Mismatch - By Nana Malone Page 0,72
hell, a stick of dynamite in bed, and so sensitive sometimes it made him hurt. He had to tell her the truth. He couldn’t be jumping all over Samson if he wasn't willing to fess up himself. And truth be told, he liked being the artist in her eyes. It was her type. Chemistry or not, she wouldn’t have given him a second look if she’d been with “Eli.” She’d as much as told him so. Sure, the charade had helped Samson, but it had helped him more.
Come clean time. Too bad it left a bad taste in his mouth.
When she opened the door, her smile was beaming, but her eyes were sad.
“What’s the matter?”
She blinked rapidly. “Are you kidding me? Nothing’s the matter. That was an amazing spectacle you put on there. The rich MILF crowd ate it up. I had a veritable bidding war on some of your pieces.” She splayed her hands wide. “You do realize we sold everything right? Every piece is gone.”
“All of it?” No wonder Sam had been in a forgiving mood. He traced a finger down her cheek. “Then why the sad eyes?”
“Nothing. I— Look, I know you said you didn’t want to show it, and you didn’t think it was ready, and all the usual bullshit artists use to never sell anything. But at the last minute I put the sculpture piece in.”
His heart thundered. What the hell? “What? Say that again?”
“The sculpture.” She immediately put up her hands and took a step back. “Okay, look. I know you said you didn’t want it displayed, and push comes to shove I can get it back, but come on, the damn thing sold for twenty grand. I thought you’d be happy about it. You said it wasn’t sentimental, so I thought you needed a little nudge in the right direction and…”
His brain rushed to catch up. Did she say twenty grand? Blood rushed between his ears, and he only caught snippets. “In love….that piece…said it captured her attention more than anything else there…bidding war…loved...commission more.”
“Jessica, wait.”
She blinked up at him with bright blue eyes. “Are you really mad?”
He opened his mouth, shut it again, tried once more but nothing came out. Once more with feeling. “I thought you sent it back. I was pretty sure I saw it at the studio. Jessica, I’m not a sculptor.”
“Well, remember how I went to get all those authentications? I picked it up again, and it doesn’t matter if you do another piece again, this one sold. So if you ever did want to do one again, there’s a market. I only wanted to show you that you could do it. Shit, tell me how mad you are so I can start kissing your ass already, ‘cause in one night, you’ve saved my gallery, and you’ve helped me prove that I’m not crazy for taking on this job.” She ran her hands through her hair and stared at him. “Shit, Eli, will you say something? Anything. You’re freaking me out.”
He dragged her against him and slid his mouth firmly over hers. It took her a full three seconds to kiss him back. Then came the speedy clawing at each other’s clothes that always happened with them. He tried to be gentle, but he heard the fabric at her zipper tear. Shit. Too impatient to deal with the buttons at her collar he snatched the fabric at her hips and tugged up. As soon as her movements were unhindered, Eli smoothed his hands down over her ass and the backs of her thighs, before picking her up. Her legs wound around him effortlessly.
Going off his brief glimpse of the room, he maneuvered them to the bed, banging into the coffee table only once. His shins would forgive him as soon as he buried his dick inside her. As soon as he was home. The truth was for later. Right now he had to have her any way he could.
Falling back against the bed with her on top of him, he fumbled for his belt.
She brushed his hands away. “I have to warn you, this is setting a bad precedence and will only make me continue to defy you at every turn. If your plan is to make me listen, then this isn’t going to work.”
As soon as her soft fingertips wrapped around his dick, he stopped breathing, and all he could hear was the rushing blood in his ears. “I need to be inside you right now.”
Too impatient