Almost in Love Read Online Free PDF Page A

minutes later, she’d placed the order, and they sat on the sofa with a couple of beers. Bare was so easy to be with. He was always so cheerful and agreeable, quick with a joke, and he liked her art. Friends didn’t get any better than that. Sure, she had Daisy and Steph, another teacher friend, but Bare was right across the hall and available at a moment’s notice. It was nice having a friend so close by that could just stop by whenever. She hadn’t felt lonely ever since he’d moved in.
    “Guess what?” she said.
    He smiled. “What?”
    “My art’s selling really well. I mean, really well.” She couldn’t help her ridiculously happy smile. “I’m selling my paintings almost as fast as I put them up on the website.”
    He straightened. “That’s great!”
    She took a sip of beer. “I know!”
    Bare grabbed the remote. “Feel like watching more Zombie Bonanza ?”
    “Sure. So far it’s just one collector buying, but it’s a start.”
    “Mmm…yeah, a start.” He pressed a few buttons on the remote. “Do you know who it is?”
    “Yeah, I’ve got the name and address. I’m the one shipping them.”
    “Anyone you know?” He still wasn’t looking at her.
    “No. Why?”
    He shook his head. “Nothing. Ah, here we are. Lots of zombies eating brains.”
    Bare was acting a little stranger than usual.
    “Why would you ask if I know them?” she asked. “Don’t you think it’s possible someone I don’t know actually likes my art?”
    “Of course. Forget I said that. Sometimes my mouth moves without clearance from my brain.”
    He held out his arm in invitation. She hesitated, then gave in, cuddling up against his side as she always did when they watched TV.
    As soon as she had more buyers, she was quitting her job. If she could dedicate herself full-time to painting, well, it would be a dream come true. She could live frugally if it meant she could create art for a living.
    “Bare?”
    “Hmm?”
    “You ever think I could make a living as a painter?”
    “I think you can do whatever you put your mind to.”
    She gave him a little squeeze around the middle and met hard, toned muscle. She sat up quickly, startled by the rush of heat that ran through her and her sudden urge to explore that muscle with her fingers and tongue.
    “Thanks,” she said.
    He smiled at her. She felt a rush of love for him just for being so supportive. Was she that starved for encouragement?
    He turned back to the TV, holding his arm out for her to return to her spot against his side. She thought maybe a little space was a good thing. Her brain was getting crossed signals, mixing up friendly affection with love. She stayed where she was, and he dropped his arm.
    They both took a long drink of beer. She considered how uber-supportive Bare was compared to her family, who considered art a waste of time. Her father was a physics professor, her stepmother also, and her younger half-sister Kate was working on the same. Kate would soon graduate a year early from college and head to grad school for her doctorate in physics. The only way Amber had been able to major in art, and have her dad help with the tuition, was if she also majored in education. Her dad said he wasn’t flushing his money down the toilet on a degree that made her unemployable.
    So she was an elementary school art teacher by default. She loved kids, but the hard truth was, except for the occasional student, most kids didn’t care about art. They considered art class a chance to run around and throw markers.
    Bare gave her hair a playful tug. “Hey, Pink Hair, why so down?”
    “I’m fine. Just thinking.” She blew out a breath and tried to think positive. “In two months I’ll have the whole summer to paint.”
    “Sounds like an artist’s dream.”
    She nodded and cuddled up against his side again. He wrapped his arm around her, and she was enveloped in warmth. She breathed in his clean scent. He always smelled like the ocean. His arm tightened around