Tempting the Artist (17 page)

Luke’s heart, still beating
erratically, felt as if it would leap out of his chest. He had to
put a stop to this. A stop to whatever game Gary was
playing.

After several deep breaths, Luke ran
his hand down his face and chanced a glance at Christina. The
uncertainty he saw in her eyes should have made him feel guilty
about his outburst. It didn’t.

“
Seeing him flat on his ass
with a broken jaw and a bloodied nose would have been worth the
consequences.”

Christina’s mouth dropped open and she
narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not serious! If being around that
guy makes you consider doing something that stupid, you need to
stay away from him. He’s not worth you losing control. I could tell
he was baiting you. I don’t want to think about what would’ve
happened if I weren’t here.”

Luke paced behind his desk, rubbing
his sweaty hands down the side of his pants legs. That was the last
straw. He had to do something about Gary. There was no way in hell
he was going to let that asshole continue yanking his chain and
pawning off his work. And the day the stupid jerk made partner,
would be the day Luke quit.

Once his anger dissipated, Luke
stopped pacing. Christina stood at the edge of his desk. Her wary
gaze telling him that she wasn’t sure what to think of him at the
moment.

“
I can’t stand that guy.
There’s something about him that shoots my bullshit meter through
the roof.”

“
I gathered as much, but
Lucas you can’t give him this type of control over you. Maybe you
can talk to one of the senior partners about him.”

Going over Gary’s head was too high
schoolish for Luke. No. He would handle Gary, but first he had to
find out what he was up against. The guy rarely did any work, yet
he was in the office most days. If he was trying to hand off his
work to Luke, chances were he was doing it to someone else as
well.

“
Sorry about that,” he
mumbled.

“
No need to apologize. Just
promise me you won’t do anything crazy and get yourself locked
up.”

Without making any promises, he pulled
her into his arms and lowered his mouth over hers. He nipped at her
lower lip, then the top one, preferring to kiss her than do any
more talking. Warm. Soft. Delicious. Her sweet kisses were all he
needed as desire quickly squashed the battle that was brewing
inside of him. If only he could keep her by his side 24/7 to
surround him with the peace that only she could provide, the better
he would be.

Reluctantly, Luke broke off the kiss.
Touching his forehead to hers he said, “I hate that you had to
witness … all of that.”

“
Me too. I know you’re
going to do whatever you want to do, but be careful.
Okay?”

He gave a slight nod. “Why don’t we
save our office rendezvous for another time. ‘Cause right now I
want to get you home and horizontal so that I can make love to you
as promised earlier.”

A slow smile spread across her mouth
and she batted those big beautiful eyes at him. “Well then, don’t
just stand there. Let’s go.”

Luke chuckled. Forgetting about Gary,
he grabbed the file he had originally come in for and gave thanks
for the beautiful angel who had dropped into his life. Tonight he
planned to expend all of his pent up energy on pleasing her, but
tomorrow, he was going to figure out what to do about Gary. The man
was going to regret getting in his face.

Christina yawned for what seemed like
the hundredth time doing everything she could to stay awake. It was
already ten o’clock at night and she couldn’t leave the art studio
until she finished the painting she was working on. The last piece
needed for her show in Chicago in three weeks.

She set down her brush and scooted her
stool back, cringing when the metal legs scraped against the
concrete floor. The floors weren’t painted, but she didn’t want to
do any more damage than was already done to them. For two years
now, she rented the one room space that had an attached bathroom
and a small kitchen area. The room was nothing to brag about, but
it beat having to paint at the loft. Most importantly, she liked
not having the models in her home. They were wonderful to work
with, but she definitely wanted to keep her personal life separate
from her business.

Standing, Christina lifted her arms
high above her head, reached as far up as she could and stretched.
“Alright, Luke, where are you?” She dropped her arms and shook them
out. A quick glance at the clock on the far wall revealed that he
was late. He had called an hour earlier, agreeing to bring her
dinner once he left the office, and she was beyond
hungry.

She tidied her workspace, placing
brushes she wouldn’t be using for the rest of the night into a can
of paint thinner. A couple of more hours and she should be able to
call it a night. All she had to do was figure out how to stay
awake.

Checking her cell to make sure she
hadn’t missed a call, she thought about Luke’s encounter with that
slimeball attorney. She could only hope he was telling the truth
when he said there hadn’t been any other altercations. This week he
hadn’t talked much about work, seeming a bit more distracted than
usual.

“
Come on, Luke.” She needed
to get back to work, but couldn’t focus when her stomach was
growling.

Feeling a little restless, she
strolled over to her iPod speaker and cranked up the volume. When
working on nudes, she usually painted to the tunes of Tupac or R.
Kelly. The raunchier the lyrics, the better.

She shuffled through her playlist and
stopped when she found the album she’d been searching
for.

“
Oh yeah.” Nothing got her
creative juices flowing like music.

Catching the beat, Christina snapped
her fingers. She bobbed her head and rocked her hips as R. Kelly’s
song “Leg’s Shakin’”, pumped through the speakers. Wiggling back
over to her painting, she twirled and dipped just as the door
buzzer rang.

Even after months together, a sweet
thrill of excitement soared through her veins whenever Luke showed
up. She hurried to the intercom near the door.

“
Who is it?” she asked and
released the intercom button.

“
It’s me.” She buzzed him
up.

The moment she heard footsteps, she
swung open the door. Luke was barely in front of the entrance
before she leaped into his arms and wrapped her legs around his
waist.

“
Whoa, baby!” He chuckled
and bumped into the doorjamb as he held her tight with one arm
around her waist, his other hand holding a bag with their
dinner.

Christina squealed when he bent
forward, thinking he was going to drop her. Instead, he released
the bag he was holding and held her with both arms.

“
Are you happy to see me?”
He covered her mouth before she could respond, her lips parting
automatically. Luke closed the door with his foot and backed her to
a wall. Christina moaned as their tongues tangled. His kiss as
potent as usual. “Mmm, I’ll take that as a yes.” He gave her one
last kiss before slowly lowering her to the floor.

“
I’m
very
happy to see you.” She kissed
him on the cheek and hurried to the bag he left at the door.
“Unbelievably happy.”

“
Yeah right.” He stuffed
his hand in the front pocket of his jeans. “I have a feeling you’re
more excited about seeing that food than you are me.”

“
Never.” She walked around
him and over to her art table carrying the bag. Once she pushed
paints and her brushes out of the way, she pulled out a salad, two
soft bread sticks, and utensils. “Hmm …I wish you would have
brought fried chicken.”

Luke’s brows drew together. “Since
when did you start eating meat?”

“
I haven’t. I just wish you
would have brought some.” She’d been a vegetarian for almost nine
months now and it was a struggle. For as long as she could
remember, she’d had a healthy appetite and it seemed lately she
couldn’t get full.

“
Well, if you want chicken,
I’ll go and find you some. Or whatever else you want.”

“
Nah, that’s okay. I just
had a moment.” The last thing she needed was to give Martina and
the others an opportunity to talk about her not following through
with her vegetarian diet. She unwrapped the utensils and dug into
her salad. “Where’s yours?” she asked between bites.

“
I ate earlier.” He stood
in front of her easel studying her latest piece, his hands still in
his pockets. “Is your music loud enough?”

“
Not really. I wanted to
make sure I heard the buzzer when you arrived.”

He grinned and shook his
head.

Christina let her gaze wander down his
body. She could look at him all day. She loved seeing him in a
suit, but no man could rock a pair of jeans the way her man could.
The pair he had on emphasized his long legs and thick thighs.
Zoning in on his perfect butt, something stirred within
her.

“
What do you think?” she
asked when he turned from the painting and headed to the
upholstered chair in a nearby corner of the room. She was almost
done with the painting but needed to do some blending of color in
the background.

“
I think it’s amazing, as
usual.”

Maybe she was more insecure about her
work than she thought because heat rose to her cheeks at his
compliment.

“
Not many artists can be
talented in different art styles, but you have nailed three of them
–landscapes, abstract, and nudes. I’m beyond impressed.” He
stretched his long legs out in front of him and crossed them at the
ankle. Laying his head on the back of the chair, he looked more
tired than she felt. “What do you think about when you’re sketching
or painting a male model?”

She stuffed a fork full of salad into
her mouth and turned slightly to better see her painting. He hadn’t
asked many questions regarding her models, male or female and she
was a little surprised he hadn’t asked about them
sooner.

“
I think about
you.”

His left eyebrow rose a fraction. “Is
that right?” His voice dropped an octave, into a sexy vibe. With
the way, he watched her, and R. Kelly crooning erotic lyrics in the
background, she suddenly wasn’t as hungry. At least not for
food.

“
When you’re positioning
your models, for just the right pose, what’s going through your
mind?

“
Thoughts of you. I
envision
you
posing. I think about the angles I want to capture and the
feelings I want to evoke through the painting, but always, my mind
is filled with thoughts of you.”

It was suddenly getting a little warm
in the room. All their talk about models and posing had her body
humming.

She set her salad on the art table,
not taking her eyes from Luke, who watched her intently. Her
pounding heart kicked up a notch. So much for the air conditioner.
Luke only had to look at her and she got all hot and
bothered.

“
I’m starting to see a
pattern in your responses.”

She stood and unhooked the straps of
her paint-splattered coveralls. She let the front bib fall to her
waist, giving a better view of the blue tube topped she wore
underneath. She almost smiled when she heard his intake of breath.
The thin shirt made it obvious that she was braless.

“
That’s because when I’m
drawing or painting nudes, I think of you,” she said
seductively.

He slouched down in his seat, one of
his hands rubbing the short stubble on his chin. “I
see.”

What she saw was desire swimming in
his eyes. He might’ve been trying to play it cool, but no doubt he
felt what she felt. Heat. Desire. And the need to get
naked.

“
I hear you rockin’ some of
R. Kelly’s tunes. How do you decide what music to listen to while
you’re painting?”

“
Depends on how I’m
feeling.”

“
And how are you
feeling?”

“
Prurient. Libidinous.
Horny as hell.”

Luke cleared his throat and chuckled.
“I see.”

Christina laughed. “I see? Heck, for a
person who has such an extensive vocabulary, you sure aren’t
showing it off tonight.”

She grabbed the upright chair that was
near the art table and pulled it to the center of the floor. After
working nonstop for the past four hours, it was time she took a
proper break and have a little fun in the process.

She turned back to Luke. He was so
damn cocky, but tonight she planned to bring the brother to his
knees.

Her fingers teased the bottom of her
tube top as she swayed her hips to the beat, becoming one with the
rhythm of the music. The pleasure that came with being with a man
you loved, a man who adored you was one of the most satisfying
feelings she had ever experienced.

Still rocking to the tunes, Christina
took her time and lifted the thin material of her shirt. Inch, by
inch, by salacious inch. No matter how in control he was trying to
be, she knew it was only a matter of time, when the sight of her
bare breasts would short-circuit his brain. No doubt he was almost
at that point. The perspiration gracing his hairline a tell-tale
sign that she was turning him on as much as she was turning herself
on.