“Oh.” Josie followed her down the aisle, fascinated by this peek into Eve’s mind.
They looked at paintings of cities and landscapes, buildings and trees, and even a few animals. Josie was seriously enjoying herself, mostly because of the wine and Eve’s company. She knew a lot about art, and Josie enjoyed hearing her thoughts on the paintings they’d seen. They reached the end of an aisle, and Josie turned to move on, but Eve stopped her with a firm hand to her wrist, much the way she’d done outside.
“Look,” she said.
Josie turned to find Eve pointing to a painting in the corner. It was a brick-fronted rowhouse, sandwiched between several larger buildings, rather less colorful than some of the other paintings, except…oh. Now she saw why this one had caught Eve’s eye. The street in front of the building was covered in pawprints, prints in every color of the rainbow, all leading up to the brick building’s door.
“Okay, I get what you mean now,” Josie said. “This one speaks to me.”
“I thought it might,” Eve said with a satisfied smile.
Somehow, Josie loved the painting even more because Eve had been the one to spot it. She’d known it would speak to Josie because she knew her that well. “I want it.”
Now Eve looked surprised. “Really?”
“Yes. I want to put it on the wall behind the couch in my living room.”
Eve pursed her lips, seemingly picturing this, and then she nodded. “Yes. It would go perfectly there. You should get it.”
“Done. Wait, how much is it?”
Eve gestured to the plaque beneath the painting, describing its concept—which both Josie and Eve had already gotten on their own. It was called “The road home,” and it cost two hundred dollars. That was more than Josie usually spent on, well,anything, and certainly more than she could afford at the moment. She flinched.
“Let me buy it for you,” Eve said quietly.
“What? No.” Josie crossed her arms over her chest, hating that Eve knew every sad detail about the current status of her bank account.
“What else am I supposed to do when I see a painting I love, now that my own walls are at capacity?” Eve asked with a twinkle in her eye.
“That’s…very nice of you, but no.”
“Josie.” Eve turned to face her. “I brought you here to show you something I love, and nothing would make me happier than to see this painting in your living room. Please.”
Josie blinked, startled by the sincerity of Eve’s words.
“If you say no, it’s probably going to show up on your doorstep at some point as an anonymous gift, just so you know.” Eve winked. She actuallywinked. And not only that, she was smiling wider than Josie had ever seen her smile.
“I…” Josie found herself completely flustered—and charmed—by this playful side of Eve. “Well, I don’t see how I can say no to that.”
“Excellent.” Eve lifted her chin with a satisfied look.
“Thank you,” Josie told her earnestly.
“It is absolutely my pleasure.”
Eve bought the painting, and then they went to dinner to celebrate, where they drank more wine and she told Josie how she’d gotten interested in art after moving to the city. “It was something I could do alone. I could just stand there and lose myself in the art and not have to think about anything else.”
That was a little bit sad, but also beautiful. “Well, now you can take me with you whenever you want to go look at art.”
Eve gave her a sly look. “Art galleries are a surprisingly good place to pick up women.”
“Really?” Josie laughed. “Well, don’t do that anymore, okay?”
Eve’s expression shuttered as they both realized the door Josie had inadvertently opened. Were they still casually hooking up, or was this something more serious? Josie had drawn her own conclusions, but they’d never had a conversation about it, and now, maybe it was time that they did.
“I know we agreed to keep things casual,” she said. “But I guess I just assumed…I mean, can we be an exclusive kind of casual?”
Eve softened. “I haven’t been with anyone else since we’ve been together, and I wasn’t planning on it. I wouldn’t do that to you.”
