And if I showed Peter the door now he would just take off. And he might never come back.
“Show him around,” I said as I turned my back. Danny squeezed my hand, and when he felt me squeeze his hand back, he rushed to Peter’s side.
“Okay then,” Danny said, “let’s get started.
I couldn’t meet Peter’s gaze as Danny listed the ways in which his artwork was destined to compliment every interior design. The apples in oils hung on chains had their place in a country home. The many shades of blue that spilled across an entire canvas were just right for a beach front abode. Peter seemed polite, still trying to make up for his lateness. And I was all but forgotten as he scanned the paintings. So this was never about me, I thought. He was just trying to find a way into Danny’s private collection. I was about to turn away and try to forget him when a soft sigh passed through his lips, and I turned my head back to his stance.
“Now this one is a real work of art,” Peter said.
I saw in a second that he was staring at my picture. Danny had painted me in dark lines across a white surface, and he filled the space that should be my flesh with a rainbow of more colors than I could count. Danny’s version of me was an explosion of so many shades, but he left my face bordered in dark lines, my eye nearly winking as I stared out from the white background. If I was being honest, it was the only part of the portrait that was me, and I focused on the back of Peter’s head as he stared hard and shifted his head one way then the other.
“I’ll take it,” he finally said.
Danny seemed pleased. But he stopped fawning when Peter’s gaze left the canvas and focused on my eyes only, and Danny took a few steps back with a smile.
“I’ll… I’ll just give you guys a minute,” Danny said. He was nearly gone when he stopped where he stood and spoke to Peter in a harsh tone.
“You’re not going to hurt her, right?” he asked.
“Last thing on my mind,” Peter replied.
Danny vanished, and Peter reached for me without looking. I struggled, but only slightly as he brought me to his side so we could stare at the stained canvas together.
“It’ll look good on my mantle,” he said.
“You have a mantle?” I asked.
“A few,” he confessed. “Maybe you’ll come by some time. So we can keep looking at it together.”
I blushed under the weight of his compliment, and I had almost started to speak when his eyes abandoned the portrait and focused on mine.
“Or maybe…” he began.
Peter’s words came to a stop, but his body stretched to mine, and I sighed as he took me into his arms. He held me tenderly. Just held me. I turned my head around the firmness of his chest, and I smiled when his fingers danced down my braid.
“… Or maybe I could just take the real deal along instead?” he continued.
I smiled at this suggestion, and Peter held my waist tighter.
“What do you say to that?”
Peter leaned forward, and I could tell that he had every intention of claiming my mouth for his own. I nearly gave in to his want, but then I turned around. But I didn’t pull away as he pressed my back to his chest.
“Caroline?” he asked.
The clean scent of his aftershave wafted off his sleeves, and felt as if I could get drunk in his arms when I shot to attention and spun around to face him again.
“But you were late,” I said.
“Yes I was.”
“So if… if you’re so eager to have me in the flesh, then why keep me waiting?”
“It couldn’t be helped. And I said that I was sorry,” he murmured into my hair as he pulled me close.
He brought his mouth to mine, and my entire body swirled around the force of his kiss. His arms encircled my body, and I felt his fingers grazing against the edge of my braid as he buried his head in my neck.
“I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t forgive me,” he whispered. I started to return his hold when he found my eyes gain and cupped my face in his strong hand.
“But I’m asking you to try,” he said. “And I want you to believe me when I say that I haven’t stopped thinking about you since yesterday.”
We were on the same page. And I did believe him. Throwing my arms around his neck, I stopped just short of his kiss and let my breath pass over his eyes.
“I know,” I whispered. “I get it.”
Peter pushed away from me, and I smiled at the sight of his eyes sparkling as he kissed my fingers.
“I hoped you would,” he said. “And now that I’m here….”
His arms enveloped me again, and I sank into his kiss. His lips were soft and sure against mine, and I longed to linger there when he suddenly pushed back again and gripped my shoulders.
“I want to treat you right, Caroline” he said. “So to make that happen…”
My spirit fell as soon as his hands abandoned my body, and I wondered if this was still just a game.
“… I’m taking you out tonight,” he started. “If you want me to.”
I nodded quickly. Peter laughed, and I trembled until he gathered me back in his embrace.
“Don’t be scared,” he assured me. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’m nothing like that guy you were with yesterday.”
As I searched his eyes, I found myself believing every word that passed through his lips. I didn’t nod again, but when he ran his hand up my leg, his fingers stopping at the edge of my hem, I smiled at his show of chivalry and found his gaze again.
“I believe you,” I said. “Maybe I shouldn’t but…”
“Yes you should,” Peter interrupted. “Just believe me. Believe in me.”
He kissed me quickly, and I held him lightly in my arms. Peter’s kiss crushed deeper into my lips, and my arms tightened around his neck. As much as I longed to know what it was he had up his sleeve, I couldn’t fight the need to stay in his kiss. His lips were hot against mine. I felt his tongue darting around my teeth, and when our tongues mingled together, I clutched him closer and reveled in the feel of his strong arms surrounding me. When he pulled back, a sob nearly burst through my throat. But I choked it back when I saw him smiling and felt his finger on my cheek.
“Do you believed in fate?” he asked.
I hadn’t until this moment, but now I did in full force.
“I do,” I murmured.
“Do you believe it was fate that I found you when you needed me most?” he asked.
“It felt like a sign,” I said.
“For me, too,” he said. “Now we have to take it a step further.”
I imagined him lifting me into his arms on the spot and carrying me off to parts unknown. I was ready to go with him, to follow him, when he caressed the side of my face and simply smiled.
“So tonight?” he asked again. “And don’t tell me that you have other plans.”
The swagger in his gaze told me that me that he thought he knew my answer before I even uttered a single word. And he would be right. But it might be fun to have him on for a second, and I swirled away from him and turned my eyes to one of Danny’s other masterpieces, a black and blue cityscape resting against a flesh-colored sky.
“I don’t know,” I whispered as my fingers traced the bruised buildings on the canvas. “I was thinking I’d call Sabrina. You remember her from last night, right?”
“How could I forget?” Peter said.
His tone of voice told me that he wasn’t a fan, and I got that. Sabrina had her moments, good and bad, and I kept the show going.
“She’s trying to get me back on the horse or whatever, you know,” I continued. “Says she has someone that I just have to meet. Someone who would be perfect for me.”
Peter’s firm hands pressed into my shoulders, and I failed to suppress a gasp when he spun me back to his side. I couldn’t help but see the slight quiver in his lip even as his eyes burrowed into my mine, his gaze penetrating me to the core of my quaking soul.
“You’ve already met
him,” Peter said, “and it’s me.”
My entire body brimmed as his fingers danced down my arms, and when his touch settled around my hands, I failed to suppress the glee bubbling about my heart, and I felt my lips curve into a soft smile.
“Is it?” I asked as I shyly lowered my eyes.
“Of course, can’t you feel it?” he said, his voice thick as he moved closer and brought his fingers around the back of my neck.
“You’ve already seen what I can do to anyone who tries to bother you,” he said. “So how about you answer my question again. Will you have dinner with me tonight? And consider your words carefully, Caroline.”
I shifted my stare to his, and my flesh tingled as he reached behind my head, his fingers moving down my braid. Reaching the end, he released my golden locks from their elastic bonds, and I sighed as my hair spilled across his hot hands. He ran his fingers through the fallen strands, and I kept my eyes on his as he twirled a single lock around his fingers and lifted it to his nose. My body went still as he inhaled my scent, and when he let my hair fall to my chest, I was powerless to do anything but what he wanted most.
“Yes, I’ll… I’ll have dinner with you,” I said.
What I wanted most.
“Better,” he said. “Best.”
I felt as if I would swoon when he lifted my hand to his and he caressed my fingers with his lips. I wanted him to do more, to suckle my flesh to the tips of my nails. I could tell that he was primed; I felt him ready to make the move when Danny popped back into the room.
“So… we all still good here?” Danny asked.
Peter released me from his hold, and I shot Danny a cold glare. He mouthed that he was sorry with a quick shrug of his shoulders, and when Peter turned his back on me, I bit down on my lip in frustration.
“Better than good,” Peter said. “Here you are, Danny.”
He pulled a slim leather book from his pocket and asked for a pen. Danny obliged the request in record time, and his eyes were wide behind his glasses as he watched Peter scribble on the page. Just how many zeroes was he putting down? As soon as he tore the check from the pad and pushed it into Danny’s waiting hands, the artiste gasped, and his eyes darted from Peter to the portrait to me.
And then right back to Peter.
“I… I could do a whole series of her,” he promised before he even got my consent. “Bet you got a lot of walls. Right, man?”
I was about to object to this forced posing, when Peter laughed and looked back at me.
“Might take you up on that someday,” Peter said as he kept my eyes on mine. “But tonight I have the model in the flesh to look forward to.”
He kissed my hand again, and asked me for my address.
“18 Gramercy Park South,” I said.
“Someone lives like a princess,” he said as he stroked my cheek. “But I can’t think of anyone who deserves that more.”
He told Danny that he’d be in touch soon, to tell him where to deliver my likeness, and he was almost out the door when he smiled again and gave me a playful wink.
“Until tonight,” Peter said before he vanished from my sight.
As soon as he was gone, my body finally gave out.
“Easy, Caroline,” Danny said, right there to catch me before I fell. “I think you should sit.”
The coffee was cold as we sat back down at the small kitchen table, and Danny spoke fast as he showed me Peter’s check.
“Will you look at this!” he beamed. “It’s… like… more than every other sale last night combined.”
I had to squint to be sure of what I was seeing, but as my eyes narrowed, there was no mistaking the figure.
“Fifty... fifty thousand dollars?” I croaked out. “How can he afford…?”
“Probably pocket change to a guy like that,” Danny reasoned. “Think of what he has in store for you tonight.”
I was excited and terrified in equal measures as my mind swirled around the possibilities.
Chapter Six
After heading home, I had to shower. Not because I wanted to erase the feel of his touch from my body. I’d rather have let it linger for a long while. But the shaking sweat pouring off my skin had turned my body damp even as the autumn chill passed over the city streets. As soon as I was back behind familiar closed doors, I stripped fast and stepped under the icy water. The feeling soothed my skin, but every time I closed my eyes, I could see nothing but Peter’s face before me, and the sound of his voice echoed in my ears.
And I thought about the fifty thousand dollars he had paid Danny.
Did he think that he was buying me along with the painting? He had to know that Danny would show me the check. Maybe it was another sign that I would be wise not to ignore. A small part of me wondered if I was getting into something far too deep to ever escape. I had no desire to be owned, even though the particular brand of captivity that was the space of his hard, muscled arms seemed like a pleasurable fate. Was I moving too fast after Adam? Was it just gratitude because he had swooped in at the last possible second between me and disaster? I pushed those thoughts aside as I turned the water off and dried my trembling body with a towel. So many questions. But I would get my answers in person.
Because whatever danger there might be, I simply could not resist the chance to see him again.
“So what are you going to wear?”
Sabrina had called right on cue, and the chirp in her voice told me that Danny had filled her in before I got the chance to utter a single word.
“So Danny told you,” I said, holding the phone to my ear with one hand while I picked through my closet with the other.
“How could he not?” Sabrina said. “Danny’s over the moon on account of all that green. Do you think he really liked the painting that much? Or is he after something else?”
Sabrina had voiced what I had been thinking, and I pushed away from the closet, my toweled body sliding down the wall as I clutched the phone closer.
“He’s been nothing but a gentleman, Bree,” I challenged. “He…”
“So was Adam at the start, right?” she cut in and reminded me.
“I… I guess. But this is…”
“Different?” Sabrina said. “Because he’s dropping five figures on a painting of you like it’s nothing? I don’t know, Caroline. But it seems to me like he’s trying to swipe his gold card right between your legs.”
I bolted upright, enraged, and I pressed my palm to the window, my stare fixed on the darkening city street as I hissed into the phone.
“I’m not like that,” I said. “Would I have even been with Adam in the first place if...”
“Calm down, Caroline,” she said in a soothing voice that reeked of condescension. She still thought that one summer abroad made her so worldly and that I was just a sheltered innocent in an ivory tower with no concept of how the real world worked.
“Bree, he’s nice,” I said. “He helped me last night. Christ! He did more for Danny this morning than that entire room of so-called patrons did last night. Is it so impossible to think that he might actually be interested in me? So what if he wants to spoil me a little bit. What’s wrong with that?”
Sabrina burst into laughter, and I felt unwanted tears of fury and frustration spring to my eyes as she kept speaking.
“So are you looking for someone who isn’t quite Daddy?” she asked. “Can’t say that Peter Barton is quite old enough to fit the bill, but…”
“That’s sick, Bree,” I said. “Take that back right now!”
“I’m just saying that…”
“Take it back right now, or I swear I’m never speaking to you again,” I demanded.
It was usually an empty threat. Every time we fought, every time I vowed that I was going to wash my hands of her for good and all, I inevitably found myself missing her brand of snark tinged with a dash of sweetness after just a few days. So I’d call her up. We’d grab a coffee, and we slipped back into our familiar roles until she pushed the needle t
oo far again. But maybe this time I’d stick to my guns and prove to her that she couldn’t just say whatever sprang in to her head and think that I would just let it go.
“Caroline,” Sabrina said, the sneer gone or at least buried in a place where I had no way of detecting it. “I’m sorry.”
That was a first, and I fumbled over my words as she cut me off again.
“I just want you be careful, okay?” she continued. “I’m just trying to look out for you. I don’t want to see you hurt again. Ever.”
“Thanks,” I muttered into the phone, my heart swelling. I didn’t want her to worry. It was the last thing that a real friend would ever do.
But…
“But I really want to see him again,” I said. “Maybe… maybe I don’t know what he’s all about. Not yet. But I… I want the chance to find out.”
I stood up and shuffled from one foot to the other. My mind was set on a singular course. Sabrina could say almost anything, and I knew that I was still going. But if I had her blessing…
“So what are you going to wear?” she asked again.
And I had to smile.
“The black lace,” I said. “Think he’ll like that?”
Sabrina was silent, but I could hear her contemplating my selection, and she finally clicked her tongue from the other end of the line.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do,” she started. “But if it was me, I’d go with something softer.”
“Why?” I asked, puzzled as to why she should say that.
“Because that dress was never really you.”
I turned back to my closet and pushed through the rack of clothes. The black lace was there, see-through in all the right places with its plunging neckline. As I fingered the fabric, Sabrina’s words washed over my brain like a bucket of ice water.
Adam always wanted me in this. He said it turned him on. And I remembered the nights I’d worn it when he paraded me from bar to bar as I hung off his arm. But he didn’t look at me. His eyes were only for the gaping onlookers that stared at what he had, their gazes turning green with envy. That was what had turned him on, and I flung the dress to the floor.
The Corrupt Billionaire COMPLETE Box Set Page 4