Read Online Covered In Paint: Book Five of the Art Of Love Series by Donna McDonald - Free Book Online

school, did you draw or paint a lot of nude models?”
    Michael picked up his water and opened it as he pondered the question. He took a drink as he looked at Brooke’s defeated gaze, wondering what the hell had happened to send her to ask him inane questions about his artistic education.
    “Sure. It’s standard practice for learning the lines and forms of the human body. Why do you ask?”
    Brooke tightened her jaw, not ready to reveal her reasons. “So did you ever sleep with any of the models? Wait—that’s not my real question. I don’t care about actualities. I care about feelings and motivations. Did you ever want to sleep with any of the models after staring at them for hours?”
    “Being a guy, I’m not sure how to answer such a question without condemning myself,” Michael replied, wary of the steel in her gaze. Brooke looked exactly like Jessica when she was pissed, but he knew better than to say that to her at the moment. He’d been around his stepsister enough now to know that looking so much like her mother was a sore point with Brooke.
    “Are you sure you want to know what I really think? Maybe you should just tell me what this is all about.”
    “Answer honestly, Michael. It’s not a test or something I intend to use against you in a court of law. I just want to know where the artist begins and ends. Where in the process of artistic creation does the actual man get involved? If you tell a woman to turn until her pointy hard nipple is aimed at your chin, do you see the pointy nipple or not? I just need to know the damn truth.”
    What the hell? Michael snorted as he glared at her . It disappointed him to think of his stepsister as someone so judgmental. It was like trying to defend art to his mother.
    “It’s not like an artistic mindset is generic, Brooke. I’m on the far extreme of people with an artistic soul. Somehow I don’t think my facts are going to support whatever strange argument you have running in your head, Dr. Daniels. Luckily for you, Shane’s frequent interrogations have taught me not to overreact to questions worthy of the Spanish inquisition. But just what the fuck did you do today? Go to one of Drake’s classes?”
    “Yes. Actually, I did. And I’m not expecting you to speak for his mindset. I’m just asking a person I mostly trust to give me his honest opinion about how such a situation can affect a male artist. I’m trying to understand if the experience is artistic or physical or both. Damn it, I shouldn’t care, but I do,” Brooke declared, twisting her sweating glass as she talked.
    Michael stared at her for a few heartbeats while he contemplated what kind of answer to give her. He did not for one moment envy Drake being in Brooke’s hot seat of judgment. In this mood, she almost reminded him of his mother. And that was a scary thought for all of them. One staid conservative was enough for the Larson family and even his mother was finally coming around.
    “Okay. So let’s say we’re talking about just me. Carrie knows I’m a guy who gets hard just thinking about a beautiful woman. But no—I never lusted for a model in any of my art classes—at least not openly and during their posing. Why? Because when I go into the zone of seeing them with my artist’s mind, I see them through different eyes. My genitals shut the hell up when confronted with my creativity.”
    “Bull and shit too,” Brooke swore. She followed it with a long sip of soda and rubbed the sweat from the glass across her forehead.
    “No—I’m completely serious. Shane and I have talked about this. Okay, joked about it is probably a better way of putting it. We think it’s like what happens to male gynecologists. Think about what they do all day long. Sure, there are those who get jaded by all that beauty as well as those who constantly starve for the sight of it. Real artists see beauty as art. Maybe it’s a talent or maybe it’s something you teach yourself. It’s innate so I never