“But all your dresses are deal closers,” he said.
“Well, I wanted that one,” she huffed.
“Maybe it’s at the cleaners. Wear something else. If you want, I could pick out something for you,” Steven said with a smile. She looked at him and shook her head.
“I already know what you’re going to choose. You couldn’t be more predictable if you tried,” she said. He raised an eyebrow over the other and shook his head.
“And what could that be?” he asked. She frowned and picked out the blue peplum dress and smiled. “Well, that is just a coincidence. Maybe I was just feeling a little blue today.” She shook her head and he frowned. “That came out wrong,” he admitted.
“Yes, it did,” she scolded.
“But you look awesome in that. How about you just put that on and slip on those sexy nudies,” he said as he walked towards her. He slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to kiss her.
“It’s depressing that you actually know nude is not only a bodily state,” she laughed.
“Well, before I met you I had a lot of run-ins with models and socialites. At least some good came out of that,” he said. She raised an eyebrow and shook her head.
“I love how cute you are when you say all the wrong things,” she grinned. Steven smiled and kissed her again. “So, I’ll wear the blue dress if you want me to, but I have to pick out what you wear,” she winked. He smiled and shrugged and she pulled away from him and looked through the closet. “I’m thinking beige for today,” she said as she pulled out a beige suit.
“Alfani, good choice,” Steven admitted as he took the hanger from her. “Black shirt?”
“No tie,” she demanded as she pulled out a black shirt.
“No tie,” he agreed with a smile.
“And out on some briefs for God’s sake. Your junk is swinging all over this place,” she said as she put on her bra.
“Says the woman who had her breasts in my face just seconds ago,” he teased. She looked at him and frowned before she put on the dress.
“Zip me up,” she said, turning around. He walked up to her and pulled her zipper up and then pressed his crotch into her ass. “Really? This is why I wanted you to put on some pants in the first place.”
“Oh come on,” Steven said. She turned and looked at him.
“No, we’re already late. Having a quickie will make it even worse because someone doesn’t know the meaning of the word quickie,” she said before she gave him a quick kiss.
“Hey, don’t blame me for not having ED,” he said. She stopped in her tracks and looked at him. “Erectile dysfunction,” he added. She rolled her eyes at him.
“I know what ED means. I just can’t believe you went there. Breakfast in five,” she told him as she walked into the bathroom.
“Wouldn’t that statement make more sense if you were headed to the kitchen?” he asked.
“I have to finish doing my makeup and hair. And I already put the coffee on,” she said as she applied her makeup. She then straightened out her hair before she walked back into the bedroom and got some Summer by Kenzo on her wrists and neck. She picked up her shoes and then walked into the kitchen where Steven was waiting for her. She put on her shoes and walked towards him. “What’s the smile about?” she asked as she poured herself a cup of coffee.
“What’s the smile about? Have you seen yourself?” Steven asked. She smiled and looked down at her outfit. He was right. The dress was beautifully tight in all the right places and a real sight for sore eyes. She looked at him and tucked lock of her hair behind her ear.
“Well, you’re still not getting this,” she said as she sat down. “Thank God for bagels,” she sighed as she picked up a bagel and bit into one. She looked at him and sipped her coffee. “How does your day look?” she asked.
“Not as busy. Two meetings and then I’ll probably be home free,” Steven said.
“Awesome, because the client meet is the only thing I have today. So maybe we can have a movie night? It’s been a while,” she said.
“Sure. What do you want to watch? We can rent something,” he said. She frowned and shrugged. “What?”
“I want to do it old school. Go to the theatre, have some popcorn and take goofy pictures afterwards,” she suggested. “And maybe get some ice cream later,” she added. She looked at him and smiled.
“Really? What are we? In high school?” he asked.
“What babe? We’re both so engrossed with work lately, we barely get time for each other,” she explained. “I just don’t want to lose what we had when we first met. That’s how marriages fail, you know,” she added. Steven smiled.
“We’re not even married yet,” he answered.
“Yes, and already we rarely see each other. If you ask me that’s a red light alert. We need to make more time for each other,” she said. Steven shrugged and nodded.
“Whatever you want,” he said. She looked at him and shook her head.
“You have to want it too. It’s not all about me, remember?” she asked. He looked at her and smiled.
“Of course, sugar,” he grinned. She bit into her bagel again and then looked at her phone.
“Damn it,” she cursed. “I’m going to be late.”
“What time is your client meet?” Steven asked.
“Noon. I have to pass by the gallery and pick something for the new client. She has a thing for abstract art,” she said.
“What did you get her?” Steven asked.
“A painting by this college girl…she’s going places. I didn’t get it, but the guy at the gallery said it was divine,” she said. Steven smiled. “And for three thousand dollars it had better be,” she added. Steven raised an eyebrow and gave her a long low whistle.
“Three grand for something you don’t even understand?” he asked. She looked at him and shook her head.
“Your family home has a piece of quote unquote art that cost more than my house,” she said. Steven smiled.
“Actually…” he started before she put her hand up.
“Actually you have like a million paintings each worth tens of thousands of dollars,” she argued smiling. “And there’s this,” she said as she raised her hand at him showing him the ring on her finger.
“You don’t have to show me that. I know exactly what it’s worth,” Steven said.
“My case exactly,” she winked as she took one last sip and got off the high school. She looked at him as he laughed.
“Do I hear someone complaining that her rock is too big?” he asked. She looked at him and shook her head and then leaned over to kiss him softly.
“I was simply making a point,” she stated. “And the day I make that complaint heard, shoot me between the eyes, but keep the ring and give it to my dad,” she added as she walked into the living room and grabbed her bag. Steven walked out of the kitchen and looked at her.
“So, what time is our movie date?” he asked.
“How’s seven? We can do the classic dinner and a movie,” she suggested. He walked over to where she was and slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close to him.
“Look at you being so romantic,” he said before he kissed her long and deep. When he pulled away, her toes were tingling. She looked into his eyes and smiled.
“Wow,” she said in a low voice.
“I know,” he replied as he slid a hand down to cup her ass. She smiled and shook her head.
“No,” she argued as she pulled away. She kissed his cheek and grabbed her keys. “Got to run.”
“Babe, come on,” he pleaded. She looked at him and shook her head.
“No, you have suddenly become a nympho,” she said with a smile.
“Is that such a bad thing?” he asked. She looked at him and shrugged.
“So, what? I just walk over and you bend me over the couch because I don’t want to take off this dress,” she said matter of factly. She noticed his face light up.
“That works…totally works wi
th me,” he laughed nodding. She laughed back and shook her head and then began heading for the door. “Really? Babe! Why?” he asked as she got out. He shook his head and sat back and then looked at his already growing hard on. “What am I supposed to do with this now?” he wondered as he sat there. He didn’t have to leave for work for another hour. Well, maybe he could take things into his own hands…
***********************************************************
When Julie got to the gallery, she walked to the attendant with a smile.
“Please tell me the…thing…is still here,” she cried. The man smiled at her and shook his head.
“Are you still calling it a thing? I thought you would have gotten used to the fact that this is actually a rare piece of art,” he said as he got behind the counter and walked into the store room. He came back carrying what Julie would have classified as a pointless piece of junk. “Here you are,” the attendant said as he packaged it. “I’m guessing you have no kind of art at your place, yeah?” he asked as he sealed up the box. Julie shrugged and shook her head.
“If I want to see something beautiful, I can always Google,” she said. The attendant faked a dramatic sigh.
“If Monet was here, you’d get a smacking,” he teased. Julie laughed.
“Okay, I’m not all that bad, I have a few paintings,” she said. The attendant looked up at her and smiled.
“If I was to guess, they were picked out for you by someone who obviously has an appreciation for the arts,” he said. Julie shrugged and nodded. “Some people are so predictable,” he muttered under his breath. Julie wagged a warning finger at him.
“I heard that,” she said. She looked at the box and shrugged. “I see the beauty in it, but I just don’t get why it has to be so damn expensive.”
“Good and perfect is sometimes a little more pricey than alright,” he commented.
“And how do I know this isn’t just alright? I mean how can I tell that this is more than the simple perky piece of wood…or ceramic…what the hell is this?” she asked looking at the photo of the sculpture.
“Black marble,” he corrected.
“Okay, how do I know that this black marble is actually good and perfect and not just alright?” she asked. The attendant smiled.
“Oh, that’s easy. This is one hundred percent marble sitting on a perfect silver base. Not silver coated, I mean pure silver,” he explained. Julie was still confused. According to the limited information she had concerning art, every artist was out to show something in their work. It was some kind of out. Some people had their writing, others had their journals and others had their marbles on silver. She smiled to herself when the words ‘marbles on silver’ crossed her mind. It sounded more dirty than genuine.
“It’s all in the message really,” the attendant continued, snapping Julie back to reality. He had been talking all this time and she was simply too lost in her own world to notice.
“What is the artist looking to show here anyway?” she asked.
“Well, how do I explain this?” the attendant said as he scratched his chin artistically, or so Julie thought. “The work is a unique representation of the impeccable poise between positive and negative, the whole point being to seek out the blur between nature and structure,” he described. Julie raised an eyebrow at him and shook her head. Basically, everything he had just said had simply flown over her head. He was not making any sense. At least not to her. She shook her head. “What I mean to say is that the artist is blending the very emotion he feels in the form and allowing the work to evolve seeking its capacity to change.”
“Change? Change what? Some poor guy’s bank account?” Julie thought as she looked at the attendant hoping to God that he was not seeing through her feigned interest. “Wow,” she murmured when the attendant finally stopped talking. “That’s really something.”
“I know, right?” he said with a smile. “Especially the way he follows a post-minimal synthesis of expressionist gesture…it is actually just beautiful,” he added. He looked up and smiled. “I would love to be the one getting this…honestly, I’m jealous,” he admitted as he handed the box to Julie who smiled.
“Well, I hope she gets half as excited as you are,” she laughed.
“Tell me how it goes,” he said as Julie handed him her card.
“The company had better refund this,” she thought as she watched the attendant charge twelve thousand dollars to her card. “I most definitely will,” she muttered before she walked out to her car with the box. She took a long deep breath as she put it in the back seat. She was glad to get away from all the artsy talk, God knows she didn’t need it. “I hope I remember all the artsy talk,” she thought as she started the car. When she got to the office building, she closed her eyes and looked at the box through her rear view mirror. “The things I do for clients….it’s a good thing all the commissions are worth it,” she thought as she got out of the car. She carried the box into the elevator and then took another long deep breath. She would have given anything at that moment to be back in bed with Steven. The quickie he had wanted didn’t look so bad at this moment, of course, compared to all the weird fake ass artistic talk that was waiting for her.
As she walked out of the elevator, she was trying to recall what the gallery attendant had said about the sculpture. Something about poise feeling the balance between good and bad and feeling the form in the change…wait, what? That didn’t even sound right.
“Great. I should have recorded all that crap,” she thought as she walked into the hallway. She stopped in her tracks when she saw the entire office was empty. “What the hell? Did I come to work on a weekend or a public holiday or something?” She slowly made her way to the office main area where she caught a whiff of what was going on. She walked on and heard a loud ‘SURPRISE!’ from so many voices she almost dropped the sculpture. She stood rooted to the spot as balloons fell over her head and confetti flew all around her. She looked around and locked eyes with Meg and Dana. They must have been behind this whole thing.
“What is going on here?” she asked as Dana walked towards her.
“This is your engagement party since it is so obvious that you were not going to have it,” she shrieked as she hugged Julie.
“I would hug you back, but…” she stammered as the box between them stood as a barrier. “And I am not big on engagement parties. Why have them if you’re going to have the wedding anyway?” she asked. This time, Meg had her arms around her. The music was already on and it was almost like this was some club and not a realty. “So, the meeting…” Julie started saying as she looked around.
“Oh, that was a ruse just to get you here on time. The real meeting is tomorrow morning,” Dana said. Julie raised an eyebrow.
“Are you telling me that I had to sit through some guy talk about some art being balanced yet I could have sent Andy? Really, Dana?” Julie asked. Meg put an arm around her shoulders and smiled.
“Come on, it’s your party. Go ahead and have some cake,” she ordered as she led Julie to the refreshments table. She poured Julie some punch and she was just serving her cake when Julie felt the color drain from her face. “Here, we got red velvet. Your favorite,” Meg said as she handed her the cake.
“Tell me you didn’t do that,” Julie groaned in a low voice. Meg looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
“Do what?” she asked.
“Invite him,” Julie hissed, still whispering but even in the party’s noise she was audible.
“Invite who?” Meg asked, looking at Julie.
“Evan,” Julie replied, looking at her ex-boyfriend freely mingling in the crowd.
Chapter Three
Julie’s heart was beating hard in her chest as she looked at Evan Lockwood. He had once made her feel like she was on top of the world, but seeing him here, now, she was not sure that she wanted anything to do with him. She looked at Meg, who had a confused look in her eyes.
“Who the hell is Evan?” she questioned.
Julie looked at her.
“Evan? Evan Lockwood…my ex,” she snapped. Meg’s jaw almost dropped.
“This just got interesting,” she winked. Julie slapped her arm. “Ow…I’m just saying that things might turn around for you.”
“Turn around? Like what? I might decide not to marry Steven and run to my ex? The same man who played me like a fiddle?” Julie argued. Meg shook her head.
“Remember how I’m always saying that your life could use a little more color?”
“I think my life has plenty of color thank you very much,” Julie protested, rolling her eyes. “What could he possibly want here?”
“Well, you are a real estate agent. Maybe he’s out looking for some good deals in the market,” Meg reasoned. By this time, Evan was slowly walking towards them. “Listen, have some cake. And obviously he’s coming here. Play it cool. He probably just wants a house,” she added before walking away. When she walked past Evan, she turned around and smiled at Julie who was now just standing like a zombie holding some punch in one hand and cake in the other.
“I hear congratulations are in order,” he offered when he got to where Julie was.
“Evan,” she replied.
“Julie,” he grinned as he looked down at her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked as she looked at him.
“A hello would be good…at least appreciated,” Julie forced a smile and nodded.
“Hi Evan. What are you doing here and in my place of work no less?” she asked sarcastically Evan looked around briefly.
“Can we talk in private?” he asked. She rolled her eyes and then shrugged.
“Fine. We can talk in my office,” she snapped as she led him through the crowd and to the more quiet office area behind. They were quiet as they walked into her office. “So, what is the big idea, Evan? How come you decided to crash my engagement party?” she asked as she sat down in her chair. Evan sat across from her and looked at her.
“I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just going to say it,” he started.
“I would rather if you just did actually,” she demanded as she looked at him. She was tracing her index finger in the rim of her glass. She watched as he reached for his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and pointed to a picture of a baby.
A Billionaire BWWM Romance 5: The Other Man Page 2