Kiss Me Book 1 (2 page)

“
But you love art, and this
gallery is supposed to be amazing. This new artist Christian
Daniels is supposed to be the next big thing.”

Amy leaned in and ran a
finger under her lips, making sure her bright red matte lipstick
was still in place. She’d decided to go simple with her makeup, by
simply lining her blue eyes with black—giving them a slight
cat-like appearance—and brushing black mascara over her lashes. The
dramatic bright red coloring her full lips was more than enough
color to suit her mood. She’d swept her mass of blond hair up into
a messy pile on top of her head, curling the stray tendrils into
tight springs.

After making sure her full
chest was safe from any wardrobe malfunctions, she turned and
looked at Carrie, who was sitting on the foot of Amy’s bed texting
like a madwoman.

“
Officer Billy says they
haven’t gotten any leads on your case yet,” she said without
looking up.

“
I know,” Amy said as she
slipped into her black heels.

“
You know?” Carrie looked
up.

“
Care, of course I know.
It’s my case, he’s been keeping me informed.”

“
Oh, I knew
that.”

Amy just laughed and
rolled her eyes. Sometimes it seems that she was the older sister
instead of Carrie, and in a lot of ways she was. Carrie really
hadn’t gotten a chance to be young and carefree before their
parents had shipped her off to boarding school. Sure, she’d gotten
into plenty of trouble there, but she’d married Jackson just out of
college. She loved the pampered life, but Amy knew her sister was
truly miserable.

After grabbing her black
clutch off the dresser, she screwed on her best fake smile. “You
ready to hit the town?” Amy said with more cheer than she
felt.

“
You freaking know it,”
Carrie said as she leapt from the bed and tucked the phone inside
her dress.

“
How in the hell are you
keeping your phone in there? Your boobs barely stay in
there.”

Carrie hooked her arm
through Amy’s as they walked down the curling staircase. “It’s all
about positioning.”

***

Amy pulled her car in
front of the massive warehouse. It was at least three stories tall
and as wide as a city block. A red carpet was rolled from the front
door like a giant red tongue. A smartly dressed man rushed around
to help her out of the car while another helped Carrie climb
free.

As the valet drove her car
away the girls walked up the carpet and through the doors. The
space was massive. White lights hung from the ceiling and were
lazily draped over every surface. A large screen with projector was
playing a video of some sort against the far wall. To her best
count, there were at least two hundred people mingling around. A
neatly dressed young woman carrying a tray of wine offered them two
fluted glasses.

“
This is amazing,” Amy
said, remembering how much she loved the art scene. Music played in
the background as she and Carrie mingled around.

She stopped in front of a
rather impressive sculpture. There was a wide variety of art,
ranging from paintings and sculptures to live art and clay. There
had to be at least one hundred pieces. As far as galleries went,
this one was unique in a way that flouted the traditional rules.
She immediately liked it.

Carrie had wandered off in
search of her next conquest, allowing Amy to take her time and
enjoy each of the pieces. She came to one sculpture which took her
breath away.

“
Beautiful, isn’t
she?”

Amy spun around and nearly
collided into a man who had to have been every bit of six foot six.
He was wearing a pair of worn and distressed jeans that were
covered in paint splatters. It was in fact a contrast compared to
the suit coat he wore over a vintage t-shirt. His square jaw was
covered with blond stubble, but it did nothing to hide the dimple
in his right cheek when he smiled.

Finally finding her voice,
Amy nodded. “It is beautiful. I would have never thought to use
copper and steel in that fashion, but here it works very
well.”

“
Ah, the lady knows about
art?”

“
Don’t most people that
come to these things?”

He lifted a shoulder. “Eh,
not really. Most are just here for the free booze and finger
food.”

She chuckled, “Well, I do
know what I am talking about, and the artist that created this
piece is a genius.”

He brushed his
shoulder-length blond hair back. Typically she wouldn’t find long
hair on a man attractive, but this was a very different case.
“Would you like to meet him?”

“
Sure.”

“
Christian Daniels,” he
said holding out his hand and beaming widely at her.

“
You’re Christian Daniels?”
she gasped, her eyes growing wide.

“
I am, and you are at my
party.”

She took his hand and
noted how the rough callouses that scrapped against the back of her
hand made her shiver. Slowly his eyes glided over her, his icy blue
gaze leaving her skin feeling flushed. It felt as if he was
undressing her with his eyes, and what bothered her more was that
she liked it. Her mouth was dry as she tucked the corner of her
tongue between her lips and began to chew slightly.

“
It’s a pleasure to meet
you, Mr. Daniels. I’ve heard a lot about your work, I must say,”
she said, turning back to look at the impressive sculpture—in large
part to gather her composure. There was just something about him
that was causing her to come undone. “The talk I’ve heard does not
do your work justice.”
Or you for that
matter
, her mind added for her.
Keep your walls up; don’t let him in.

He chuckled and grabbed
two glasses of wine from the passing tray. “Thank you Mrs. .
.”

“
It’s Miss and Amy. My name
is Amy,” she said, taking the glass.

“
Well, Amy, if you don’t
mind me saying, you’re the most beautiful woman in the room. I
noticed you the minute you walked in,” he said as he sipped his
wine, never taking his eyes off her.

She chuckled and rolled
her eyes. “Really? That’s the best you can do?”

“
The lady doesn’t like my
lines?”

“
I’ve seen better lines on
worn-out fishing boats.”

“
Ouch, you wound me,” he
said, covering his heart with his hand, feigning hurt.

“
Somehow I think you’ll
live,” she shot back playfully.

“
And again with the
zingers. Tell me, are you a bit jaded in the love department?”
Again he took a sip of his wine, waiting for her answer.

“
Nope,” she lied, “I just
have an aversion to cheesy pickup lines from hot guys who think
they can have any woman they want.”

“
You think I’m hot,” he
said, smugly.

She opened her mouth to
respond but snapped it shut when she realized what she’d said. She
frowned and he threw his head back, barking a loud
laugh.

“
Well, now that we both
think the other is beautiful, why don’t you let me show you
something,” he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her through
the crowd. They came to a stop in front of two giant bay doors when
she pulled her hand out of his.

“
You’re crazy if you think
I am going in there with you,” she said and backed away.

“
But you think I’m hot.
Would a hot guy try to hurt you?”

“
Okay really? You’re
starting to play the hot guy thing out already and it’s only been
like two minutes.”

“
I know, but it’s fun.
C’mon, I promise nothing will happen, and, when you tell me to
stop, I promise, I’ll stop.” He gave her a wickedly sexy
smile.

“
Are you always so
juvenile?”

“
Are you always such a
prude?” he shot back.

She frowned at the term
her sister used and squared her shoulders. “I’m not a prude,” she
said as she stepped through the doors and into the
darkness.

The overhead lights
flicked on, and she was then led to a large object in the center of
the room that was covered with a sheet. Welding tools were neatly
arranged at the base. He pulled away the sheet and she gasped. It
was a beautiful rendering of a Minotaur; however, her gaze was
pulled to something just off to the side.

“
Where did you get that?”
she asked as she walked around and stopped in front of a two
familiar looking statues.

“
Ummm, I . . .” he said as
he raked his hands anxiously through his hair.

“
Where did you get those?”
she asked firmly, pointing to the pieces in question.

“
Someone sold them to me,
and they were supposed to go on the floor tonight, but I didn’t
have time to get them ready.”

She snorted. “Someone sold
those to you?”

He looked at her, confused
by her sudden coldness. “Yeah, a guy came in last week and asked me
what I would give for them.”

“
Ha, likely story,” Amy
said as she backed toward the doors.

“
Amy? What is going
on?”

“
You’re a thief, and you’ll
be hearing from the cops and my attorney before this night is
finished.”

Christian’s eyes narrowed
dangerously. “Now, wait a minute, lady. You have some nerve showing
up to my party and start throwing around crazy accusations.” His
nostrils flared and his jaws clenched together.

“
And let me guess, the rest
of this art, those pieces out there, someone
sold
you those too?”

“
Are you accusing me of
something?” he said.

“
I’m calling you a fraud,”
she snapped.

“
A fraud? Are you kidding
me? On what grounds.”

She turned before going
back into the party. “Because, Mr. Daniels, those pieces over there
are one of a kind pieces. I know that because they are mine.
I
made those, and last
week they were stolen from me.” She snorted and leveled a cold
glare at him. “And now I know who stole them.”

Christian watched as the
beautiful blond stormed out of his loft, confused by what had
happened. Walking over to the art she claimed had been hers, he
lifted the sculpture and inspected the back. On the bottom was
carved the initials A. J. He’d assumed it had belonged to the man
who had brought them in.

At first he hadn’t been
interested in the pieces, but upon looking at them further he’d
found them intriguing. He’d never believed for one second that a
masterpiece could come from a woman as beautiful as the one he just
saw. He knew there was something very wrong with the
situation.

***

For the next couple of
days Amy was on pins and needles. After calling the police, she’d
found out that Christian Daniels had been taken downtown for
questioning the night of his party. As it happened, hers wasn’t the
only pieces of stolen art in his gallery. There were at least three
other pieces. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough to tie Christian
to the robberies, so his lawyer had gotten him off the
hook.

“
Look, Ms. Jackson,”
Officer Billy said through the receiver, “there’s nothing that can
be done. We couldn’t find any evidence against Mr. Daniels. As it
happened, the man who sold him the other pieces was already
apprehended and turned over to our custody. We got a confession and
everything.”

“
And what about my
pieces?”

He sighed heavily into the
phone. “There is nothing that can tie him to your house the night
of the break-in. He has an airtight alibi and until the other night
had no idea who you were.”

“
But how did he get my
pieces?”

Officer Billy’s patience
was wearing very thin. “Listen, we are doing everything we can to
help find the man responsible. Until then, sit tight and we will
let you know if we get any further news. Good
afternoon.”

He didn’t give her a
chance to respond, and she placed the phone back on the cradle,
hanging up. She looked around her house. She and Robert had bought
it together when she’d turned twenty-five. Now, seven years later,
she found it somewhat gaudy and a little bit over the top with its
winding staircase, vaulted ceilings, and crystal chandeliers. She’d
won the house and a hefty settlement of two million dollars in the
divorce, but somehow she felt like she’d gotten the raw end of the
deal.

She sat on the couch and
stared at the place where her beloved statue used to sit. It, along
with the others, were really the only things she had from before
she and Robert had met.

Feeling cooped up, she
slid on her flip-flops and marched across the lawn to her car.
She’d be damned if she let some hack artist keep her stuff.
Spinning her tires, she hastily made her way to the
gallery.

In the light of day, the
structure was ominous, but she didn’t let that stop her. She jumped
out of her car and marched her way up the sidewalk to a large black
door. She lifted her hand to knock but thought better of it. She
gave the door a swift tug and it came open easily, nearly sending
her sprawling on her backside into the yard.