Just a Sketch (2 page)

“IS THIS
the drawing class?” A middle-aged woman with slightly graying hair and the beginnings of a paunch asked, acting like she didn’t want to step into the door.

“You’re in the right place.” Aud gestured for her to enter. “Come on in and have a seat. We’ve still got a few more minutes. The library said there were ten people signed up for the class.”

“Thanks.” She came in and walked around the tables so she sat closest to him.

Aud was used to people trying to get as close to him as possible. It didn’t bother him unless it was guys like Randal.

Several more folks trickled in as the clock clicked closer to seven. A brunette woman came in with her cell phone to her ear. “Tell Felix not to kill both of you with his driving. I heard those tires of his screeching.” She walked over to the table and set her large bag of a purse in a chair. “Fine.” She hung up and smiled at Aud. “Sorry about that. Two of my friends are on their way and running a little late.”

“No problem. We’ve still got a few minutes.”

“Good. They are both habitually late. If they weren’t so charming, I wouldn’t put up with them.” She moved her purse and sat down.

Aud handed out drawing paper and packs of colored pencils to everyone there and left two extra stacks of supplies for the brunette’s friends.

He was about ready to start when two men appeared in the doorway. They both looked a bit frantic, but the shorter one, with auburn hair and wire-rimmed glasses, was fairly cute.

“You two are right on time,” he said.

The cute one stared at him as they walked over to sit next to the brunette. But he slipped or something as he went to sit and ended up sprawled on the floor.

Aud rushed around the table. “Are you okay?” He held out his hand to help the man up.

A deep blush came over his pale face as he straightened his glasses. His hand quivered slightly as it closed on Aud’s. “I think so.”

“He’s just a bit clumsy,” said the other man as he straightened the fallen chair.

The woman sighed and shook her head.

Less than a minute later, they had everyone in their seats and Aud was back at his place in front of the flip chart. “I guess this is going to be it. If we have a few stragglers, I can catch them up without too much trouble. Before we start, let’s get some names. I’m your instructor, Aud Sorenson. You can find me down in Old Colorado City at the Bright Thoughts Gallery. I have a bachelor’s degree in art. I’ve been an artist for ten years.” He gestured to the first woman to come in. “If you’re not comfortable with more than a name, that’s fine. But if you want to tell us a bit about why you’re here, that would be awesome.”

“Hi, I’m Mindy. My husband thinks I need a hobby, so I want to try my hand at drawing.” She dropped silent.

Aud looked at the brunette woman.

“Hi, I’m Julie.” She glanced at the two men who’d come in together. “Felix feels we all need to get out more, so he thought this would be interesting.”

The taller, darker man sighed. “Hi, I’m Felix. Julie kinda explained it all. This has got to be better than sitting around the house, right?”

“I hope so,” Aud said and looked at the cute guy with the glasses.

He pushed his glasses up in an obviously nervous habit. “Hi, I’m Leo. Like Julie said, this was all Felix’s idea, but since I’ve already made a complete ass of myself, I’d like to be excused.”

Aud shook his head. “You didn’t make an ass of yourself. So the chair slipped. It happens all the time. Those chairs are fairly flimsy. They are always dumping things on the floor.” Aud tried to give Leo his best reassuring look.

“I’m also not great at drawing.” Leo looked away from Aud and down at his paper.

“Maybe we can change that.” Aud forced his gaze from Leo to the last two women in the class. The more Aud studied Leo, the cuter he was, and the unease just made him that much more attractive. He wasn’t ruggedly handsome like Randal Hudspeth was, but he had a geeky, awkward sexiness to him.

Once everyone introduced themselves, Aud started his lesson on basic drawing. As things progressed, like they had done in previous classes, various people in the class showed different levels of aptitude. It was all Aud could do not to spend all his time with Leo, lending as much help as he could, but he forced himself to assist the other attendees too. From little things he observed, it looked like he and Felix were just friends. By the time they were done, the pictures of butterflies everyone had drawn ranged in style from frameable to basic refrigerator art. Leo’s fell into the latter category, but he’d at least tried.

Aud made his customary suggestions on where to find art supplies if anyone was interested in continuing their journey into creativity once their time was up. By then he wanted to try to see Leo some more. It had been years since he’d felt like he needed to trick someone into spending time with him, but he thought it was worth a shot.

As Leo, Felix, and Julie gathered their papers together, Aud walked over. “Leo, can I ask you a question?”

Leo blinked and an adorable confused look crossed his face. “Sure.” The way his brows knit together while his nose scrunched up endeared him to Aud and made Aud hope to see more of Leo.

“Would you mind posing for a sketch for me?” Aud asked. He knew he’d love to try to catch the soft sexiness he saw in Leo, so it wasn’t exactly a trick.

“Me?” Leo looked shocked. “What kind of posing?”

“You have a very expressive face. I’d like to try to capture it on canvas.” Aud began working out where he’d like Leo to pose and in what light to make the most of his features.

Leo glanced at Felix and Julie, who both made little gestures like they were trying to send him toward Aud.

“How much time are we talking about?” Leo asked.

Felix rolled his eyes. “Oh for heaven’s sake, Leo.” He looked at Aud. “He’d love to pose for you. If I have to, I’ll deliver him bound and gagged.”

Smiling at the image that popped into his head, Aud pulled out a couple of business cards and handed one to each of them. “Here’s my card. I’m in the gallery most days from ten to three or four. If I’m not there, my assistant, Heather Ramsey, can find me. I’d rather work after hours or on Sunday, my day off. But we can sort something out, I’m sure.”
Stop babbling. You sound like a nervous schoolboy
.

Leo looked at the card. “Okay. I’ll stop by next week. It might be fun.” He slipped the card into his front pants pocket. “It was a great class.”

“Glad you liked it.” Aud gave him his sexiest smile, keeping his lips open and easy without showing too much tooth.

Turning quickly as heat rose in his cheeks, Leo gestured for his friends to follow him from the room. “Good night, Mr. Sorenson. See you soon.”

I hope so.
“Good night, Leo.” Aud quickly finished gathering up the art supplies, then left the library as it was closing for the night. A light, happy feeling filled him as he climbed into the Jeep and headed home. Although he had no idea if he’d see Leo again, he had hopes. Something about the man grabbed his attention like no one had in several years.

LEO PULLED
his warm turkey sandwich out of the microwave and returned to his table in the breakroom. Felix stared at him. “Well?”

“Well what?” Leo sat and tried not to look annoyed. Felix had been going on and on since they’d left the library the previous night.

“Are you going to go pose for Aud? It would be the closest thing you’ve had to a date in months.” Felix opened his bag of chips.

“I don’t know.”

“Don’t know? How could you not know? My God, Leo. One of the hottest guys we’ve seen in forever asks to draw your head, and you don’t know if you’re going to go?” Felix sighed dramatically. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.” He reached over and snatched Leo’s wrist as if feeling for a pulse. “That’s it. You’ve finally succumbed to the horrors of our life in the call center and become a zombie. But that doesn’t explain the pulse.”

Leo yanked his arm back. “Look. You know how horrible my luck with guys is. The way things go for me, he’s probably some kind of serial killer who uses his victims’ bodily fluids to make art and then sells it for millions after the smell fades.”

“Being a wee bit of a drama queen, aren’t you?” Felix popped a couple of chips in his mouth. “Look, he’s hot. He’s got his own art gallery. He expressed an interest in you, and most of all, he’s hot.”

“I don’t know if I’m ready for another doomed date.” Leo took a swig of his water.

“If he’d been interested in sketching me, I’d have let him do it last night,” Felix said. “In fact, I would’ve let him do anything he wanted to me last night.”

“Which is why you’ve had even fewer relationships than I have. When was the last time you had a second date with anyone? You go all-out on the first date, actually…. When was the last time you had a date and it wasn’t just some guy you met on Prowler or whichever app you’re using this week?”

Felix wrinkled his brow and looked offended. “Maybe I’m just more than most guys are looking for. Maybe I just haven’t found one worthy of me. Besides, you’re not going to sidetrack me with this. We’re talking about your love life, or lack thereof, not mine. If you want to make sure he’s legit, we can go by the gallery tonight after work. Even if he’s not there, we can ask his assistant about him, and that can help you make up your mind.”

Leo didn’t want to admit how much he wanted to find out that Aud was for real. The man looked like someone descended from on high. But he was so nervous. Most of his relationships ended badly.
Geez, I haven’t even been out on a date with the guy. And I’m already thinking long-term. I’m pathetic.
“You’re not going to let this go until I say yes, are you?”

“Nope.” Felix flashed a triumphant smile. “I’ll nag you all the way home, and then tomorrow when I pick you up, I’ll nag you some more. I’ll even nag you every time we have any free moments between calls, to the point that you’ll be wanting us to get so busy we don’t take breaks. You’re going to go see this guy and pose for him. If nothing sparks during the posing, then I’ll let you off the hook. Besides, I expect details. Lots of details. Guys like this don’t wander into your life on—”

“Okay,” Leo interrupted him. “Just stop. We’ll go. We can go this afternoon if I can get off the phones in time.”

“Good. I’ll make sure you don’t get a long call at the last minute.”

“How?”

“Don’t ask questions that you don’t want answers to.” Felix wadded up his chip bag and somehow managed to toss it into the garbage can without getting out of his seat.

LEO’S HEART
pounded a fast staccato as Felix found a parking place in front of Bright Thoughts Gallery. The traffic was heavy with other people rushing home from their jobs, but there was a steady line of pedestrians along Colorado Avenue, popping in and out of the various art galleries and gift shops.

Felix stared at him for a moment as he pulled the keys out of the ignition. “Smooth your hair down a bit.”

“What?” Leo yanked the sun visor down and looked at his reflection in the small mirror. He adjusted his glasses. Everything looked fine. “I look just like I normally do.”

“Exactly. Flatten your hair down.” Felix reached over to do it.

Leo batted his hands away. “Leave it alone.” He snapped the visor closed.

“Well, if you don’t want to look your best….” Felix turned and glanced in the rearview mirror before opening the door.

After a last quick look in the side mirror, Leo did the same. By the time he reached the sidewalk, Felix was standing next to the car. He took a long breath, trying to slow his pounding heart in hopes that he wasn’t about to make a fool out of himself.

“Don’t make me drag you in there.” Felix feigned grabbing Leo’s arm.

Leo walked past him. “You don’t have to.” He made it across the sidewalk and pushed the door open before his nerves got the better of him.

The smell of lavender hit Leo as he walked into the gallery. His shoes squeaked on the dark hardwood floor. He glanced about and couldn’t immediately spot Aud. A statuesque woman with long black hair was talking with a richly dressed couple near a large painting of a golden horse. Beside it was a huge painting of a red bull, whose balls were nearly as big as his buttocks.

“I think I tricked with the guy who modeled for that one.” Felix pointed at the bull. “All balls and no dick… a real shame when I saw what was actually in his big basket. At least he let me pull on them.”

He did not just say that. God, please don’t let Aud be here.
Heat rose in Leo’s face as he hoped no one had just heard Felix’s comment. He had a sudden fear he’d never be able to come back into the gallery again. “Hush,” he hissed as softly as he could.

The place felt too expensive for his normal playing around with Felix. He wanted to be very polite and proper. He turned his attention away from his friend and looked at some of the stained-glass pieces that hung in the western window with the evening sun shining through them. They were very pretty; most of them were various geometric designs, but one was a nearly perfect representation of Pikes Peak. There was also a beautiful firebird.

“Can I help you?” The tall woman came over to him. According to her name badge, this was Heather. He glanced toward the door, and the couple was leaving the gallery.

“Ah.” Leo was suddenly at a loss for words. He swallowed. “I came by to see Aud. We met last night.”

Heather’s eyes grew wide. “You’re the guy from drawing class last night. Leo?”

Heat rose again in Leo’s face. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Wow, Aud will be sorry he missed you. He’s been wanting you to stop by. He’s really hoping—” She paused. “—to sketch you. He said you have an amazing face, and he’s right. I can definitely see what caught his eye.”

“So, Aud does work here, then?” Felix appeared at Leo’s shoulder.

“He owns the place. He’s left for the day. He normally heads out about four and leaves me to close up. I can call him if you like.”

Leo shook his head emphatically. “There’s no need for that. You can tell him I stopped by and would be happy to pose for him. I can call him and set up a time.”