The Sculptor's Seduction (The Gentlemen's Guild Book 2)

by Dr. Rebecca Sharp

  “I don’t know what to think. I mean, yes, I was there and yes, he told me about his mom. But there are other times when I touch him, when he pulls away and looks at me like I have the plague. Or like yesterday after he left to talk to Tristan, he texted me about coming here next weekend and I told him I had to work; he barely responded after that.”

  “Why… would he be upset that you have to work?” Ellie asked tentatively.

  That’s right. She didn’t know.

  “I work at the Paradise – as a stripper,” she clarified. Only, instead of the shock – or at the very least, surprise - that she expected to see, Ellie only looked relieved.

  “Sorry. I didn’t want to say anything. Tristan already told me that, but if you didn’t want me – or us – to know, I didn’t want to mention it.”

  “I don’t mind. I’m not ashamed.”

  “Good.” Ellie smiled. “But then you should also not be surprised in the least why he’s upset.”

  “Because he doesn’t want me to strip.”

  “No. Well, yes, but no. It’s a possessive male thing.” Ellie rolled her eyes. “It’s not that he doesn’t want you to strip, it’s that he wants you and he wants you for himself. Stripping means sharing a part of you with someone else. But I’m guessing he doesn’t know how to say that to you, which is why he’ll try to show it to you in every other possible way before he realizes that he should just use his words.” She clearly spoke from experience. “And, if you couldn’t tell, this is why hardly any of the portraits that Tristan creates of me see outside our apartment – because he doesn’t want to share.”

  Cyn smiled as jealously creeped through her watching Ellie ‘complain’ with a tone that said she enjoyed every single display of Tristan’s possessiveness.

  The only difference was that Sloane didn’t seem sure that he wanted her still.

  “Hun, it’s obvious why he leased you this space. He cares about you Cyn – a lot – from what I can tell. And giving you this was his way of helping you pursue your dreams so that you didn’t have to work at the Paradise if you didn’t want to. I think he was just hoping that you wouldn’t want to.” Ellie gave her a soft smile, shrugging her shoulders.

  “I mean I’m going to quit,” she offered. “This is all just happening so fast and I’ve been there a long time; I can’t just up and leave. Having this space is incredible and knowing that my savings can now go towards other things for the studio makes my dreams an almost immediate reality. But, I still can’t just up and quit.”

  “Of course,” Ellie agreed. “Sometimes men are just cranky when things don’t go their way.”

  Except Sloane was cranky when things were going his way… like completely hot, wet, and ready to go his way.

  “You can say that again,” Ana chimed in, her agreement sounding much more serious than Ellie had intimated. She quickly continued, “Just let him cool down for a few days and then give him something to show him just how important he is to you.” Her suggestion coming out much lighter than the first words that she’d spoken. “I mean assuming he is important to you.”

  “Well, I guess since I think that I love him, he would be considered important to me,” Cyn mused jokingly for a split second before she realized that she’d just admitted out loud that she was falling in love with Sloane.

  Ellie clapped her hands over her mouth, an almost silent scream emitting from her.

  Cyn’s face turned as red as the other woman’s hair. “I mean… I didn’t mean…” She suddenly felt overwhelmed and like she had to either justify or retract her statement and she couldn’t do either because she just felt so confused over it all.

  Seeing her distress, Ellie just smiled warmly at her as though she’d known all along. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.” She put up her hands. “How about you tell us what you are thinking for décor for the space and what classes you’ll be offering because we want to sign up!” She looked to Ana for support.

  “I’m down for dance lessons - if I’m in the states that is.” Ana smiled.

  Cyn let out a sigh of relief, taking them over to the long wall and distracting her feelings with her thoughts on where the ballet bar would go.

  He stood in the lobby, waiting for the angel he’d been sculpting all week to come to life and glide through the doors of the building where her new studio was located. Sure enough, she walked in with the light, her face bright with that gorgeous smile of hers.

  One she’d be sharing later tonight with a room full of men who wouldn’t even notice it in favor of other gorgeous parts of her.

  “Hey.” It was a small word that required an even smaller movement of her mouth to produce, but it was enough for the memory of her mouth on him to electrify his body. Like a shot to his stomach, he was tortured with burning desire.

  “How are you?” He asked tightly, forcing a smile to his face as he turned to let her walk in front of him, hoping that she wouldn’t notice him straining against the front of his pants. He felt like he was in high school again, unable to control his arousal.

  She was wearing just a t-shirt and yoga pants and had a gym bag with her, presumably for work tonight. He cringed again at the thought.

  Yes, kidnapping was still illegal; he’d checked this morning.

  But, was it kidnapping if she asked to be tied up? He groaned as they got into the elevator. Christ, he’d never had sex before and all of a sudden, his mind was jumping to Fifty Shades of Grey scenarios to keep her in his bed and away from every other man’s eyes.

  “I’m excited.” She beamed at him. “I brought Ellie and Ana here last weekend, I hope that’s ok.”

  He stared at her. “It’s your studio, Cyn; you signed the lease. You can bring whomever you want here.”

  “Well, let me show you what I was thinking.” She darted off the elevator in excitement, leading the way into the room. “I want to do huge chandeliers.” Her bag dropped to the floor as she raised her arms to point at the ceiling. “And we were thinking of putting the bar along the windows somehow so that the students can be right by the view, but also so that people on the street can look up and actually see that there is a studio here.” She spun to face the other wall. “And then mirrors along this wall.”

  Sloane nodded envisioning her ideas as she spoke them.

  “I’ll also need a small office space I would think and then maybe down the road a few smaller rooms if it gets busy enough that I can do multiple classes at one time – maybe add in some Jazz or Modern.” Cyn finally stopped to breathe. “What do you think?” she asked expectantly.

  “I think your ideas are incredible and I want to be a part of it.”

  Her brow furrowed as she looked at him in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I want to be a silent partner – an investor – in your studio.” This wasn’t exactly how he had planned on bringing it up, but seeing the pure joy and excitement on her face as she spoke about her plans… His need to be a part of them – a part of her future – was too potent to contain.

  She continued to stare at him, not as enthusiastic as he had hoped she would be.

  “Why?”

  Because I want to be a part of your life longer than my project.

  “Because I think you are exceptionally talented and I know that this can be very successful, but I don’t want you to have to use everything that you’ve saved to do it or feel like you have to split your focus in order to be able to make this into what you want.” His eyes dropped to the floor at the last word.

  Yes, he also didn’t want her working at the Paradise anymore and if this helped achieve that, well… it would be icing on the cake.

  “Are you doing this so that I have even less of a reason to go to work tonight?” Cyn stared him down, not bothering to conceal that she knew he wasn’t happy about it. His response – or lack of it – confirmed her assumption. “What happens if I say no?”

  Sloane tightened his jaw. “What do you— Nothing. Nothing happens…�
�� He saw her biting on her lower lip as though she didn’t believe his answer. “Cyn, you signed the lease. This place is yours. I don’t know how else I can say it so that you understand that I can’t just take it back like that—” He snapped his fingers. “And even if I could, I wouldn’t. This is your dream. I’m just asking for the chance to be a part of it.” Her eyes softened on him and he quickly retreated. “I think it’s going to be a big success, so of course I’d like to help that along.” He cleared his throat, hoping that his reasoning sounded more legitimate to her than it did to him.

  “Well, I’ll think about it,” she said with a teasing smile. “Although, Ellie did mention that her and Tristan might be interested in investing as well…”

  Damn it, Tristan.

  “Which reminds me…” she continued, eyeing him from underneath her lashes as she began to walk down the length of the room. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure.” There were just no guarantees that he would answer.

  She turned and made her way back towards him as she questioned, “What was Tristan talking about the other morning before he realized that I was there? Something about a bridge and the guild?”

  Stopping in front of him, her warm, honeyed eyes met his, tempting him for the truth.

  “The theft – the painting – that I told you about. It’s ‘Bridge Over A Pond of Water Lilies’ by Monet.”

  Her eyes enlarged. “Oh, no… That’s… Oh, my… One of your friends owned that?” she asked, astonished, quickly continuing to her more pressing questions. “But then, what’s the guild?”

  He let out a breath. “It’s us – Tristan, Pierce, Morgan, and me. We are the artists of the Guild. We work with museums around the world to restore and replicate works of art as they need.”

  “Seriously?” Her eyes went wide with shock.

  Sloane nodded watching surprise and intrigue pass over her face.

  “But then why are you sculpting me?”

  Sloane grimaced. “We also do an exhibit once a year of original pieces.”

  “And I’m that?”

  “I wish.” He laughed a little at himself. “You’re more than that,” he finished softly. “Honestly, I don’t even know if we’ll exist in a few months because of the theft. Pierce was restoring the work when it was stolen and he’s been trying to find it ever since.”

  “Wouldn’t the museum hire someone to help too?” Cyn asked innocently.

  Sloane laughed at the astuteness of her question. “I’m sure they would if they knew it was missing.”

  Her mouth dropped. “Oh, no. He didn’t tell them? How could they not…” She trailed off, realizing the answer to her own question. “Oh, my God.”

  “Yeah, so we are up shit’s creek because there are rumors that this painting is going to be on the black market soon. That’s why Ana is here and why Morgan got her involved; hopefully she can be trusted. This could ruin us.” His whole body tensed at the thought.

  “Just the Guild though, not your other business?”

  “Right. But all the proceeds that we make from the Guild go to fund art schools and programs throughout the country. Every year schools are cutting back funding for the arts and because of our donations, they not only don’t have to, but in many cases, can expand their offerings. What art does for kids… I can’t even explain it and to lose that funding…” He trailed off, lost in his own thoughts and memories on what that funding meant to him personally.

  “You said you also do your own exhibits, too? I’m sure you’ll get the painting back, but, in the worst case, you could always just do more private shows, right?” Her tone was optimistic, but not enough to overcome his doubts.

  “To do more would compromise our other business. Plus, Tristan isn’t exhibiting with us anymore because of Ellie; he won’t draw anyone else and he won’t let anyone else see Ellie the way that he captures her. I mean, Morgan is going to step in, but I don’t know how well that will go over.”

  At the mention of Ellie, understanding dawned on her; Sloane’s words combined with what Ellie had said the previous weekend triggered her recollection. “Wait, I think I’ve heard about you. You always show erotic pieces, right?” Hurt crossed over her face and he knew what she was thinking – that he did this with every model.

  Again, he nodded.

  She stepped back from him. “So, you do this with every model…” It wasn’t a question and neither of them needed clarification as to what she meant when she said ‘this’. “I see…” She looked down at her wrist. “I have to go. I’m going to be late for work.”

  “No,” he said harshly. “Wait. Shit.” He ground out as Cyn walked around him. No, I’ve never done this before… That was always Tristan and Pierce’s thing...” He reached for her arm, fire burning through him as he touched the soft flesh.

  She spun to stare at him, hurt and anger amalgamating in her eyes. “I have to go.”

  “I’ll see you later? After work?” He didn’t care how pathetic he sounded. He knew what she was thinking right now – that she wasn’t special at all, just like that asshole teacher of hers had made her feel. His stomach rolled at the thought; he needed to make this right, but there wasn’t time now. “Please,” he finished softly, releasing her arm as his fingers came up to trace the side of her face.

  Her eyes dropped from his and her head turned slowly from his touch. “I’ll… I’ll see how I feel,” she said thickly and he sensed that her face was turned from his to hide the tears that were in her eyes. His hand fell to his side as he watched her pick up her bag and walk out of the room.

  Sloane cursed himself. How the hell did he get out of this?

  He had to make her believe that she wasn’t like all the rest of his models. The question was how to do that without letting her realize just how special that made her.

  Chapter 19

  Cyn brushed the tears from her eyes as she practically ran out of the building. She was being ridiculous. He was an artist – of course, he had other models; of course, he had done this before. It was just a surprise that’s all, she tried to tell herself. She’d just never really thought about it before this moment. Then again, she hadn’t known the whole story before this moment either.

  No, it wasn’t just the surprise…

  It was everything that happened between them. Everything that he had said to her, everything that he’d pushed her to do, everything that he’d done to her… everything between them had made her feel like she was something special. Not to mention what Ellie had insisted both times that they’d talked about Sloane – how she’d never seen him like this.

  Had she even seen him with his other models? How would she know?

  The burning in her chest was like déjà-vu to three years ago, realizing that Marcus hadn’t thought she was special either. At least, Sloane hadn’t rubbed it in her face with another woman. At least she hadn’t walked into his studio – his workspace – to find him naked with another wom—

  Oh, my God.

  She stopped in her tracks, her excruciating epiphany blowing every other thought from her mind. She gasped in air as her brain rocketed through her torturous realization.

  Was this how he had felt?

  Sloane had walked into the Paradise – her work – to find her naked for the enjoyment of a room full of other men.

  Oh God. Her hand grabbed onto a parking meter to support her as she stood. Forget walking a mile in his shoes, she couldn’t even take one step envisioning how he must feel at this very moment.

  Was this how Sloane felt when he thought of her continuing to work at the Paradise? Did he feel the painfully suffocating ache inside of his chest imagining her being close with another man? Because that is how she felt right now, imagining him touching… sculpting… other women before her.

  The only difference was that her thoughts were about what had happened in the past; his must be one-hundred times worse knowing that this – other men looking at her, touching her, propositioning her – could h
appen every night that she continued to go to work.

  It was like a switch had been flipped inside of her, one that she couldn’t turn off. It wasn’t that she thought that she really needed the money; she’d been stubborn and proud, not wanting to quit right away because she didn’t want to feel like she was ashamed of that part of her life. And she wasn’t. But, her pride wasn’t worth his pain.

  Gulping in air, she found her legs to walk again, heading towards the subway while her mind figured out the best way to tell Terri that tonight was going to be goodbye.

  Dropping her bag onto the floor, she slumped into her chair in front of the vanity one last time to fix her tear-stained make-up. She would miss Terri, even though she knew she would still see him – it would be different. Everything was going to be different.

  She looked at the woman staring back at her in the mirror and saw pieces of her old self beginning to shine through; not the naïve, foolish parts, but a more mature version of the optimism and self-assurance that she had lost after the end of her relationship with Marcus. She also saw the parts of her that the last three years had cultivated – a strength and independence that she’d been lacking. Both sides of her held together by the unwavering confidence that Sloane had shown in her.

  He hadn’t given her the studio because he wanted something from her; no, that was what Marcus had done by bestowing on her more attention and more prominent roles as she allowed him more liberties with her body and feelings. Sloane, on the other hand, could have had her that very first night – or any night after. But, he hadn’t – no matter how hard she had tried. And while she wasn’t quite sure why he hadn’t, she did at least know that it wasn’t for sex that he’d taken a giant weight off of her shoulders by providing her rent-free space for her dream. Sloane had done it because he saw a value in her talents and herself that she’d wanted to believe for a long time didn’t exist.

  Now, in the mirror, she saw hope staring back at her. No longer the cold anger, the callousness, and the carelessness that she’d relegated herself to. In the midst of the calculated darkness that she thought she deserved, Sloane had ignited a spark of hope knowing that she was more than capable enough to take that spark and set her dreams ablaze.