Series: Little Cakes Series by Pepper North
Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45110 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
She couldn’t breathe.
He stroked her bottom lip with his thumb before continuing. “Do you want to fix your lip gloss before we go? I definitely messed it up.”
Chapter Six
“Tell me about your drawings,” Evan stated as he drove away from the house with Tori buckled safely beside him. He was glad her brother had been nowhere to be found as they’d left. Terry was incredibly nice and gracious, but Evan had been grateful he hadn’t been hovering.
Tori glanced at him. “My drawings?”
He reached for her hand and held it. “Yes. Surely you know you’re very talented.”
She stiffened and fidgeted beside him, saying nothing.
He glanced at her as he came to a stop sign. “How many people have seen your drawings, Curls?”
She tried to pull her hand free of his clutch, but he didn’t let her. Instead, he threaded their fingers together. “Well, uh, you, and…”
He nearly drove off the road, and chose instead to pull over. They weren’t out of the neighborhood yet. He put the car in park and turned to face her. “No one?”
“My brother has seen some,” she whispered. “And I draw the cupcakes at Little Cakes sometimes for the chalkboard. I helped Riley draw a helmet not too long ago. I nearly died when it ended up getting tattooed to her Daddy’s chest.”
Evan stared at her, dumbstruck. “You’re kidding. Little girl, you’re so talented.”
She shrugged, her cheeks turning pink. “I just sketch sometimes when I feel like it. It’s just a hobby. I’d never be able to actually make a living doodling.”
Evan sucked in a sharp breath. Those words weren’t her own. Someone had filled her head with that nonsense. “Who told you that, Tori?” he asked gently.
She fidgeted a moment and then glanced up at him. “My mom.”
Fuck. “Your mom.” He couldn’t think how to respond to that. It hurt him that her mother would be so callous. “Where is she now?”
“She and my dad retired to Florida. That’s when I came to live with Terry.”
Evan cupped her face and met her gaze directly. “Tori, you’re very talented. You have an eye for depth and perspective and so many other things. Like a trained artist from a prestigious art school.”
She looked down at her lap.
He lifted her chin again. “Curls…” His chest tightened as he watched her fidget. Did she really not realize how talented she was? Or was she too shy to share it? “Did you ever have any interest in formal training?”
She shook her head, her curls bouncing around in disarray. “Goodness, no. I wouldn’t have the courage to do that. And my parents thought it was silly. They wanted me to become a teacher. I tried. I went to college online for two years. I knew I’d never be able to do that job. It was too much. I just wanted to draw. I didn’t want to teach others how to draw. That’s too—people-y? I know I disappointed them.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond, and he didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so he decided to keep his mouth shut for now. However, he would definitely be revisiting this topic again soon. Tori needed something special in her life to be proud to do. A unique job that could encompass her love of drawing.
He would never pressure her to do something she wasn’t interested in. Just because she had raw talent didn’t mean she wanted to be an artist. Both Terry and Tori had hinted that her parents had been overly protective. Evan sensed that had affected her the most. But if her reasons had to do with confidence or finances, he was already vowing to himself to make sure she learned to trust her worth, and he could certainly help her go to school.
She’d probably turn and run if she knew how far into the future he already saw their lives together. No way would he scare her to death with the details he had in mind, but he was even more determined than ever to make sure her dreams were fulfilled.
Evan lifted her hand to his lips to kiss her fingers, changing the subject before she squirmed a hole in the front seat of the car. “You didn’t pick your nail polish off,” he commented, grinning at her.
She slowly smiled and then giggled. “You don’t know that. Maybe I repainted it before you picked me up.”
He chuckled. She was so damn cute when she relaxed. After one last kiss to her knuckles, he released her hand and pulled the car away from the curb.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
She sat up straighter, watching out the window as he took a right out of her neighborhood.
“I think my Little girl likes surprises.”
She nodded. “Unless the surprise is dog poop I accidentally step on at the park or a parking ticket on my car.”