Blaze (Big D Escort Service Book 2) Page 22

  “Great.” It wasn’t really. She leaned forward, and then stood when he did, heaving a sigh now that the interview was actually over.

  “And the anonymity is also intriguing. I’m glad my profession allows me to meet the woman behind the art. I never would’ve imagined it was you. You carry yourself with such hard, scrappy confidence, yet your art is all about vulnerability, wistful purity, naive hopefulness. It speaks of a different woman than I see before me.”

  “Yikes. This interview keeps getting worse.”

  He smiled. “I’m saying that you are just as much of a surprise as your art. I like it. And these rich benefactors you are trying to hook will like it, too. Should they ever come calling. As an aside, have you received any bids for the…nude portrait?”

  “Yes,” Dave said, threading his arm around Janie. “I saw two people drop in a bid even as I was passing by. We don’t know what the highest bid is yet, but we’ll check tonight.”

  “It won’t matter,” Janie said. “Rusty will take that one home. He’d buy out the whole place to get it.” She fixed her hair. She’d run her hands through it more than once throughout the interview.

  “Rusty…Stubanovich?” Mick tilted his head and turned back from packing up his things.

  Janie paused and turned back. “How’d you know that?”

  That assessing gaze was back. “I thought I saw someone that looked remarkably like him, but he’s usually in Arizona this time of year. Do you know him?”

  “Yes. I’ve painted for him.” Janie reapplied lipstick, trying to keep the quiver out of her voice. No way would she reveal the capacity in which she’d painted for him.

  “We told him about the show,” Dave said. “We figured he’d want to know. And we were right, obviously.”

  “And he will be taking home that nude portrait? Has he bid on anything else?”

  Janie reached her hand out for Dave’s. She was tired of this. She wanted to go. “We’ll find out at the end of the night. Thank you for coming. Excuse us.”

  They worked their way back into the now-dense crowd. People moved through and looked at the art, many with delighted faces. Some really angry for some reason. Janie stayed near Dave, but it was thankfully too crowded for anyone to get a chance to fawn over him.

  The next night they had to form a line outside the building, letting people in as others left. Sunday was insane. The line at the door was huge. Some people only got a brief opportunity to hurry through at the end of the night, throwing in the occasional bid.

  Each night they’d had to do emergency runs for alcohol. Word of mouth, which they’d predicted would swell the crowd each night, had gone crazy. Bids got bigger and bigger. On Sunday, the boxes had to be emptied halfway through the night. Janie couldn’t believe how much strangers wanted to pay for the pieces she’d painted with intense feelings. For Dave’s portrait, and anything with a hint of sex in it, the numbers were ridiculous. Ethan had been right. You never knew what would sell. There was a place for everything.

  The Friday after the show, they all sat around the island in Colton’s kitchen. Drinks and apps had been cleared away. All that lay on the granite between them was a stack of the pictures of the paintings with the final prices written on them, and an iPad with Mick’s unread write-up on it.

  “We ready?” Dave asked as he stood next to Janie. Everyone around the island nodded nervously. “I mean, it doesn’t matter if this is bad news, because we can build on it. We can change her name and start over. The people that showed up to the show don’t read his stuff. They heard from their friends. So his write-up doesn’t really matter.”

  “Exactly.” Madison nodded. “We’ve seen what can be done. He doesn’t matter.”

  “He’ll give you a glowing review. I feel it.” Ethan looked confident. He was the only one.

  “Remind us of the take?” Noah asked.

  Dave picked up the iPad and gestured to the pictures of the paintings. “Fifty-three thousand, eight hundred and nine, not counting that creep’s fifteen grand for the portrait of my cock. I am so not okay with that.”

  “You wanted to sell it, bro.” Noah laughed. “Now you got your cock in some creep’s house.”

  Colton whistled. “I would never have thought. That is insane. And that doesn’t include proceeds from the alcohol?” He stood with his arms crossed, looking thoughtful. In another year he’d be preparing to launch his new business. He was probably taking notes on how to kick it off with a bang.

  “No. We made five grand or something on alcohol, but the cost of the appetizers isn’t factored in.” Ethan scratched his chest. “Paying retail during the emergency runs killed us. Also, free champagne should only be for an exclusive preview.”

  “That’s easy to fix.” Dave tapped the counter, staring at the iPad. “People dug it, though. We can definitely get a good response if we do this again. And Janie’s crappy art from the galleries has sold out. Martha even got her into a couple more. Everyone is asking for product.”

  “How much did the supplies and space cost?” Madison asked.

  “About ten grand. We went super cheap on everything. But we can sell that fabric, probably. I don’t know.”

  “I can’t believe art made that much.” Janie let her hands fall into her hands. “My art. It’s surreal. How in the world…”

  “It’s because we are an excellent team, love,” Dave said softly, rubbing her back. “So now we invest as much as possible, keep some for the next show, and start planning. We can turn this into something, you and I. We can do it, with or without that article.”

  “I can’t stand the suspense.” Colton grabbed the iPad off the counter and danced away into the kitchen, keeping out of Dave’s reach. “Okay, let’s see.”

  “Just tell me good or bad.” Janie covered her head like it was an earthquake drill.

  He slid his finger across the screen. His eyes moved back and forth.

  “Well?” Dave asked anxiously.

  A huge smile lit up Colton’s face. He handed the iPad off to Dave and stared at Janie with sparkling eyes. “Meet the new voice in art. He sees a big career for you. He’s backed you.”

  “Yes!” Ethan punched the air. “Best result of a horrible surprise to date. Yes! This is a huge win.”

  Dave read the article and started chuckling. “He loved how fiery you were. And Rusty was interviewed, the creep. Apparently he’s somebody in the art world. Don’t worry, it’s all praise.”

  “How’d you ever get hooked up with that guy?” Madison asked.

  Janie rolled her eyes. “Through a boyfriend. He sent Rusty a sample of something I’d done without asking. Rusty contacted me. Young and poor, I didn’t have a notion of saying no to all that money. The boyfriend had thought he’d get to go, too. Instead, he got broken up with.”

  “Did I tell you, Janie?” Ethan pushed Dave out of the way so he could massage her shoulders. “Getting people to paint naked is Rusty the Creep’s thing. There’s a couple blog posts I found when I was researching why he gave me the heebie-jeebies. Some huge names were listed. They were invited after they’d had some success. They all stripped off and painted, men and women both. It’s kind of a big deal that he asked you.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Let’s stick with ‘he is creepy.’”

  “Oh, he is definitely creepy, yes. That is non-debatable.” Ethan shivered. People seemed to do that a lot regarding Rusty. “But anyway, you basically whored yourself out, so you are officially a part of Big Dick’s now. Isn’t that nice?”

  “Step away from my woman, Ethan,” Dave said, not looking up from the iPad.

  “Yup.” Ethan wandered away laughing.

  Janie couldn’t stop smiling. This was it. This was her life. A boyfriend she loved, great friends, and finally achieving the dream she’d always thought about. It was surreal.

  But as Dave came over and hugged her from behind, she knew in her heart of hearts that fate wasn’t such a bitch after all, and this was meant to be
.

  “What’s next on the bucket list, darling?” he asked softly, nuzzling then kissing her neck.

  She closed her eyes and leaned into him. “Sex in the library, obviously. I’ve always wanted to do that.”

  He chuckled softly and squeezed her tightly, clearly not realizing what he’d got himself into. She decided not to tell him. The fun would be in the surprise, after all.

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  Chapter 1

  Ethan stepped aside to allow a cute blonde in her early twenties to go ahead of him into Dick’s Gym and Fitness, the place where he and his buddies worked out on a regular basis. She deliberately passed close enough for her yoga-pants-clad hip to brush against him.

  He smiled down at her. If she wanted to take him for a spin, he’d be game.

  “This is why I asked you, Dick,” Ethan’s buddy Dave was saying as Ethan entered the lobby area. Dave was standing at the check-in counter, talking to the heavyset gym owner, who was ignoring his laptop in favor of giving Dave a surly expression. “What with your choice of clothing, I figured you’d be up on the latest trends.”

  Ethan stopped near them, giving the blonde a smile right before she disappeared past the divider and into the heart of the gym. He would check in with her later. Or just take the lazy, and much easier, approach and let her come to him. He didn’t want to miss the exchange between Dick and Dave. Watching the two of them bicker and rag on each other was one of Ethan’s favorite pastimes.

  Dick looked down at the Dick’s! T-shirt stretched across his bulk. “I’m wearing this to advertise the gym. What would you have me put on, a pink hula skirt and some coconut shells?”

  Dave leaned an elbow on the counter as a grin worked up his face. His various smiles could charm the underpants off a nun. Ethan had always wanted that in his arsenal. “You’re advertising the gym? How, by showing people what happens if they don’t come?”

  Dick huffed and turned toward his computer. “Mark my words, you and Janie shouldn’t stray too far from the setup of the last show. You want to keep things consistent. Create a brand.”

  Ethan perked up. Janie was Dave’s artist girlfriend, and they were talking about the logistics of her next big art event. “What’s up?” He leaned against the counter.

  Dave turned to include Ethan in the discussion. “That creep from Arizona—you know, the one that likes to watch Janie paint for him in the nude?” Ethan nodded, remembering the man he’d met at Janie’s previous art show (the first she’d ever done, and a successful affair). “Well, he wants to sponsor one of Janie’s shows. Says he’ll pay for everything.”

  A thrill ran through Ethan. He lived for art shows. It had been his mother’s dream to show her work, but she hadn’t been good enough. She’d only placed a dozen or so pieces in galleries throughout her life, all with poor sales. That fact hadn’t hurt her love of creating, or defeated her in any way, but she’d died dreaming of the big time. Now Ethan could celebrate his mother’s memory by living vicariously through Janie. It was a cool situation.

  “What’s the catch?” Ethan asked.

  Dick snorted, which wasn’t a good sign.

  Dave ran his fingers through his dark hair as Noah, another of their buddies, pushed through the gym doors. Noah glanced at the guys and nodded. “Hey.”

  “The catch is his fee,” Dave went on after returning Noah’s nod. “He wants another nude male portrait from Janie. The thing is, after seeing how she painted me for the last show, he won’t accept the normal paintings she’s done for him in the past. Those are detached, he said.” Dave rolled his eyes.

  “So she has to do one of you again?” Ethan asked.

  “No. He has one of me. He doesn’t want another. It has to be someone else. And to do it right, it has to be someone she knows. Those are her words, not mine.” Anger crossed Dave’s face. They all knew he had a protective streak a mile wide, and he was rarely reasonable when it came to anything that might affect Janie’s safety and well-being. “To take the creep up on his offer, she’d have to get someone we know to model for her, and she’d probably have to paint in front of him, at least for a little while.”

  Dick swiveled again as an older man walked through the doors and edged around Noah. He held out his sign-in badge for Dick, who was not paying attention.

  “The subject will have to be some other nude guy,” Dick said, “that is not you, and your only concern is that she has to paint in front of someone?”

  “Hello?” The older man wiggled his key card.

  “Did you just hear what I said?” Dick turned his surly expression to the older man. “I am talking about a nude male portrait and this clown’s odd take on it, and you’re badgering me to beep you in?” Dick shook his head and snatched the ID badge. “Your lack of concern on the topic is suspect.”

  “What does that have to do with me?” the older man demanded, clearly just as surly as Dick. “That’s none of my business. If I gave a damn about every Tom, Dick, and Harry that said something asinine, I’d have a lot more gray hairs.”

  “You’d have hair at all, never mind the gray hairs. That’s the first thing.” Dick handed the badge back. “And the second is, we are discussing a human anomaly. One that works out very close to you. Are you so sure this has nothing to do with you? Who knows what he’s capable of with this kind of logic.”

  “Bah!” The man waved Dick away and passed the divider.

  “Janie hates painting in front of other people,” Dave said. “I don’t want her to have to endure that for some creep.”

  “I wouldn’t want her staring at some other guy’s dick, but that’s just me.” Dick shook his head and turned back to his computer as Ethan bit back a laugh.

  “So, what are you going to do?” Noah asked, stepping toward the divider. He adjusted the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder. The guy always insisted on changing in the locker room. Ethan had no idea why. It wasn’t like he was coming from work or anything. But he showed up in street clothes, and he left in street clothes. It was just one of Noah’s things.

  Dave shook his head as Colton, their fourth workout partner, came through the doors. “What can I do? I have to let her decide. We can do it without Creepy Rich Guy, bu
t we’d be more limited.” He started toward the divider, and Ethan and the rest of the guys followed. “I’d like to hit another town for the art show, but then we’d need more money for marketing. This guy is willing to supply all that, plus the setup. I don’t like it, but we might need it. Still, it’s not my decision.”

  “Tell them about your ideas to screw the whole thing up,” Dick called after them.

  “Stay up there and keep advertising,” Dave yelled back. They paused near the cubbies where they stashed their stuff. Except for Noah, who just loitered. “Dick is worried I’m going to totally redo the whole theme for the next show. But all I’m really going to do is to tweak it a little. You know, go for different colors and fabric choices. The velvet we used last time was a bit weird. And maybe we should go for a marginally nicer warehouse this time. That’s if we’re funded. If we’re not funded, we’ll go with cheap again.”

  Colton scratched his face, something the ladies called chiseled. Before they fawned all over him like lunatics. “You’re still doing that edgy chic thing for the show’s theme?”

  “Yeah, but a little more upscale,” Dave said.

  Ethan sucked air through his teeth. “I agree with Dick, bro. You heard what the critic said at the last show. Her art is raw. Edginess works for her. You can’t go too upscale, or it won’t fit.”

  “I agree.” Colton motioned Noah away. “Get to changing. Hurry up.”

  “Then stop talking about this until I get back.” Noah frowned at them. “I’m in this too.”