‘So, what should I wear for this?’ He asked when Alicia returned with her equipment. ‘I’ve got hiking gear, the ‘porter’ outfit, um…this robe here.’
And again, his manner emboldened Alicia. ‘Honestly,’ she said, ‘for this to be proper life drawing, you should get out of the robe.’
‘Proper life drawing? I don’t remember us discussing proper life drawing.’ Jamie feigned confusion, but with the undercurrent of a knowing smile. ‘But, if that’s what the artist wants, then I guess… Give me a second.’ He disappeared to the bedroom and returned moments later in bare feet, a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. ‘I wasn’t sure how far you wanted me to go in terms of proper life drawing. There’s a bloke who poses down the community centre in Kinshore and, to be honest, it ain’t too pretty. My sisters went once on an art whim and claim to be traumatised by it.’
While it was true that life drawing didn’t always involve the most typically handsome of subjects, there was no way this man removing more of his clothing could possibly be traumatic.
‘Ditch the t-shirt, honey,’ Alicia said, her old confidence sparking through.
Jamie cocked an eyebrow. ‘Okay, Ma’am.’
‘I mean, if you’re comfortable doing that.’
‘Oh, I’m fine, but are you sure?’
‘More than. Get it gone.’
‘Well, in that case…’ Jamie hauled the t-shirt up and over his head and cast it onto the back of a chair. My God! Heat surged through Alicia. He was stupendous. Man personified. Broad shouldered, sculpted perfectly in all the right places. And he wasn’t remotely shy about his body. How she would love to tell him to keep going, take it all off, that proper life drawing was fully nude, but that might be moving a step too far, and she wasn’t sure she could trust herself with him naked in front of her. It would be hard enough concentrating with just the jeans.
‘So, if you could lie down there.’ Alicia gestured to thecouch like a psychologist putting a patient at ease. It was wide enough for Jamie to pose comfortably for a few hours.
He did as she asked, and Alicia positioned herself on a chair a few feet away from him. This was perfect. The chance to look at him with impunity. To drink in this man who stared into space like nobody was watching because he genuinely wasn’t thinking about being watched. This trait alone made Jamie utterly beguiling. A million times more so than Chad, supposedlythe best-looking man in the world.What a lot of crap that was.
‘Are you comfortable?’ she asked. ‘Warm enough?’
‘Aye, I’m great. Are you okay? I can whack up the heating on if you want.’
‘I’m good.’ Alicia picked up her pencil and was half tempted to bite into it, to quell the lust rampaging through her. The heat of Jamie Butler’s presence could save the hotel – or Scotland itself – a fortune in fuel bills.
Chapter 13
Jamie
Jamie hadn’t had this much fun with a woman since…well, possibly never. Alicia’s nervousness around him made him work harder to put her at ease, brought out his humour, and the fact that she was emerging from her shell, gave him confidence. He would never want Alicia to feel awkward or uncomfortable, but if they had reached a point where she was keen to paint him semi-clothed – which she appeared to be – then he was up for that.
If truth be told, however, Jamie was glad of his jeans as the more skin that was bared to Alicia, the more he thought of sex. He would have to hold things together and keep a tight rein on his thoughts, and his crotch, whilst posing for the next few hours. Hopefully the conversation wouldn’t meander onto riskier pathways, or he might be in trouble. Alicia being comfortable when sketching him was the most important thing.
Jamie was curious as to whether she enjoyed this type of drawing, but to ask was essentially asking if she liked sketching naked men, which soundedrude, so instead he asked, ‘So there must be endless possibilities to paint landscapes in California, right?’
‘Oh, yes.’ Alicia lit up. ‘There’s so much natural beauty and nature is my escape to switch off from it all.’
Nothing struck a chord with Jamie more than turning to nature to unravel the knots of the human world. ‘I can understand that completely,’ he said. ‘If you don’t mind me asking, what do you need to switch off from the most?’
As if the question forced her to think of things she didn’t want to, Alicia sharpened her gaze on the canvas. Had he asked too much too soon? He was just curious, about people – about her – but maybe he’d come across as prying. He began to apologise. ‘Sorry if that was––’
‘Just, la-la life, I guess,’ Alicia said perkily whilst evading his eyeline. ‘Even as an artist, I still deal with assholes on a regular basis, whether it’s at the store or the gym or wherever. The stuff we all have to endure.’
‘Endure is a strong word.’
‘Well, there are a lot of assholes in my city. And I’m not so hot at dealing with them.’
‘I guess there are in any city. Scotland has its fair share too.’
‘Oh, you’re shattering my illusions of a quaint Scottish village where everyone bakes each other bread and laughs continually over glasses of whisky.’
‘Kinshore can be like that, don’t let that stop you visiting. If you ever thought of visiting that is. Which you probably didn’t. Although you are welcome any time you like.’Jeezo! She’ll well and truly have forgotten her own awkwardness now, you havering numptie.
Fortunately for Jamie, Alicia asked who the biggest asshole in his village was. The answer without a doubt was Frank but Jamie didn’t want to get into the ins and outs ofhaving been dumped for the village arsehole. It wasn’t a way to endear himself to a woman. Thankfully, though, Frank had many strings to his “arseholery”.
