Page 20 of The Artist

The door opened and Alexis stood there.

“What do you want so early in the morning?”She left the door wide open while she walked back into the small kitchen and started coffee.Then she looked over at him.“Do you want me to heat the whole outside, or are you coming in?”

Peter’s mouth dropped open.Where was the angry woman who had thrown him and his painting out of her cabin?In her stead was a serene woman, with her red hair falling in waves down the back of the heavy, Kelly-green sweater she wore over a pair of tight black leggings.“I brought you another painting and I want you to look at it before you throw me out again.”

She sighed and huffed out a breath before wrapping her arms around her waist, her gaze on the floor.“About that.”She kicked at a non-existent pebble.“I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have gotten so angry that you painted me into the game.”She lifted her gaze, meeting his.“It was really very nice of you, but I can’t hang a painting of myself in my gallery.”

His shoulders slumped.He hadn’t thought of what people would think of that.Probably that she was an egomaniac.“I’m the one who’s sorry.I didn’t even think about how it would reflect on you.I just wanted to paint you, and you’d said you wanted something from the game?—”

She raised her hand and walked over to him.Then she placed her fingers on his lips.“No, you did as I asked.I didn’t give you any parameters or instructions on what to paint.I should have been flattered.And actually, I was flattered once I thought about it and the way you captured me, even though you gave me that ridiculous figure.”

He straightened.“You don’t have to worry about that painting.I brought you another one.”

Her eyes widened and her eyebrows lifted.“I’m surprised you could paint another one so quickly.”

“When you’re painting something you love it doesn’t take long.Besides I couldn’t stop once I started.”

She stared at his face.“I can see the dark circles under your eyes.”She pointed at the canvas that faced his legs.“You didn’t sleep at all while you painted this, did you?”

Peter shook his head.“I couldn’t.I was filled with such love that I had to finish or I’d never sleep again.”

Alexis jutted her chin toward the canvas.“Well, show me this painting that you love so much.”

“I will, but I want you to know that if you want it for your gallery, you can have it for a limited time, but I will not sell it.”

She lifted her brows.“You won’t sell it?Why?I need it to save the gallery.”

He smiled and looked down at what he’d painted.“Because in my opinion, it’s the best work I’ve ever done.And you don’t have to worry about the gallery.You’ll sell enough other paintings to save it.I promise.”

Alexis grinned and stepped forward.“Then I must see it.Please.”

Peter looked deep into her eyes, and what he saw gazing back gave him pause.He saw curiosity and excitement, but also regret.Did she wish she hadn’t been so eager to criticize his other work?“What if you don’t like this one any more than you did the last one?”

She looked down and worried her hands, wrapping them around each other again and again.Then she looked up at him.“I’m so sorry.I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.The painting was beautiful and perfect for the game.I realized that after you left, but I wasn’t sure how to tell you or to apologize for my initial response.”

Peter nodded.“It’s fine but thank you for apologizing.”Then he grinned.“Look at this and tell me that it’s not the best painting I’ve ever done.”He turned the canvas so she could see it.

She gasped.“Peter, it’s…beautiful.Where is this?Is it a real place?It’s so detailed, like a photograph, not just a painting.”

Nodding, he looked down at the painting.“It’s my home.Would you like it for your gallery?For say, six months?”

Alexis shook her head.

Peter’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped.“Do I understand you correctly?You don’t want my painting?”

She shook her head again.“Oh, no.I definitely want it, but for a year, not just six months.I want to go through the summer season.You can have it back next October.Please.Having it would help me a lot.”

He thought about it before giving it to her, even though rewarding her was his reason for painting it.She’d angered him with her outright rejection of his first painting, and he wasn’t sure he could trust her with this one.“If I give it to you, you have to promise not to sell it, no matter what you’re offered.”

She nodded.“Of course.I run a reputable gallery.I would never sell it if you don’t want me to.”Then she huffed out a breath before her shoulders slumped, and she reached out and touched his arm.“I don’t suppose I’ve given you any reason to trust me, but I promise you can.”

He looked down where she touched his arm.His skin tingled under his sweater something he didn’t think was possible.Peter held out his hand.“You saved my life and kept me safe and fed for four days.I think I can trust you.Gentleman’s agreement.”

Alexis shook his hand.Then she looked up at him.“I have a different way of closing an agreement.”She ran her hands up his chest, then wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to hers where she took his lips with hers.

For just a moment, he tried to resist, but then he placed his arms around her waist and pulled her body close until it was flush with his.Until he felt her pressing her sweet curves against his hard muscles.He dipped his tongue against her lips.

She opened for him.