Lauren Dane: Drawn Together

Though it had been difficult and he hadn’t had much time for more of a life than parenting and working, it had been good. Carrie was smart. Strong. She’d had her pick of schools and though he’d winced when she chose Harvard—across the country . . . and Ivy League was still across the country—he’d also been incredibly proud.

He’d gotten used to being with her every day. Of getting up and having breakfast with her before she went off to school and he’d gone to work. The house was quiet now. Carrie was in Italy for her senior year of high school, having scored a spot in a prestigious art program.

The answered phone brought his attention back.

“Hello?”

Her voice did things to him, low in his gut.

“Raven? This is Jonah Warner.”

“Why hello, Jonah Warner. I’ve got some designs for you to look at.”

“Already?”

“Of course. I said I would. I keep my promises.”

He liked that quality.

“Would you like to come to my house tonight?” he asked. “I’ve got a pretty busy day at work, but I’ll be home by seven. I can make you dinner as incentive.”

“All right, that works.”

He gave her directions and she hung up and he was still smiling when he walked into court twenty minutes later.

“What are you smiling about?” His mother sent him a raised brow.

“What isn’t there to smile over? It’s a nice day. I won in court not once, but twice today. My mother has shown up in the office unexpectedly. Spoke to Carrie earlier, she’s having a great time.”

Liesl Warner wasn’t stupid. She narrowed her gaze but didn’t say anything else about it.

“Did she mention if she’d received my package?”

“She said it arrived Friday and to thank you.” His mother scared people routinely, as regularly as she breathed. But she loved her granddaughter and sent her care packages several times a month. It probably made them both feel better.

“She sent me one too, with photographs as well. She’s got quite an eye.”

Art was important in his family. They’d been raised to appreciate it. His mother collected it, as did Jonah and Levi. It was no surprise really that Carrie wanted to be a curator or go into museum and collection management.

“Daisy has been a great deal of help.” That had been surprising as well. Levi’s hot young fiancée the artist had won their mother over quite handily. And she’d been supportive of Carrie as well. “I wasn’t sure about your brother for a while, but Daisy is entirely suitable. He’s far better behaved since they’ve been together. Have you noticed that? Now if they’d only actually choose a date to get married. My heavens, Jonah, what sort of engagement is it that lasts so long without a date?”

Ha. He wasn’t going to touch that one. Not for all the money in the world.

In fact, it was time for him to get out of there so he could stop at the grocery store on the way home. He promised dinner but realized he had an empty fridge.

“I’ve got to rush.” He gathered up his things. “Is there something you needed?”

He kissed her cheek on his way past as he turned out his light.

“Your father and I are going to the symphony tonight. Would you like to join us for dinner?”

“Not tonight. I’ve got some things to do. Have a good time though.”

She looked him over again but didn’t say anything else.

“I’m out of here.” Raven gathered her stuff up.

Brody Brown, her friend and the owner of Written On The Body, looked up from his place just across from hers. “Whatcha up to tonight?”

“Thanks to your recommendation, I’m meeting with Jonah Warner about a full back piece.”

“Nice. I saw something between you at the engagement party. Did I imagine more than ink talk?”

Brody knew her in ways less than a handful of people did. There was once a time when she could have let herself love him, and probably did, but she’d fucked it up. He liked to tell her she did it on purpose. But he’d been married for several years at that point. He and his beautiful wife had two kids and it fit him perfectly. He was still her friend. Always that.

“There’s some chemistry.”

Brody laughed then and she paused, cocking her head. “What?”

“Oh, just that from what I’ve seen and heard, he’s the kind of guy who likes what he likes, exactly how he likes it. Gonna be fun to watch you try to sidestep being owned by a guy like him.”

“Pfft. No one owns me, Brody Brown. And I happen to like what I like exactly how I like it. So maybe we’ll be perfect for each other.” She sniffed. “But for now, it’s just a nice piece of work to do to pay the bills.”

She waved over her shoulder as she left.

She stopped home before heading out to Jonah’s house. She never used to have a place in Seattle. Or anywhere for that matter. She liked to house-sit instead. Kept her from feeling trapped. She traded out time in L.A. and Seattle mostly, did a few stints in Hawaii as well.

But when Erin had gotten pregnant with Alexander she’d wanted to be there for her friend. She’d known how freaked out Erin was about having another baby after losing her daughter in such a tragic fashion. And then it had been a high-risk pregnancy. So Raven had bought a condo in Capitol Hill with a nice view of downtown and the Sound. Just a studio. It had a bed and her music and sketch pads and clothes and that was pretty much all she needed anyway.

She got to spend time with Alexander, who she adored like crazy. She’d never been one for kids until he’d come along. And then she’d found herself really enjoying Brody’s daughters as well. Rennie, the oldest, who only stopped talking long enough to take a breath, and Martine, who had burst into toddlerhood and cracked Raven up.

So she’d let herself put some roots down and it hadn’t felt bad at all. It had felt . . . all right.

She checked her mail, finding little of interest, and recycled the junk before heading upstairs to change and get her sketches.

Raven didn’t work from transfers. They felt constraining. But she did like to work from sketches. Row after row of neatly organized sketch pads lined her bookshelves and she found the one she needed to take over to Jonah’s that evening. She’d done several different styles so he could choose whichever he preferred from those.

She took her hair down from the ponytail she’d had it in all day and brushed it out. Brushing her hair had been a soothing ritual for her for as long as she could remember. Every night, every morning, whenever she was stressed or scared.

The clothes she had on were good enough for a long day bent over people doing ink. But. Well, she wanted to wear something pretty and sexy. Not too much of either. She liked Jonah. She hoped they’d end up naked and sweaty too. In the meantime, it wasn’t a crime to look good for a man of his caliber anyway.

She’d mapped out directions online to his place so she found it easily enough. A nice neighborhood near the arboretum. His driveway curved a little up to the front of the house. Brick exterior. Lots of windows. Big lawn. His front door had a pretty knocker dealie on it.

She only had to tap it a few times before he opened it and stole her breath. He’d been dressed up for the party, but this night he had on a worn T-shirt that hugged over a broad chest and Levi’s with bare patches on the thigh and at the hem. No shoes.

His dark hair was a little tousled and he had a look. Oh my, that look. Like he was going to take a big bite.

“Please, come in.” He stepped back and motioned her inside.

She hesitated in the entry. There was a woman’s stamp on that entry. Interesting that the man bore no indication of a woman’s stamp at all.

“Can I take your things?” Jonah indicated the sketchbook and her bag.