Unconventional Scars (19 page)

Erica wanted to know how the picture on her license turned out. It wasn’t Anna’s most flattering picture, sure, but it was on her very own driver’s license, so who cared? At least she didn’t look cross-eyed.
Besides, other than traffic cops, who was going to see it?

Alex had gone fishing with Josh, and she was just glancing out the front window to see if Josh’s truck had returned next door yet, when she noticed that the black car from Saturday had returned to its spot across the street. It sort of
looked
like someone was in it, but with the tint on the windows, it was hard to be certain. She was about to turn away when the car window lowered just enough for a
half-smoked cigarette to fly out and land on the asphalt
.

So there
was
someone there.
S
trange. Well, maybe they were listening to the radio in the car, waiting on someone. Y
eah
, that was probably it. At any rate, it certainly wasn’t any of
her
concern.

****

She took Alex for a drive to the lake on Saturday afternoon, and once they were out on the pier he gave her a gift. It was a
silver
locket
inscribed with
Anna & Alex
.
Inside was a miniature version of the photo taken by the waterfall.
It was the most precious thing she’d ever received and she told him so.

“It’s just something to remind you of me. I plan to keep you around for a long time,” he told her, linking his arm in hers. “Until you say otherwise, that is.”

She laughed, eyes shining with joy. “You’ll be stuck with me until doomsday, then. Hope you don’t get bored with me.”

“With you? Never. Every time I turn around you’re doing something unexpected. Like hanging out with pregnant ex-cheerleaders, for example.”

“Oh, she’s not so bad.” Anna had not only been at Bailey’s side when she
revealed
the
pregnancy to her parents, but she’d visited again since then. The revelation hadn’t been an experience she cared to repeat, sure, but all in all it could have been worse. After Bailey’s parents had a chance to calm down and assess the situation, they eventually decided the best thing
for everyone concerned
would be for her to put the baby up for adoption, and Bailey agreed. As for hiding the
predicament
from prying eyes . . . well, they
had yet to make
a decision on that. Bailey wanted to go stay with a cousin in a neighboring town until the baby was born, and make up the school year afterwards. Whether this would happen remained yet to be seen.

“I wonder whether Sebastian will ever come around,” Alex mused.

“Don’t hold your breath. You saw how he acted.”

“People can change. You never know.”

“Maybe.” Anna still had her doubts about
that
particular person ever changing. Anything was possible, though. She’d certainly learned that.

“So what do you want to do tonight? Anything special?”

“I can’t think of anything. I guess we could see what Josh and Erica are up to.”

“Well . . .” he said
slowly
,
apparently turning something over in his mind,
“Mom’s going to a wedding out of town tonight and won’t be home until really late. And Creed’s going out with Jennifer. So . . . if your uncle’s still going over to his girlfriend’s then I was thinking maybe we could . . . you know, be alone tonight. If you want to.”

If I
want
to?
The butterflies were back in full force. She hoped Alex couldn’t feel the sudden quickening of her pulse.

“I’d like that,” she agreed rather bashfully, and rested her head on his shoulder. She loved her
silver locket
, but the promise of the
coming
night was the sweetest gift of all.

****

Phil left just before dark after Anna reassured him that
yes
, she was staying home tonight and
no
, she wasn’t going to take the SUV out without calling him first. Alex had gone home, saying he wanted to take a shower and get something to eat, and he’d be back in an hour. She took advantage of the time by taking a bath herself, then nibbling on some chicken left over from lunch, but the butterflies didn’t allow for much in the way of an appetite.

She dressed in a pair of
deep purple
Victoria
’s Secret
lounge pants
and a camisole
, trying to tell herself she was opting for comfort but knowing better.
The possibility
that tonight could be
t
he
n
ight
both terrified and excited her. She didn’t know what to expect, really. Then again, maybe when he said he wanted to be alone with her he meant just that and nothing
more
. Who could tell? She
was mulling this over in her mind
when she heard the tap at the door.

Letting
him in,
she gave
him the once-over while his back was turned
,
as he closed the door behind him and locked it. He was dressed in
jeans a
nd a
plain
black t-
shirt
,
and the ends of his soft brown hair were still damp.
Yummy
, as Karen would say. To her surprise,
he had brought his sketchbook and easel along with him.

“What’s that for?” she wanted to know.

He grinned devilishly. “Show me your room.” It was more of a command than a request. Trying hard to
quiet the butterflies
, Anna led him upstairs, wondering what he had in mind. She was almost afraid to ask.

Scanning her room quickly, Alex selected a spot and set up his easel
and sketchbook while she watched curiously
.
He moved her desk chair in front of the easel, then pulled a small plastic case out of his pocket and looked at her expectantly.

“I want to try something.”

“You want to draw me?” It was the only plausible explanation.

“I want to sketch you nude.”

Anna stopped breathing. She stood rooted to the floor, frozen.

“Are you all right?” He looked amused.

“You want to
what
?”

“Why is it whenever I
suggest
something
interesting
, you pretend you’re hard of hearing?”

“I heard you! You just . . . took me by surprise, that’s all.”
To say the least!

“If you’re that modest, you can cover yourself partially with
your bed
s
heet.”

Well . . . that didn’t sound so bad. At least she wouldn’t be
completely
exposed. The thought of such close scrutiny of her body was a little nerve-wracking.

It was also very,
very
exciting.

“How . . . um, how do we do this?”

The blue eyes twinkled mischievously. “Well, Princess, in order for me to sketch you nude, you have to be naked.”

“Right here?” Did he expect her to just strip right there in front of him?

Walking over to her bed, he yanked the comforter onto the floor and pulled off the top sheet, handing it to her. “Go in the bathroom, undress, and wrap this around yourself.”

Okay. I can do this. It’s just like wearing a toga
, right?
She went in the bathroom and
closed the door, then slipped out of h
er purple outfit.
There was
a brief moment
of hesitation
before
sliding down
her panties.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.

Opening the door, she saw Alex standing by the bed, arms folded. “Come over here.”

Somehow she made it to where he stood without her knees buckling.

“Lie down on your stomach.”

She crawled onto the bed, clutching the sheet tightly to her chest. He shook his head with a smirk. “Jesus, Anna, loosen the sheet a little. If I wanted to sketch a mummy I’d have gone to the museum.”

His humor
put her a bit more at ease
, and she smiled. Lying on her belly, she propped herself on her arms and looked up at him apprehensively. “Like this?”

He took one of her hands and gently pulled her arm out in front of her. “Lay your head on your arm. Yeah, like that. Now fold your other arm in front of you. Nice.” He paused to meet her gaze. “Now I’m going to arrange the sheet so it’s just sort of draped over you, okay?”

“Okay.” She tried not to tremble as he pulled the edges of the sheet out from under her. He then proceeded to slide it down so that she was exposed from the waist up
. T
he only part of her body still covered was her backside.
She’d never felt so incredibly vulnerable.

“That’s perfect.” His voice was soft. “Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”

She merely stared at him, eyes wide.

He cleared his throat. “All right, I guess I can get started now.” Retrieving a charcoal stick from the plastic case, he settled himself in front of the easel and began.

Anna’s
tremulousness
gradually faded as
she
observed him at
work.
He kept his eyes in front of him for the most part, glancing up at her only occasionally.
It was fascinating to watch the graceful movement of his arm. She already knew he was talented. Once, with his permission, she’d flipped through his sketchbook at school. The drawings, mostly of ancient trees and the ruins of an old church, were impressive. There was one in particular that touched her -  a sketch of a small child cradling a rabbit.
It would be interesting to see his interpretation of her.

It didn’t seem very long at all before he placed the charcoal back in the case, saying, “All done.”

“Already? That didn’t take long.”

“Do you have any hairspray?”

“Hairspray?” That was an odd question.

“It’ll set the charcoal so it doesn’t smear.”

“Oh. There’s some in the bathroom.”

Alex disappeared
. She could hear him washing his hands
, and s
econds later he emerged
with the hairspray. He sprayed a quick coat over the paper, then returned the can to the bathroom.

“Would you like to see it?” He smiled at her.

“Of course!” She propped herself back up on her elbows,
yanking
the sheet up so he
didn’t accidentally get an eyeful.

He brought the sketchbook over to the bed. “What do you think?”

She stared at the drawing speechlessly. The girl in the picture was her
-
of course she recognized herself, but . . . she’d never seen herself portrayed that way before.
Her
hair was carelessly splayed out around her and t
he eyes,
her
eyes,
seductively looked back at her
from the paper
in a way she’d never known she possessed. It was exquisite.

“Is that
me
?”

“That’s you.” He placed the pad back on the easel.
“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful.”

“I have my model to thank for that.” Returning t
o the bed,
he sat beside
her, watching her intently with cloudy eyes. With one hand, he reached out to gently stroke her hair.

“Alex . . .”

“Hm?”

“Um. Never mind.” She felt the need to say
something
, but had no idea what.

He lightly ran his finger down her cheek, then stretched out beside her, kicking his Nikes to the floor. His arm reached underneath the sheet to rest on her naked back.
The touch of his
warm
hand on her bare skin sent shivers of
anticipation
up her spine.

She rolled on her side to face him
, and h
e pulled her close and
kissed
her hungrily. She loved the way he tasted, like wintergreen and warm
cocoa
, delicious and familiar. Very
quickly
, his kisses became deeper, more desperate, leaving her breathless.

“Wait a minute.” Anna pulled away.

“What’s wrong?”

“
Nothing, I just . . . nothing. Forget it.”