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The following Thursday, Addie found her friend working hard on her grades in her classroom. Emma was so absorbed that she didn’t hear her enter and Addie decided to take advantage of the moment. She crept up behind her and poked on the shoulders.

“What the hell?” Emma yelled and jumped up, knocking her water bottle and stack of tests to the floor.

Addie couldn’t help but laugh. “I called you but you must have been in the zone.”

“You could have knocked.” Emma grumbled lightly and picked her stuff up. “What are you doing here so late?”

“Howie and Nick had a meeting so I figured I’d catch up on some stuff. You shouldn’t be staying so late yourself.”

“Well, I don’t have Howie to go home too.” she replied with a laugh.

“You’re a wiseass.”

“Nick said the same thing the other day.”

“I agree with him. And speaking of the boys, I was wondering if you wanted to hang out with us tomorrow night.”

“What are you doing?”

“I was thinking of doing that Paint Nite thing. I’ve seen a bunch of pictures on Facebook of people showing off their paintings and I thought it might be fun.”

Emma cocked one eyebrow. “Me and painting? I think a two year old has better painting skills than me.”

“Oh shut up, they do not and I really want to try it. Please?”

Emma thought about it for a minute and when she didn’t answer, Addie pointed out the obvious.

“What pressing plans do you have? It’ Friday night, are you planning to stay home and do more grading?”

“Maybe.”

“Uh maybe not. Forget I asked, you’re coming with us whether you like it or not. I’ll pick you up at 6 tomorrow.” Addie ordered as she was leaving. “And don’t forget to wear crappy clothes!”

Emma just shook her head; she had a lot to do but maybe a night out would be the break she needed.

--------------------------

She was just pulling on her shoes when she heard knocking on her door. Calling out for Addie to come in, she grabbed her keys off her dresser and was surprised when she saw Nick waiting in her living room. It caught her off-guard and she lost her train of thought.

“Sorry,” Nick apologized, “Howie had to drop something off and Addie asked if I would mind picking you up. I probably should have asked first.”

“No, it’s fine. I just wasn’t expecting you.”

Nick nodded and led the way out into the hallway. Emma locked her door and followed him down to his truck. As always, Nick held the door and helped her into the passenger seat before getting in himself. Once they were both settled, he started the short drive to the restaurant where the painting session was being held. More than once, he had to pull his hand back from wanting to rest on hers. She had held his hand the night at the movies but he didn’t know if it was just a spontaneous thing or if she’d be willing to do it again.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to agonize over the decision for too long. The drive was shorter than planned and they found their friends waiting for them when they pulled in. Nick helped her out of the truck and followed her over to the entrance to the function room. They got right in line for the paint and the hostess took their drink orders as they were getting ready to sit down.

“I’m not sure I want to sit next to you.”

Three heads turned to look at Emma as she pointed to the empty chair next to Nick.

“Why?” he asked cautiously.

“Because you’re freaking Picasso.” Emma replied with a chuckle. “Anything I paint next to you will look like a kindergartner’s finger painting adventure.”

Nick snorted and laughed. “I think you’ll be fine. I know you have more talents than you let on. I remember how you sang…”

“Ssh!” Emma hissed but it was too late.

“Oh she sang did she?” Addie asked. “I thought you couldn’t sing?”

“I can’t.” Emma responded.

“Yeah right.” Nick said sarcastically and he was rewarded with an elbow to the stomach from Emma. “Fine, you can’t sing.”

“Thank you.” Emma said as she sat down. “I’m warning you though, I seriously cannot paint. Hell, I can’t even paint my own nails.”

“You painted my studio.”

Nick’s comment left his mouth before his brain could tell him not to make it. Emma looked down and turned her head towards the example the artist had already painted. Addie and Howie tried to break up some of the tension with some jokes and eventually, Emma and Nick joined in.

The artist finally got them started and walked everyone through the steps. Emma had to admit that it was fun, even if her trees looked more like stick figures and her clouds looked like Ready Whip had exploded on her canvas. Nick had tried to be helpful, showing her how to mix the paints and move the brush a certain way. He also tried to give her as many compliments as he could but he had to admit by the end that Emma was never going to be a painter.

“I warned you.” Emma told him as they made their way to the trash.

“You did.”

Emma turned to say something else but two women recognized Nick and shoved past her to get a picture. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop her from stumbling and she wound up wearing some paint on her shirt from the discarded plates. He quickly took the picture and headed in her direction.

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah.” she replied. “I think I’m going to have to throw this out.”

“Not if we run it under the sink in the bathroom.”

“Um, I’m not really wearing anything else and I think it’s considered public lewdness if I walk around in my bra.”

Nick chuckled. “I think I have a sweatshirt in my car.”

“Great.” she replied. “It’ll be the second one of yours that I’ve confiscated.”

“I have enough. Wait here.”

Nick ran out to the car and came back with one of his old hoodies. He told Emma to go to the bathroom and change, and then he would help her get the paint out. It was a unisex bathroom with only one stall, so as soon as she changed, Nick came in and started showing her how to get the paint out. They’ll finally got out all the spots and Nick turned to stick it under the dryer.

Emma had started towards him as he turned and they wound up meeting eye to eye. She could feel her heart start to race and she couldn’t decide whether she wanted him to kiss her or not. Nick was in the same predicament as he stood there, with his eyes and lips inches from her. He finally decided to go for it when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Let’s go you two!”

Emma turned away and tried to hide the blush that was creeping into her face. Maybe it was a sign that this wasn’t what she needed right now and she quickly scooted out the door. Nick silently cursed Howie and followed her out to the parking lot. Addie noticed the looks between Nick and her friend and decided that the night shouldn’t end just then.

“Who’s up for a late movie night at our house?”