"Would you leave me alone, you walking pair of boots!"
He cocked a brow at Sunshine's voice on the other side of his door. Before he could get up, the door swung open to show Sunshine fussing at Beth and the alligator hissing back in protest.
The two of them struggled in the doorway.
"Let go of my easel, you refugee from a luggage factory. If you need some wood for a toothpick, there's a bunch of it on the porch."
The side of his mouth quirked up at the sight of them battling it out, Sunshine inside his cabin and Beth on the porch.
"Beth," he snapped. "What are you doing?"
Beth opened her mouth, releasing the easel. Sunshine stumbled backward, into the cabin, with her easel in her hands. The gator hissed and snapped at him, swishing its tail and eyeballing Sunshine irritably.
"She says she was forcing you inside before it got dark and something decided to eat you," he told Sunshine.
"Tell Swamp Breath I was headed this way. Why was she..." Sunshine stopped and looked at him. "Oh jeez, am I really having a conversation with a gator?"
He grinned. "It's all right. I do it all the time."
"Yes, but no offense, you're kind of weird."
If that wasn't the pot calling the kettle black...
She shooed Beth out, slammed the door, then put her art supplies in the corner.
Talon watched her with interest, especially since the denim of her jeans cupped her rear rather nicely as she leaned over.
"How long have you been up?" he asked.
"A few hours. What about you?"
"I just woke up."
"You always sleep this late?" she asked.
"Since I stay up all night, yeah."
She smiled at him. "I think you've taken being a night owl to a whole new level."
She moved to sit on the futon beside him and rubbed her paint-stained hands against her thighs, drawing his attention to just how perfectly shaped they were and how much he would love to run his hand up the insides of them to the center of her body...
He hardened at the thought.
"Would you like me to make you some breakfast?" she asked. "There's not much in the kitchen that's not guaranteed to kill or rot you, but I think I could scrounge up an egg-white omelette."
He grimaced at the thought of what an egg-white omelette would taste like. It would probably be worse than the soy cheese.
Jeez, someone needed to introduce this woman to chocolate Reddi-wip shots. And on the heel of that thought came the question of what Sunshine would taste like covered in chocolate-he'd never gotten the chance to do that with her last night.
Oblivious to his thoughts, she continued her tirade. "Haven't you ever heard of bran flakes? Whole wheat?"
"No, I haven't." He trailed his hand up her arm to her neck where he could tease the softness of her skin with his fingertips. Hmmm, how he loved to touch her flesh.
She continued to lecture him. "You know, eating the way you do, you'll be lucky to live another thirty years. I swear there's more nutrition in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory than anything I found in your kitchen."
Talon just smiled.
Why was he so fascinated by her? He listened to her voice as she lectured him, and instead of being irritated, he actually enjoyed it.