Isabel, self-aware social media addict that she was gasped in mock horror.
“I’d rather be sent to debtor’s prison.” Shaking her head, she added, “Though it’s not like I have a boyfriend to keep track of anymore. Did I tell you about the cop?”
“No, last I heard, you were seeing the pharmacist.”
“Oh, yeah, he decided he’d rather be seeing the florist next door. I’m kind of relieved I didn’t have to break things off with him myself - he was trying to grow out a beard, and I didn’t have it in me to tell him how much I hated it.”
“And the cop?” Tess was far too used to Isabel’s blasé breakup stories. Iz was a romantic at heart, but it took someone really special to get beyond a few dates with her. She had remarkably high standards and a very low tolerance for anything less than total honesty. Her bullshit detector was fine-tuned to weed out false bravado and fake chivalry; Tess had always been awed by her knack for attracting just that, though.
“He was great until he told me he loved me on the fourth date.”
“Oh no. Did he mean it?”
“I think so - that’s the worst part. But I digress. I want to hear about you, and Spain, and everyone you’ve kissed since you left.”
“I’m fine, Spain was lovely, and there was only one kiss worth mentioning. He was German, traveling Spain, and the only language we had in common was French,” Tess listed off.
“You hate French, Tess,” Isabel laughed.
“I’m awful at it, too, but we didn’t really need to talk all that much,” Tess admitted. “He was a great kisser. There wasn’t much else that I needed to know.”
Isabel sighed dreamily. “There’s something about a language barrier that makes a fling that much more intriguing. But that’s fine, I have something more urgent to talk to you about.”
Tess leaned in, sipping her drink. “Do tell.”
“There’s a man over there who can’t seem to decide whether he wants to look at your self-portraits or you.”
Tess almost spit out her drink. It couldn’t be the guy from before… could it? She tried to act casually and look over her shoulder without drawing any attention to herself. “What? Who?”
“You should go over there and find out - he’s kinda cute.”
Tess’s mind flickered to Josh’s friend again; he was incredibly good looking, but he had come across so superficial. She was pretty sure it wasn’t worth acting on if it even was the person she was thinking of, but she couldn’t help wanting to know one way or the other.
Winking at Isabel, Tess turned and glanced over her shoulder. The gaze that met hers didn’t belong to the man she was half-hoping to find, though. In fact, it wasn’t anyone she knew.
He was familiar, though, somehow. He had a scruffy kind of look, complete with long shaggy hair and a white button down that looked like it hadn’t ever been ironed. When he realized that she was looking at him, the man averted his gaze. He put his head down and walked away as Tess and Isabel looked on.
“That was weird,” Isabel remarked. “Is he just shy?”
“I don’t know.” Tess frowned, turning back to her friend. She couldn’t shake the idea that she must know him from somewhere.
Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the major ACS benefactors waved from across the gallery. Tess took Isabel by the arm and went to greet him and his wife. From that moment on, she was preoccupied with one guest after another. Tess didn’t have any opportunity to dwell on the random stranger who had been eying her and her paintings; she and Isabel had been gearing up for this night all week. They couldn’t afford to slack off now.
---
Even after the auction was over, the crowd lingered. While Isabel made her rounds, thanking everyone for their participation, Tess escaped to a corner where she could avoid interacting with people for a while. As much as she enjoyed people, she was still an introvert at heart. The crowds and noise left her feeling a little overwhelmed. She noticed that her face was actually sore from all of the smiling, though, and acknowledged that this wasn’t the worst of ways to spend a Friday night.
Tess settled back into a desk chair, idly filling out the paperwork for the auction winners’ deliveries. She recognized the names - they were the same people who donated annually for the most part. The ACS was one of her more loyal fan bases since her brother’s miraculous recovery, and she’d been to enough of these events that she knew a lot of their big donors by name.
One of the winning bids stood out, though. The address was for an apartment. Typically, renters didn’t decorate with fine art or have large sums of money to donate. More interesting, though, was that it was her piece that sold to said renter. It was the last in the series she painted while Josh was undergoing treatment. She was very fond of it, but enough years had passed that she felt it was time to give it a new home.
Tess was just about to do some researching when Josh wandered in, looking tired. “You almost ready to take off? Isabel said she’d close up so you could get some rest tonight. She’s worried that you haven’t been sleeping.”
She sighed, smiling slightly. “What a gossip. I didn’t even say anything.”
“She’s a mind reader, I’m telling you,” Josh laughed. Isabel did have an uncanny knack for picking up on details; though she didn’t usually need to use her powers on Tess. It was true that she’d been putting in a lot of hours for the auction, but Tess had no idea how Isabel knew that she wasn’t sleeping.
The truth was that Tess couldn’t seem to relax. Before she had left for Europe, Tess had been getting mysterious calls and emails from a self-proclaimed fan of her work. The messages had started out pretty innocuous, but after months she started to worry about their content. The stranger claimed to have fallen in love with her through her work, specifically citing the self-portraits she’d painted near the end of her college program.
The stranger sent her flowers at her art shows, and although he’d never approached her in person, he indicated in his messages that he’d seen her - sometimes in class, sometimes at work. He always used public computers and untraceable phones, though, making it difficult to prove much of anything. She’d filed reports with campus safety and the police, but until they figured out who he was, there was very little that could be done.
Josh’s cancer was actually one of the major reasons she stuck around for those months. Once it was clear that he was in remission and that he was situated with a support system, though, she made the decision to try Europe for a while. She was very careful about her planning, and she didn’t share any details with anyone other than Josh and Isabel.
In Spain, she’d finally been able to breathe. It had been peaceful - after so many months of being followed and afraid, Barcelona was a dream. Even so, she missed her family in New York, and she was glad to be back.
After two years, she felt sure that the stalker would have moved on; even so, she kept her return as quiet as possible. All of her accounts and bills were in her brother’s name, and she’d been careful to avoid leaving any kind of trail that would help someone locate her.
Josh drew her from her thoughts as he sat on the edge of the desk, facing her. He had noticed what she was working on and grinned. “Did you see that Alex snagged your painting off of that creepy old guy?”
“Ted’s not creepy,” She insisted, “I would know.”
Josh sobered abruptly. “You haven’t had any trouble since you got back, have you?”
He was talking about her stalker; of course, he knew all about it. He was the first to call attention to the portraits that had gone missing from her professor’s office pretty early on.
“No. Nothing,” She assured him. “It’s been years, Josh. I’ve been so careful about who knows I’m back in the country, and I don’t think he could find me if he wanted to.”
“I sure hope so.”
Not wanting to dwell on such an unpleasant topic, Tess decided that she’d better divert Josh’s attention before it was too late. “So who is t
his Alex that bought my painting?”
“Alex Booker. He and I have been friends since college; we played soccer together. He’s on the ACS board, though, too. That’s why he’s here tonight.”
That explained things. Tess shrugged, answering, “I didn’t recognize him. Why did he bid on my painting, though? Does he have a vendetta against Ted or something?”
Josh laughed but shook his head. “Didn’t he introduce himself? He said it felt familiar. I don’t think he made the connection until after he bought it, but he’s the guy who insulted the painting of me earlier.”
Tess shrugged. “Familiar, hm?”
“He’s never bought art before. Maybe he connected with it, maybe he just liked the colors… who’s to know?” Josh shifted to put himself between Tess and the paperwork on the edge of her desk. “That’s not really important right now, though. All of this can wait until tomorrow. Don’t you want to enjoy my company while you can? Dad and I are headed straight to the airport after this.”
“Sounds like fun,” Tess arched an eyebrow. “Is it another conference?”
Josh nodded. “In Ohio, of all places. Our arrival is probably the most interesting thing to ever have happened there.”
“Yeah okay, hotshot. I’m sure the people of Ohio are anxiously awaiting your arrival. In the meantime, why don’t you drive me home? If Dad’s offering, I think I might make a run for it.”
“Sure thing. I’ll get our coats - wait here so that I can find you.”
She tried to put the papers back into some semblance of order, but she was quickly distracted. Just a moment after Josh had disappeared from view, someone knocked on the door frame and entered the small office space.
“Hey.”
Much to her surprise, she looked up to find that it was the infamous Alex Booker she’d heard so much about at her door. Now that she knew, she thought she recognized him from some of Josh’s photos. Unlike the younger version of him in his pictures, though, the current Alex looked a little aged. His hair was peppered with gray now, and she thought that there was something confident about him that she didn’t quite get from the photos.
Realizing that she hadn’t yet responded and that she was basically just staring at him, she cleared her throat. “Hi?”
He smiled, revealing a single dimple. “I think we got off on the wrong foot. I’m Alex Booker, I went to school with Josh. I’m also an oncologist, and on behalf of the entire staff, thank you for hosting this benefit. We are -” Alex paused, smiled that gorgeous crooked smile, and started again, “I am so grateful to you and your family.”
Her gaze softened. “Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He considered it a moment, leaning on the doorframe. She noted that he looked more like a model than a doctor as he answered, “Not as painful as I imagined, somehow.”
“Oh, ouch.” Her offended facade faded into a warm smile, though, as she laughed.
“That smile,” He grinned wider, leaning in. “You’re really something, Miss Prideaux.” Not quite sure what to make of that she just bit her lip, searching for something to say. He beat her to it, though, asking, “Can I get you a drink?”
“I’m actually just on my way out. Josh is getting our coats now.” Tess really did want to stay, but she was also exhausted. Alex looked a little disappointed when Josh reappeared at his elbow.
“M’lady,” he said, offering Tess her coat. She accepted it, sliding her arms into the sleeves. “It’s been real, man,” Josh clapped Alex on the back. “Are we still on for basketball when I get back?”
“Sure thing.” Alex shook hands with Josh, and he started down the hall; Tess started to follow but paused to offer Alex, her hand as she passed. He surprised her when he brought her knuckles to his lips gently. “Good night, Tess.”
Stunned, Tess’s jaw dropped. No man had ever been so bold as to actually kiss the back of her hand; Tess almost couldn’t believe it. Despite that, she quickly recomposed herself and replied with a soft, “G’night,” before she followed after her brother. Heart still beating a little too fast to be normal, Tess tried to rationalize all of the reasons she shouldn’t feel so damn flustered by Alex Booker.
He was her brother’s friend. He didn’t have the open mind of an artist. In fact, he was the complete opposite; all analytic with no imagination. Of all things, he was an oncologist; completely out of her league. Not to mention the fact that he was an over-the-top flirt. Kissing the back of her hand… who did things like that in this day and age, anyway?
But Tess couldn’t deny that she kind of liked it, all of it. Differences and all.
Chapter Two: The Return
The gallery was pristine by the time the girls were done with it at ten a.m. the day after the auction. Tess loved the people and the party, but she definitely didn’t love the clean up afterward. She and Isabel had arrived bright and early to prep for the Saturday crowd, replacing all of the normal installations and packing up the art that had been auctioned off for delivery.
While Tess and Isabel put things back to their proper order, the men they had hired to deliver the auctioned artwork to its new home worked through their list.
It was just about time for the gallery to open when the last painting was ready to be sent to its final destination. Luckily for her, they’d saved the best for last - it was her own painting still needed delivering, and she was a little too eager to see Alex Booker again. After his apology last night, her reservations had been alleviated, and she found it hard to ignore the possibility that he was interested in her.
Since she was done anyway, she informed the guys that she was going to tag along in the truck. As much as she wanted to be able to keep her cool and pretend that it was normal for the artist to deliver work in person, she wasn’t fooling Isabel.
“Are you sure there’s nothing going on here, Tess?” Isabel asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Tess half-smiled. “I’m sure there’s nothing going on yet. Your guess is as good as mine about the future, though.”
“Well, he’s got great taste in charities, if nothing else. Thank him for his donation, for me, won’t you?”
“Sure thing,” Tess said, climbing up into the truck. “See you later.”
---
Alex lived on the outskirts of the city. It wasn’t the most picturesque area, though, and the noise from the traffic was inescapable. She wondered what a doctor with money was doing all the way out there. Her question was answered, though, when they drove past a massive hospital. That certainly explained his choice in neighborhood - they arrived at his building not five minutes later. He could probably walk there if he wanted to.
With the heavy-lifters in tow, Tess rang the buzzer. Not a minute later, the familiar voice of Alex Booker asked, “Hello?”
“Tess Prideaux. I’m here to deliver a painting to a Mr. Booker?”
“Come on up.” The buzzer rang as the lock on the front door fell open with a click. Tess caught the door for the men holding the painting. As much as she loathed letting that painting go to a new home, she was relieved that Josh at least knew the guy.
She followed at a leisurely pace, letting Booker direct the men on where they should hang the painting. When he was satisfied that the men know what he wanted, he turned to Tess, smiling warmly. “It’s good to see you again.”
Her heart fluttered as he kissed the back of her hand. “You, too.”
“I’m a little surprised; I wasn’t expecting the artist herself to deliver the painting personally.”
“What can I say? I was impressed. It seems that you have good taste, after all,” Tess sighed, shrugging for effect. Softening, she added, “I’m glad it’s found a good home.” Tess watched the men hanging the painting with a wistful sort of expression. She cast a sideways look at him, “And it’s arguably my best work yet. I couldn’t just hand it off without a final goodbye.”
He didn’t seem to have a reply to that.
“I wondered if you were the artist when I
first saw the painting, but I didn’t know for sure until after the auction when Josh told me.” Alex gestured to the leather couch, offering her a seat. Tess cast a glance at the men hanging the portrait, not wanting to leave her painting unattended, but nodded and sat anyway. Alex sat across from her, angled so that he could see her.
“What gave it away?” Tess mirrored him, wanting to face him straight on. She found it difficult to look away from his eyes, anyway. There was no sense in fighting it.
He seemed equally entranced; his mischievous eyes never left hers as he answered. “It must have been something about the shoddy painting, I think.” Tess bit her lip to keep from laughing; she still wanted to hear his real answer, so she stayed silent until he actually finished. “I’m not sure what it is about this one, but knowing that the painting on the wall preceded it makes it feel…” Alex paused, struggling to find the the right phrase. “Like a small victory, somehow.”
Tess let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. “I painted that one the first time he laughed after starting chemo. It wasn’t about the cure, it was just… a small victory, like you said, amidst everything else.”
The intensity of Alex’s gaze mounted as she spoke, and Tess was very much aware of his stare. He didn’t reply, either, just watched her in silence, waiting for her to go on. Nervous, suddenly, she cleared her throat and continued. He was using her own trick against her; she wondered if he realized it or not.
“You know, Josh never talks about it, but I know how heavily he relied on you when he was being treated at your hospital. Thank you for being there for him,” Tess reached for his hand automatically. “
Alex shook his head, grimacing. “I couldn’t be his oncologist, but I did what I could. He didn’t always make it easy - he’s the worst patient, you know.” Oh, Tess knew - Josh didn’t particularly like to let people take care of him. She always had to twist his arm to get him to ask his nurses for help, or request painkillers. “But he never shut up about you. He sounded like a proud grandparent, going on and on about all of the people who loved your work and how well you were doing in school.” Alex’s laugh was soft, and Tess found herself leaning in without meaning to.
The Virgin Secretary: A Billionaire Romance Page 14