Ed straightened up and took one look at her, “What the f—Zee, you can’t be back here.”
“I’ve had it! You’re going to listen to me if I have to scream my head off in front of all your friends. Maybe then you’ll finally hear me!”
Ed stripped gloves from his hands, grabbed her arm and yanked her through the side door. The heavy metal door slammed behind them, silencing the din of pneumatic tools.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Yes, and it’s your fault!”
“What are you screeching about?”
“I know you’ve been stalking me. You’ve been tampering with my car. You slashed my tires! Don’t try to deny it, I know it’s you!”
“You don’t know anything.” He brushed nonexistent dust off his overalls. How did he stay so clean?
“I’m going to call the police, Ed.”
“And tell them what? That you bought a cheap alarm that doesn’t work for shit?”
“So you admit it.”
“I don’t admit nothin’. You got no proof. You got no witnesses. You got nada. If you did, you wouldn’t be here.”
“What do you want from me, Ed? Seriously. What? You can’t think for one minute I’d agree to get back with you. So what? Are you trying to punish me? Are you trying to hurt me? Are you trying to come between Jagger and me? What is it?”
“Do you think I give a rat’s ass about you and that foreigner?” Ed sneered. “I got better things to do than stand around and watch you act like a slut.”
“I’m not a slut.”
“No? Coulda fooled me. But I’m not worried. I give it another week and then Mr. Down Under’s gonna figure out how useless you are in bed.
Zee spoke through clenched teeth. “I’ve upgrading my car alarm, Ed, and I’m warning you. I’m going to the police. You stop following me, you stop watching me, you stop touching my car or I swear I’ll have you arrested.”
“Arrested. Ha. For what? Being stupid enough to date you?”
“I’ll tell them you forced me to have sex with you.” As the words stumbled out of her mouth, she felt the color drain from her face. Where had this blind bravado come from? “After all, who would believe I would ever sleep with you willingly?”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You wouldn’t dare. You don’t know who you’re dealing with, bitch.” He spit the last word at her feet.
She didn’t flinch. “I know exactly who I’m dealing with, and if I have to crawl around in the muck with you to get rid of you once and for all, then that’s exactly what I’ll do. Stay away from me. Stay away from my car. Or I’ll make you sorry you ever met me.”
“I’m already sorry.”
“Good. Then you won’t have any problem leaving me alone.”
Zee pushed past him and swallowed the bile that rose in the back of her throat. Ed screamed at her back. “With pleasure! I wouldn’t take you back if you were the last woman on the face of the planet. Warn kangaroo boy to watch out for the deep freeze between your thighs. He just may lose his dick to frost bite!”
Her body shook violently as she got back in her car. Two blocks away, Zee pulled over and ran into the bushes to be ill.
Days passed and not a peep or siren scream from George. Jagger added six more sensors to the alarm system and increased the sensitivity level. He’s not getting near your car now. Had Ed actually gotten the message? She still couldn’t believe she stooped to his level. Nana kept telling her how proud she was of her for sticking up for herself.
Jagger wasn’t so pleased. “What! You went to see Ed alone? I thought we agreed?” He crossed his arms and knit his eyebrows together. No, he was not happy. He didn’t say anything.
“Please don’t be upset. I-I’d just had it. I went to his work. There were people around, so don’t worry, I wasn’t alone with him. I told him I knew he was the one to slash my tires and all the rest, and I would go to the police if he didn’t stop. He denied everything, just like you said he would, but I had to do something.”
Jagger’s eyes were dark.
“Say something. I know you’re upset I went without you. I just envisioned fists flying. This is my battle. It was time for me to stand up for myself, don’t you think? I said what I had to say, and I really think he heard me, Jagger. He was furious.” She wouldn’t tell Jagger all the ugly things Ed said. “But I made it very clear that I was not going to put up with any more of his…his…” The muscle in Jagger’s jaw pulsed. “Please say something.”
“I still don’t trust him.”
“You upgraded the alarm.” Zee slipped an arm around his neck. “George has more security than the Hope Diamond. He’s getting quite cocky.”
“I know someone else who’s getting too big for their britches.” Jagger pushed a hand down the back of her pants to grasp the curve of her behind.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Jagger pulled into the school’s parking lot. He shouldn’t bother her. She was working hard to get everything ready for her big gallery show. He admired her dedication. He admired a great many things about her. That was the problem. Jagger was so busy admiring her and desiring her, trying to protect her, he was finding it difficult to think about anything else but her.
Since her meeting with Daniel Bruce, Zee had booked more and more studio time. Jagger didn’t like the idea of her alone at the school, however. Zeigler had been quiet, but Jagger still didn’t trust the wanker, even though Zee seemed to believe her talk with him had fixed things.
The truth of it was, he just needed to see her. So he buggered off an afternoon of estate work to come back. Maybe he could convince her to finish up early and enjoy this beautiful warm day. Between Ed and the stress of the show, Zee could use an afternoon of fresh air. They could take a blanket down to the lake and soak up some sun…and each other. Another afternoon making love to Zee would certainly ease his stress.
The door to the studio stood ajar. An open window made for a sweet breeze blowing through. Today, Zee was working on one of his poses. A clean shot of his back as he perched on a stool. It was a casual pose yet Zee had captured the play of the muscles of his shoulders and the gentle bend of his spine. Nice.
Jagger waited until she pulled her brush away from the canvas. “Hey there, beautiful.”
“Jagger?” Zee twisted to see him. “I thought you were working this afternoon?”
“I was.” Jagger moved to her and gave her a warm kiss. “I bagged it. I’d much rather spend the day with you.” He kissed her again trying to pull her close without plastering the front of him with a loaded palette. Jagger pulled back and fiddled with a shiny curl at her cheek. “What do you say? It’s bloody gorgeous outside. You. Me. The lake. We could feed the ducks. Lie in the sun. In Australia, we’d call this POETS day.”
“Poet’s day?”
“Yep, stands for Piss Off Early Tomorrow’s Saturday!”
Zee laughed. “That sounds very tempting.” She put down her palette and dropped her brush in the cleaner jar.
“But?”
“I still have hours of work to finish. Maybe after…” She leaned in and kissed him. The kiss began as a sweet peck, but when Zee ran her hand under his hair to caress his neck, and slipped the tip of her tongue into his mouth, Jagger released a groan from deep in his throat. All the time he’d spent with her hadn’t cooled him off one bit. Zee could still make him hotter than Christmas in the Outback.
“I don’t think I can wait ’til after,” Jagger moaned and used his foot to close the door. “Come here.”
“Jagger…” Zee sighed into his mouth. He was kissing her, unzipping her sweatshirt, and sweeping his hands under the hem of her tee-shirt to splay his fingers across her bare back. She shivered with excitement. “You’re crazy.”
“I know. I can’t get enough of you.”
Zee moved them into the back corner of the room where shelves of artist props were stored. Her sweatshirt dropped to the floor and Jagger pressed her against the wall littered with taped department notices and
flyers. Sliding his hand forward, he cupped a butter soft breast, lifted her shirt and dipped his head to take a sip.
“Ah!” Zee gasped as she held fast to a handful of his hair. “I can’t think… We can’t.” He slipped a hand into the waistband of her jeans. “Oh God.” The top button on her jeans slipped from the buttonhole. “Someone might catch us. We shouldn’t.”
Jagger pulled back and smiled at her. He plucked one of the papers off the wall next to her head and held it up. LIVE MODEL—PLEASE KEEP DOOR SHUT. He posted the notice on the outside of the door and was half naked before he once again pinned Zee to the wall with a heated kiss.
Shirt lifted, her breasts pressed into his chest. As he slipped her jeans over the sweet curve of her bottom, Jagger caught their reflection in one of the mirrors used by the artists for self-portraits. Both half naked, locked in an embrace, they were the very image of passion.
“Look at you. You’re so beautiful and sexy.” She stilled in his arms as she looked at their reflection. Jagger nuzzled her temple. “Do you see why I can’t think of anything but touching you, tasting you?” He kissed the length of sensitive skin beneath Zee’s ear. She tipped her head, watching him in the mirror.
He felt her tremble in his arms. “Mmmmm,” she sighed. He nipped at her earlobe while kicking off his jeans. “God, I want you.”
Jagger held up one finger to her fearing that given the two seconds it would take to retrieve a condom, she would change her mind. But Zee slipped out of her top and tossed it over her shoulder. Her jeans hung off the seductive curve of one hip. “Bloody hell, woman.” He ripped the condom pack open with his teeth.
A knock sounded at the door, and Jagger felt the cold-water panic of being caught with his pants down. Down? Hell, off! “Bugga!” He tossed Zee her sweatshirt from the floor. She clutched it to her chest as the color drained from her face and her mouth dropped open. Her eyes were wide and round as his mum’s dinner plates.
Jagger leapt to the nearest stool and sat with his back to the door. Assuming the pose Zee was painting, he tried to shift his wanger into reverse and keep his heart in his chest.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but—” Madeline poked her head around the edge of the door. “Jagger? I wasn’t aware you were scheduled for more time.”
He looked over his shoulder at her. “Madeline, come on in. Join the party.”
“Isn’t Zee in this studio today?”
“She’s lost in the prop corner. What do you think? I don’t need a silly prop, do I?”
Zee appeared. Two spots of color flared on pale cheeks and her sweatshirt was zippered tight to her chin. She used her tee-shirt like a dust rag on a lifelike model of a human skull. “It’s not silly. It’s a classic Macbeth pose. Just let me see how it looks.” Zee handed Jagger the skull and glared at him. He winked at her.
“What’s up, Madeline?”
“Um, nothing.” She watched Zee pull a fresh canvas. “I saw the model note on the door, and I knew I hadn’t scheduled anyone. Jagger’s not on the school’s clock, you do know that.”
“Of course, I hired him. I, ah, had some ideas I wanted to play around with. And,” Zee gestured to him,“he needed the extra work. So…”
“No, that’s fine. This is personal studio time, and you can use that however you wish, I just wanted to make sure the school wasn’t paying for something it shouldn’t.”
“Oh, no. Nothing like that.” Zee used her shirt to wipe at a brush and glared at him.
“Okay then. I’ll let you get back to it.”
Jagger winked at Zee again. “So long, Maddie. Are you done for the day? Looks like it’s gonna be a cocker of an afternoon out there.”
“Yes. I’ve got a bit of spring fever. I’m going to take some work home with me and reeducate myself with the joys of my side porch.
“Sounds like a plan. Can’t convince the artist here to bugger off for the day. Oh well, no rest for the wicked, right Zee?”
“Well, you two have fun.”
As the door closed behind Madeline, Zee dropped her head into her hand. Jagger started to laugh and Zee threw her ruined shirt at him. Color flooded her face. “You think this is funny?”
“Bloody freakin’ hell.” He roared with laughter. “If you could have seen your face! Eyes big as plates!” Jagger stood and faced her. “Whew, man that was close. I didn’t think I could move that fast. I’ve had close calls before, but—”
“Why didn’t you lock the door? If she had come in two minutes later? I…we…”
“Another minute, darlin’, I wouldn’t have heard her come in! But no harm, no foul.”
“No harm, no foul? Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what would have happened if she had caught us? I would have been expelled. Lost my scholarship. The show, forget the fellowship. I could have lost it all!”
“Hey, it’s okay. She didn’t catch us. And she did say you could use private studio time however you wished.” He wiggled his eyebrows and reached for her again, but she backed away.
“She didn’t mean it was okay to do the horizontal mambo in the prop room.”
“If I recall, we weren’t getting horizontal.” Zee looked like she was going to cry or scream or both. He stopped joking. “Hey, it’s okay. Calm down. Everything is fine.”
“No, everything is not fine.” She ran her gaze down his body. “I can’t think when you’re… Could you please put your pants on?” She dropped into a chair.
Jagger slipped into his jeans and crouched before her. He took her hands in his. They were cold. “It’s all good, lovey. Don’t worry. You’re fine.”
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“Great. I’ll help you pack up your stuff.”
“No.” She lifted her eyes to his. “I don’t mean this.” Her hand swept the room. “I mean this. Us.” She jerked her hand back and forth between them. “What was I thinking? Everything happened so fast. I kiss you and it’s like a wildfire. I lose my mind. I get swept away.” She shook her head. “I thought I could handle this. I thought I could be like you. Uninhibited. Wild. I thought I could be the woman you wanted me to be, but I can’t. I’m not. We… This has to stop.” Zee put her face in her hands.
“You don’t mean that.” Jagger tried to gather her closer, but she resisted. “You’re just freaked. Totally understandable. ”
“No, it’s not just Madeline coming in. It’s you. It’s me. It’s everything. I’m losing perspective, Jagger. I’m losing my focus. My life has to be about the work right now. Do you know how long I’ve worked for this? How many years I’ve dreamed of an opportunity like this?” She lifted her eyes to his. “And then I look at you. I forget all of it. All I can think of is being with you and kissing you. I’ve never acted like this before. I-I’m not that girl.” She pointed back to the prop corner. “That girl in the mirror. I’m not her. I don’t even know who she is.” Zee moved to touch his arm, but pulled back. “I can’t think when I’m close to you. You kiss me, and I get lost.” She stood up and moved away from him. “You’re used to woman tossing their bras at you and doing you on a park bench. You’re the most open person I’ve ever met. I wished I could be as free as you. But, I’m not. This is too much for me. Being with you has been the most amazing, wonderful thing, but…”
“Whoa. Stop.” He stood and moved toward her. Even that little distance between them felt like it was growing into the Grand Canyon. She was scaring him. He couldn’t lose her. Not now. Not yet. He wasn’t ready to let go of what they had. “I don’t want you to be anyone other than who you are. I’m not asking for anything more than that. Remember. No promises. I’d never get in the way of your work. Ever. I didn’t come here to seduce you, I swear. Your work comes first. I get that. But don’t push me away.”
Zee wouldn’t look at him. “I’ve never known anyone like you, Zee.” He took her arm and led her back and turned her toward the mirror. Jagger stood behind her and their eyes met in their reflection. “This is you. This is who I want. I
don’t know what you see when you look in this mirror, but I see an incredibly talented, sensitive, amazing woman.” He started to unzip her sweatshirt until her hand stopped him. “I see a sexy woman who doesn’t know how incredibly hot she is.” He eased his hand passed the zipper of her shirt and caressed the softness there.
“Jagger…”
“Look at your face. Watch how your eyes change. See how your lips part when you pull in a breath. This is what I see. This is the woman I want.” He kissed her neck. “You’re not lost, Zee. You’re right here with me. Feeling me touch you, kiss you,” he whispered in her ear, “wanting you, just you.”
Jagger turned Zee in his arms and tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “This is new for me, too. And, sweetheart, there are moments when all this scares the hell out of me. But I’m not ready to give up. Not when being with you makes me feel this good. I don’t want to lose you. I just want to be with you.” He couldn’t read her expression. Was she really going to end this? The thread of fear he felt and the heavy drop of his heart surprised him. He wasn’t ready to be done. She had come to mean too much. Laying a kiss on her mouth he pulled the zipper closed. “I’m gonna leave you to your paints. But I’m coming back in two hours. Maybe I can sweet talk you into watching the sunset at the lake?”
“I don’t think so. I…”
Her words were like cold fingers reaching into his chest. Even the warm breeze coming through the window couldn’t banish the sudden chill in the room. Zee eyes begged his forgiveness. Jagger held up a hand. “I understand.” Anything else he could think to say turned to dust in his mouth. “I’ll leave you alone.” He picked up his shirt. Maybe if he gave her some space, gave her some time. A day, or two. A week…
“I was thinking maybe we could just meet at my place. You like the sunsets from my roof. It’s more private. Or, we could meet back to your place.” She shrugged one beautiful shoulder. “I’m not a big fan of ducks.”
Relief shot through him. He took her in his arms and crushed her lips beneath his. “Then to hell with the damn ducks.”
Picture Me Naked (Stoddard Art School Series) Page 19