Covered In Paint: Book Five of the Art Of Love Series

by Donna McDonald

  His glare had her chuckling, but she did reach out to run his arm.

  “Want to give your scary stepbrother and Reesa the lecture about those positives too?” Drake demanded.

  Snorting over his faux cowardice about telling Shane, Brooke hooked her arm around his. The man reeked of responsible. She doubted there was anything Drake wouldn’t do if he felt it needed to be done.

  “Just because Shane is big and scary, it doesn’t mean he’s irrational. In fact, he’s the opposite. And I don’t mind telling him one bit. I’m even glad Brandon contacted me for a ride. Since I’m here with you, it’s a great opportunity to ask a nosy, personal question that’s been on my mind for weeks now.”

  Drake looked at Brooke, suspicious about her smile. “Sure. Ask. Why not? This night can’t get much worse.”

  “How long am I going to have to wait until you ask me out again?”

  Drake sighed at Brooke’s sexy query, wanting badly to sag against her and let her comfort him.

  “Do I get points for wanting to know what happens if I confess I lack the balls to do so? After standing you up so many times, I was waiting until my life settled down into something normal before asking again. Unfortunately, there’s isn’t a chance in hell of normal happening with my quasi-adult son back in my house.”

  Brooke laughed at his complaining. She couldn’t help it.

  “Drake, we’re both too close to the crazy Larsons for normal to ever be a descriptive word applied to us. Since you’re not related to them, there’s probably still some slight hope for you to have a calm and peaceful existence. I’m Shane and Michael’s legal stepsister. They think that gives them full meddling rights. They’re worse than Mom. I’m surprised they haven’t been harassing you on my behalf. I can only conclude my threats worked.”

  Drake stopped Brooke, leaned down, and kissed her softly. “Thanks for being here. Thanks for teasing me and making me laugh enough to keep my sanity.”

  Brooke smiled at his praise and his grateful kiss. It was friendly, but beneath the friendly, something genuine seemed to be growing.

  “You’re welcome. Now, despite what I told you about my stepbrothers interfering in my love life, don’t worry about asking me out. I promise you’ll never have to fight anyone over my virginity. I’m too much like my mother. That ship sailed long ago.”

  “Is that your roundabout way of telling me I don’t have to be so careful with you?” Drake asked.

  “No. That’s my way of telling you I’m no young girl worried about a man taking advantage of her. I don’t care about your age, your parenting challenges, or any other obstacle coming between us. If you want me, I’m interested back. Let’s go out again so we can get the requisite three dates before sex out of the way.”

  Drake laughed at Brooke’s declaration, but the knot in his stomach started to unwind. “My son just moved back in with me so I’m going to have an unpredictable roommate for a while. You’re not going to rescind your wickedly lovely offer any time soon, are you?”

  “Doubtful,” Brooke admitted, sighing as she hugged his arm. “But if I ever get a hankering for a younger version of you, I’m going to tell Brandon to hurry and grow up. Only so many heroes ever show up in a woman’s life. One day Chelsea will realize just how lucky she was the right guy was there at the right time. I wish someone had been there to save my mother.”

  Drake sighed, stopped Brooke again, and pulled her into his arms before they went in to check on the kids. “Okay. I get it now. I’m sorry it took me so long to see why you’re defending Brandon so hard.”

  She tilted her head up to look at him, watching painful realizations flash through his gaze. “Maybe I shouldn’t have brought it up, but it popped into my head when I saw Brandon smiling so smugly while watching Chelsea sleep. Brandon is completely proud of what he did to protect her, and you should be proud too, Drake.”

  Drake nodded. “Okay. You’re right. You’ve made me see my son differently.”

  “Well, I’m glad I said something then.” Brooke pulled away from his arms reluctantly, but only because they both had things to do. “You raised him right. Brandon really is one of the good guys, and the world needs all of those it can get.”

  Chapter 3

  “So Dr. Daniels, are all philosophers paranormal geeks? Or was Descartes an exception? The whole brain in a vat thing sounds like a bad movie plot. Were there any zombies in his theory? Today Descartes could open a restaurant that served brains and make a fortune during the zombie apocalypse.”

  Brooke laughed and crossed her arms, glaring at her most annoying pupil, who also happened to be the most promising one in this particular class. She often wished Clinton wouldn’t grandstand so much, but she knew her smart-ass student hadn’t figured out it kept him from being taken seriously.

  With only two minutes left, Brooke resigned herself to their serious class discussion ending with a joke. “Since you recently starting using your brain in my class, I can see why you’d be worried about a zombie eating it, Clinton.” The other students laughed at her verbal volley back to him.

  “I’m just saying that if Descartes is right, I’d just as soon know where the vat is and what condition my brain is in currently. He should look into giving up meat and eating clean.”

  Brooke snorted softly when Clinton finished with a grin as everybody else laughed.

  “A zombie wouldn’t want to eat your warped brain, Shinkel. Get over yourself.”

  Her snort turned into a full-out laugh when another student, a good friend of Clinton’s, took over the harassing and spared her further rebuttal. Inside she was secretly sighing in relief, but hoped both young men couldn’t tell.

  Clinton had developed a habit of hanging back after class, and it was starting to make her uncomfortable. It happened nearly every session now. She had considered asking Shane to show up in his jeans and a sleeveless shirt just to intimidate the boy. Clinton’s interest in her might die its own natural death if he believed she was dating someone way more masculine than any of her young students.

  A far off bell ringing interrupted her class and her thoughts. The students broke out in a rush the moment it sounded.

  “Quiz Thursday on Descartes. Finish the reading.”

  Brooke laughed as she yelled, hoping to be heard over the mad scramble happening at the back of the room. It was always crazy to watch all thirty-two of them trying to exit all at once. She was relieved to see Clinton was one of the first to break free of the crowded doorway.

  Seconds later complete silence fell on the now empty space. All she could hear was the rustle she was making as she gathered up her things. There was rarely a line wanting to extend class discussion, even though college students were often natural philosophers. The problem was they rarely could hold any one thought long enough to see it through to any logical conclusion. She was going to have to get creative in finding ways to teach the text message generation to extend their thinking on a single subject.

  “I think I like the idea of maybe being just a brain in a vat. It would be nice to think someone else was pulling the strings on the mess I call a life.”

  Brooke smiled when Drake walked into the room looking every bit as sexy as he had last time she saw him. Her smile widened as she considered asking him to help her discourage her male students. Drake’s mature good looks would be every bit as intimidating as Shane’s size.

  “Hello, Dr. Barrymore. Are you lost? What brings the art department chair to the philosophy building?”

  Brooke smiled at Drake’s uniform of khakis and a blue polo. It was his teaching uniform, but his shirts did some pretty amazing things to those very wide shoulders of his. She looked at her own khaki slacks and green sweater, shaking her head at the similarities in their clothes.

  “I just came to see you. I hope you don’t mind that I conned your schedule from the admin.”

  “Of course I don’t mind. Did everything turn out all right for Brandon and Chelsea?” Her tone turned serious as s
he recalled the previous time she had seen Drake. It had been a long two weeks ago.

  “I don’t think Shane has killed anyone yet if that’s what you’re asking. I did hear from Brandon that Chelsea was grounded from dating for three months. Shane and Reesa told her it was for having poor taste in guys. Brandon seemed quite pleased to hear she was staying home these days.”

  “Why are heroic men so rarely kind to the damsels they rescue?” Brooke demanded, laughing at her rhetorical question.

  Drake laughed. “Chelsea’s hero still carries the remnants of a black eye, which covered part his forehead and one entire side of his face. The other guy’s hand must have been huge.”

  Sighing as he remembered Brooke’s help that evening, Drake slipped his hands into his pockets. As usual, his restless fingers wanted badly to explore the young and beautiful Brooke Daniels.

  “Well, all I can say is while you are a seriously lousy date, you seem to be a very good father.”

  Brooke grinned at the obviously nervous man, softening her sarcasm in case he took it wrong. When Drake laughed and grinned back at her, butterflies danced in her stomach. The chemistry between them was always strong and always present. It was everything else that got in their way.

  Drake had a teenage son in college, and the responsibility of one and a half jobs. She was trying to get used to Lexington and trying to be the best first year professor she could be. It also didn’t help she now had a new step-family who didn’t often recognize boundaries. Anyway you looked at it, their very different lives didn’t seem to mesh well.

  So why was she trying so hard to stay available? Exclusivity in any form had never worked out well for her in the past.

  Maybe she was losing her ability to date.

  After a couple seriously lousy ones with men her own age, rescuing Drake’s son and Chelsea was the best time she’d had with a man in months. She’d hung around Drake’s house and held his hand while Brandon had gone over the details several hundred times.

  She had also run interference with her new stepfamily when a frantic Reesa and a worried Shane had come tearing through Drake’s door. Sighing, Brooke pushed away the memories. The evening had not been a date in any real sense. She had obviously sunk pretty low on any dating scale to be considering a family emergency as one.

  “Are you adjusting better to having Brandon back home? Things any less chaotic?”

  Drake shook his head. “I’m glad he picked a closer college, but I’m going to miss the neutrality that came with the distance. Ignorance really can be bliss. Like most parents, I ended up learning that painful lesson the hard way.”

  Brooke smiled. “I picked a school in Columbus. It seemed far enough away from Lexington and Mom, without being too far to come home when I wanted.”

  Drake nodded. “Sounds like a smart strategy.”

  “Not really. It was totally done for self-preservation.” Brooke laughed as she gathered her teaching materials into her arms. “My mother was my best friend, but I still wanted to put her on the longest leash I could manage. I didn’t want to debate every decision of my college life with her. That independent-woman-always-in-control thing Mom does is not just an act for the benefit of handsome men. In reality, she would have made a great prison guard.”

  “In that case, Ohio was probably still risky. I admire your strategy even more.” Drake held the room door open for a laughing Brooke to walk through. “I just have to ask though—what could Jessica Daniels possibly disapprove of with a daughter more conventional than she is? Your mother walks to the beat of a drum I’m certain no one else ever hears. I have great admiration for Will because I have yet to make an accurate guess about any viewpoint she might have about anything.”

  Brooke laughed at the dryness of Drake’s tone as well as at the truth of his words. “Don’t let that cavalier artist persona fool you into thinking my mother is not conventional. Mom likes her daily rituals. And she requires a lot of quiet alone time to ponder her work. I disturb her space when I’m around, especially since I like to watch TV and listen to music. Mom and Will are quite well-matched. All the dating she did finally paid off with finding the perfect guy.”

  “Ever found yourself ‘well-matched’ with anyone?” Drake asked the question innocently, but grinned when Brooke slowed her walk to turn an interested gaze to him. He fell immediately into her amused eyes, unable to see anyone else around them. More amazing was he had no reservations about falling this time. Desire for the younger woman rolled over and through him. Suddenly, he was tired of fighting the feelings she stirred up. He just wanted to be with her even though he had no idea how to make it happen.

  “Me, well-matched with someone? No. Not so far.” Brooke made the remarks casually, choosing to ignore the thorough inspection of Drake’s gaze running over her in a possessive manner. “And I think my luck is getting worse. The current guy I’m trying to date keeps standing me up. He makes these lame excuses about having to help his child who seems remarkably talented at attracting chaos. I’m kicking myself daily because his ‘concerned parent’ routine charms me, even when I end up alone at the end of every evening I’ve tried to spend with him.”

  “I assure you all my child crises are resolved for the moment. And I swear the man you’re trying to date is just as tired as you are of having to leave you every time.” Drake narrowed his eyes, pleased at Brooke’s flirty laugh to his rebuttal. There was a time not so long ago he thought Brooke would never be so relaxed with him. “Trust me, Ms. Daniels. I’m ready for a real date and one which ends a hell of a lot better than our others.”

  Brooke spied an empty classroom near the end of the hallway they walked. She picked up Drake’s hand and dragged him inside the dimly lit room with her. When they were tucked along one wall, she whispered “kiss me”—pleased when he did exactly that with no hesitation at all.

  Drake’s mouth moved on hers with the same level of confidence she always heard in his voice. She put a hand on his chest to keep a bit of distance between them, mostly because she didn’t trust herself not to escalate the kiss into a whole lot more.

  When Drake finally removed his mouth from hers, they were both breathing hard. Brooke shook her head at the way her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. Drake kissed well, but how did the man reduce to her to a mass of quivering nerves every time?

  Her inquiring gaze met his focused, determined one. An honest-to-God shiver ran down her spine.

  “I seriously want to do this with you until I get my fill,” Drake said hoarsely, moving to avoid the bulge from the armload of books she carried. “Come home with me tonight. Brandon is staying with friends until tomorrow. I promise no crises other than ours this time.”

  Brooke sighed at the offer she’d been longing to hear and closed her eyes in happiness. If any of her law student lovers had been half as charming, she’d probably be married by now.

  “You are definitely Descartes’s demon where I’m concerned, Dr. Barrymore. But you already know that, don’t you? You mostly irritate me and yet I still want to kiss you every time I see you. What secret power do you have over my free will?”

  “Well, I do want to control you, but only the reactions of your body to me,” Drake whispered.

  Afraid to kiss her for real again, he moved his mouth to her cheek, skimming it with his breath and then his lips before putting a little distance between them. “How about I promise not to try to put your brain in a vat no matter what happens? And I swear I will step in front of you in case of a zombie attack.”

  “How heroic of you. Brandon would be so proud you’re following his example.”

  Brooke giggled as she watched Drake’s smiling mouth descending once more to hers. A throat clearing in the room and a small “excuse me” had them pulling apart.

  “Sorry,” Brooke said, rising away from the wall. “Oh—hi, Janelle.”

  “Hi, Dr. Daniels. Uh…my class will be starting in here soon. Sorry to interrupt,” Arielle stammered out, her gaze j
umping between them.

  Drake smiled at the high-strung girl, returning her curious, intense stare. He looked away only after he felt an elbow in his side.

  “I liked your paper on Aristotle. Nice work,” Brooke said, smiling at the girl still staring in awe at Drake. She would have snorted at the girl’s awe of the older man, but given the circumstances, it would have made her a hypocrite.

  “Thank you,” Janelle said.

  Brooke watched Janelle swallow nervously as she moved her gaze away from Drake back to her. “See you in class Thursday.” She made the comment as casually as she could while she and Drake slipped out the door, both smiling as the girl nodded.

  Out in the hallway, Drake put a discreet distance between their bodies and sighed heavily. Brooke snickered at the guilty look on his face. “Some bad boy professor you’re turning out to be. You’re practically blushing.”

  “Want me to tell you why I’m feeling guilty? My lustful thoughts about us would make even the daughter of Jessica Daniels blush.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t shock very easily. But maybe you better save the explanation for dinner, just in case. What time should I come over?” Brooke hoisted her load higher as she turned in the direction of the faculty parking lot.

  “Is seven okay?” Drake put both hands in his pockets to keep from touching her one last time.

  “Sure. Seven works for me,” Brooke said, winking at him before she strode off.

  At her car, she set everything on the trunk to dig her keys out of her book bag. When she felt eyes boring into her, she looked back to see Drake offer a wave before sauntering off. It gave her an odd feeling to realize the man had been looking out for her as she went to her car. She couldn’t recall ever having a man be openly solicitous of her safety.

  In fact, Drake Barrymore was turning out to be a first for her in many ways, starting with his ability to turn her to giggling mush with his poetic words. Her lust was running so high at the moment, she couldn’t even recall why she had practically hated the man when they first met. A sigh of genuine longing escaped her throat, defying the well-developed sense of logic, which normally prevented her from making mistakes with men. What she was feeling for Drake definitely wasn’t logical. What could someone as young as she was possibly want with an older man who was still hung up on his dead wife?