you’ve done enough for me today.”
Chapter Twenty One
Brian
Brian sat in the car in front of the graffiti site, tapping his fingers against the wheel. He was taking an air-conditioned break after power washing and painting some of the wall alone. Cambria’s comment about them being only business partners had run through his mind all day. The quicker they finished, the sooner he could wrap up his fascination with Cambria, especially if she didn’t feel the same.
He checked the time. Only three minutes away from seven. If he hadn't ordered all of those supplies and committed to helping her launch the website, he would have stayed away. Actually, he probably wouldn't have.
An invisible string pulled him toward her. Even now that he knew he could potentially hurt her, he was too selfish. His heart ached to look away from her, not to return her attention. The night before, it had taken every ounce of willpower left in him to leave her at the Walkers’. But he couldn't do anything with his feelings. He wouldn't.
His phone buzzed with a call. “Hey, Rob. What’s up?”
His friend’s voice sounded muffled. “Want to hang out and hit some balls? Haven’t seen you in a while.”
Brian frowned. “I would but I’m about to paint the graffiti wall with Cambria for our service project.”
“Oh, how’s that going?”
Brian shifted in his seat. “Not great. We’re just friends. We’re painting the last two walls.”
“Then you’ll be done with her?”
Brian huffed. “Yeah, I guess I’ll be done with her, other than seeing her at an occasional meeting.”
“I’d be careful if I were you. You don’t want a history repeat.”
Brian thumped the side of his window where a fly had landed. “Yeah, I know.”
Rob sighed. “You really like her, huh?”
That was an understatement. “Yeah, I do. But last night, she made me think she wasn’t as interested. She called me her business partner.”
“Have you thought about being straight with her, you know, telling her the truth? She might go for it.”
Brian fiddled with a paper sticking out of his glove box. “Yeah, but I don’t want her to get hurt. And a scoop of rejection would suck.” Her rental car drove up just then, and Brian slumped in his seat. “Hey I better go. She’ll be here any minute.”
Brian felt even more discouraged. One minute he was justifying the time he would spend with her. The next he was beating himself up for wanting to take a risk.
He turned off the truck and met her at the back.
“Sorry, have you been waiting long?”
“Nah, you’re fine,” he said, grabbing his paint roller.
“Great. Before I left, I got another notification. I can’t believe it, but two more of my paintings sold today. I better start working on more, or I’ll run out of things to sell.”
Brian’s heart swelled. His plan was working. Seeing how happy she was made his avoidance worth it.
“That’s great. I’m really happy for you.”
“Anyway, it’s all thanks to you. I don’t know if I could’ve ever found the courage.” She squeezed his arm gently, sending a thrill straight to his core.
After a few seconds, Brian broke their gaze. “We should get started. I have some things to do tonight.”
Disappointment crossed her face. Only a few minutes had passed, and he’d already made her frown. Man, he was winning in life.
She glanced at the wall. “It looks like you’ve already started.”
“Yeah, I wanted to get a head start. Everything is already out, and I power-washed the wall before I painted. It helped some, but I think once we cover it in another layer of paint, it will look really good.”
He handed her a roller brush. “I’ll take the right side.”
“Oh, okay.” She struggled to give him a smile. “Meet you in the middle.”
His heart thumped inside him. He ignored it and grabbed a roller and a can of paint, then turned his back to her. Space and time was all he needed. At first he started strong, painting quickly to get finished. If they finished this wall, they could do both walls and be done with their project.
He sighed and slowed down. His arm ached anyway. Why not pace himself? His phone buzzed with a text.
Doing community service? Maybe you’re trying to make up for all the wrongs you’ve done? Why get the girl involved too? Maybe she’s not innocent either.
Brian whipped around, searching the parking lot. An occasional car creeped by the abandoned street, but it was mostly deserted. There were no other cars in the parking lot, and no people walking by.
“Is everything okay?”
Concern was etched in Cambria’s brows and white paint dripped down her cheek.
Brian chuckled, pushing his worry down deep. “Yeah, I’m doing better than you. You’re supposed to paint the wall, not yourself.”
Cambria looked down at herself. “What? I don’t have any paint on me.”
Brian’s resolve to stay far away from Cambria melted, and he crossed the few steps to her. “No, it’s right here.” He lifted a hand to her face, and she stepped back.
Cambria sighed. “You’re really confusing me. I thought you didn’t want anything to do with me. Remember, let’s get this done and over with and all.”
Brian opened his mouth, and then when only lame excuses came to mind, he closed it again. But then he remembered her comment from last night. “Well, you called me your business partner. Seems like you feel the same.”
“I only used the same words you used to describe us.”
Brian frowned. “What? I didn’t—” His voice died in his throat. He had said that very thing a few nights ago at her house. But he hadn’t meant it.
She looked down at her paint-stained shoes, though he wasn’t sure any of it was from this painting session. “So you don’t like me?”
An urge to pull her close and kiss her overwhelmed him. Liking Cambria felt close to torture. “Of course I like you. That’s why this is so hard.”
“What? What’s so hard?” She bit her lip, and Brian worried she might cry.
Maybe Rob was right. At least if she knew the truth, she wouldn’t hate him when he stayed away. Her crumbling features broke his resolve to stay quiet. She didn’t deserve to be jerked around.
“Wanna sit? I feel like I owe you an explanation.”
She laid the roller back in the tray. “I thought you’d never ask.”
Chapter Twenty Two
Cambria
Finally some answers. Cambria’s legs ached from standing all day, painting and boxing up the paintings that had sold. A wonderful day, essentially, except for this black mark of uncertainty. She felt like she was on a tilting roller coaster when she was with Brian.
“So, what’s eating you up inside?” she asked sitting next to him on the parking bumper. “Tell me and maybe I can help?”
“Someone is watching me.” Brian’s eyes darted in every direction. Cambria checked, but they were the only ones in the parking lot and possibly on that whole street.
If it weren’t for the serious look in his eye, she would have laughed. “What do you mean? We’re the only ones here.”
He ran his fingers through his hair, a nervous gesture she recognized. “I should have never gotten involved with you. I’ve pulled you into my big mess, and now they’re going to exploit you too.”
Her eyes widened. “Whoa, slow down. What are you talking about? Who’s going to exploit me?”
Brian sighed and buried his face in his hands. “Almost a year ago, I dated a girl that ruined my life.”
“That bad, huh?” she joked, hoping to bring back his smile, but his frown didn’t budge.
“It’s no joke. She found out some things about me, and I realized she was only interested in me because of those things.”
“What things?”
Brian sighed. “I’m nervous to tell you because that’s what turned her head in another direction.”
Cambria took his hands in hers. “I know we haven’t known each other long, but you really can trust me.”
“The girl I was dating, Violet, was a newspaper reporter, and after I broke things off, she wanted revenge. She started slurring my name, writing articles about our relationship, my business—” he paused as his voice broke— “even my father.”
“Oh, that’s horrible,” Cambria said, reaching out to hold his arm. Tingles traveled all the way down her fingers as her skin made contact with his.
“Things went a little haywire with my business because of it, and I felt it best to shut it down and restart using a different name. Now I’m kind of like the man behind the curtain, only jumping in to put out fires. I create projects for my team, and they run with it.”
“But why did Violet do it? What did she have against you?”
Brian shrugged. “I was super successful, and I think she was hoping to blackmail me out of some money.”
“Are you really rich?”
Brian guffawed. “That’s an understatement. I could own a couple of private islands if I really wanted to.”
Cambria lifted her eyebrows. So that’s why he’d been able to help her and pay for the paint. “Have you done anything wrong?”
Brian shook his head. “Not at all. It was kind of sad how the papers didn’t see my side of things.”
Cambria nodded. She knew all about the newspapers misrepresenting the true story. But something still confused her. “What does this have to do with me? Isn’t your ex back in California?”
Brian sighed. “That’s the frustrating part of this. I thought I had cut all ties with people I knew. Even my employees know me by another name. I’ve basically erased myself.”
Cambria squeezed her hands together, not wanting to touch him again. “That’s horrible. No one should have to go through that. But that doesn’t mean we can’t see each other, right? I mean, if that’s what you want.”
Brian looked down and reached for her hand. Tingles erupted up her arm. He interlocked their fingers together once before squeezing her hand softly and letting go. “I really, really like you, Cambria. But I can’t put you in harm’s way. The last time I went through this, it nearly destroyed me. Someone has found me again. And they’ve threatened to expose who you are.”
Cambria rubbed her thumb across Brian’s palm, thinking. “What can they do to me? They don’t even know me.”
Brian showed her the text. “Unfortunately, news reporters are experts at destroying lives with a few words.” He stroked her paint-streaked face softly. “I would hate it if they ruined your life like they have mine.”
Cambria held his hand to her face before he could move it away. “How do you know I’m not strong enough?”
Brian sighed and pulled her closer on the concrete block. His arm wrapped protectively around her, pulling her against his chest. “Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?”
She smiled. “Since the last time you held me?” Somehow he drew her closer. Her heart thumped loudly against his. He buried his face in her hair, sending more tingles across her head and down her back.
“I’m sorry I pushed you away. You didn’t deserve it, but I was scared. I didn’t want you tied into my troubles.”
She wrapped an arm protectively around his. She still didn’t know where this left them, but at least the door was open now. “Maybe I like being a part of your troubles.”
He chuckled. “And I like being a part of yours.”
“How about you let me decide what I can handle and stop pushing me away.”
He pressed a kiss against her hair, and she closed her eyes. But then almost immediately she felt his hold on her stiffen, and she knew the moment was lost.
“We better get back to painting,” Brian said, confirming her suspicions that he was pushing her away.
At least he had a good reason for pushing her away. She gave him a slow smile. “Does this mean you’ll paint next to me now and not banish me to the other side of the wall?”
Brian laughed and helped her to her feet. “I guess.”
She giggled and pushed at his shoulder. They went back to work, though much closer to each other this time. When they only had a few strips of wall left to paint, Brian stepped back to examine her work.
“I think you should stick to small canvases,” he said, scrutinizing the wall. “You’ve missed a ton of spots.”
Cambria looked back at the wall. Painting the wall with one color was a cinch and from what she could see, she hadn’t missed a beat. “Oh yeah?” She dipped her finger in the paint and tapped him on the nose. “There we go. I think I got it now.”
A smile played on his lips. “Hey, you don’t want to play that game.” Just as he dipped his finger in paint, Cambria screeched away. He chased her around the parking lot, but caught her easily with one hand, smearing the paint across her forehead with the other.
“There. Now you’ve got it.”
She tried to pull away, but he held her tightly in his arms. “Oh, you’re going down.” She touched her forehead and then his face, creating white lines down his cheeks.
He dropped her to her feet and ran for more paint. That started the beginning of their first paint war. And it didn’t end until the rest of the wall was painted.
“Truce,” Cambria finally called, but only after her face, hair, and clothes were covered in paint. “We’re not going to be able to drive home if we don’t call it now.”
He looked back at her rental car and nodded. “I guess you’re right. We’ll have to walk to the second wall. It’s not that far away.”
They gathered up what they’d need, Brian loaded down with most of the paint, while she took the brunt of the rollers, paint pans, and drop cloths.
They must’ve looked a sight walking down the highway toward their second site. People honked and waved, but Cambria just smiled. She couldn’t remember when she’d laughed so much.
When they reached the second wall, Cambria looked back at him. “You already power washed this one too?”
“Like I said, I had good reasons for getting things done quickly.”
Cambria nodded. Now that she knew what had been his hold-up, she understood why he’d kept her at arm’s length. They settled into painting the wall, humming and talking about whatever popped into their heads. Favorite music. Brian’s thoughts about his next baseball game. It was nice to switch to lighter topics.
The second wall was smaller and they painted it in rec
ord time. When they finished, Cambria stared at the newly painted white wall. A new beginning. She never thought she’d move past her life with Shawn, but now she saw so many possibilities.
They were quiet on their way back, but it was a nice quiet. Cambria’s arms ached by the time they made it back to the cars. She put everything down and turned to see Brian staring at the wall.
“Not bad for a novice painter, right?” he said with a smirk.
She studied him with a smile. “I think you’re wearing more paint than the wall, but sure. You did all right. Do you think we’ll need another layer on this wall?”
“Maybe, but I’d rather spin you around the parking lot.” Brian placed the paint cans on the ground and pulled Cambria close.
“Here?” Her voice came out squeakier than usual.
“Well, if you insist on letting the world see us together, then they might as well have some good material.” He turned her in a spin, then pulled her close, nearly taking her breath away. She stared up into his twinkly eyes as he swayed with her. No music played, but Cambria heard it anyway.
She gazed up into his eyes, and he bent down. His lips felt warm and smooth against hers, and she pulled him closer as he deepened the kiss. She savored his smell— paint, cologne, and spearmint gum. Odd mixture, but perfect for her.
Reaching up, she ran her fingers through his paint-matted hair, giggled, and kept on kissing him. Every nerve in her mouth tingled, and she planted her hands firmly behind his neck so he couldn’t pull away easily. But he seemed just as eager to continue the kiss. Never in her life had she felt this way.
Shawn’s face popped in her mind, and she felt herself pushing back to take a breather. Brian pressed his nose against hers as she tried to block out thoughts of Shawn.
“That was incredible,” he said. He lifted her chin, and she savored the look in his eyes. Why did this have to be so hard? Shawn was gone, and yet, she still didn’t feel like she could move on.
“Will I see you tomorrow at the field?” he asked softly, holding both of her hands in his.
