"You want me to grab the box for you?" he asked as he moved toward my bedroom.
I was more than a little surprised that he was okay with me getting out my art supplies and leaving them in the living room.
I showed him the box, and he carried it to the living room, dropping to his knees to rip off the tape.
I grabbed the aqua cart where I liked to store the brushes and paint.
When I returned, he was already stacking the canvases on the shelf at the bottom of the easel. I pulled out the paint and brushes, placing them on the cart. "You don't mind that this is taking up your living room?"
Dalton frowned. "Why would I?"
"A lot of the families I lived with didn't like the clutter, and a few didn't want me to paint with their kids."
He scoffed. "Why not?"
I carefully arranged the brushes in the small colored buckets on the top shelf of the cart. "They didn't want the kids to get dirty or their clothes to be ruined."
"You can wash her hands, and I can always buy new clothes if I have to."
I shrugged. "I'm used to people not being quite so accepting of my little hobby."
"I'm fairly sure Lilliana is going to love painting, so I don't mind. And if it's something you enjoy, why not?"
My heart warmed a little more to him. I never anticipated that he'd be fully on board with my painting.
We finished stocking the supplies, and I sat back on my heels. "It's nice to have my things out. I'm so used to having them stashed away, and when I want to paint, it's a hassle to get everything out. But this is so nice. I can paint whenever I want."
"I'll grab you some drop cloths from the garage to use."
Dalton made a move to stand, and I stopped him with a hand on his forearm. "Thank you. I really appreciate it." It was hard for me to explain how important painting was to me. It had been an outlet since my parents' divorce. Around that time, I'd had a pivotal art class at school with an amazing teacher, and I'd started painting. It was an outlet for my feelings then, and I used it with my kids to relax them. It was such a great way to spend a morning or an afternoon. I couldn't wait to share my love of art with Lilliana.
"I want you to be happy here. I know this isn't exactly what we planned when I hired you to be the live-in nanny."
Now that he'd accepted my hobby, I wanted to help him even more. "What are your plans for our pretend relationship? Do we need to be seen around the island?"
"I would think so. Public displays of affection wouldn't hurt."
I tried not to think about what that would be like. Would we kiss? Hold hands? Would I be able to compartmentalize this attraction to him, or would it meld together and confuse me? "What about Lilliana?"
"I think she's too young to understand what's going on."
"I hope you’re right about that.”
"I'll grab those drop cloths," Dalton said as he headed through the door to the garage.
I loved seeing my easel set up in front of the windows facing the water. I'd never had this kind of inspiration before. I could stand here for hours, painting the water, the palm trees, the beach, and the sky. Then there were the sunsets. I was so excited to get started.
When Dalton returned, he placed the drop cloths on the floor next to the easel. "You haven't moved."
"I was just thinking about what I can paint with this view."
"Maybe you can fill the house with artwork. I haven't bothered to decorate."
The walls were bare except in Lilliana's room, which had several images of moons and stars and some sweet sayings. "I doubt my paintings are good enough to hang."
Dalton arched a brow. "I'll be the judge of that."
Now that my easel was set up, I wanted to clarify a few things about our new arrangement. "Should we talk about which public displays of affection are okay?"
