Driving Her Crazy - By Amy Andrews Page 0,62

snapped. ‘And let’s not even mention the fact that you reproduced and displayed my artwork, without my permission!’

‘The two pieces belong together.’

Sadie gaped. He didn’t even look a little contrite, standing in her lounge room oozing sex and confidence in his important artist suit. She hadn’t really expected to see him tonight and she resented how damn good he looked.

And how her traitorous body didn’t seem to care that he’d just exposed something between them that had been intimate and private. He might as well have stripped her naked in front of everyone at the gallery.

‘Why?’ she demanded.

‘Because it’s a stunning image. The pick of all the photos I took on our road trip. Maybe one of the best of my career. And to apologise.’

Sadie blinked. ‘Apologise?’

‘For being such a prat in Darwin.’

‘By being an even bigger prat now?’ She gaped.

Kent saw the two spots of colour up high on her cheekbones and wanted to drag her into his arms so badly he had to grind his feet into the floor to stop himself from following through.

Sadie didn’t look as if she was quite there yet.

He took a steadying breath. ‘If you don’t like it I’ll have it withdrawn.’

Sadie sat down and took a gulp of her wine. She needed fortification. ‘It’s got nothing to do with not liking it,’ she said slowly through clenched teeth.

‘Okay,’ he said, hands still on his hips as he looked down at her. ‘Explain it to me. It’s not like you haven’t posed nude before, Sadie.’

‘It’s got nothing to do with that.’ She glared up at him. ‘That picture represents a very personal moment you and I shared. And I know you’re Mr I-don’t-need-anybody and no doubt he-men pander to women with poor self-image every day, but it means something to me. I feel about it the way you feel about Mortality. That photo is an intensely private moment. Not for public viewing. It’s not my body I want to protect. It’s the moment.’

Kent sat down on the coffee table behind him, his legs stretching out, almost touching hers. He was encouraged when she didn’t attempt to move away. ‘I’ll have it withdrawn first thing tomorrow,’ he murmured.

Sadie looked into the multi-hues of brown that made up his eyes. ‘Thank you.’

Kent nodded, his heart thudding as her gaze locked with his. ‘It’s good to see you, Sadie Bliss.’

She shook her head. ‘Don’t.’

He half smiled. ‘Don’t what?’

‘I’m not going to fall into bed with you because you turn up on my doorstep all sexy and apologetic. I’m still mad.’

He chuckled then. ‘I missed you.’

Sadie sipped at her wine, determined not to give him an inch. ‘Yeh, well, I haven’t missed you,’ she lied.

‘I’ve thought about you every day, Sadie. And I’ve pretended that’s a lot of things—fond memories, lust, friendship—but I saw you tonight and I knew it was more than that.’ He dropped his gaze to her full mouth that had parted as she listened. He wanted to kiss her so badly he could almost taste her. ‘You’re under my skin, Sadie Bliss.’

Sadie’s internal muscles undulated deep down inside her at his words and his sudden intense look. It would be so easy to just throw caution to the wind and hurl herself at him, but after six months apart she knew two things.

She was head first in love with him. And the Kent she knew couldn’t handle that.

‘I’m back at art school,’ she said as his gaze returned to her face. ‘I’m loving it. For the first time in my life I really know what I want to do. I’m actually my own person. I love you, Kent. I think I have from the moment you let me drive the Land Rover.’

She paused. Her pulse was beating triple time but the admission had been surprisingly easy to make.

‘But I can’t take on your stuff. I need to be in a relationship where I can talk with the other person, where no subject is off limits, no words are left unsaid. Where I can talk whenever I want to. I have a lot to say.’ She smiled at her own joke. ‘I’m prepared to do some hard yards but I need to know that you’re going to meet me halfway.’

Kent knew what she was saying was true. ‘How did you get to be so wise so young?’ he asked.

Sadie smiled around her wine glass. ‘Misspent youth.’

Kent placed his hands on his knees. ‘I’ve been seeing a psychologist for the last four months. It’s been...hard