Selling Grace: A Light Romance Novel (Art of Grace Book 1) (20 page)

"Not bad," I said when I finished, looking at the printed off page. I'd send a copy off to Albrecht, and I'd also need to get one to Onyx as a receipt-

That's right! I hadn't yet told Onyx that his statue had sold! I flipped through the little Rolodex on Preston's desk until I found Onyx's number, and placed the call. The phone rang at least twenty times before he picked up.

"Yes?" he said, not bothering to introduce himself, but I knew his voice.

"Hi Onyx, it's Becca. Listen, I've got some great news!"

"You've decided to come help pose for my sculpture some more, after all." The words sent a delicious little wave of warmth down my spine, but I ignored it. Think about the date with Carter, I reminded myself.

"No, not that. But I do have a buyer for your big, um, sculpture! Albrecht agreed that he wanted to go ahead and make the purchase!" I waited a moment, but Onyx didn't seem to have anything to say about this one way or the other. "So listen, I've got a receipt for you to come pick up, and I'll need to figure out how to get the statue delivered, I guess-"

"He bought it?" Onyx cut in smoothly, sounding a little surprised.

"Well, yeah. Carter gave me the good news this morning, and right in the nick of time, too." I sat back in my seat for a moment, tapping a pen on the desk. "Why's that so strange?"

"Not important." Onyx brushed the question aside, and although this only further added to my curiosity, I decided not to push the issue.

"So, can I swing by after work this afternoon with the forms for you to sign?" I needed to keep this conversation on track.

"Sure. I'll be here."

"Great," I said, and hung up before he could try and tempt me with any more offers to pose for him, either with or without clothes.

As soon as I'd hung up from this call, I dialed another number, this one on my personal cell phone.

"I did it!" I squealed, as soon as the phone connected.

"Becca? You did what? You killed Barry to get rid of him? Oh my god, you finally slept with one of two hot guys? Which one?"

"No, Portia, not that," I said, rolling my eyes. "I got the sale after all! Albrecht agreed to buy the statue, and that means that I'm not going to have to move back in with my parents or tell them about how they were almost sued! I'm going to be able to make the payment that I owe to Barry after all!"

"Oh, that's great too!" Portia exclaimed. "We need to celebrate!"

I paused. "We might need to wait until tomorrow to celebrate. The rest of my evening's schedule is pretty full."

"With what? Drinking yourself into a stupor of relief and happiness? Because if so, girl, I want to be a part of that!"

"No, not drinking - at least, not at first," I replied. "I first need to go stop by at Onyx's studio and get him to sign the paperwork for selling the sculpture-"

"Ooh, and you could also celebrate with him, maybe by letting him rub-"

"And then, after that," I pressed on quickly before Portia could finish that sentence, "I have a dinner date with Carter."

For a second, she didn't say anything, and I wondered if I'd managed to accidentally give her a heart attack from the shock. "Really? An actual date?" she managed at length, sounding amazed.

I beamed down at the desk in front of me. "That's right! He's the one who apparently talked to Albrecht and convinced the man that he wanted the sculpture. So I think that having dinner with him is the least that I can do!"

"Oh, right, dinner," Portia said. "Look, I don't know how you managed to get both of these guys so interested in you, Becca, but you had better make a choice and get some enjoyment from at least one of them. And if Carter is willing to do all this for you, and take you out on a date even on top of all that, the least you can do is offer him a nightcap!"

Tapping my fingers on the desk, I sighed. "Well, I'm not taking that option entirely off the table..."

I had to hold the phone a couple inches away from my ear as Portia squealed. "Finally!" she announced triumphantly. "One night stand, here we come! Do you want me to forward you some articles? I know that you're probably out of practice, and Barry couldn't have been up to date on the latest techniques anyway-"

"No, no, that's alright," I said hastily, not even wanting to imagine what sort of tips Portia might imagine that I needed. How hard could sex really be, in the end? Take off clothes, kiss, hug, and, well, come together until someone finishes. Had any of that really changed much in the last thousand years?

"Well, even if you don't want to try anything to new and exciting right away, I'm still happy for you, Becks," Portia said. "Hopefully, you'll have a lot less stress now that you're getting this payment off your back!"

"Me too," I agreed, and said my goodbyes. Portia insisted that, at the very least, we had to get together tomorrow so that I could tell her about my "adventures." I hoped that I wouldn't end up having anything stressful enough to count as an adventure, but her enthusiasm was infectious, and I couldn't keep a smile off my face after hanging up the phone.

At five o'clock on the dot, I closed down the gallery and, papers in hand, made the short walk over to Onyx's studio. This time, I was able to find the right building after only two false starts, and I found the door unlocked when I tried the handle. From the other side of the door, I heard loud clinking noises, the sound of metal impacting with stone

"Hello? Onyx?" I called out, stepping inside.

He emerged from the studio side of his cavernous warehouse, dusting off his hands and pushing a pair of goggles up on his forehead, displacing that black hair. "Hi Rebecca," he greeted me, that smooth, chocolate voice sending a little tingle through me as always.

"So, aren't you thrilled?" I asked, bouncing up and down a little in my flats. "Your biggest piece has sold! You're going to make a ton from this!"

He just shrugged. "Money's not important to me," he said softly, wiping one hand on his jeans before he accepted the purchase forms that I handed to him.

"Well, it still matters to me, and I'm thrilled," I told him. I fished my phone out of my purse and checked the time, and then winced. Almost five-thirty already! I needed to get going, get home so that I could prepare for my date with Carter.

The gesture didn't escape Onyx's attention. "Need to be somewhere?"

"Yes, actually. I've got a date with Carter tonight - I just wanted to stop by and drop off these papers. I've never sold anything this big before, and I'm not totally sure exactly how Uncle Preston handled all of this-"

"There's a moving company that specializes in art," he interrupted me. "You should be able to find their information. Give them a call, and set up a time with Albrecht, and they can arrange the actual move."

"Um, okay." Did Onyx seem a little short with me, a little annoyed? I tried to tell myself that it was nothing. "Well, I guess that I'll get going-"

"Rebecca," Onyx said softly, and I paused for a moment to look back at him.

"What?"

He hesitated for a moment - perhaps, I suddenly thought, the very first time I'd ever seen any hint of uncertainty about him. "Be careful with Carter," he said softly, shaking his head and looking directly into my eyes. His dark gaze held me pinned, almost spellbound. "He presents a very warm, friendly face, but be careful of what might be beneath the surface."

I nodded, not sure how to respond. "I... I have to go," I repeated, taking another step backwards towards the exit from Onyx's combined home and studio.

He didn't say anything or chase after me, but I felt the weight of his eyes following after me as I left.

Chapter Twenty-Four

*

I turned over Onyx's words on the way home, but as soon as Carter met me at my front door, they silenced themselves and scrubbed themselves out of my mind, replaced instead by thoughts of how I was, in fact, a very lucky woman indeed.

"You look great," he greeted me gallantly, his eyes gliding over the outfit that I'd finally, after trying on half a dozen alternatives, reluctantly accepted. I didn't think the outfit looked especially amazing, although I did like how the dark, muted colors didn't make me stand out too much.

"So do you," I answered, barely able to keep from staring at him. Indeed, Carter wore a black suit over a white shirt, with no tie. What would have appeared sloppy and loose on any other man instead made him look cool and casual, yet still elegant. He looked like the male lead in a Bond film, still cool and composed and totally put together even after finishing a shootout against the final villain. His slightly mussy brown hair, twinkling eyes, and easy grin added to the illusion that he had stepped right off of a Hollywood movie poster.

He shrugged, and held the door to his car open for me. "So, I thought that we'd hit up Paesanos, this great Italian place just a few miles away, and then maybe walk over to Icekrimski, a gelato place right around the corner, for dessert. How's that sound?"

"Italian food and gelato? You're pulling out the big guns, aren't you?" I beamed at him as he climbed into the driver's seat beside me. "Not just dancing around with lunch dates, huh?"

"A big sale deserves a big celebration," he answered, smiling back at me as he put the car into gear.

If I wasn't sold on Carter already, he sealed the deal the moment that we arrived at Paesanos, the popular restaurant bustling and busy - and he marched right up to the hostess and asked if our reservation was ready. I gaped at him for a moment as the hostess grabbed two menus and led us back to a cozy, intimate corner booth.

"You called ahead?" I exclaimed. "Wow, talk about a charmer!"

Carter just smiled at me, looking both slightly embarrassed and incredibly pleased with himself.

Dinner flew by in a flurry of conversation and plates of delicious, mouth-watering homemade pasta. I didn't even let myself pause on the salad menu, instead telling myself that I'd earned a nice big plate of wonderful, carb-stuffed pasta. And, angel that he was, Carter didn't say a word about the size of my order, instead picking out an equally large portion for himself. He told me more stories about some of his crazy real estate clients until the food arrived, at which point we both fell silent. Together, we dug into the steaming, fresh and hot pasta tossed in sauce, with little meatballs hiding like unexpected surprises in amid the long noodles.

"Wow," I groaned when I finally sat back, finishing off the last swallow of wine in my glass (my second glass, but Carter was handling the driving - and everything else - about tonight, so why hold back?). "That was delicious."

"No room for gelato?" he teased me, although Carter looked just as contented and stuffed as I felt.

I frowned slightly as I considered my options. "Maybe we could go for a little walk before we get it, work off some of these calories," I suggested. Indeed, the heavy food, wine, and the warmth of the restaurant all combined to make me feel wonderfully relaxed, but almost sleepy.

Carter nodded, passed his card to the waiter on the man's next trip past our table, and handled the bill. He offered me his hand, and I gratefully accepted it as we headed out into the slightly cooler night air.

It turned out that there was a park just a couple blocks away; Carter and I wandered over, where we sat down on a bench. The man draped his arm around me, and I snuggled in against him, appreciating the contrasting sensations of the night air cooling my legs and the warmth of his body as I pressed against his shoulder. His fingers gently stroked my shoulder, and he smiled down at me when I tilted my head back to glance up at him.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing." His grin grew a little wider. "I'm glad that you're going to be sticking around, that you got this ex-husband thing behind you."

"Me, too," I said. "Although, now that I've made this big commission, I could always grab the cash and make a mad dash, try and skip town..."

His hand around me tightened, drawing me in closer. "I guess I better hold onto you to make sure that you don't break away, then."

When I turned to get closer to him, I found Carter's face just an inch or so away from me, so tempting and delicious. Wine swirling in my head and with my body lying across his lap on the bench, I didn't try and resist. I let myself drift in to kiss him.

He kissed me back, his hands pulling around me, tightening as he drew me further up to his lap, my chest pressed in against his. He tasted warm and slightly spicy, the last little hint of our Italian dinner lingering on his lips. I imagined that I tasted largely the same, but even the thought that I might have garlic breath didn't taint the moment.

"Maybe we should take a break," I gasped out, several kisses later. "We're in public, remember?"

Carter glanced around past me, as if only now just realizing that yes, in fact, we were still in public and not magically back in his bedroom. "I don't mind if you don't," he answered, drawing me back in.

I couldn't resist, of course, but I pulled away afterward. "No, really - the worst thing right now would be if, just after finally fixing my money problems, I got arrested and fined for indecent exposure."