Art of Love, page 6
“Sure thing.” The waitress sauntered away, and I returned my focus to Jia, who was looking at me with that weird assessing look again.
“What?”
“Why did you do that?” She tilted her head to the side.
“Order you good food, which I will be paying for?” I might have been dragging out this game I had of not telling her we hadn’t slept together, but it would be mean to allow her to worry over how she’d pay for an expensive meal when I was paying.
She pushed a wayward strand away from her cheeks. “No, I can’t let you do that.”
“Tough. I’m doing it, and I just did it. We need to come up with a few ideas today, and I can’t have you fainting on me because you refuse to buy food.”
“I’m not refusing to buy food. I just didn’t want to get my food here. We could have gone to somewhere like MacDonald’s.”
“God, no. I don’t eat fast food, and definitely not food like that. The food here’s organic.”
“Some of us can’t afford to eat organic.” She clenched her jaw.
“Well, it’s a good thing others of us can and want to make sure their colleagues/bed friends eat well too.”
Her cheeks flushed again. “Mr. Kane, I don’t know what it’s like in England, pretty certain people aren’t as crass as you, but I am not your bed friend.”
“Call it whatever you want. I’m still making sure you eat properly. Don’t you like chicken? Everybody loves chicken and sweet potato fries, and God, the hot chocolate is to die for. That was actually my attempt to get you to like me.”
Again, I probably should have come clean, but I didn’t want to just yet.
“With hot chocolate?”
“It comes with marshmallows, chocolate sprinkles, and cream. It’s so good even I’m having one. And look at me; I’m a health freak.”
She pressed her lips together and tried to bite back a smile. “That is so crazy.”
“Made you smile though, right?” I nodded with triumph, and she really did smile.
“Okay, Hunter. Thanks for the meal.”
“You’re welcome, my lady.”
She rolled her eyes at me and shook her head. “So, any ideas?”
I kind of wanted to ask her a little bit more about how she was dealing with her stolen money situation, but she had the right idea about getting straight to business.
“No, and yes.”
“Which is it?”
“Well, I have an idea, or ideas, but I don’t know if you’ll agree with any of them.”
“What are they?”
“Doing something crazy and different.”
“Like what?” She narrowed her gaze at me.
“Just different.”
“That tells me nothing.” She frowned.
“Yes, it means we can’t do something average so we need to think about doing something different and crazy. Something eye-catching. Plus, I kind of think that whole part A and B stuff is intermingled. We can’t completely use ourselves if we’re supposed to be assisting and getting the info we need for everything else. That means we have to plan properly. We use a thing, then that frees us up. But think about each of the exhibitions this year. What do they all have in common?” I’d done my research inside and out.
“Living art,” she said without thinking too hard.
I nodded. All the exhibitions had that element of blended art, but living art was a must. There were no still objects from what I’d read so far.
“So, you think we should use ourselves.”
I did, but I doubted she was going to like the idea I had. I was going to throw it out there anyway. “Just one of us, but for the first hour of the exhibition. Each show is two hours long. Doors close after the first hour, so that frees us both up. It means we just have to dazzle people for an hour, then get to our other work.”
“Gee, you really thought this through already.”
I guess it was the lawyer in me. Being analytical and seeing a process to get shit done. I wasn’t up for failure, and to get over the first hurdle, I needed her to work with me.
“I’m a quick study on anything like this.” It was set up for us to work together, see the potential areas of difficulty and find a way around it based on the choices available to us.
“Or maybe you had a good teacher?” she threw in and raised her brows.
“Not sure what you mean, love.” I knew what she meant. I was wondering when she was going to ask me about my grandfather.
“It’s quite a big thing to leave out that you’re related to Peter Belmont, don’t you think?”
“Maybe I don’t like being judged based on that.” I didn’t, and I didn’t wave it around in anyone’s face either. Never got the chance to because my parents were so much against me pursuing art. “Plus, you wouldn’t have remembered if I told you anyway.”
“Why now? Why are you doing this now? You didn’t mention you were an artist the other night.”
“Again, you wouldn’t have remembered.”
“I remember you coming into the bar and us going to the sofa area to drink.”
Well, at least she remembered that. “What about sitting in my lap?”
She winced and sat back. “No.”
“That was the best part.” It was.
“How nice for you. Anyway, I’m pretty certain I’d remember if you told me something like that, about your grandfather.”
“You didn’t tell me you were an artist either,” I pointed out. It was strange how we both talked about everything except what we loved most.
Maybe it was because everything else was problems. Obstacles that were in our way. The irony in that was, now we both stood in the way of each other.
Same dream, one job.
“I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. I had a lot on my mind.” Her gaze dropped momentarily to the square patterns on the wooden table, then returned back to me.
“Me too. But to answer your question, my grandfather died five months ago, and he made me promise I’d fulfill my dreams. I always did what everyone else wanted me to do, and now I’m not. You? How comes you left?”
She got this rigid look, and a wealth of sadness filled her eyes. “I had some personal issues come up, and I had to leave.”
I held her gaze. She’d spoken about her niece the other night, and I wondered if it was anything to do with her.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” She’d said she had to work two jobs to give her niece the opportunity to go to college and that dirt bag Bane stole all her money. He was the main subject of our conversation.
“Anyway, enough about me.”
She hadn’t exactly told me anything for there to be enough, but hey, I’d play. At least we were talking.
I looked her over, running my gaze over the delicate bone structure of her elegant neck and the grace she carried herself with. Very swan like. The way a dancer moved, or an artist who was at one with herself and creativity. In my head she looked like a work of art herself, but she’d probably have my head if I told her that.
I had an idea. One she was going to hate.
“Jia.” I pulled in a deep breath.
“Yes, Hunter.”
“What if you were the exhibit?”
“Me?” She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Yeah. The idea to woo the guests could be ourselves, or an object. We’ve
established that John might prefer us to do something, and we’ve established that just one of us should probably do it for that first hour. I think it should be you.”
“And what would I do, Hunter Kane?” She blinked.
“Be a living work of art. We could do something according to the theme of the shows, or just one of them. Maybe the first show as we’ll only be doing this project for six weeks. Juliana’s show is called Dark Fantasies of Water, and she’s filled it with mythical sea creatures. What better way to upstage a show than with a similar sort of idea?”
She laughed, and it was the daintiest sound. “You want John to have our heads for practically stealing ideas and trying to make them look better than the main attraction?”
“It’s not stealing, and what I’m suggesting is doing something similar, but our style will be different.”
“So, for Juliana’s show you want me to dress like a mermaid or a fish.”
“Something like that.”
“Juliana’s work will have exhibits with style she painted and created herself. I can’t just dress up like a fish.”
“No, I agree. But what do you think of the idea? Do you think it’s good?”
She thought for a few seconds. “I think it’s good.”
“God, did we just agree on something?”
She did a sassy one-shoulder shrug. “Maybe. I’m not dressing up like a fish though. That would be lame.”
In my head, what I would have loved to do is strip her naked and paint her from head to toe with a silvery pink paint with hints of green and blue shimmer.
“Yes, that would be lame. But if we agree on the idea, maybe we could think more on the actual activity.”
“Okay. It’s definitely an interesting concept.”
Well, that was progress. At least.
Chapter 8
Jia
***
“God, Jia, I wish like hell you’d allow me to help you out.” Stephan’s handsome face contorted into a frown when I opened the door and he came in. He didn’t even say hello properly before he launched into how awful my apartment was.
Dressed like he’d just stepped off the billboard, or out of a dream, Stephan looked every bit the famous artist he was.
I threw my arms around him and gave him a big hug, cutting off any further insults about my place.
“Okay, I can get used to this.” He hugged me back and planted a kiss on my forehead.
I stepped out of his embrace and smiled up at him. “Thank you for coming to see me.”
“How are you?” His large brown eyes held a sheen of purpose and concern for me.
Sometimes it was weird to think that this man had hurt me deeply, but at the same time had been one of those people who was there when I needed him the most, and would always be there. No matter what.
I shook my head, unable to find the right words to say.
“I feel like shit.” That was the most honest I could be.
“But you look like a million dollars,” he offered. A lock of his shiny black hair fell over his eye and the slight incline of his head to the side shifted it back in place.
“Don’t forget your charms don’t work on me anymore.” I chuckled.
“Anymore? So, I lost my touch? Have you looked at me properly?”
And I thought Hunter was full of himself. “I’ve seen you.”
“You must be very strong to be able to resist me.”
I shook my head at him and laughed. This felt nice. It was the most at ease I’d felt since I got here. Two days in, and it felt like my world had turned upside down and twisted at an angle where I was hovering in mid-air.
We moved to the sitting room, where we sat side by side on the sofa.
“Carla told me what John’s making you guys do.” Stephan shuffled around so he could face me.
I sighed with frustration. “What gets me is he never said anything about a competition.”
“He never said anything to us either, and guess what?”
“What?”
“He must have decided on doing this months ago. I wondered why Trish, Daniel, and I were doing our shows in the latter part of the season. Now I know why.”
I wasn’t following what he meant. “Why?”
“Your elements theme/topic doesn’t apply to us. We got free reign of what we wanted to do, but Juliana, Geoff, and Sandy were told to design their shows with the questions in mind. Also, you aren’t close to Juliana, Geoff, or Sandy.”
My shoulders slumped. “I’m not, so if I asked too many specific questions, they wouldn’t give me the answers.”
He nodded and laughed. “John knew that I would give you the answers whether he swore me to secrecy or not.”
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet.” He chuckled.
“It helps knowing. Shows me how serious this is.” I looked ahead to the balcony outside. It was drizzling when I came in earlier. Now it was raining.
I hated the rain. It reminded me of sad things, like Todd’s funeral.
“Hey, don’t look so down. At least you’re back. You just have to put up a good fight.”
Fight against Hunter. Sure, easy.
I didn’t like it. Not any of it, and us working together made it harder. It was against what made something a competition. Felt like being in the Hunger Games, in the parts where the characters had teamed up to survive all the traps the Capitol set up for them, but in the end, they knew there could only be one winner.
This felt like that, and as much as my situation with Hunter annoyed me, I had to admit that I liked the way he thought. I liked the idea he’d come up with and that he’d managed to come up with it because I’d been at a loss. It was worrying what that said about me and my ability to adapt to sudden changes, but I was rolling with his idea and playing the good team member.
“I didn’t think it was going to be so hard. Stephan, I actually thought I could pick up where I left off.”
“The problem was John liked you both. You seen Hunter’s work?”
I shook my head. “It’s best I don’t.” I didn’t need to feel more anxious.
“You need to, to analyze your competition, Jia. If it were me, the guy wouldn’t even be able to take a leak without me knowing. And, please, don’t be too trusting.”
It was all good advice. Honestly, it did concern me that Hunter’s plan involved me being away from the show for a whole hour. But then I figured I’d have an hour per night to see what I missed. But then there was the worry of what if what I missed was in the first part of the show?
What if I missed something vital and Hunter didn’t tell me? Why would he tell me? Carla said it was up to us to decide if we wanted to work together on that part. I would prefer not to, but maybe we had to.
“I won’t, and yes, I’ll keep an eye out. Will you help me if you hear anything?”
“You know I will.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “How are you otherwise? Heard anything more about Bane?”
“Nope. I think Bernice took the case as far as she can and it’s all out of her hands now.” Bernice had put five thousand dollars in my account.
After lunch today, she’d messaged to ask me if I got the money. I didn’t think to check yesterday because I had so much on my plate. When I checked, I nearly passed out. Then I cried, and I called her and cried some more.
I’d been in the middle of brain storming with Hunter when she messaged.
She insisted on giving it to me, even though I wanted to pay her back. So, I had that money and my emergency funds of four grand plus the two grand that sat in my current account. It would be enough to live on until the end of January along with my salary from Impasso.
I was, however, still stuck if I didn’t land the job.
“You need to push it all out of your mind.”
“It was a lot of money, Stephan. Pocket change to you maybe, but for me, it was a deposit for a house.”
He laughed. “Fifty grand isn’t pocket change for me babe. Anyway, the offer’s still on the table to come stay with me. At least I could take care of you.”
Something tugged at my heart when he said that.
It meant a lot to have him in my life as my friend, but I knew he wanted more. While I didn’t have anyone left in this world to take care of me, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to go falling for a playboy. Not like I did before.
“Really, you want to take care of me?” I narrowed my gaze at him. We’d had this conversation before. “Is that all?”
“No, but you can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“Stephan, it’s a wonder I still speak to you.”
“Babe, we have this thing between us that you keep resisting.”
“I didn’t at one point.” I’d been young and dumb. Easily impressed by an older guy who swept me off my feet with his charm. Stephan was six years older than me. Three years ago, when we got together, I got sucked into him and the way that he did indeed take care of me.
“But you never confirmed that you wanted to be with me.”
“Asshole, sleeping together every night tends to confirm that.”
“I thought we were screwing around.”
That was his flaw. “So, instead of checking with me, you jumped into bed with the easiest lay you could find when I went to visit my family for Christmas?”
Yup, he’d cheated on me. Probably several times, but once that I knew of. He said it wasn’t cheating if we weren’t together, because in his head we hadn’t been. But in mine we had.
He looked thrown by my comment. “Does saying I’m sorry for the millionth time help?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Stephan, you are a playboy. A man whore. You love women way too much, and I would never be able to trust you. I won’t be with someone like that. I don’t mind visiting you. I may sleep over on the odd occasion, like if you invited me to watch a film and I fell asleep. But I’m staying here.”
I was staying here in my one-bedroom apartment that was perhaps too close to the rough side of town. It was safer for me.
I didn’t need a repeat of Monday night. Taking comfort in a man to soothe my troubled mind.
Although there were some massive differences. I could easily say no to Stephan. Hunter, on the other hand, was a special case. It was the attraction and the chemistry. It made me crazy.
And I was still here trying to remember what happened between us, and trying not to freak out, and run to the drug store and buy a pregnancy test.
It was too much on my plate.
“In this sleepover you plan to have, would we be sleeping together at any point?”
“No, Stephan.” I frowned at him.
“Just checking. Anyway, come on, let’s go to dinner.”
“Dinner?” I wasn’t exactly in the mood to go out again, and it was raining.
