He set a finger on her lips, and she smiled. “I talk a lot when I’m wasted,” she admitted, her lips brushing against the pad of his finger as she spoke.
“Only when you’re wasted?”
“Hey, I’m just trying to figure you out, is all.”
“What’s to figure?” he asked.
“Well, sometimes you’re like…the big bad wolf.”
“The big bad wolf.”
“Yeah. But then you go to Home Depot to save an old lady from her smoke alarm, and rescue a silly fair maiden from the mud springs, and catch a convenience store robber single-handedly.”
“I also paint houses.”
“See? You’re multitalented.” It took her three times to say the word.
He laughed and set her back on her own feet. “Okay, it’s time to get you some coffee. I have a coffeemaker somewhere…”
It’d been a housewarming present from Tara, actually. He’d never used it, preferring to stop by the inn for his coffee instead. He’d never really examined the reasoning 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 dreams that way.” Turning away, she gathered the empty wine and beer bottles.
“What do you have bad dreams about?”
“Hmm?”
Sawyer stopped her, taking the bottles from her arms, carrying them to the recycling bin. Then he took her hands in his. “The dreams.”
“Oh,” Chloe said, peering at the walls they’d painted. “They’re silly, really. Not nightmares or terrifying or anything like that. They’re mostly annoying.” She pulled free and squatted before a bucket of paint and stared into the remains.
He crouched at her side. “Tell me.”
“Well, they start out differently.” She shrugged, and her sweater slipped off her shoulder again. “Sometimes I’m running and getting really tired. Or I’m in a car and almost out of gas. Or I’m on a plane that can’t take off…stuff like that. And I know I need to be somewhere, but something always gets in the way. The stupid thing is, in the dreams, I never really know where exactly I need to be, just that I’m late or I’m missing something 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 him with a dreamy little sigh, and he wasn’t sure if that was because he’d managed to catch them both or if she liked the grip she once again had on his ass. “Coffee,” he repeated, and they let go of each other.
Then he realized that he didn’t actually have any coffee to go in his coffeemaker. “I’ll call for another delivery.”
She bit her lower lip. “That’s not a good idea.”
“Why?”
“You can’t be seen by anyone.” She winced. “I sort of maybe just put paint on your ass. On purpose.”
“Yeah, I know. Don’t worry, you’re going to pay for it.”
“Uh-oh.” She looked both worried and intrigued. “What’s the punishment?”
Pretending to consider that, he stepped toward her and she stepped back, reaching the kitchen wall. Her hands slid behind her, covering her own ass. “I’m not into kinky stuff,” she said, then hesitated. “At least I don’t think I am. What did you have in mind?”
He smiled at her, and she let out a shaky breath.
“Get your inhaler, Chloe.”
She took a hit. Then she settled back against the wall again, looking up at him hopefully. “Ready.”
God, she was sweet. So sweet and so hot.
“What do you want me to do?” she asked breathlessly.
“Keep breathing. That’s your only job, got it?”
She nodded solemnly. “Got it.”
“Good.” He cupped her breasts in his hands, and she gasped. When his thumbs rubbed over her nipples, she let out a shaky moan, and her head thunked back against the wall. Slowly her legs gave out, and she slithered down to the floor. Somehow, they both ended up on their knees facing each other.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yeah.” She smiled sheepishly. “I guess I just really liked that.”
He smiled. “You won’t in the morning.”
She broke the eye contact and looked down at herself, finding the two large painted handprints, one on each boob. “Hey, I borrowed this shirt from Tara! And when I say borrowed, I mean stole.” Reaching past him, she once again dipped her hand in the paint.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warned.
“Take your medicine like a man, Sheriff.”
“Depends on where you’re going to put that hand.”
She palmed his erection and squeezed, and he let out a soft groan as her fingers did the walking. “Defacing personal property,” he managed.
They both looked down at the handprint she’d left on him.
“What’s the punishment for that?” she whispered.
“What’s with you and getting punished?”
She grinned. “I don’t know. I think it’s your handcuffs. I can’t stop thinking about them. Can I deface you some more?”
“Only if I get to return the favor.”
Again she grinned. “We are so drunk.”
“This is a true statement,” Sawyer said carefully, and she snorted, falling to her back right there on his floor. Staring up at the ceiling fan slowly swirling above them, she said, “We should keep painting.”
“That’s a really bad idea.”
“Why?” she asked. “Haven’t you ever pulled a drunken all-nighter?”
“Sure, when I was a teenager.”
“Was this before or after the flaming bags of poop?”
“After.”
She grinned. “Hard to believe. You seem so…”
“If you say
She snorted again, and he pulled her into his lap.
He gripped her ass, feeling the drying paint on the soft material of her skirt. “Hope you didn’t steal this, too.”
She wriggled a little, and the hem slipped up her thighs to her hips, giving a nice view of her black panties. He slid a finger over the silk, stopping short when he heard her wheeze. “Chloe.”
“I’m okay.”
Suddenly very sober, he slid out from beneath her. “No, you’re not.”
“Dammit! One little asthma attack and now you’re scared of me.” She pushed up to her feet and staggered to the refrigerator. She came back with two more beers and offered him one.
He looked into her eyes and beyond the fresh bravado saw unease. Whatever she said, however she acted, she was no more ready than him to push their luck.
“I thought we were sharing.” He took both bottles from her and put one back. She snatched the other one and opened it, even though he hadn’t intended on doing so. She took a sip, and he reclaimed the bottle, downing half the beer in one gulp so she wouldn’t.
Things got hazy after that.
At some point, Chloe reasoned that since there were no overnight guests at the inn tonight, she was free and
