Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
He was right, of course, she knew that, but after looking at every spot he’d chosen, she finally said, “You know, I don’t think it works out here at all. It’s such a sensual piece, I think it belongs in your bedroom.”
As the words slipped out of her mouth, their gazes connected and a moment of heat arced between them. It flared bright and true and she suddenly dropped her gaze, embarrassed.
She knew she was right about the sculpture, but she wished she hadn’t mentioned the bedroom. Or the word sensual. It seemed suggestive, as though the two of them might end up in the bedroom together engaging in sensual activity.
As if that could ever happen.
And yet Jay didn’t look at all embarrassed. In fact, he was now looking at her as if she were Einstein and had just discovered the theory of relativity. “You’re right. The bedroom. I never would have thought of it.” Then his expression changed again, softening with what appeared to be admiration. “Come on, let’s try it right now.”
Erin laughed, relieved to feel the tension between them dissolving into something more familiar. That was the Jay she knew: desperate to do everything yesterday. His enthusiastic impatience was infectious and she found herself joining him in all but running up the stairs with the Hepworth.
As soon as she walked into the bedroom, he looked at her with a huge grin on his face. “You’re a genius. An absolute genius.”
He moved one of the bedside tables to a blank wall opposite the windows and placed the sculpture there, and she nodded. “That’s it. That’s perfect.” She could imagine how the light would change, giving even more movement to the piece.
He stepped back and nodded. “You’re right. The sensuous lines are like the curves of a woman’s body. This is exactly the right space for it.”
He came a little closer to Erin and she felt herself take a sharp breath. For a second, she wondered if he was going to kiss her. But no. He just gazed at her earnestly for a moment and then quietly said, “You just see things the way they need to be. It’s a gift.”
They shared a look that seemed to go on for hours, so lost was she in the gray of his eyes, like the soft foam of ocean waves when they rolled at dusk.
A bark from Buzzy downstairs broke the moment. She shivered, not from cold, but from the startling realization that her whole body was tingling.
Jay smiled. “I think that’s Buzzy asking if we’re ready to get to work.”
“He’s a tough taskmaster,” Erin said, relieved for the millionth time that Buzzy was in her life.
They went downstairs, and Jay made a pot of coffee and carried two cups into the study. He took a seat at a stylish desk that looked as though it was made of glass. The chairs looked fancy, but she found hers was actually comfortable.
“Do you mind if I record this?” Erin asked as she always did, setting her phone between them. Sometimes she needed to go back and get a quote exactly right or listen to something she might have misunderstood. But she also took notes in an old-fashioned notebook for the bulk of her story.
He told her to go ahead and they settled across from each other. She had all his attention as those gray eyes focused on hers.
Chapter Seven
Jay had been interviewed by some reasonably tough characters—hard news reporters trying to get the inside track on a former client’s drug-induced spree of destruction, paparazzi trying to weasel romantic scoops on his A-listers—so to be interviewed by somebody he’d only ever considered as his best friend’s kid sister should have been a breeze. And yet, as he waited for Erin to begin, he felt strangely on edge. Erin was a lot smarter than many people gave her credit for, a good listener, and often the quiet one in a noisy family. A family that was noisier, let’s face it, when he was around. So he knew what she was like at a family breakfast, on the surfboard, and, if he was honest with himself, he’d enjoyed seeing her all dressed up and gorgeous at her brother’s wedding.
But he’d never seen her at work.
It didn’t help that they’d just shared a moment in the bedroom. It wasn’t his mind playing tricks—she’d looked at him with a kind of tenderness he’d never seen enter her eyes before. There had been heat there too. A desire he’d been pushing away—for how long?
This was Arch’s kid sister, he reminded himself. NO-GO.
He turned his attention to the interview. He could pretty much imagine all the questions she’d ask him, questions he’d been asked a hundred times. What was it like working with top celebrities, how had he got into the business, and sometimes, painfully, that almost throwaway question: If I were looking to get into the business, or if my sister / brother / girlfriend / kid wanted an in, how would they go about it? He would feel the want emanating from the interviewer as they waited for his answer, hoping he’d give them the keys to the kingdom.