It had been Josie’s idea, in a roundabout way. On Saturday morning, as they lay in bed together, she’d told Eve she wanted this date to be all about her. “Last Monday, you planned all the things I enjoy, and this Monday, I want to go to a gallery with you. I want to see the things you love, but I don’t know enough about art to surprise you with it, so you may have to plan this one too.”
Eve’s satisfied smirk told Josie that she didn’t mind a bit. She was good at planning things. And now they were at a fancy art gallery on a Monday afternoon, and Josie was positively giddy about it.
“Hi.” She leaned in for a kiss as Eve slid her phone into her purse.
“Hey yourself.” Eve looked so relaxed, so peaceful, sohappy, Josie wanted to capture this moment and live in it forever.
“I’m excited,” Josie said as she smoothed her fingers over the silky fabric of Eve’s dress. “Are you going to buy anything?”
“Probably not,” Eve told her. “No more room in my apartment, remember?”
“Hey, speaking of that, what do you say if we go to your place later? The kittens have shackled me to my apartment lately, but it’s past time for me to see yours, don’t you think?”
Eve looked down at her feet. “Maybe.”
“I can’t stay the whole night, but the kittens are getting a lot more self-sufficient. They’re starting to wean onto solid food.”
“Really?”
Josie nodded. “They’re five weeks old now. Anyway, just think about it. I could probably bribe Adam or Kaia to check on them in a few hours, so I could stay out with you longer.”
Something hesitant still lurked in Eve’s eyes, and Josie internally slapped herself for dampening her carefree mood. She should have waited for Eve to invite her over instead of inviting herself.
“Anyway, no worries if you’d rather head back to my place,” she said, nudging her shoulder against Eve’s as she went for a joke. “Maybe you don’t want me to find out you’re secretly messy.”
“I’m not messy.”
Josie laughed, trying not to acknowledge the awkward reality that Eve just didn’t want her to come over, which meant Josie was in way over her head here. She’d let herself build this relationship up in her head, and Eve had obviously not done the same. She stepped backward out of her arms, keeping her smile firmly in place. Hopefully it looked more natural than it felt.
She turned toward the door, but Eve stopped her, grasping her wrist. “Josie, you caught me off guard, that’s all. We’ll go to my place tonight.”
“It’s fine either way,” Josie said, determined not to let it bother her.
Eve led the way, pausing just inside the door while Josie looked around the room. It was long and rectangular, with bright white walls covered in paintings. Half-walls crisscrossed the middle of the room to display more art as people milled between them, some of them with drinks in their hands.
“This is a new exhibit,” Eve told her. “The artist is from Chile. He’s known for his use of depth and color.”
“Is he here?” Josie asked, sliding a hand into Eve’s, a silent invitation for her to take the lead.
“Probably.” Eve led them toward the back of the room, where they got wine from the bar and met not only the artist but the owner of the gallery as well, an older man who Eve seemed to know well. She was in her element here, mingling with the same confidence and ease she exuded in front of the camera. This was her professional smile. Eve Marlow, entrepreneur.
Josie was proud to know not only that Eve, but also the one who wore T-shirts and jeans, who pulled a bag of kittens out of the trash and refused to give up on them, who’d taken Josie on her dream date, given her some of the best sex of her life, and came to the bar at two a.m. on Friday night because she’d missed her.
She and Josie wandered through the gallery, sipping wine and looking at paintings. This wasn’t something Josie had ever done before. Sometimes she noticed paintings in people’s homes or businesses and thought,Wow, that’s pretty, but she’d never given it more thought than that.
She liked these, though. As Eve had said, the artist used vivid colors, and if there was one thing Josie gravitated toward, it was color. Eve lingered in front of a painting of a sunset, the rays of the sun streaking the sky bright orange and purple.
“It’s pretty,” Josie said.
“It is,” Eve agreed.
“Thinking about getting it?”
She gave Josie an amused look. “I don’t have a place for it, and anyway, it doesn’t speak to me.”
“It doesn’t speak to you?” Josie felt her eyebrows creeping up her forehead, because that was about the most un-Eve-like thing she’d ever heard come from her mouth.
“I look for art that strikes a chord with me, something I just have to have,” she explained. “This one is nice, but there’s nothing special about it, at least not for me.”
