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“You said you’d never shown him the painting. Even if he did see it—and the odds of that happening are practically non-existent—he wouldn’t know it was yours anyway.”
“Elias, it’s a self-portrait. Give me your phone.”
His smile is smug, damn him. “It’s abstract, Zara. It’s not like it’s photo-realism or anything. You said you haven’t shown him or anyone else many of your paintings at all and that you keep them hidden away. You and I both know your dad is so distracted most of the time by his job, the very last thing he’s going to be doing is scrolling on Instagram. Even if he did he wouldn’t know the painting was yours.”
He’s right, but I’m hardly going to admit that to him. “It doesn’t matter, Elias.”
“Of course it matters. You might not find it boring that it already has two hundred thousand likes,” he says.
“Two hundred thousand?”
“People are asking who the artist is. They want to know if it’s for sale. They’re making offers. There’s a bidding war.” One of his eyebrows lifts—and it’s not fair that he’s so freaking beautiful. “What if the Sea Glass sees it? Isn’t this the kind of exposure you want?”
“Take it down,” I insist.
Of course he’s bossy about it. “I think we should leave it up there at least until tonight. I’ll be back here later on and we can take it down then, if you still want to.”
I watch him for a few seconds, trying not to be distracted from the disturbing news he’s giving me by how gorgeous he is. Or how big. Or how his brawny shoulders and buff chest strain against the thick cotton of his t-shirt. He must have left his jacket downstairs.
“You wouldn’t be sending your work out if you didn’t want to get noticed, Zara. But you’re never going to get noticed if you lock all your paintings away in your attic and refuse to show anyone.”
“It’s not really your business,” I grumble churlishly.
“Here.” He pulls his phone out of his pocket and unlocks the screen, taking a look before holding it out to me. “It’s up to four hundred thousand likes. Delete it if you want. But first, look at some of these comments.”
I take his phone and—wow, he’s right. 412,327 likes. As I watch, the number continues to climb at a dizzying pace.
I can’t help noticing not just the comments about the art.
Elias, I want to have your babies! Please call me on 7728441234!!!
Elias, I love you so much!
Please follow me, Elias. You’re the hottest football player everrrr!!!!
Marry me, Elias xxxx
There are hundreds of them. But there are other comments too.
Wow, this painting is amazing!
Who’s the artist? Is it for sale?
I’ll pay $1000 for this painting
$2000
This is worth way more than that. I’ll bid $10K
Tell us who painted this!
I NEED THIS PAINTING
I’m an art curator in Chicago and I’d like to reach out to this artist. Please give us more info
$40K
$50K
