Leah shook her head, and then shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t know. Other than yoga, I never really had an outlet for whatever creativity I might’ve had.” Ben had been the creative one in her previous relationship, but as shy as he’d been about expressing himself, Leah’s role had always been the encourager. Now, in this new relationship, Evan had taken on the role of encourager for her. Her eyes dropped to her painted arms and the top of her chest. “Anyone can look good if they turn off the lights and cover themselves in glow-in-the-dark paint,” she countered, fighting a smile. “Darkness hides all flaws,” she added.
Warm hands brushed along her exposed skin, smearing the still somewhat damp paint. She exhaled, leaning into him. “Blue is a better color on you. Orange is mine,” she breathed, nipping at his bottom lip as if to steal the color back onto her own lips. In the liquid darkness of Evan’s eyes, she could see the reflection of her lips and eyes glowing back at her. Had this room been filled with mirrors, the fantastical effect of the paint would’ve been multiplied tenfold. She half-wished she’d had the means of achieving that. “Does a girl good to know she can strike her man speechless.”
Her offer had taken him by surprise; that much she was certain of. Whether it was a good surprise or a bad surprise, she had yet to discover. Leah studied what she could see of Evan’s expression, wondering if he would gently try to change her mind by mentioning their No Means No Pact. He’d dutifully taken the responsibility of making sure their relationship didn’t move too fast, and thus far he’d been nothing but patient with her, in spite of all the temptations surrounding them. Too soon. It’s too soon. That little voice was whispering in her head again. That, plus the moment of silence following her implied suggestion, made her wish she hadn’t even made the suggestion in the first place. For all her bravado with the flirting and innuendo, Leah had long forgotten what it was like to initiate such an intimate topic.
When Evan grinned, her lips quirked. Purple joined orange and turquoise on her face, and she found herself glad that the paint hadn’t completely dried. Daring herself, Leah undid the top button of his shirt and smoothed her hand over the exposed skin. “You sure?” She asked quietly, dipping her head to press her lips to his collarbone. “Not going to tell me no means no?” An orange lip print appeared on his skin, and she grinned, tilting her eyes up to meet his.
“You might’ve thought of it, if you’d been the one to find the paint, instead of me,” she pointed out, still unwilling to claim any sort of talent for what she’d done. She couldn’t express how good it felt to have someone be proud of her for something she’d come up with on her own, though. That particular praise had been more common for her siblings than for her.
Leah laughed softly. “Now that makes it sound like I only brought the mattress in here for one reason. I could’ve just left the uncomfortable office chairs in here for us to sit in. Those chairs were brown, though, so it would’ve been a lot harder to see when trying to sit down…” Giving his hand a squeeze, she stepped carefully over to the mattress, lowering herself down so as to not ruin her body paint. If things happened the way she thought they might, it was almost a definite certainty that, by the end of the night, Evan and the mattress would both be covered in paint.