She lit up at the thought. It would help keep her budget low, give her a regular post idea, and attract plenty of readers. This free series is going to be so great! she thought, feeling excited and eager to tackle the project.
Siobhán’s suggestion about the blog had really been fantastic. Annie knew it would take a while before she got the kind of blog traffic she’d need in order to attract sponsors, but she was sure she could do it. Siobhán’s belief in her had given her flagging confidence a major boost.
Her fingers flew over the keyboard as she typed the list of free attractions, then created a second list for inexpensive destinations in the Boston area.
I should probably check to be sure no one’s already done that, Annie thought, her excitement dimming a little. Oh well, if they have, I’ll have to find an angle no one has ever done before. I’m sure I can come up with something, she reasoned. No need to assume the worst about every small bump that came along.
A quick search revealed there were a few lists on websites, but nothing as comprehensive as she was planning, so she made notes and created a rough outline of what she needed to do next. Things were beginning to come together, and she sat back and stretched with a little sigh of satisfaction. A glance at the clock showed her that she’d been working for a little over an hour.
Oh, I should do a list of lesser-known Boston-area attractions as well, she thought. Let’s see, there’s the Museum of Bad Art in Brookline, the Cambridge Center Roof Garden in Kendall Square, the park at the top of Corey Hill, the gondola rides on the Charles River—now that would be a fun date with Siobhán—oh, and the Boston Tango Society’s free lessons on the Weeks Footbridge ... Can’t forget that. Plus, the skinniest house in the United States. That should go on the list too.
There were so many things Annie had always wanted to try, and she’d never had a partner she felt like she could do them with. It seemed like in so many relationships, her partners had been content to stay in and do nothing.
She loved the moments like this one—quiet moments where she and Siobhán both worked—but she didn’t want to spend half her life sitting on the couch being bored.
Annie watched Siobhán paint for a few moments, her skin dappled gold in the sunlight streaming in the window as she swished the paintbrush over the canvas with sure strokes. Annie was pretty sure she’d never get bored with Siobhán.
Siobhán was an interesting, dynamic person, and she’d awoken the person Annie had been before a failed career and a string of dull relationships had put her to sleep. Annie couldn’t blame her previous partners for that—it was all on her—but it was a reminder that she could be whomever she wanted to be. And she liked the person she was becoming.
Siobhán pushed her hair off her face with the back of her forearm, leaving a little smear of green paint on her cheek. Annie smiled at the sight. God, she loved Siobhán. The talk they’d had earlier about Annie’s career had relieved some of her anxiety about the future, and it made Annie wonder if she’d been holding back with Siobhán too much. What if there was a way she could show Siobhán how much she meant to her? Some gesture to reassure her that Annie was definitely on the same page, even if she wasn’t quite ready to take the leap and move in together.
Giving Siobhán a key to her apartment seemed like a rather hollow gesture since Siobhán had never even been to her place. And they weren’t at a point where they were ready to list each other as emergency contacts yet.
Annie wracked her brain for ideas, and it wasn’t until she thought about what she’d done in previous relationships that the idea came to her. “Would you want to meet my parents?” Annie blurted out.
Siobhán looked up from her canvas. “Your parents?”
Annie nodded. “They live just outside Boston in Concord. I was thinking we could meet them for lunch sometime soon. ”
“Oh. Yes, of course, Annie. If you’re ready for that.” Siobhán gave her a quizzical look, as if surprised by Annie’s suggestion.
“Yes. I’m sorry if you feel like I’ve been holding back. I don’t mean to,” Annie said apologetically.
“No, I understand. I’m sorry if I’m too pushy sometimes.” Siobhán looked abashed. “I don’t mean to do that either. I’m just so happy to be with you, and I want it all. Now.”
“I know,” Annie said softly. “And I love your enthusiasm, Siobhán. I just have to be sure I’m not putting myself in a bad place. The last time I moved in with someone, I was left with almost nothing when we split. I’d gotten rid of my things because Mark’s were nicer, and I ended up with no apartment and almost no furniture. That’s why I ended up living with Rebecca, Trent, and Dee.” Annie made a face. “And I don’t want to have a repeat of that. My roommates can definitely be a pain but ...”
“No, I get that, Annie. I really am sorry I pushed. You move in when you feel ready. I promise I’m not going anywhere. Just know you’re always welcome here.”
“I appreciate that. I just have to get my life in order first.”
“Promise you’ll tell me what I can do to help,” Siobhán said. “Please don’t be too independent to do that.”
“I can agree to that.” A thought had been niggling inside Annie’s brain since she started planning the blog. She’d been a little hesitant to ask Siobhán, but she decided to bite the bullet and blurt it out. “Actually, there is something I thought of. And it involves your paintings.”
Siobhán’s eyes lit up. She reached out and set her brush on the palette. “Oooh. What is it?”
“It seems like the blog is going to be a viable idea, so I wondered if you would be willing to paint a banner image for me. I looked through some stock photo sites, and there are plenty of images of the Boston skyline but none of them really excite me. I thought maybe you could paint something instead. Like a stylized version of the city skyline, familiar, but something fresh and new that no one else would have.”
“Oh! Yes, I love that idea!” Siobhán seemed to glow with excitement, and the last of Annie’s nerves about asking her for the favor vanished. “It’s brilliant.”
Annie shared a smile with her. “I hoped you’d think so.”
“We could turn them into icons for your other social media and use the design on business cards too. Really tie everything together with a solid theme.”
Annie smiled at Siobhán’s use of the word “we.” She liked the idea of this being a collaborative effort with Siobhán. “I love that.”
“How soon would you need it?”
“Oh, not for a little while. I’m going to write a number of blog posts ahead of time so I have a solid amount of content right off the bat.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
“We’ll probably need to go out a fair amount for a while so I can get material,” Annie pointed out.
Siobhán snorted. “Oh dear, I’ll have to take my beautiful girlfriend out and enjoy the town. What a sacrifice!”
Annie laughed. “I know it seems like fun, but I’ll have to take notes and photos. I will be working.”
“Oh, that’s fine. I don’t mind. One of these days, I’ll take you on a walking tour of Boston while I take photos of everything I think I might ever paint.”
“Sounds fair.” Annie shared a smile with Siobhán. “Hopefully, the research will benefit both of our professional lives.”
“I like the thought of that. Do you have any ideas for the blog design or colors or anything?”
“I don’t. Should I pick something out now?”
Siobhán hummed thoughtfully for a moment, then nodded. “I think so. There are a limited number of themes available, I’d imagine, and I can always choose my palette based on whatever you pick. It’ll probably be easier if we start with that instead of doing it the other way ’round.”
“This is really coming together,” she said happily.
Siobhán gave her a tender smile. “I love how happy you look when you talk about it.”
“I’m excited about this,” she admitted.
“I can’t remember the last time I felt that way about something for my career.”
Siobhán beamed. “How about this? I’ll finish up this piece I’m working on currently, and as soon as you have the colors picked, we’ll talk about your ideas for the design of the banner. I need to know exactly what you have in mind. And as soon as it’s painted, we can take it to the Quinn gallery and get it photographed with Gabriel’s equipment. It’ll be high-resolution for your blog, the same quality as what he puts on the gallery website. I’ll have to run it by him, but I’m sure he’ll say yes.”
“Oh! That’s great,” Annie said, Siobhán’s enthusiasm spilling over onto her. “I was just going to use my camera.”
“No, this’ll be better. And maybe we can figure out a way to showcase the work in the gallery and direct people to your blog once it’s up and running. I’m sure I can get Gabriel to work with me. Especially since you’re an old friend of his.”
“You’d do that for me?” Annie asked.
Siobhán gave her a bewildered look. “Of course, I would, Annie. I love you. Why wouldn’t I do whatever I could to help you succeed?”
Annie glanced down. “Because no one’s ever done that for me before,” she said softly.
“Well, I’m not anyone.”
That was true. Siobhán was unlike anyone Annie had ever known.
***
“Annie?”
She looked up from her laptop at Siobhán. “Yes?”
Siobhán had been painting all morning, and Annie had been immersed in her own work on the blog.
“I’ve finished the painting I’ve been working on.”
“That was quick,” Annie said, surprised. It had been less than a week since their conversation about Siobhán painting an image for her blog. She’d expected to have a few more days to choose a blog theme, but it appeared Siobhán was already done with the previous work.
“I know.” Siobhán smiled at her and stood. Her baggy black T-shirt draped down one arm and she had a smear of green paint across it, like she’d reached up to itch her shoulder. “Would you like to see?”
“I’d love to.” She set her laptop aside and walked over to the canvas.
Annie gasped when she saw it. It was a gorgeous, semi-abstract rendering of Boston Common. The colors were vivid and drew the eye around the painting. Tucked in between two trees were figures walking hand-in-hand. The bright swirls of colors radiated out from them and filled the air.
“You’re memorializing our relationship,” she said softly.
Siobhán nodded. “This collection is heading in a different direction than I expected.” She reached out and skimmed a hand along Annie’s arm. “I love where you’re taking me though.”
Annie turned and kissed her. She didn’t have words to express how much she loved Siobhán’s art. Or Siobhán herself.
Siobhán drew back and smiled up at her.
“It’s incredible,” Annie finally managed. She frowned when a thought occurred to her. “Does this mean you need me to make a decision on the blog theme? I’m still dithering.”
“It can wait a few days if you’re not ready,” Siobhán said. “Or I can help you pick. Whichever you’d prefer.”
Annie mulled it over. “Give me another day or two to think about it. If I can’t make a decision, I’ll have you help.”
“Sounds good.”
“Oh, that’s not putting you behind though, is it?” Annie asked.
“No. I can work on some smaller project in the meantime. Actually, I know you’re busy, but can you take a break?” Siobhán asked. “Maybe half an hour or something.”
“Sure. Do you want to make lunch or something?”
Siobhán shook her head. “Later. Right now, I want to paint you.”
“What did you have in mind?” Annie asked. It was one thing to know Siobhán had included her in a painting; it was another to pose for the painting and know she was the focus.
“You nude. In our bed.”
Annie smiled at Siobhán referring to it as their bed. Truthfully, Siobhán’s place was feeling more and more like home lately.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Just tell me what to do.”
Twenty minutes later, Annie was stretched out in a tangle of white sheets, and Siobhán peered at her from behind the easel.
“Slide your left leg a little farther to the left.”
Annie raised an eyebrow at Siobhán. “How far?”
She chuckled. “Not enough to see anything between those gorgeous legs. Just enough so there’s a shadow to hint at it.”
Annie parted her legs a little farther.
“Perfect! Now, you’re going to need to lie very still. Are you comfortable enough to hold that for half an hour or so? You’ll be able to shift a little if you need to, but I need you to remain in that pose.”
Annie took stock of her body. One leg was drawn up—her foot flat on the bed—but a pillow tucked against her thigh helped support it. She was quite comfortable at the moment, actually. “Yeah, I should be fine like this for quite a while.”
“If you need to move, warn me.”
“Okay.”
“And if you need to sneeze, try to avoid it.”
“I will,” Annie agreed, laughing.
Siobhán grew quiet, and Annie heard the rough sketch of pencil on paper. Siobhán had told her she’d sketch the scene first, then fill in with color later, so Annie would have to hold the pose for a shorter time.
“I actually thought about doing some modeling for the art students in the classes at school when they did life drawing,” Annie said after a while. She could lay there without moving, but she wasn’t sure she could do it without talking at all.
Siobhán peered around the corner of the canvas at her. “You didn’t though?”
“Nah. I chickened out.”
“You would have been stunning,” Siobhán said. “But I’m not entirely sorry you’ll be my model exclusively.”
“How do you know?” Annie joked. She had been a little apprehensive at first, but she began to enjoy the feeling of Siobhán’s gaze on her body and the whisper of a breeze. It made her skin pebble with goosebumps and her nipples harden. “Maybe I’ll take it up now that I’m comfortable with it.”
“If I believed you, I might be struggling with my jealousy right now,” Siobhán said teasingly.
Annie smiled. Siobhán was right. She enjoyed this, but she couldn’t imagine posing so intimately for anyone else.
Siobhán groaned. “How am I supposed to focus on my work when you look like that?”
Annie chuckled. “You can have your way with me after.”
“Not to worry, álainn, I will.” Siobhán shot her a smoldering glance from behind the painting. “Believe me; I will.”
Chapter Nine
August
They sat at a table at a seafood restaurant in the North End—not far from Annie’s place—as they waited for her parents to meet them. She felt like her stomach was twisted in knots. Siobhán rested her hand on Annie’s to still her drumming fingers. “Are you really that nervous?”
Annie glanced up from the white linen tablecloth she’d been staring blankly at and nodded. “Sorry, I’m stressed out about seeing my family,” she admitted.
“I thought you got along with them.” Siobhán sounded mystified.
“I do, or at least, I do most of the time. Sometimes, my mom can be a bit hard on me, is all. I’m just nervous because it’s been a long time since I’ve had them meet someone, and I want it to go well.”
A frown flickered across Siobhán’s face. “Are you worried they won’t like me?”
“No, of course not,” Annie protested with a laugh. “How could anyone not love you? You’re incredible. I’m just being ridiculous. I’m sure it’ll go fine.” She glanced toward the entrance and caught a glimpse of her parents approaching the table. “And here they are.” She stood and Siobhán followed suit.
“Hi, Mom.” Annie greeted her mother with a kiss
on the cheek.
Heather Slocum was tall and slim with blonde hair expertly dyed to blend away the gray and cool blue eyes. At the moment, she wore a natural linen sheath dress and nude pumps that elongated her already long legs. She always looked stylish and put together. Physically, Annie looked a lot like her mother, but she had never quite managed to live up to her mother’s effortless fashion sense.
Siobhán had assured Annie she looked wonderful in the cobalt blue wrap dress she’d dug out of the back of her closet and accessorized with a few borrowed pieces from Siobhán’s wardrobe, but Annie knew it didn’t hold a candle to the white maxi dress Siobhán wore. Annie would have felt frumpy in it, but Siobhán looked like a goddess.
“Hi, Pumpkin,” her dad said with a twinkle in his eye. “You’re looking wonderful.” Annie hugged him tightly. James Slocum was a big, burly guy with reddish blond hair, blue eyes, and a gruff but warm demeanor.
“Thanks, Dad.” She glanced over at her mother. “Mom, Dad, this is Siobhán Murray. My girlfriend.”
Siobhán offered them both a wide smile. “It’s lovely to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Slocum.”
“Heather, please.” Her mother smiled, but it wasn’t overly warm as she took Siobhán’s hand.
“And James.” Her father’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he heartily shook Siobhán’s hand. “Before I forget to say it, both of you ladies look beautiful today.”
“Thank you, James.” Siobhán shot him a dazzling smile. “That’s very kind of you.”
Her mother leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, then gave Annie a critical once over. “Have you gained weight?” she said with a frown. “You know how important exercise is now that you’re over thirty. You need to take care of yourself.”
Siobhán shot her a glance out of the corner of her eye when Annie gritted her teeth together and chose to ignore her mother’s comment. She had been slacking lately, but she hadn’t put on more than five pounds. Certainly nothing to be concerned about.
“Why don’t you have a seat,” Annie said in a falsely cheerful tone. “I told them two more people were coming, and the hostess said they’d send a waiter around when you arrived.”
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