Read Picture Me Naked (Stoddard Art School Series) for Free Online Page B

talk to Ed about me, Mother.”
    “He’s still my mechanic. And, darling, I’m afraid if you don’t get back together with him he’ll start charging me full price to fix the Lincoln.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You know how you can be. You’re too uptight. You don’t let anything just slide. So you had a little fight. Can’t you be the bigger person? Forgive and forget? I adore Ed. This whole break up has been very stressful for me.”
    The teakettle began to whistle and sputtered hot water all over the top of the stove. Zee grabbed for it without thinking and burned her hand. “Dammit, Mother. First off…” The pain took a nanosecond to register with her brain. Dammit. Cradling the phone in the crook of her neck, Zee ran her injured hand under the cold water. “First off, you have no clue what you’re talking about. If you had any idea what being with Ed Zeigler was like, you would never ask me to get back with him. Second, to suggest I look past my own happiness and subject myself to a vile man simply so you can get your car serviced at a discount is totally beyond comprehension!”
    Her mother gave a heavy sigh. “You can be soooo dramatic. I blame myself. I taught you to be highly expressive, but leave it to you to take it to the extreme.”
    Zee fought the urge to take the phone and pound herself in the forehead...repeatedly. “Mom, I love you, but I am not being dramatic. I am not being extreme. You need to understand Ed Zeigler and I are over. Finished. Fat lady sings. End of story. Done. Take your Lincoln to another shop for repairs, and respect the fact that I’m an adult and I’ll choose how to spend my life and with whom I choose to spend it.” Zee ran out of breath as anger pushed her rant.
    “If you continue to frown like that, you’ll get wrinkles, sweetheart.”
    “How do you know I’m frowning?”
    “I can hear it in your voice.”
    “Good-bye, Mother.”
    “What are your plans for tonight?”
    “I don’t have any. Good-bye, Mother.”
    “It’s Friday night. A pretty girl like you should have a date.”
    “I’m hanging up now. Good-bye.”
    “Okay, sweetheart, Mommy loves you.”
    Zee pushed the disconnect button and threw the phone onto the counter. The burn on her hand hurt like hell and she stuck it under the water again. “DAMMIT!” She screamed at the chicken.
    The phone rang again. Zee slammed the water off, grabbed the dishtowel and watched it ring. “Grrrrrr.” Answering it on the fourth ring, she snapped into the receiver, “Mom, I’m not doing this with you today!”
    “Whoa. It’s me, Leah.”
    She blew out a frustrated breath. “Sorry, Leah, I-I thought you were my mother.”
    “So I gathered. What the hell is going on? Are you okay?”
    “Yeah, I’m fine. I just got off the phone with her and… Never mind. I’m sorry.”
    “Don’t apologize. I know your mom, remember? I’m more worried about you. Are you feeling better?”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Are you sure? You left class like you were being chased by wolves.”
    “I know.” The image of Jagger’s face flashed in Zee’s mind. The way he’d looked at her. Zee stared at her shoes and blew on her burnt fingers. The whole thing was ridiculous. She was a grown woman. Why was she acting like she’d just been released from a convent and had never seen a penis before? He was just a well-constructed human male…with milk chocolate, Hershey Kiss eyes, a body she wanted to climb like monkey bars, and a smile that made Zee think he harbored some dirty little secret no one else knew. She was no better than the rest of them in class. Damn it all, she was even starting to like how he winked at her.
    “I have your things. But I thought if we were getting together tomorrow night anyway, I’d wait to bring them over.”
    “Sure. That’s fine.” Zee examined her red fingers.
    “So you’re still feeling up to getting together?”
    “Absolutely. In fact, I may crack open a second box of wine.” Zee pushed