by T Gephart
“The first thing that needs repairing is the elevator.” Eve’s heels echoed off the stairs. “And I should wear flats whenever going above the third floor.”
“Do you want me to carry you?” I offered, only half joking. “Come on, one more flight.”
“You know if you haul me on that big body of yours we’ll end up having sex.” Eve laughed, her feet continuing to move. “And my parents are going to be here soon.”
I’d had a chance to meet Eve’s folks a couple of weeks ago. We’d gone to Connecticut and had dinner with them and we’d all gotten along surprisingly well. Despite her parents having the wealth to rival a small country, they were awesome and down to earth.
Her dad had wanted to hear all about the shop. It seemed that business was business, and he respected anyone who worked hard. That I was self-made—got me extra points.
And Eve’s mom was amazing. Super nice, and made a point of telling me how thrilled she was for both of us. She asked a lot of questions, but seemed genuinely interested in my answers, which was a nice change. Parents weren’t always so thrilled when their daughter brought me home. Mr. and Mrs. Thorton, couldn’t have been more welcoming.
And while initially the money had freaked me out a little, I realized how moronic I was being. My stupid hang up was basically bullshit, the idea of my girlfriend having more money than me meaning absolutely nothing.
“Okay, we’re here.” We paused in front of the door of the biggest suite in the place. Eve was going to eventually turn the whole top floor into a residence but for now was using it as an office.
“My office?” She looked at my hand on the door handle.
“It’s inside, silly.” I twisted the knob and pushed open the door.
It was dark inside so I hit the switch, light flooding the floor and the previously blank wall that now wasn’t so blank.
“Josh.” Eve gasped, the sketch I’d been working on now framed and hung on the wall. “Oh my God. It’s beautiful.”
“Just like the person who inspired it.” I wrapped my arms around her, pressing her back against my chest. “And that sketch doesn’t even come close to how amazing you are.”
“The detail in this is amazing.” She walked closer, her hand hovering over the glass from the frame. “It looks like a photo.”
“This tattoo artist from Queens did it, I hear he’s pretty good,” I whispered against her ear.
“Oh yeah?” She laughed, the sound of it filling the room with the most amazing sound in the whole world. “I’ve heard that rumor too.”
“Have you heard the other one about him?” I gripped her tighter, my lips skating against her neck.
“What would that be?” Her hands moved against my arms.
“That he is crazy in love with his girlfriend and wants her to move in with him.”
“What?” She spun around, our little game of talking in the third person obviously over. “What did you say?”
“I know your place is bigger, and has a doorman and is like five thousand times nicer. And if you would rather move there, I will follow you in a heartbeat. But since we both work on this side of town, I figured it made sense to live in mine. It’s your choice, Eve, but I want us to live together.”
Having two places was ridiculous; it was a rare night we didn’t spend together. And with almost all of her cash now tied up in the business, it made economic sense to downsize and consolidate. But even with all those practical reasons, there was only one I cared about.
I was selfish and I wanted her with me.
Every night and every morning.
“Yes!” she squealed, pulling me in closer, her eyes gleaming with the soft shine of happy tears. “Yes to anything you are ever going to ask me.”
We barely got time to kiss when my phone buzzed. Heather had sent a text notifying us that our presence was required downstairs.
I linked my fingers with Eve, unable to wipe the grin from my face as we returned to the group. While the doors hadn’t officially opened, there had been some VIPs who were making their way in.
“Where have you been?” Heather grabbed Eve’s arm the minute we’d reentered the group floor. “Someone has made an offer.”
Eve looked at me before turning back to Heather. “What are you talking about? Bidding doesn’t start for another hour.”
“Yeah, well the buyer doesn’t give a shit.” Heather seemed to be struggling at keeping her voice low. “He offered twenty thousand dollars.”
Eve tightened her grip on my hand as her eyes widened. “Are you shitting me? Twenty grand for one watercolor? Which one?”
I had a hunch I already knew, but the minute Heather’s lips started moving it was confirmed.
“Train Wreck.”
While it was hard not to love every single one, we both shared a favorite.
It was one of the larger canvases, the focus on two trains colliding head-on with the cars derailing into a sea of color. It was loud and chaotic but incredibly beautiful.
And its significance multi layered.
Obviously partly representing us, and our own collision. But also how she’d drowned out the noise, and found beauty in her personal disaster.
“It’s not for sale.” Eve had gotten the words out just before I had.
If I had to cough up the twenty K myself to keep that one piece, I would.
“Are you insane?” Heather looked at both of us. “Twenty. Thousand. Dollars,” she repeated, like we hadn’t heard her the first time.
Ordinarily, cash like that would have been pocket change for Eve, but all that had changed with the gallery. And twenty grand would have given her a hell of a lot of breathing room.
“I know, and it’s the one piece that isn’t for sale.” Eve’s eyes stayed on me even though she was answering Heather.
“Fine.” Heather dropped her arms dramatically. “I can’t work with crazy. But you might want to consider opening up bids sooner than later, there are people circling those canvases like piranhas. And the writer from The Times is about to blow his load over Water Lily.”
I pulled Eve into my arms, planting my lips on her mouth. We’d get to the crowd in a minute, but not before I demonstrated how incredibly proud I was.
“Wasn’t he the one who said you had no passion, no emotion and originality?” I pulled my mouth away from hers.
“Yep.” She grinned, every part of her positively beaming. “Come on, let’s go out there. I’m going to enjoy this.”
THE END
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Special thanks to Gep, Jenna, Liam and Woodley—so much love for you all. So. Much. Love.
Thank you to my amazing family and friends, most who have been ignored the last few months. Forgive me, I’m sorry and I love you. All catch up dates will be redeemed soon, I promise.
To MK #EverTheRomantic and Danielle #Weird #BurrowFurrow. You guys rock my world.
Thank you all the amazing authors I get to hang out with either online, in between the pages, or in person. I will find you and I will HUG you.
Hang Le—THIS COVER. I CAN’T EVEN. A million thank you’s and ninja hugs.
A HUGE thanks to all the bloggers and blogs who have, and continue to support me. I have so much love and appreciation for all of you. I try to make sure I comment and like all the posts and shout outs but I know I miss some. I beg forgiveness. I am incredibly thankful for all of you who share my covers, releases, sales.
Thanks to the T Gephart Entourage.
Thank you to my editor, Nichole Strauss, from Insight Editing Services. I was all panic station with date changes and you were like, “I’ve got you.” Hugs, I worship at your feet.
Thank you to my proofreaders, Rachael B. and Rosa.
Massive thanks to Christine Borgford from Type A Formatting. You are a goddess, my books are stunning and you are a dream to work with.
And as always, thank you to all my rea
ders. You allow me to keep doing this.
THANK YOU.
T Gephart is an indie author from Melbourne, Australia.
T’s approach to life has been somewhat unconventional. Rather than going to University, she jumped on a plane to Los Angeles, USA in search of adventure. While this first trip left her somewhat underwhelmed and largely depleted of funds it fueled her appetite for travel and life experience.
With a rather eclectic resume, which reads more like the fiction she writes than an actual employment history, T struggled to find her niche in the world.
While on a subsequent trip the United States in 1999, T met and married her husband. Their whirlwind courtship and interesting impromptu convenience store wedding set the tone for their life together, which is anything but ordinary. They have lived in Louisiana, Guam and Australia and have traveled extensively throughout the US. T has two beautiful young children and one four legged child, Woodley, the wonder dog.
An avid reader, T became increasingly frustrated by the lack of strong female characters in the books she was reading. She wanted to read about a woman she could identify with, someone strong, independent and confident and who didn’t lack femininity. Out of this need, she decided to pen her first book, A Twist of Fate. T set herself the challenge to write something that was interesting, compelling and yet easy enough to read that was still enjoyable. Pulling from her own past “colorful” experiences and the amazing personalities she has surrounded herself with, she had no shortage of inspiration. With a strong slant on erotic fiction, her core characters are empowered women who don’t have to sacrifice their femininity. She enjoyed the process so much that when it was over she couldn’t let it go.
T loves to travel, laugh and surround herself with colorful characters. This inevitably spills into her writing and makes for an interesting journey—she is well and truly enjoying the ride!
Based on her life experiences, T has plenty of material for her books and has a wealth of ideas to keep you all enthralled.
Connect with T
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The Lexi Series
Lexi
A Twist of Fate
Twisted Views: Fate’s Companion
A Leap of Faith
A Time for Hope
The Power Station Series
High Strung
Crash Ride
Back Stage
The Black Addiction Series
Slide
Sticks
Stand
#1 Series
#1 Crush
#1 Player
Standalones
The Fall
Train Wreck