Ray of Love (Lifestyle by Design Book 3) (15 page)

The implied meaning behind Ray's words made Faye's heart gallop hard and fast. She was already hot and damp from their kisses. She'd missed him terribly.

"There's one painting I want to get. I saw it in Evan's catalogue. Let me pay for that and we can leave," she replied breathlessly, hyper-aware of Ray's arm around her waist, his fingers lightly caressing the top of her hip where they rested.

"Okay. There's one I'm interested in, too. Let's be quick and make our exit."

"Impatient, Mr. Thackery?" she teased.

"I've suffered for two weeks without you. Now that I have you back, all I can think of is being alone with you," he stated with blazing eyes.

Her breath hitched and she shivered deliciously. "Just a few more minutes, baby," she replied with a sweet smile. "I need to get the number for my painting. Do you know yours?"

"Ah, no. Let's check yours, then we'll check mine."

Hand in hand, they strolled through the gallery to where Faye's favourite painting was.

"Oh, no! It's sold already," she cried in dismay as she saw the small red 'sold' sticker on the description panel of the painting.

"Looks like Evan's sold a few already," Ray commented as he looked around the room.

"There are a couple of other ones that I liked. I think they're in the other room. Hopefully, they're still available," Faye said. "I really want to get one before we leave. It's Evan's special night."

"That's the one I like over there," Ray said, pointing to a large canvas hanging on a feature wall.

"Oooh, I love that one. I would buy it myself if I could afford it," Faye declared. "Are you getting it?"

Ray smiled at her indulgently. "Yes. I'll go and secure it now and follow you to the other room afterward."

"Okay."

She walked to the next room and made a beeline for one of the smaller paintings. Her heart sank when she saw the red sticker on it, too. She moved a few steps to her other choice - a wavy heart inside colourful geometric patterns.

Yes! Still available.

"Hi, Faye," Victor said, startling her.

"Victor," she gushed. "I want this one. I have to run to the front before it gets sold. The other two I liked were already bought."

"Wait, you don't have to," Victor said, pulling out his mobile phone. He called someone and asked her to reserve painting number 26 for Faye Summers.

"You can pay for it on your way out," Victor advised when he finished the call.

"Hey, that's great customer service," she chuckled.

"I know. Can you believe Evan's already sold eleven paintings so far and it's only the first day of his exhibition? His smaller pieces are the most popular because they're very well priced. He was so worried he wouldn't even sell one!"

"Is he kidding? He's really good. Ray's buying one of his big ones from the other room."

"Really?" Victor asked in amazement.

"Yes. He's paying for it right now."

Victor looked at her quizzically. "You two have had your private conversation?"

She smiled shyly. "Yes. Although it wasn't exactly private because Kane was there. But we've sorted it all out."

"Yay! I'm so glad, darling," Victor replied giving her a big hug.

"I wonder where Kane is," she mused. "Ray and I are leaving shortly, and I want to say goodbye to him."

"Ooh, leaving so soon, huh," Victor teased. "He's in the next room chatting to the others."

They wandered over to where Kane was conversing with Will, Clarise, Rob and Jessa.

"Hey, guys."

"Where's Ray?" Kane asked Faye with a wink.

"He's buying a painting. Did you find one you liked?"

"Yeah. Victor had it reserved for me."

"Everything okay?" Clarise asked Faye as she threaded her arm with hers.

"Yes," she smiled serenely. "Everything's great. You guys didn't tell me what you did," Faye scolded her best friends, but her smile indicated she wasn't at all displeased.

"Sometimes, we just have to keep things from each other," Clarise shrugged impishly.

Faye chuckled. "Yes, since Ray's your boss, I can't tell you
everything
. It would be weird if I did. I'd have to hold back on some of the details."

"You're right, we definitely wouldn't want to know," Victor agreed with a shudder. "Imagine being in a staff meeting with Ray and having a picture in our minds of what the two of you did on the weekend. I don't think so."

Laughter was ringing out from their little group as Ray joined them.

"What's so funny, chaps?" he asked as he placed a hand on the small of Faye's back.

"They were talking about imagining you and Faye naked during staff meetings," Rob responded cheerily.

"Rob!" Jessa lightly swatted her fiancé's arm then turned to Ray. "No, what we were talking about was how we
wouldn't
want to be imagining you and Faye naked during staff meetings."

"How did that even come up?" Ray asked in astonishment.

"Remember when I told you before that I tell my best friends everything?" Faye piped in. "We were just discussing the fact that they wouldn't hear the same level of detail they were used to in the past when it comes to you and me."

"Well, that's a relief," Ray responded, giving her a wide grin. "Was your painting still available?"

"One of them was. Victor called to have it reserved for me. I'll pay for it on our way out. Are you ready to go?"

She flushed as she saw the desire in his eyes as he nodded his head in confirmation.

*******

Ray waited with Will and Rob by the gallery front door as their women lined up at the counter with Kane to pay for their purchases.

"Will we see you during the gang's Friday night dinners, Ray?" Will asked him.

"Oh, so you guys join them, too?"

"Yes, most of the time."

"That'll be great - if Faye invites me."

"Unlikely that she wouldn't," Will chuckled.

Ray was already looking forward to it. He loved the thought of being a part of Faye's life in every way. It had an added bonus of spending time with other people he genuinely liked and respected.

"If it's going to be a regular thing, I guess I'll need to change my Friday night routine. I usually go to the gym after work, even on Fridays," he mused.

The other two men laughed.

"Join the club," Rob said. "Will and I have made changes to our normal schedules just for our women. Mind you, we do get great value out of those Friday dinners. We talk business while the others chat about food and girlie things. When you're there we can have a business mastermind session."

Ray grinned. Rob and Will were both sharp and savvy business owners. Conversations with them were always stimulating. "Great! Now I'm —"

"Ray! There you are. I've been looking for you!"

He groaned silently at the unwelcome interruption by a woman who was supposed to be smart but couldn't seem to take a hint.

"I need to take my mum home now," Rita Maxwell continued, "but we wanted to say goodbye first."

He gave her a small smile and nodded politely to her mother. "Goodnight to you both."

"I hope everything's okay with you and Kane, Ray," Rita said coyly. "You know, I only just met him tonight and, well, I didn't want to create a scene by telling him not to bother me. I hope you didn't mind."

"It was none of my concern, Rita. I didn't care that he flirted with you," he said firmly.

"Oh." Rita's face grew beet red. "But I thought …"

"We better go, Rita," the elderly woman said to her daughter.

"Sure, Ma," she responded. "I'll talk to you next week, Ray," she said to him with a doe-eyed look as she followed her mother.

Ray scowled at Rita although she didn't see.
Now what the hell would she want to talk about?
He looked at the other two guys.

"What do you do when someone just can't take a hint?" he asked them in frustration.

"Tell her the truth in no uncertain terms," Will suggested.

"Yeah, I should have done that in the first place. She's a client and I didn't want her to feel uncomfortable working with me. I thought subtlety would work, but she just doesn't get it."

"I think she gets it but she's not ready to throw in the towel." Rob commented. "It's funny, isn't it? You either thank your lucky stars or you get the shits, depending on which woman doesn't give up on you."

"Yeah," Ray chuckled as his mind transported him back to his thirty-fourth birthday four and a half months ago.
 

His well-meaning sister had invited her workmate, Beth, to join their family-only party. Beth was a stunning woman who'd had a thing for him for months. Unfortunately for Beth, he was short on fuse that day, even though it was his birthday. He made cutting remarks about her not getting the picture that he wasn't interested. To his horror, Beth burst into tears in front of his whole family. His sister was so incensed at his lack of sensitivity, and he was truly embarrassed by his juvenile meanness. He vowed then to be a bit more considerate of women who threw themselves at him, including Rita.

He shouldn't have taken his frustration out on Beth that day. But that morning, he saw Faye kiss a good-looking, blonde man on the street near her office building. He thought it cruel that out of all the days he first laid eyes on Steve, it would have to be his birthday. Worse, Steve was kissing the woman his heart couldn't let go of.

Even now his heart still constricted at the memory. Even though Faye had given him assurances that this time around, it was him she chose and not Steve, he was still insanely jealous and highly insecure when it came to her ex-boyfriend. He couldn't help but think that if Steve hadn't moved to Adelaide for work, he and Faye would still be together.

He pushed the pernicious thought aside. Tonight, Faye said she was in love with him. That was what mattered now.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ray strolled arm in arm with Faye towards the parking lot of the gallery. His heart was dancing that they were alone again at last and his body was humming in anticipation of what was to transpire when they got to her place.

When they reached his car, he opened the door for her but she didn't get in straight away. She caressed his face before giving him a soft, sweet kiss.

"I missed you," she murmured against his lips.

Everything about him glowed with loving warmth. "I missed you, too, baby," he responded gruffly as he ran his fingers on her face, tracing her beloved features. "I can't promise never to be stupid in the future but I will try my very best not to shut you out again, no matter how angry or hurt I become. I'm really sorry, sweetheart."

"I'm sorry, too, for hurting you," she whispered, her eyes filled with contrition. "I could see why you didn't want to talk to me after what I made you believe. It was only after you left that I realised I didn't mean any of those things I said."

"Just tell me again you love me. That's all I need to hear."

She smiled at him, sweetly and sincerely. "I love you, Ray."

He breathed a sigh of pure bliss. "And I love you, Faye." He gathered her in his arms and buried his face in her hair, inhaling her alluring, sensual scent.

He felt her arms tighten around his waist and shivered as her lips pressed soft kisses on his neck. He leaned back to look at her. His heart and his cock swelled at the picture of love and lust on her face which, he knew, he mirrored.

He crushed her mouth with his and they kissed avidly, tongues mating, ecstatic at tasting each other again, eager to give and receive in equal measure.

Before long, they were burning. His restless hands travelled down Faye's back and further down to her bottom. He squeezed and pulled her against his burgeoning erection. Faye gasped and ground her body harder against his, lifting a leg and wrapping it around his thighs.

"Baby, you drive me crazy," he moaned as his hungry mouth nibbled her neck.

A loud honking stunned them out of their lustful haze. Ray blinked at the car that stopped in front of his parked one. Unbelievably, they'd forgotten where they were.

"Seriously, guys," Kane called to them, "can't you get home first? Or do I have to follow you to make sure you get there before you're arrested for public indecency?"

"Sorry," Ray replied with a guilty grin. "We're getting in the car now and going home." He released Faye and motioned for her to get in.

Faye gave her brother a cute little wave. "I won't forget about your dessert," she promised as she got in the car.

Kane drove off, shaking his head in bemusement.

Ray closed Faye's door and walked around to his side. He got in and started the engine.

He tried not to, really tried not to, but he wasn't able to stop himself from glancing at Faye. Wrong move. He found her staring at him with undisguised longing.

"Don't look at me like that," he murmured. "We need to get home first."

"Then drive," she answered, not at all altering her expression.

He took a deep breath and put his hand on the gear stick, ready to put the car in motion when he abruptly leaned towards her. "Just one more kiss, baby," he cajoled, "to last me until we get home."

Her smile was exultant. She grabbed his face and gave him a passionate kiss that melted everything in its path.

He groaned as his cock hardened further, desperate for some attention from her, too. "Okay, enough for now and let me drive," he rasped against her lips. "I need to get us home ASAP."

"Uh-hmm," she responded, pulling him closer and arching her back so her chest touched his.

"God, sweetheart, if you don't stop I'll have to take you right here and I won't care who sees us," he croaked even as his hand moved to cup a breast straining to get out of its confines.

"You started it, you stop," Faye breathed teasingly.

"What do you mean I started it?" he countered as his seeking lips travelled to her earlobes. "I opened the car door for you and you started kissing me on the neck. You started it so
you
stop."

"I got in the car and told you to drive. You were the one who begged for a kiss," she panted.

"Aha! But who started the kiss, hmm?"