Venus in Love

Ainsley “Lee” Dencourt was born with her future drawn out as heir of the Dencourt Gallery in Washington, DC. She has mastered fine art and the art of controlling the details of her life, including the people in it—and the people she wants in it, like Morgan Blake.

For Morgan, the only thing more important than her family is art. Morgan has put her heart and soul into her education and her future—it’s what got her to Yale and to Paris. She can’t allow anything or anyone to come between her and her dreams of success. So why is it that every time Morgan gets a handle on life a dangerously sexy and hopelessly frustrating woman from her past appears and turns her world upside down?

From the City of Lights to the Nation’s Capital, Lee and Morgan search for their place in the world of art. Is that place together—or will fear, pride, and deceit destroy what they’ve found with each other?

Venus in Love

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Venus in Love

© 2014 By Tina Michele. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-277-9

This Electronic Book is published by

Bold Strokes Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 249

Valley Falls, New York 12185

First Edition: December 2014

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

Credits

Editor: Cindy Cresap

Production Design: Susan Ramundo

Cover Design By Sheri ([email protected])

I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, my family for their support and encouragement of my wild and crazy ideas. Mom, Dad, and T, you are the best parents that this “fickle” girl could have. You love me for ALL of my choices and stand by me even when I choose not to listen. My biggest fan and big sister, Angel, this book may not have happened if you hadn’t poked at me to finish it. (Every. Damn. Day.) You, M, & Em are always there for a good laugh or a cry, although I prefer the coveted laughing cry that occurs after I inevitably do something ridiculous and retell it with my trademark splendor. My little sister, Jen, for constantly trying to distract me with shopping trips and excursions to Disney—you know exactly how to feed my attention deficit and simultaneously recharge my brain.

Smooches to Kena, Kizz, Nancy, and Hollipops, you are inspiring, you give me great material, and you keep me (in)sane. So much love.

Hugs to Sarah, Teresa, Angel, and Kena for taking time out of your busy lives to read
Venus
and test my ability to take thoughtful criticism (with a heavy dose of praise and bowls full of sugar to help the medicine go down).

I am beyond grateful to Bold Strokes Books for giving me the chance to turn a simple personal goal into something so real, and to Cindy for page-after-page of truly brilliant lessons and advice.

And for you…this was always for you.

“Forever and for always.”

Lee Dencourt was late for class. Again. She didn’t know why she never seemed to make it on time, regardless of how early she woke up. It didn’t even matter if she got home at a reasonable hour the night before; inevitably, something or
someone
always held her up. This morning, it was the latter. Her chosen someone for the evening didn’t start her first class until eleven a.m., so she had no problem keeping Lee, or whoever else, up until she was completely satisfied. Lee was not one to leave a lady unsatisfied.

Professor Buerdett gave Lee the standard disapproving scowl when she flung open the auditorium doors twenty minutes late into his lecture. She half expected him to call her by her full name, Ainsley, like her mother always did. More than one of her professors had threatened to withdraw Lee from their courses, yet she always managed to avoid that fate. Professor Buerdett was no exception. Lee knew that it had a great deal to do with her name and the fact that her parents contributed large sums of money every year to maintain the university’s art gallery. However, Lee was also a gifted student, and there wasn’t a professor out there that could deny her that much. Lee cared about art, just like she cared about her family. Both were so much a part of who she was that she didn’t see her future without them.

Lee slid into an open seat in the back of the room. She was relieved since the few seats near the front were not an option. The 150-seat auditorium was full with burgeoning fine arts majors, all of them hoping that, one day, they would make their mark in or on the art world. Lee was no exception, except that she would not struggle like the majority of her classmates when it came to finding her place. She was born into that world. As Lee prepared herself for the remainder of the lecture, she heard what sounded like a harumph of disappointment come from the student in the next seat over.

Once settled, Lee ran a smoothing hand through her hair, thinking to herself that she should just cut it the rest of the way off. She looked over at her disgruntled neighbor. Lee was startled to see the sparkling set of eyes that stared back at her. She was afraid to breathe for fear that those eyes would look away. It was her. Lee didn’t know her name, but she knew that for the last four years, she had admired, from afar, the woman she called Venus.

Venus had golden strawberry hair that reminded Lee of Botticelli’s masterpiece,
The Birth of Venus
. It fell in loose tendrils down her back, and Lee always imagined that it would feel like spun silk in her hands. Venus didn’t have the striking features of a Hollywood starlet, but she captivated Lee nonetheless. Lee’s eyes remained focused on Venus’s, but she knew from memory that those eyes were the center of the face that filled her dreams and fantasies. Over the last four years, Lee has spent an extraordinary amount of time studying the classic beauty of her classmate instead of her actual coursework. After all, it wasn’t like she actually needed the degree to advance in her career field when the time came.

Lee had never really had any problems getting a woman when she needed one, straight or gay. Most had pursued her, and she always found that incredibly accommodating. Yet there was one woman who never pursued her. As a matter of fact, she barely looked in Lee’s direction except to roll her eyes or scowl in disapproval. Venus never looked at anyone the way she looked at art, no matter how often she caught Lee staring from across the room, or in this case, right in front of her.