Page 45 of Sinful as They Come (Sinful Trilogy #1)

SAWYER

I had spent the entire week fixing cars instead of doing the school work I was meant to be doing.

Marve had been a little pissed at me for getting suspended at first. But when I told him why, he let that go.

He was also able to give me a couple extra shifts when I told him my dad had fucked off with all my money.

Marve was cool. He usually looked after the people that worked for him, and that made me wanna work harder.

Lindsey scolded me as well when she found out – something Caleb found hilarious – and went into mother mode, but I had been expecting that.

The morning shift went by slowly like most of them did. Sunday mornings in Cedar Crest were mostly sleepy and lazy, but I wasn’t complaining. After spending four hours at Marve’s, I said goodbye to the guys before I made my way to the library.

It was more Brodie’s scene. But I had to meet someone there to get started on the whole painting thing.

I had talked to Eric a few days ago and agreed to the whole deal.

I was only in it for the money. And I needed it bad.

Not just because dad had run off with all my cash.

No. Things were hard in general. Rent, bills, food.

It all added up. If I could get some money that could at least help me and Brodie out temporarily, then I’d be happy.

Pulling up into the library, the first car I noticed out the front was one that looked a lot like Holly’s. Was she here?

Holly… She was everywhere these days. Mostly thanks to Brodie. Those two were getting closer and closer as time went by. And me and her were to o.

I had told her about my mom the other night.

That was a part of my life I usually kept to myself.

But she had been staring at me with those big eyes and I couldn’t help but give in.

I had learned things about her and she had learned things about me – things I had never intended on sharing with anyone, let alone her.

But Holly hadn’t judged me for my past. For my mistakes.

That afternoon we cooked and ate together felt so right. It felt easy . Like how it was meant to be. Growing up I was used to hearing screaming matches in the kitchen every day. But that night with Holly had been a nice change.

For a second my eyes closed. I imagined that happening again. Me and Holly, in the kitchen. In our kitchen. We could cook together, eat together, just… be together . She’d be mine and I’d be hers, and there wouldn’t be a thing that would get in the way.

It felt nice to get lost in the thought for a little while. Fuck, what was I thinking? That was never gonna happen. Someone like Holly would never like me that way.

Climbing out of my truck, I dodged the people moving up and down the library steps before I entered the building. I didn’t even know where I was going, but a familiar brunette leaning up against the front desk pulled me to her almost instantly.

Holly stood there, out of her usual cheerleading uniform, and in a little dress.

It was a soft purple color and clung to her curves.

I spotted her smooth thighs, my eyes moving from there to her hips to her waist to her chest for the quickest of seconds.

When my eyes finally landed on hers, I watched her smile shyly at me as she gave me a little wave. I nodded at her in response.

“Are you, like, gonna watch me paint or something?” was the first thing I said to her. “’Cause I don’t work as well when people are staring.”

She giggled, tucking some hair behind her ear. “No. Mrs. Tomlinson, the head librarian, isn’t here on weekends. But she wanted me to show you around and give you all the information you need for the project. ”

“Where’s this thing going exactly?”

“Right behind this desk.” Holly gestured to the big, empty wall behind us. “They just got rid of their old painting. Well, they sold it to be exact.”

“For how much?” I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Just over thirty thousand.

I held back a whistle of amazement. If I could make that on the regular…

Hell, if I could make that once a year, then things would get so much better for me.

It wouldn’t make me rich. But I didn’t need to be rich.

I just wanted to paint, and to have enough cash so I didn’t have a headache worrying about rent all the time.

“Cool,” was all I said, trying to hide my excitement at that number. “And, uh, how much am I gonna get paid for this? I just want it to be worth my time.”

“Oh. Yeah. Of course. That info’s all here.

” Holly grabbed a stack of papers from the front desk.

“She didn’t tell me the number. That’s between you and her.

But I do know that you’ll get paid for the actual painting and your time and labor.

There’s a contract in there you have to sign.

If you agree with all the terms, of course. ”

“The terms?” I flicked through the papers, searching for the only piece of information I truly cared about: the money. Maybe I was being a little selfish, but I was struggling to get by, and any bit of cash would help.

“Yeah. Like I said before, you can’t paint anything you want. They kinda want a Dallas theme. Something with an open sky, something that’s a bit rural. Basically a pretty landscape. The library also wants to interview you when you’re done with the painting.”

“You mean you’re gonna interview me?” I asked, pausing my hands for a moment as I stared at her. I could have sworn I swore her cheeks turn pink.

“Yeah. I’ll try and make it as fun as possible.”

I laughed lowly. “I’m looking forward to it.”

“There’s some other stuff too. Like, you can’t take photos of the painting and show people until you’re done with it. And you have to finish in the time that they’ve set out. ”

“How long is that?”

“About two months.”

“Huh. I think I can give ‘em what they want.” I finally found the part of the contract I had been searching for.

Ten thousand dollars. The words were in bold.

Or maybe my brain was making them look that way.

Either way, the sight of those five digits calmed me down after the fucking mess of a month I had been having.

Suspension, running out of food, Dad taking off with all my money…

It felt good to have something to finally look forward to. I wouldn’t get the money until the project was done, but the cash I got from work would help me and Brodie get by until they put that cheque in my hands.

“So, uh, do you wanna do it?” Holly asked quietly.

My eyes lifted up from the papers in my hands to meet her eyes, the tiniest of grins on my face.

“Do you wanna do the painting?” She quickly corrected.

I chuckled lowly, realizing then how much Holly seemed to blush. “Yeah. You got a pen?”

Holly grabbed one and I quickly signed my name. I could agree to the terms. And I was certain I could get the project done in two months. I could spend my weekends painting while I worked after school. I’d be busy. But it’d be worth it in the end.

“I’ll show you the room you’ll be working in.” She smiled brightly, grabbing a clipboard off the desk. “Follow me!”

Holly happily spun on her heels, taking quick steps to our right. My eyes couldn’t help but land on her ass as she walked. It was so round, so peachy. I hated that she was so hot…

She rounded a corner and I followed her, watching as she pushed open a large door.

We were soon standing inside an empty room, a giant stretch of white before me.

The canvas was huge and looked like it was made of unprimed cotton, maybe a good ten feet wide.

It was most definitely the biggest project I would have ever worked on.

“So this is where I’ll be for the next two months?

” My eyes searched around the big room. In front of the canvas sat all the supplies I could ever need: brushes, acrylics, a step ladder, palette knives, varnish spray, some clean rags.

Everything looked high quality; so much better than the shit I had at home.

“Yup. This space is all yours. Feel free to pop into the café downstairs. They said they’ll give you whatever you want. It’s on the house,” she explained. “Do you have any questions?”

“When the hell did you get so nice?” I mumbled out before I could stop myself.

Holly smiled at me. “I’ve always been nice, thank you very much.”

Maybe she was right. Maybe I had been so focused on hating her and everything she stood for that I just couldn’t see it.

“Well, either way… Thanks for doing this,” I said lowly. “I really need the money right now. And if I can get my foot through the door or something, then that’d be even better.”

“The library has a lot of art connections thanks to Eric. And you know he already loves you. This should end up being a really awesome opportunity for you.”

I nodded at her words, staring at the blank canvas, doing my best to focus on the pure and empty white before me. That was mostly because I had found myself staring into Holly’s eyes far too much lately. Why’d they have to be so big and pretty?

I cleared my throat. “Cool. Guess I’ll get started on this then.” I nodded at the empty canvas. What the hell was I gonna paint? I could do so many different things with the space.

“Awesome. Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it. But just call me if anything comes up, okay?” Holly offered with a bright smile.

“I don’t have your number…” Me and Holly had never had a need to call one another. Ever.

“Oh.” Holly scribbled down something on the back of some paper on her clipboard. She tore the paper in half, handing it over to me with what I could only label as a shy smile. “Call me if you need anything,” she said.

Her soft fingers brushed up against my hand as she gave me the sheet. Then she gave me a little wave, disappearing through the door. My eyes lowered, taking in the digits she had written down. I had Holly Sutton’s phone number – a goal almost all the guys at school strived to achieve.

I couldn’t help but feel a little sense of pride as I slid the bit of paper into my pocket.