by Elle Woods
“I think that we will take you up on both offers, Sarah. You’re very generous to offer. I know that some artists are very private about their work spaces. You honor us with the invitation.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I love sharing my passion for creating with others. Seeing people experience my art is the reward of being a creator. Sometimes I forget about that in the pursuit of critical feedback.”
“I think that we are all our own greatest critics, my dear,” Grace told her with a wink.
“Thank you. I would really appreciate having the two of you come and see my work. Maybe you can give me some constructive feedback as I get ready for the show. I’ve been so focused on my work that sometimes I find it hard to take a step back and really see it as others do.”
Soon after, their meals came and they fell into easy conversation. Though Dylan knew that his focus should be on impressing Mr. and Mrs. Erickson, he kept finding himself conversing with Sarah. It was as if he was drawn to her. Each time he realized it and tried to pull his attention back to his boss, he found the man smiling at him as if he understood exactly what he was feeling.
At the end of the meal, Sarah and Mrs. Erickson excused themselves to go to the restroom as he and Mr. Erickson went to get their coats from the valet.
“Your fiancée is a charming woman. She is so much warmer than what I expected.”
“If I’m being honest, she has been a surprise to me too. She is so alluring I get lost in her. It’s like she has her own gravitational field and I can’t help getting pulled right into it.”
What surprised him was how true the words were. Everything about Sarah was a surprise to him. She was nothing like the flaky artist that he has assumed she was. She was well spoken and intelligent and he found himself matched step for step in conversation with her. He looked forward to each time they interacted, knowing that she was going to challenge and stimulate him.
“Make sure you put her first. Don’t lose a woman like that. They are a rare gift.”
Chapter 4
The Offer
Dylan sat at his desk, staring at the painting that Sarah had given him. Strangely, he saw more of her in it than he did in the photograph they had forged together. Maybe it was because the painting was genuinely her and the photograph was a lie. But nobody knew that. In fact, the way her eyes sparkled made it look as if she was really in love with him.
He thought of that picture more often than he would like to admit. That was the reason his eyes tended to avoid it. A fiancée wasn’t something he had ever wanted and that hadn’t changed, he told himself. Still, seeing the lie right in front of him was a hard thing to face. It wasn’t something he was ever going to have in his life and it wasn’t something that he could allow himself to desire.
Her painting, though, spoke of her as a woman. It wasn’t a prop she had created to sell their story. It might be hanging on his wall to trick those around him into thinking he was engaged to an artist, but that wasn’t why it existed. She had painted it on her own, likely in preparation for the show. The boldness of the art made him even more curious about the woman who had painted it. He found himself envious of the way she could pour herself onto the canvas like that. Of course, when he got the job and they parted ways, she would take the painting back. His mind flashed to how the bare wall had looked before she placed it there and he was suddenly saddened. He pushed the thought away. It was just a passing fancy, he told himself. None of this was what he wanted. It was only temporary. What mattered was that she was going to help him get the job he deserved and he was going to help her achieve her dream of presenting her art in the show she deserved.
He had never cared much for art, but seeing the drive she had made him appreciate her commitment to it. In fact, every time he listened to her speak, he gained more and more respect for her.
“Are you staring at it to convince your boss that you’re thinking of me or do you actually like it?” came a sweet voice from the doorway.
“Sarah, is it one o’clock already?”
“It is. Are you busy? Should I come back later?”
They had planned this, of course. Everything between them was planned. She was here to bring him lunch and put on a show of being his caring partner for anyone who was watching them. It wasn’t just his boss who needed to be convinced. Office gossip was key to their plan. He needed everyone talking about what a lovely, accomplished fiancée he had. He had noticed a lot more people making excuses to come to his office, likely to see the picture of her sitting on his desk. He had overheard one of the paralegals telling his secretary that she couldn’t believe he had convinced a woman like that to marry him.
He wasn’t sure why it had surprised him. He had made a point of showing them nothing of his personal side. The fact that they didn’t understand how a beautiful and talented artist could have fallen in love with him was fair. Still, he didn’t care for the thought that people didn’t see how she could be with him. His mind told him that it was because it would make their lie harder to sell, but the ache in his chest hinted that it might be more.
“Are you sure that it’s a good time? You seem preoccupied. If you need to finish up some work, I can come back later.”
She was looking at him as though she really understood him. It felt good, better than he had ever thought such a thing would.
“No, this is the perfect time. Did people see you come in?”
She gave him a playful smirk as she entered the office and perched on his desk. Sarah leaned in as she whispered, “Yes, they’re still watching me. Half of your office is watching from down the hall. Do you think they believe we’re in love?”
“I hope so.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which question was that?”
He was surrounded by the sweet scent of lilacs from her perfume. His mind was a bit of a blur and he couldn’t remember what she had asked him.
“I asked you if you really liked my painting or if you were just staring at it to convince all of them that you liked it.”
“I do like it. In fact, I was thinking about how boring my office would look without it. Maybe when this is all over, I’ll buy it from you.”
Something about his words seemed to please her because her small, calculated smile gave way to a grin that spread across her whole face.
“If we make this whole thing work, I’ll give it to you as a gift to celebrate your promotion. That way, when you look at it you can remember how you got the job.” She giggled at the thought and his heart stopped in his chest. This was the kind of woman who was dangerous. She was the kind of woman who a man could easily lose his heart and his focus to – and he had no plans of losing either.
“It’ll be a nice daily reminder of what I had to go through to get the job, that’s for certain.”
“How are things going? Have we become the center of office gossip yet?” she teased. It felt so easy to chat with her. He couldn’t remember the last person who had made any attempt to tease him or draw him out of his shell.
“Well, nobody believes I could get someone like you to love me.”
She laughed out loud and smiled in a way that immediately put him at ease.
“That’s silly. You’re so handsome and successful, not to mention passionate. Any woman would be lucky to have you.”
“Apparently nobody here agrees.”
“Well, that is going to be a major problem for us then.”
“I think it’s only a problem for me. You don’t really need anyone to believe you are in love with me.”
“Listen, I agreed to this and when I do something, I do it well. I’m getting what I need out of our bargain. I want to make sure you do too.”
“Well, then what do you think we should do next? I’m not sure you dropping by with my lunch is going to win them over.”
“No, honestly it will probably only read as suspicious if they’re already doubting us. They don’t have any reason to be suspicious yet, but we nee
d to show them what you feel for me is the most important thing in your life. If we can do that, they won’t be able to doubt us. What is the actual most important thing in your life?”
“You already know the answer to that. My work. This job is the center of my life. Everything I do, I do for my career.”
“And everyone in this office knows that, don’t they?”
“Of course they do.”
He could tell that she was leading up to something, but he had no idea what. There was nothing that was going to convince anyone he worked with that something was more important to him, even his fiancée.
“I have an idea, but you’re going to hate it.”
“I can’t imagine anything you could come up with will be so terrible that I’ll hate it.”
“Well, I was planning to go to the botanical gardens for a little inspiration. You could cancel the rest of your day and come with me.”
“Out of the question. I’ve never missed a day of work. I won’t start now when I am so close to everything I’ve worked for.”
“That’s the point. These people have never seen you miss even an hour of work. If you were to suddenly tell your secretary to cancel everything on your calendar and walk out of here with me, they would have to start to believe you are serious about me. You wouldn’t skip work for just anything, even a 101-degree fever, I’m guessing.”
She was right about that. Even at his most miserable, he was in the office. Dylan had an image to uphold, after all. Now, though, there was another image he was trying to project. If he was going to convince the people he worked with that he was a man in love, he needed to start acting like it.
“Ok, I’ll do it.”
“Call your secretary and tell her to cancel everything on your calendar and to hold all your calls.”
“She might faint,” he chuckled as he picked up the phone.
“Well, then the gossip will really start!”
She laughed as he reached for the phone and did what she had asked of him. He felt like a teenager skipping class and it was liberating.
“Ok, so what now?”
“Now this is another part you’re probably going to hate.”
“It can’t be as bad as missing an afternoon of work.”
“To really sell the fact that you’re so in love with me that you’ve decided to blow off work, we’re going to have to have our hands all over each other on the way to the elevator. Can you do that?”
Considering how he had been thinking of kissing her non-stop since they had dinner that would be no hardship at all. In fact, it might make missing half a day of work worth it. Instead of reminding himself that it was all for show, he decided to let himself get carried away with her, if only for the afternoon.
“I think I can deal,” he teased.
“You better, because if we’re going to do this we need to make it believable.”
“I’ll follow your lead.”
“Good, let’s get started then.”
With that, she got up from his desk and took his hand. He let her lead him from the office and down the corridor towards the elevator. He knew that everyone they passed could see them through the glass walls. When they neared the middle of the hall, where the most people could see them, Sarah paused and turned to him.
As though impulsively, she threw her arms around his neck and went up on her toes to kiss him. Her hands caressed his arms before settling on his shoulders as she pulled herself closer to him. He followed her lead, letting his fingertips explore the small of her back as they kissed. It was intoxicating to hold her like this, not caring what anyone around them thought. He lost himself completely in the moment. He didn’t care about convincing his colleagues that they were in love. All he cared about was how it felt to hold her.
When they finally broke apart, she smiled up at him shyly with a blush. It was truly becoming on her delicate features. Wordlessly, she took his hand again and they walked the rest of the way to the elevators. As the doors began to close, she lunged for him again, her arms wrapping around his neck as she kissed him passionately. Instinctively, his hands went to the curve of her backside.
When the doors closed, he expected her to stop, but her hands went to his hair as their mouths remained linked together. It wasn’t until the elevator arrived at the lobby and the doors began to open that she stopped. He was sorely tempted to pull her back to him and continue the embrace. Kissing her wasn’t like kissing any other women from his past. It was electric and it felt as if his entire body merged with hers when their lips touched. If kissing Sarah was such a moving experience, he couldn’t help but think that making love to her might just kill him.
As they walked out of the front doors of the building, he caught sight of himself in the glass. His tie was crooked and his hair was an absolute mess. There was no denying he was a man who had spent the entire elevator ride tangled around a woman. Never before had he arrived at work with even a hair out of place. He tried to fix it, but the damage was already done.
She seemed to sense his concern and giggled beside him.
“The messed up hair is kind of the point, you know. Looking at you, anybody would know that you just went a few rounds with a woman who loves you.” She blushed as she spoke the words and turned away suddenly. “Or at the very least loves kissing you.”
It was surprisingly intriguing to think of having a woman in his life who loved kissing him.
“Well, if that display didn’t convince them, nothing will. Hell, it almost convinced me,” he admitted.
“Me too. You, sir, are an excellent kisser. Any woman would be lucky to have you as her fiancée. I think by now your entire building is talking about us and how I’m a bad influence on you.”
“Actually, they’re probably saying what a good influence you are. I’m not sure if you have ever noticed, but I can be a bit too serious and severe. I’m sure they all think I could benefit from having someone in my life who lets me relax.”
“Are they right?” she asked as she took his hand. He wasn’t sure why she did it. There was no longer an audience to impress. But it felt right and he was glad to feel her warm fingers wrapped around his.
“Probably, though I’d never admit that to any of them.”
“There’s nothing wrong with being single-minded. If they don’t know that, then none of them are fit to run this company. They need a leader who is as passionate about the work as you are.”
“That’s kind of you to say, but I can accept there are times where I could relax a bit and connect more with those around me. Until now, I just never considered it the appropriate thing to do. After all, they are my coworkers. They aren’t my friends.”
“Well they may not be your friends, but I think ‘appropriate’ went out the window a few minutes ago when they all watched us make out in the middle of the hallway.”
“You’re probably right. It still feels odd to think about letting my guard down with them. Some of them are my competition for this job.”
He looked up and saw Dalton Emerson watching him from his office door. That man had been waiting for years for him to make a mistake.
“It just sounds awful to spend so much time in a place where you have no friends or support network. That office must be a lonely place for you.”
He stopped walking as the impact of her words hit him. The way she understood him and saw right through him was astonishing. Maybe it was because she saw him with the eyes of an artist, but it was unnerving and exhilarating. If she was going to see right through him anyway, there was no reason to try and hide any part of himself or put up his usual business façade.
“So, what are we going to do now?” he asked, hoping to shift her focus away from him. It felt strange for him to defer to someone else, but he had decided earlier to let her lead and he was dutifully going to see that through.
“I was serious about going to the botanical garden. I like to go there when I need a little inspiration. The colors and textures of the plants usuall
y really help.”
“Ok, well I guess I will head home and use my office there to get a bit more work done.”
The thought of leaving her was disappointing. Dylan found himself completely at ease in her presence and, for once, he didn’t want to be alone for the day. Still, if she didn’t want him to go with her, he didn’t want to assume that he was welcome to barge in on her day.
“Or you could come with me. I know it isn’t a place you would typically go, but it’s beautiful and it’s a great place to spend an afternoon.”
Dylan could see by the look on her face that she was expecting him to say no and he was almost convinced that he saw a hint of disappointment in her eyes.
“Why not? I’ve lived in this city for ages and I’ve never gone. Besides, what if someone tomorrow asks me what I did on my afternoon off? It will be easier to tell them the truth.”
Her eyes lit up at his answer and she gently squeezed his hand.
“I love showing my favorite places off to people who have never been there before. It lets me see it for the first time again. I promise you won’t be disappointed.”
How could anyone spend time with a woman like her and be disappointed?
“Let’s go. I’ll drive.”
“Ok, does the car you brought tonight have a convertible top?”
“It does, but I don’t think I’ve ever put it down. It’s the newest model.”
“Well, today is the day, my dear,” she told him, smiling.
He took the longest route across the city with the top down. Seeing the wind play with her hair was a beautiful sight, but nothing compared to watching her as she explored the botanical garden. Sarah truly loved the place. He watched in awe as she rattled off the name of each plant and quickly sketched many of them in her artist’s notebook.
She soaked up the colors around her as she shared with him all of her favorite spots; a stone wall covered in ivy that she had been drawing since she was a girl, an old wooden bench where she had first learned to draw from her mother, and the even the lilac tree that inspired the perfume she often wore.