Free Covered In Paint: Book Five of the Art Of Love Series by Donna McDonald Page B

what he might dare and barely remembered to wave back as Michael walked out.
    ***
     
    That evening Drake was still pondering, but he was doing it with a triple dozen bouquet of roses in hand and Michael’s lost key burning a hole in his pocket. He stood in the hallway a good ten minutes without acting at all. Finally saying to hell with his concerns over using it, he was inserting the key into her lock when a man ten years younger than him came striding up to look directly at Brooke’s apartment number.
    “Hello. Sorry. First date. I must have written the apartment number down wrong.”
    Drake sighed. What would Michael do? Probably much worse than anything he would ever dare. He could only think of one way to play this scene out.
    “No—you probably have the right place. I told Brooke I wasn’t really into having a threesome, but since you’re here, I guess you can come in if you want. It’s our anniversary. Frankly, I was hoping to have her all to myself tonight.”
    He held up the bouquet of flowers to show the man, glad he’d sprung for the effusive display of floral intention. It backed up his anniversary story in a way few other things would have.
    The guy laughed and held up his hands. “Dude—no thanks. Sharing is not for me. Tell Brooke I pass.”
    Drake shrugged and held back his sigh of relief as the younger guy turned on his heel and walked away at a fast clip. Brooke was going to be pissed about his lie, but he wasn’t in the mood to deal with competition and correctingher weird-ass thinking.
    But the guy showing up had certainly cemented his resolve.
    Turning back to Brooke’s door, he turned the key until it opened. Stepping inside, the first thing he heard was the shower running in the bathroom. Sticking one hand in his pocket, he walked around the small living area and finally selected a chair where he could sit and wait. The sound of a blow-dryer rapidly followed the shower finishing.
    He grinned as he imagined a naked Brooke rushing to avoid her missing her date with the man he’d chased away. Any lingering guilt he felt using the key fled as he imagined that same naked Brooke slipping into sexy date clothes.
    Still…catching him sitting in her living room probably wasn’t going to help put her in the mood to listen to his defense of what he did for a living.
    Sighing about what his true purpose was for coming here, Drake got up, grabbed the roses, and quietly went back out into her hallway. He could already hear Michael laughing his ass off and prayed the elder Larson brother would never find out about his cowardice.
    Telling himself it was for a greater good, Drake used the key to lock the door behind him before pocketing it again.
    Then he waited a few minutes, giving Brooke time to finish dressing, before ringing the doorbell.
    ***
     
    Brooke hastily shoved her feet into her heels when the doorbell rang for a second time. She hustled to the living room, halting when she got a whiff of cologne. It smelled like… Drake?
    Shocked at her instant and very visceral reaction, she sniffed again. Yes. Definitely Drake.
    Feeling guilty now that the man at the door wasn’t the one she was wishing for based on smell alone, she shook her head in denial of those feelings as the doorbell sounded for a third time.
    With one hand on her stomach to quiet her nerves, she opened the door with the other. She was speechless when she saw who was standing there.
    “ Drake? ”
    Unable to speak, all Drake could do was stare at her…and at what she was wearing. He had seen her in teacher clothes, and the sexy outfit she’d worn to the gallery opening, but she’d never dressed like this for any of their dates. Tonight she wore a short black dress and tall heels, both definitely made the most of her long bare legs. The woman was dressed to impress, seduce, or both.
    Still speechless and unsure of how much time he’d spent looking at her, he held out the triple bunch of roses. “Here. These are for