Another couple of steps and the object of Reed’s attention comes into my line of vision. I can’t help but smile, sometimes we really do have similar taste.
“Hey, Jax. I thought I saw you leave earlier,” I say, at first not noticing he’s no longer dressed in gym clothes. He’s wearing dark jeans, a navy shirt that accentuates the light color of his eyes and a darker navy lightweight pea coat. Simple. Understated. Urbane and absolute perfection. No wonder he seems to have caught Reed’s attention.
“I forgot something. I just stopped back to see if it was still here.”
“Oh. What did you forget? We have a lost and found.” I walk behind the reception counter, ready to grab the box we collect all the lost ear buds and lifting gloves in.
Jax looks to Reed, some unspoken man language transpires and Reed holds his hands up. “I play for the other team, dude.” Reed shrugs casually, Jax chuckles.
“I was going to see if I could take you up on that offer?”
Brows drawn. “Offer?”
“To draw me.”
Reed laughs. No, actually he snorts. “Don’t let her take advantage of you. She uses that artist crap to get men to take off their clothes all the time.”
Slapping Reed’s chest, I know he’s teasing, and I know Jax knows he’s teasing too, yet I can’t stop the blush that creeps up my face showing my embarrassment. “Don’t pay attention to Reed, he’s still mad because I wouldn’t let him ask out the model the night we were sketching male nudes.”
Jax smiles, he looks entertained by the banter between Reed and I, so different than the reaction we’d get from Caden. Caden was always jealous of my relationship with Reed, even though he knows nothing can ever happen.
“We’re heading to my gallery showing in SoHo. Why don’t you come along…I think you’ll appreciate some of the paintings of naked women.” Reed offers with a wink.
My eyes widen when I realize what he’s doing. Feeling panicky, I stumble over my own words. “Actually, it’s going to be packed as is. Reed over invited the guest list, as usual.”
The disappointment is evident on Jax’s face, but he’s gracious nonetheless. “That’s okay. Another night maybe?”
Shit. Now he thinks I’m trying to blow him off, back peddle away from Reed’s invitation because I don’t want him going.
“I’m sorry. That didn’t come out right. I’d love for you to join us. It’s just…” I trail off, biting my bottom lip anxiously as I look for the right words.
“She’s going to be buck ass naked,” Reed finishes the rest of my sentence. Not exactly how I was going to put it, but it does save me the trouble from having to say the words.
Although confused by Reed’s statement, Jax gets there’s more to the story and he seems intrigued. “You’re getting naked at a gallery?” A hint of a grin on his ridiculously handsome face doesn’t make it any easier for me to explain.
“I let Reed paint me,” quietly, I explain. “We painted each other.” Rethinking my choice of words, I clarify. “Not actually painting each other’s bodies, I mean painting on canvas,” I stumble nervously over my words. “It was our project for class. He’s included it as part of his show.”
Jax arches a perfect brow, “So the gallery is displaying a painting of you in the nude?”
“Yep, and her painting got a big fat A.” Reed answers before I can open my mouth to respond. “I think she’s planning on having me stand in front of it all night.”
“And I think you’re only having the gallery showing so you had an excuse to invite Frederick,” I counter.
“Frederick?” Jax inquires, trying to keep up.
“The male nude, the one I wouldn’t let him ask out in class while we sketched.”
Laughing, Jax shakes his head, “Sounds like you may have trouble getting him to stand in front of your painting if Frederick is walking around the gallery. But you two have fun. Another time, maybe?”
I nod and watch as Jax happily shakes Reed’s hand. Just before he reaches for the door, my mouth utters words before my brain can override the decision. “Why don’t you come with us?”
Turning back, he’s hesitant to accept my offer. Squinting to assess my sincerity, he asks, “You sure?”
I nod and respond teasingly, “You’re bigger than Reed, you can block more of the painting.”
He smiles and nods. “You got it.”
Chapter 5
Jax
The gallery is packed when we enter, but a short woman dressed in all black with tattoo’s covering every inch of her exposed arms finds us immediately.
“Lily! Oh my god, everyone is raving about your painting!” The woman hugs Lily, but I catch Lily’s face wilt at her words. Face tense, Lily bites down hard on her lower lip and tries to smile, wanting to share in her friend’s excitement¸ but it’s obvious she’s nervous.
A man with a heavy French accent grabs Reed’s arm, grumbles a few words, and the two disappear as quickly as he came with a promise to return him as soon as he can.
“You okay?” Leaning down, I whisper to Lily.
“Does it show I’m not?”
“Not too much,” I smile as I lie.
Lily laughs, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t realize how difficult it would be for me when people see it. I see models all the time without clothes and it doesn’t bother me a bit. I see art, not a naked woman. Yet when it’s me, I’m totally freaked out that people are going to see me naked.”
Stopping a waitress as she passes, I grab two crystal flutes and offer one to Lily. She declines. “You sure? Might help you calm your nerves.”
“I’m sure.” A weak smile teases her lips. “Do I look as nervous as I feel?”
“You look beautiful,” I tell her, and not because I want to calm her nerves and make her feel better. She just is. The carefully angled lighting in the gallery picks up the highlights in her wavy long blond hair, setting off a shimmer of gold that reflects off the green in her blue eyes. A few scarcely visible light freckles dot her perfect thin nose, leading down to full pink lips. Her gym attire is gone, traded in for a sexy electric blue dress that hugs her in all the right places. The hint of cle**age showing has me distracted as hell. If the painting is half as good as the real thing, it’s going to be a masterpiece.